Volume 4, Number 3, October 2008

Constraint Programming News

volume 4, number 3, Oct 2008

            <h4>Editors: <br />
              <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cse.cuhk.edu.hk/~jlee/">Jimmy Lee</a> (events, career news) <br />
              <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sciences.univ-nantes.fr/info/perso/permanents/monfroy/">Eric Monfroy</a> (profiles, publications) <br />
              <a target="_blank" href="http://4c.ucc.ie/~tw/">Toby Walsh</a> (news, reports)</h4>
          </center>

  <h2>Contents</h2>
  <ul>
    <li class="MsoNormal" style="     tab-stops:list 36.0pt"> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a
 href="#news">news</a>: report from the ACP EC, 4C news, EURO Excellence in
      Practice Award 2009, <span class="SpellE">Honours</span> to members of the
      CP Community, Graduate course: Comet and Constraint Programming</span> <span
 lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"></span> </li>
    <li class="MsoNormal" style="     tab-stops:list 36.0pt"> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="#_CONSTRAINTS_Journal_Accepted">CONSTRAINTS
      journal accepted papers</a></span> </li>
    <li class="MsoNormal" style="     tab-stops:list 36.0pt"> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a
 href="#_Constraint_Programming_Letters">Constraint Programming Letters
      journal accepted papers</a></span> </li>
    <li class="MsoNormal" style="     tab-stops:list 36.0pt"> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="#_Other_Publications">other <span>publications</span> </a></span> <span
 lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">: books, software</span> </li>
    <li class="MsoNormal" style="     tab-stops:list 36.0pt"> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a
 href="#_Special_Issues_CFPs">special issues cfps</a>: forthcoming special
      issues deadlines</span> </li>
    <li class="MsoNormal" style="     tab-stops:list 36.0pt"> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a
 href="#events">events</a>: forthcoming conferences and workshops</span> </li>
    <li class="MsoNormal" style="     tab-stops:list 36.0pt"> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a
 href="#career">career news</a>: new PhD, <span class="SpellE">Postdoc</span> ,
      and faculty positions</span></li>
  </ul>
  <h2><a name="news" id="news">News</a></h2>
  <p><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Welcome to CP News, an initiative        of the <a href="http://slash.math.unipd.it/acp/">Association for Constraint        Programming</a>.</span> </p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">We aim to provide a comprehensive        summary of important news in the area of constraint programming. The newsletter        is published quarterly in January, April, July, and October. Please email the        relevant editor with any news, event, report or profile you want published. To        subscribe, please register <a href="http://www.math.unipd.it/cp-online/register">here</a>.</span> </p>
  <p><strong > <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">REPORT FROM THE        ASSOCIATION FOR CONSTRAINT PROGRAMMING</span> </strong></p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">This is a short summary of activities within        the ACP during the months July-September 2008. </span> </p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The current Executive Committee comprises:</span> </p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">          - Officers:<br />
  </span><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Barry O'Sullivan (President), Jimmy        H.M. Lee (Secretary), Thomas        Schiex        (Treasurer),        Pedro        Meseguer        (Conference        Coordinator)         &nbsp;         <br />
    - Other Members:         &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Christian        Bessiere        ,        Francesca Rossi, Christian Schulte, Michael Trick</span> </p>
  <ol>
    <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> Brief        Comment on CP 2008</span> <br />
      <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><br />
    On        behalf of the ACP, the Executive Committee would like to congratulate the        various people responsible for making CP 2008 in                  Sydney                such a success.        Special          thanks goes        to Toby Walsh (Conference Chair), Peter J. Stuckey (Program        Chair), Maurice        Pagnucco        (Local Arrangements Chair), Jimmy        H.M. Lee (Workshop and Tutorial Chair), Roland H.C. Yap and Kostas        Stergiou        (Doctoral        Programme        Co-Chairs),        Barry O'Sullivan (Sponsorship Chair), and Sebastian Brand (Publicity Chair).</span> <br />
    <br />
    <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Helmut        Simonis        has made his <a href="http://4c.ucc.ie/~hsimonis/CP2008/index.htm">photographs</a> of the conference available through the CP 2008 web-site. We thank Helmut for        taking the time for that.<br />
    <br />
    </span> </li>
    <li><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> Results        of the ACP Election 2008</span> <br />
      <br />
      <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Bylaw 5 of the ACP Bylaws (see        <a href="http://www.a4cp.org">www.a4cp.org</a>) dictates the election procedure and rules. 2008 is a transition        year. In this election, we aimed to elect (a) three regular members to a four        year term and (b) two interim members to a two year term. The top three elected        candidates will serve as regular members of the EC (four year term), and the        next two will serve as interim members (two year term).<br />
      <br />
      </span><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The five elected members of the        new ACP EC are the following        CPers        :</span> <br />
    <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">                 - Barry        O'Sullivan, Peter Stuckey, John Hooker (four year term)         &nbsp;         <br />
    - Roland Yap, Karen Petrie (two year        term) </span> <br />
    <br />
    <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Francesca Rossi leaves the ACP EC.        On behalf of the CP community, the ACP-EC would like to thank Francesca for her        tireless work on behalf of the community. Francesca was amongst the people who        set about formally        establing        a representative body        for the international constraints community.<br />
    </span><br /> 
    </li>
    <li><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> ACP        General Assembly 2008</span><br />
      <br />
      <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">During the CP 2008 conference, the        annual ACP General Assembly took place.        &nbsp;        It        was        chaird        by the current ACP President, Barry O'Sullivan,        and was well attended by the community. Various decisions of the ACP were        supported by the membership, and a constructive discussion took place on how to        move the community forward from its current position of strength.        &nbsp;         The minutes for the assembly will be made        available on the ACP web-site.</span><br />
      <br />
    </li>
    <li><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> ACP        CSP Solver Competition</span><br />
      <br />
