Important Dates

Note: all deadlines are “anywhere on earth” (UTC-12)

Friday, September 8, 2023: Electronic submissions of talks and papers due

Friday, October 20, 2023: Notification of acceptance or rejection

Wednesday, December 6, 2023: Camera-ready versions at the AAAI CRC site

Senior Member Presentation Track: Call for Proposals

The Senior Member Presentation Track (SMPT) provides an opportunity for established researchers in the AI community to give a broad talk that (i) describes a vision for bridging AI communities; (ii) summarizes a well-developed research area; or (iii) presents promising ideas and visions for new research directions. These presentations should provide a big-picture view, in contrast to regular papers, which may focus on a specific contribution. Submissions include a proposal for a talk and a paper (in the AAAI format) covering the topic of the talk. Senior members of AI are researchers who are well-established in their research area.

This track will be run in the same fashion as in AAAI 2023. In particular, the following features will be continued:

• Subtracks (bridge talks, summary talks, and blue sky idea talks).
• Talks come with a paper in the proceedings.

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Connection to Collaborative Bridge Theme

New communities often emerge when two or more disciplines come together, in order to explore new opportunities and perspectives; today both are plentiful. The purpose of this year’s collaborative bridge theme is to help cultivate this process. Senior members play a significant role in facilitating the creation of these bridges in multiple ways. For example, they can remind the community of a corpus of past research that has become timely, given today’s challenges. In addition, they can outline the promise and technical challenge of unifying two methodologies or outline an agenda for how a set of disciplines can be brought together towards a common goal. Through this year’s subtrack on bridge talks, we encourage submissions along any of these dimensions.

Eligibility

The SMPT is open to researchers who are a significant number of years away from their PhD (exceptions will be considered on a per-case basis), have acquired international recognition for their work, and have established a significant publication record of AI-related research in AI conferences and journals.

It is important to note that you do not have to be an AAAI Fellow nor hold the official status of Senior Member of AAAI in order to submit to the Senior Member Presentation Track. If you have questions about eligibility, please contact the SMPT track chairs to discuss this as soon as possible.

Subtracks

There are three subtracks for submissions of talk proposals for the SMPT:

Bridge talks: New AI communities often emerge when two or more disciplines come together in order to explore new opportunities and perspectives; today both are plentiful. The purpose of a Bridge Talk is to describe an opportunity for cultivating sustained collaboration between two or more communities, directed towards a common goal. These bridges could be between distinct subfields of AI, such as planning and learning; different disciplines that contribute to and benefit from AI, such as AI and the humanities, or a mix of both. A successful bridge frequently focuses different perspectives towards a common vision and may be sparked, for example, by a social need, technological disruption or fundamental scientific question. In addition, a successful bridge is nurtured over a period of time through a suite of synergistic activities that include outreach, technical collaboration and education.

Summary talks: Broad talks on a well-developed body of research or an important new research area. These are expected to include results obtained by researchers other than the speaker and should include a well-thought-out critical analysis of the state-of-the-art, with suggestions for future directions.

Blue Sky Ideas talks: These presentations aim to present ideas and visions that will stimulate the research community to pursue new directions; for example, new problems, new application domains, or new methodologies that are likely to stimulate significant new research. The presenter should find the right arguments to convince the audience that the topic is promising and should relate the talk as much as possible to the existing literature.

Proposal/Paper Submission

A proposal for the SMPT includes two parts.

Part 1: Talk Outline and CV

The first part of the proposal should include two documents. The first document should have the title, an abstract, and an outline of the suggested talk. All these should fit in 1 page (in any reasonable format). The second document is a short CV (up to 2 pages in any reasonable format) for a total of 3 pages for part one. The CV should include evidence that the proposer is qualified to talk about the topic, such as specific contributions by the proposer to the proposed topic (in the case of a summary talk) or contributions by the proposer to related topics (in the case of a bridge or blue sky ideas talk). To show the broadness of the topic, summary and bridge talk proposals are expected to cite at least 3 papers in the suggested topic areas that were published by different authors in the last 3 years, in highly competitive venues.

Part 2: Overview Paper

Researchers who submit talk proposals must also submit a paper. Accepted papers will be included in the proceedings. Papers should cover the same topic as the talk and are intended to give a personal synthetic view of the topic, together with appropriate references. The papers should be self-contained and are intended to be accessible for anyone including people who did not attend the talk. The papers should be formatted as PDF files using the AAAI style. Submissions are not anonymous. They should include the names and affiliations of the authors. The papers need to be 2-6 pages in length. Additional pages are allowed for references only.

Submission Process

Senior Member Track Submission site available here.

Please select “AAAI-24 Senior Member Presentation Track” on the AAAI-24 submission site. Complete the online submission form and then submit all of the information required for the track in one PDF. Begin each section of your submission on a new page. Add your sub-track (i.e., bridge, summary, or blue sky ideas talk) as a subtitle on the first page. Your submission should include no more than 3 pages for the talk outline plus CV and no more than 6 (+ references) pages.

Reviewing Process

All senior member talk proposals and the corresponding papers will be reviewed by qualified members of the AAAI program committee. The reviewers of the papers will follow guidelines specifically tailored to the senior member track and will check the quality and clarity of the paper. The final decisions on acceptance will be made by the track co-chairs.

For More Information

Inquiries concerning submissions and suggestions for the senior member track may be directed to the track cochairs at aaai24smchairs@aaai.org. All other inquiries should be directed to AAAI at aaai24@aaai.org.

Senior Member Track Cochairs

Kate Larson (University of Waterloo, Canada)

David Poole (University of British Columbia, Canada)

Questions

Some questions are answered below. Please contact the track co-chairs for any additional questions.

Q: How can I know whether I am considered senior enough?

As a general rule, this track is designed for researchers who are well-established in their research area. They should be a significant number of years away from their PhD and have published a significant number of papers in the top AI conferences and journals. However, exceptions are possible and will be considered on a per-case basis.

Q: Can submissions be co-authored?

Naturally, the talks include one presenter only. However, submitted papers may include multiple authors. The first author must be the talk presenter.

Q: Does submitting a 6-page paper increase the chances of my talk being accepted when compared to a shorter paper?

Not at all. All submissions will be reviewed and considered along the same review criteria.

Q: Is there any relation between this track and the status of Senior Member of AAAI?

There is no relation. Anyone who meets the criteria above can submit. You do not have to hold the status of a Senior Member of AAAI nor be an AAAI Fellow.