    <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The General Assembly supported        the EC's proposal to make the CSP Solver Competition an official part of the CP        Conference. The competition will received financial support from the ACP. Furthermore,        since the solver competition only runs every second year, there is room for a modeling        competition. Persons interested in contributing to the various competitions are        invited to contact one of the        organisers        of the 2008 competition,        or <a href="mailto:b.osullivan@cs.ucc.ie">Barry O'Sullivan</a>.</span><br />
      <br />
      <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The ACP would like to thank the        organisers        of this year's competition: Marc van        Dongen        , Christophe        Lecoutre        and        Olivier        Roussel        , as well as the judges and working        group associated with the event.<br />
      <br />
    </span> </li>
    <li><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> Planning        CP Multiple Years Ahead</span> <br />
      <br />
    <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">In order to promote greater        integration with other communities, the ACP-EC will begin planning the location        for CP two years in advance.        &nbsp;        The        proposal was discussed and supported at the General Assembly.        &nbsp;        Therefore, a call for bids for hosting CP 2010        will be send out before Christmas, with a call for bids for the 2011 conference        being circulated later in the year.</span> </li>
  </ol>
  <p><strong > <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">4C News</span> </strong></p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Details <a href="docs/4C.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </span> </p>
  <p><strong > <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">EURO Excellence in        Practice Award 2009</span> </strong></p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Deadline: January 31, 2009</span> </p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">For details, please check <a href="http://www.euro-online.org/display.php?page=bap1" target="_top">here</a> for details.</span> </p>
  <p> <strong  > <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Honours</span> </strong> <strong > <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> to members of the CP Community</span> </strong></p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Pascal Van        Hentenryck        will receive the title of Doctor        Honoris        Causa        from the        Universit&eacute;        catholique        de                  Louvain                on October 8, 2008, along with A.        Fert        (Paris-        Sud        , Nobel Price Physics 2008), R.L        Rivest        (MIT, Turing Award 2002), and J.N.        Tsitsiklis        (MIT).</span> </p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> &nbsp;         9:00-12:00        &nbsp;         Seminar Computing Science and Applied Mathematics<br />
    Invited talks of R.L        Rivest        , J.N.        Tsitsiklis        and P.        Van        Hentenryck        .</span> </p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> &nbsp;        14:00-16:00        &nbsp;         Scientific conferences by A.        Fert        , R.L        Rivest        , J.N.        Tsitsiklis        and P.        Van        Hentenryck        .</span> </p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> &nbsp;        17:00-18:00        &nbsp;         Doctor        Honoris        Causa        Conferment ceremony </span> </p>
  <p><strong > <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Graduate course: Comet and Constraint Programming </span> </strong> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><br />
  by Pascal Van        Hentenryck        (        Brown        University        ) (6-7 October 2008)         <br />
  UCLouvain        ,                  Louvain-la-            Neuve                    ,          Belgium </span> </p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Over        the last two decades, constraint programming (CP) has become a fundamental        approach to combinatorial optimization and is now in daily use around the world        to solve complex        &nbsp;         applications in a variety        of areas such as logistics, manufacturing, and resource allocation.</span> </p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">This        graduate class is an introduction to constraint programming using the        innovative optimization language Comet. It reviews the essence of constraint        programming and how it complements other approaches to combinatorial        optimization. It provides an in-depth study of modeling, filtering, and search        in constraint programming. The functionalities are constraint programming are        illustrated on a variety of realistic applications, highlighting some of the        modeling and computational benefits of constraint        &nbsp;         programming.</span> </p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The        class also studies the architecture of a modern constraint programming system,        including the clean separation between the specification of the search and the        exploration strategy and the transparent parallelization of constraint        programs. Finally, the hybridization of constraint programming and other        optimization        &nbsp;         methodologies is also        discussed.</span> </p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">REGISTRATION        :</span> </p>
  <ul>
    <li><span dir="ltr"><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The course is          open to graduate students and researchers from any university.          &nbsp;           The number of participants is limited to 40          persons.</span> <br />
      <br />
    </span></li>
    <li><span dir="ltr"> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The participation          fee for the graduate course is 50 Euros for students and 100 Euros for non          students.          &nbsp;           It is free for the          GrasComp          graduate students.</span> </span> <br />
      <br />
    </li>
    <li><span dir="ltr"> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Some rooms are          available at nearby hotels.          &nbsp;           More          information available on          Icampus          <a href="http://icampus.grascomp.be/courses/COMP049/">http://icampus.grascomp.be/courses/COMP049/</a></span> </span> <br />
      <br />
    </li>
    <li><span dir="ltr"> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Registration is          mandatory for the graduate course.          &nbsp;           For          information and registration, contact          St&eacute;phanie          Landrain          (          <a href="mailto:sr@info.ucl.ac.be">sr@info.ucl.ac.be</a>          ) or          Yves Deville (          <a href="mailto:yde@info.ucl.ac.be">yde@info.ucl.ac.be</a>          )</span></span></li>
  </ul>
  <h2><a name="_CONSTRAINTS_Journal_Accepted" class="style1" id="_CONSTRAINTS_Journal_Accepted">CONSTRAINTS Journal Accepted Papers</a></h2>
  <p><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The contents of a forthcoming special issue        are listed below.        &nbsp;         Links to the authors'        final versions of these papers (no subscription required) and to the final        published versions (subscription required) can be found <a href="http://ai.uwaterloo.ca/~vanbeek/Constraints/constraints.html">here</a>.</span> </p>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Special Issue on        Quantified        CSPs        and QBF         <br />
  Guest Editors:        Enrico        Giunchiglia        ,        Kostas        Stergiou </span> </p>

  <ul type="disc">
    <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Introduction          to the Special Issue          &nbsp;                      <br />
    Enrico          Giunchiglia          ,          Kostas          Stergiou </span> </li>
      <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Relatively          Quantified Constraint Satisfaction           <br />
      Manuel          Bodirsky          ,          Hubie          Chen</span> </li>
      <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Value          Ordering for Quantified          CSPs                     <br />
      David          Stynes          and Kenneth Brown</span> </li>
      <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">A Solver          for          QBFs          in Negation          Normal          Form           <br />
      Uwe          Egly          , Martina          Seidl          , Stefan          Woltran </span> </li>
      <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">A          Self-Adaptive Multi-Engine Solver for Quantified Boolean Formulas           <br />
      Luca          Pulina          and Armando          Tacchella </span> </li>
      <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Efficient          Handling of Universally Quantified Inequalities           <br />
      Alexandre          Goldsztejn          ,          Claude Michel, Michel          Rueher </span> </li>
  </ul>
  <h2><a name="_Constraint_Programming_Letters" id="_Constraint_Programming_Letters"></a> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Constraint Programming Letters Journal        Accepted Papers</span> </h2>
  <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Constraint Programming Letters (CPL)        provides an international forum for the electronic publication of high-quality        scholarly articles on constraint programming. All published papers are freely        available <a href="http://www.constraint-programming-letters.org/">online</a>.</span> <br />
  <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Volume 4 will be a special issue dedicated        to Autonomous Search. It will be edited by        Youssef        Hamadi        , Eric        Monfroy        , and        Frederic        Saubion        .</span> </p>
  <h2><a name="publications" id="publications2"></a><a name="_Other_Publications" id="_Other_Publications"></a> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Other </span> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Publications</span> </h2>
  <h4> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Book:</span> </h4>

  <ul type="disc">
    <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">&quot;<a href="http://www.lavoisier.fr/notice/fr335183.html">Optimisation par          colonies de fourmis</a>&quot; by Christine          Solnon          ,          in the collection &quot;          Programmation          par          contraintes          &quot;, Hermes-Lavoisier editors           You          can read the introduction <a href="http://www710.univ-lyon1.fr/~csolnon/intro.pdf">here</a>.</span> </li>
  </ul>
  <h4> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Software:</span> </h4>

  <ul type="disc">
    <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">A new          release of CHOCO is available                      <br />
      <br />
    The CHOCO development team is happy to announce the release of the new          version of its open-source constraint solver: CHOCO V2.                      <br />
    <br />
    CHOCO is Java library that can be used for:           &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
       - teaching (a user-oriented          constraint solver with open-source code)           &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
       - research (state-of-the-art          algorithms and techniques, user-defined constraints, domains and          variables)           &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
       - real-life applications (many          application now embed CHOCO          )                                <br />
       <br />
      CHOCO is final-user oriented. It has been under heavy refactoring from V1          to V2. New constraints, new features have been added.                      <br />
      <br />
      CHOCO V2 is available online with a complete documentation, tutorials,          various materials, forums, etc.<br />
      <br />                      
      Please visit <a href="http://choco.emn.fr/">here</a> for downloading and          more information.<br />
      <br />

  • Microsoft Solver Foundation

    Microsoft Solver Foundation is a brand new framework and managed code runtime for mathematical programming, modeling, and optimization. It is designed to run on NETfx 3.5+ and is completely implemented in C#. Solver Foundation is useable from all CLS-compliant languages, including F#, IronPython , VB.NET and C++. It is also available via a visual, Add-in Designer for Excel 2007 users. Solver Foundation provides solvers and services for modeling and solving to a broad community of users: from Excel users and analysts to programmers working on business critical scheduling, configuration, risk management, and planning solutions. It provides services for model checking, parallel solving and workload scheduling, model interchange, and declarative data binding via LINQ and other NETFx technologies. As an open framework designed for third party extensibility, it exposes facilities for users to plug-in their own solvers while still leveraging all of the modeling services and capabilities of Solver Foundation.

    Solver Foundation consists of a series of layered services that efficiently divide the work of modeling and solving. This allows for maximal separation of concerns in the design and future proofs Solver Foundation. As innovations in solver technology emerge, they can be transparently and easily integrated into the runtime and framework without refactoring or recompilation. The service layers include:  

    - Programming and Modeling Services for NETfx Developers and Excel 2007 users

    - Solver Foundation Services for model interchange, feasibility analysis, and declarative parallel solving
    - Solver Runtime and Extensibility Services for third party solver integration and coordination  

    Solver Foundation is delivered with a complete range of solvers written in managed code. These solvers cover several families of numerical and symbolic programming, including:  

    - Revised, Simplex Linear and Mixed Integer Programming (Primal and Dual Simplex)  
    - Interior Point Method Linear and Quadratic Programming  
    - Constraint Programming with Exhaustive Tree and Local Search Techniques  
    - Compact, Quasi-Newton (L-BFGS) Nonlinear Programming

    With the advent of multi- and many-core hardware, Solver Foundation is automatically used to efficiently utilize those resources for parallel computation of solutions. This automatic parallelism is both declarative and transparent. No changes to the model or host application are required. Any changes to the runtime are communicated via the directives mechanism thereby totally isolating the model developer from any knowledge of multi-threaded, concurrent programming. Solver Foundation is designed to run out-of-box with self-tuning heuristics for selection of solvers and their configurations - removing the burden on developers in creating solutions and speeding time to market.

    The RTM version is expected for the end of this year.

    Please visit here for more details.
  • Special Issues CFPs

      <ul type="disc">
        <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Special          Issue on Parallel SAT Solving <br />
        <a href="http://jsat.ewi.tudelft.nl/">Journal of Satisfiability</a> <br />
          Deadline for paper submission: November 30th, 2008                      <br />
          <br />
          Guest Editors:           <br />
          Youssef          Hamadi          ,          Microsoft Research, <a href="mailto:youssefh@microsoft.com">youssefh@microsoft.com</a> </span> <br />
          <br />
        </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Recent          Advances in Constraints           <br />
          Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, Springer                      <br />
          <br />
          Post-proceedings of the CSCLP 2008 workshop held in                      Rome            ,            Italy                    ,          June 18-20 2008; open to new submissions.                      <br />
          <br />
          Editors: Francois          Fages          , Angelo          Oddi          , and Francesca Rossi.                      <br />
          <br />
          This book will continue a series edited by LNAI since 2002 as          post-proceedings of the annual workshop on Constraint Solving and          Constraint Logic Programming CSCLP of the ERCIM Working Group on          Constraints.<br />
          <br />                      
          Many of the papers presented at CSCLP 2008 are of interest to a wider          audience and the intention of this book is to make them more widely          accessible. Authors of papers that have been presented at the workshop are          therefore invited to submit final versions that take into account the          discussion at the workshop for this volume.                      <br />
          <br />
          In addition, we give an opportunity for other papers to appear in this          volume, even when they have not been presented at the workshop.                      <br />
          <br />
          All submissions will be peer-reviewed. Submission of a paper implies          implicit agreement to review several other submissions by the          deadline.          &nbsp;                                 <br />
          <br />
          Important dates:           &nbsp;           <br />
          &nbsp; October 24, 2008: papers due           &nbsp;           <br />
          &nbsp; November 30, 2008: reviews due           &nbsp;           <br />
          &nbsp; December 15, 2008: notification           &nbsp;           <br />
          &nbsp; January 15, 2009: final papers due                      <br />
          <br />
          Papers should be formatted in Springer LNCS style and should not exceed 15          pages in that format.                      <br />
          <br />
          Please submit papers in .          pdf          format on          EasyChair          before Friday October 24.           <br />
          &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=rac08">http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=rac08</a> <br />
          <br />
          Francois          Fages, Angelo          Oddi,          and Francesca Rossi</span> </li>
      </ul>
      <h2></h2>
      <h2><a name="events" class="style1" id="events">Events</a></h2>
    
      <ul type="disc">
        <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://nirvana.informatik.uni-halle.de/~schwarz/wlp2008/">WLP 2008</a>,          22nd Workshop on (Constraint) Logic Programming, September 30 - October 1,          2008,                      Dresden            ,            Germany                    .          &nbsp;                      &nbsp; </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://dblab.cs.wright.edu/ictai2008/">ICTAI 2008</a>,          The          20th IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE on TOOLS with          ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, November 3-5, 2008,                      Dayton            ,            Ohio            ,            USA                    .          &nbsp;                      &nbsp; </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.cs.kuleuven.be/~dtai/LaSh08">LaSh08</a>, WORKSHOP ON          LOGIC AND SEARCH: Computation of structures from declarative descriptions,          November 6-7, 2008,                      Leuven            ,            Belgium                    .          &nbsp; </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.qatar.cmu.edu/lpar08/">LPAR 2008</a>, 15th International          Conference on Logic for          &nbsp;&nbsp;           Programming, Artificial Intelligence and Reasoning, November 22-27,          2008,                      Doha            ,            Qatar                    .          &nbsp; </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.ai08.org/">AI 2008</a>, Twenty-first Australasian Joint          Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 1 - 5 December, 2008, Auckland, New          Zealand.          &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.it.uu.se/research/group/astra/ATM-CT/">ATM-CT 2008</a>,          International Workshop on Constraint Technology for Air Traffic Control          &amp; Management, 2 December, 2008,          EuroControl          Experimental Centre,          Br&eacute;tigny          sur          Orge          , Paris,          France.          &nbsp;           Proposal deadline: November          15, 2008. </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Fourth          Doctoral Consortium, <a href="http://www.cs.kuleuven.be/~toms/DC2008/">ICLP'08</a>,          24th International Conference on Logic Programming, December 9th-13th,          2008,          Udine          ,                      Italy                    .          &nbsp; </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.dis.uniroma1.it/~rcra08">15th RCRA workshop</a>:          Experimental evaluation of algorithms for solving problems with          combinatorial explosion (co-located with <a href="http://www.cs.kuleuven.be/~toms/DC2008/">ICLP'08</a>), December          9th-13th, 2008,                      Udine            ,            Italy                    .          &nbsp;           Abstract submission deadline: 1          September, 2008.          &nbsp; </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.mat.unical.it/ASPOCP08/">ASPOCP 2008</a>, Workshop on          Answer Set Programming and Other Computing Paradigms (a workshop of          ICLP'08), December 13th, 2008,                      Udine            ,            Italy                    . </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://iclp08.dimi.uniud.it/">ICLP'08</a>, 24th International          Conference on Logic Programming, December 9th-13th, 2008,          Udine          ,                      Italy                    .          &nbsp; </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://emfs1.eps.hw.ac.uk/~ceeyrp/PlanSIG/">PlanSIG 2008</a>, the          27th Workshop of the UK PLANNING AND SCHEDULING Special Interest Group,          December 11-12, 2008, Edinburgh, UK.          &nbsp;           Submissions: October 13th 2008 to <a href="mailto:ruth@macs.hw.ac.uk">ruth@macs.hw.ac.uk</a>. </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.it.msu.ac.th/miwai2008/index.html">MIWAI 2008</a>,          The          Second          Mahasarakham          International Workshop on AI, December 12-13, 2008,                                    Mahasarakham                        ,            Thailand                    .          &nbsp;           Papers due: November 8, 2008. </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.jaist.ac.jp/PRICAI-08/">PRICAI 2008</a>, Tenth Pacific          Rim International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 15-19 December,          2008,                      Hanoi            ,            Vietnam                    .          &nbsp; </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://ics09.meetings.informs.org/">ICS 2009</a>, INFORMS COMPUTING          SOCIETY 2009 CONFERENCE, January 11-13, 2009,                      Charleston            ,            South Carolina                    .          &nbsp;           Abstract submission deadline: November          1, 2008. </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.intelligent-optimization.org/LION3">LION 3</a>, Learning          and Intelligent Optimization Conference, 14-18 January, 2009.                      Trento            ,            Italy                    .          &nbsp;           Paper submission deadline: 15 October,          2008. </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://cs.uni-muenster.de/vmcai09">VMCAI 2009</a>,          The          Tenth International Conference on Verification,          Model Checking, and Abstract Interpretation, January 18-20, 2009,                      Savannah            ,            GA            ,            USA                    . </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.clip.dia.fi.upm.es/Conferences/PEPM09">PEPM 2009</a>, ACM          SIGPLAN Workshop on Partial Evaluation and Program Manipulation, January          19-20, 2009,          Savannah          ,          Georgia          ,                      USA                    .          &nbsp;           Abstract due: October 12, 2008, and          Submission due:          &nbsp;          October 17, 2008. </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Track on <a href="http://www.sci.unich.it/~bista/organizing/constraint-sac2009/">Constraint          Solving and Programming</a> (part of the 24th Annual ACM Symposium on          Applied Computing), March 8 - 12, 2009,          Waikiki          Beach          ,                      Honolulu            ,            Hawaii            ,            USA                    .          &nbsp; </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.brics.dk/~mis/CC2009/">CC 2009</a>, International          Conference on Compiler Construction, March 22-29, 2009,                      York            ,            United Kingdom                    .          &nbsp;           Abstracts are due on October 2, 2008,          and the deadline for full paper submission is October 9, 2008. </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.ieee-ssci.org/index.php?q=node/13">CI-Sched 2009</a>,          2009 IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence in Scheduling, March 30          - April 2, 2009, Sheraton Music City Hotel, Nashville, TN, USA.          &nbsp;           Submission Deadline: October 31, 2008. </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://ktiml.mff.cuni.cz/~bartak/FLAIRS2009/">FLAIRS 2009</a>,          Special Track on AI PLANNING AND SCHEDULING, 22nd International          Florida          Artificial Intelligence Research          Society Conference, 19th-21st May, 2009,                      Sanibel Island            ,            Florida            ,            USA                    .          &nbsp;           Paper submission deadline: 23rd          November, 2008. </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://ai2009.site.uottawa.ca/">AI'09</a>, Twenty-second Canadian          Conference on Artificial Intelligence, May 25-27, 2009,                      Kelowna            ,            British Columbia                    .          &nbsp;           Paper submission due: January 23rd,          2009. </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.cpaior.org/">CP-AI-OR 2009</a>, Sixth International          Conference on Integration of Artificial Intelligence and Operations          Research Techniques in Constraint Programming for Combinatorial          Optimization Problems, May 27-31, 2009, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.          &nbsp;           January 10, 2009 - Abstract due for full          papers.          &nbsp;           January 16, 2009 - Full          papers due. </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://ijcai-09.org/">IJCAI-09</a>, Twenty-First International Joint          Conference on Artificial Intelligence, July 11-17, 2009,                      Pasadena            ,            California            ,            USA                    .          &nbsp;           Tutorial proposal submission: October          13, 2008 (11:59PM, PDT).          &nbsp;           Workshop          proposal submission: October 13, 2008 (11:59PM, PDT).          &nbsp;           Electronic abstract submission: January          7, 2009 (11:59PM, PST).          &nbsp;           Electronic          paper submission: January 12, 2009 (11:59PM, PST).          &nbsp;           Workshop paper submission: March 6, 2009          (11:59PM, PST). </span> </li>
          <li> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://complogic.cs.mcgill.ca/cade22/">CADE-22</a>, 22nd          International Conference on Automated Deduction, August 2-7, 2009, McGill          University, Montreal, Canada.          &nbsp;           Submission Deadline: 23 Feb, 2009</span></li>
      </ul>
      <h2><a name="career" class="style1" id="career">Career news</a></h2>
      <p><strong  ><span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">POSTDOC AND PHD OPPORTUNITIES IN        HONG KONG </span> </strong><strong  > <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE"> </span> </strong></p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.cse.cuhk.edu.hk/">Department        of Computer Science and Engineering</a>, <a href="http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/"> The        Chinese University of Hong Kong</a>, Hong Kong.</span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">We        are looking for motivated        Postdoc        fellows and PhD        students to work on constraint projects related to problem modeling, local        search, over-constrained problems, global constraints, <em>etc</em>.        &nbsp;         The ideal candidate for        Postdoc        fellowship should hold a PhD or equivalent qualification, and should normally        have no more than 5 years of post-doctoral experience. Good track record in        constraint related research is desirable.        &nbsp;         A PhD applicant should hold a good undergraduate/master&rsquo;s degree in        computer science or related disciplines.</span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">If        the        Postdoc        fellow is not a Hong Kong resident, a        valid visa to work in        Hong Kong        must be        obtained before the appointment takes effect. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The        PhD studentship is around HK$12,500 per month.        &nbsp;         Monthly salary for the        Postdoc        fellow        commences at HK$23,160 per month (US$1 = HK$7.8), i.e. HK$277,920 per annum,        and        commensurates        with qualification.        &nbsp;         Hong Kong        also enjoys a low tax rate of 15% maximum.        &nbsp;         There is no tax for PhD studentship.        &nbsp;         The appointment of the        Postdoc        fellowship will        be initially for one year, but can be renewed for another year subject to        satisfactory performance.        &nbsp;         Other benefits        include annual leave, out-patient, and dental benefits.</span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">We        have an active research group of moderate size working on constraint        programming.        &nbsp;         Current topics of interest        include, but not limited to, search algorithms (systematic, local, hybrid),        problem modeling (channeling constraints), over-constrained problems (weighted        CSPs        ), symmetry breaking, global constraints, and real-life        applications of the above.</span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The        University is situated in        Shatin        , an outskirt area of        Hong Kong        with convenient transportation into        the city.        &nbsp;         The campus is built on a        hill-side spanning 134 hectares of land with beautiful surroundings and        landscape.</span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Interested        candidates should contact <a href="mailto:%20jlee@cse.cuhk.edu.hk">Prof. Jimmy        Lee</a> with their updated CVs.</span> </p>
      <p><strong > <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">Post-doc position in the area of optimization applied to bioinformatics                               <br />
      Orsay                    ,          France </span> </strong></p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">1 Post-doc position is open in the area of        optimization applied to bioinformatics in                              Orsay                    ,          France                .</span> </p>
      <p><u> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Context</span> </u> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">:         <br />
      Optimization and search methods for combinatorial or mixed discrete-continuous        problems are reaching a mature state that allows users to tackle real-world        problems in an efficient way. However, both exact methods (e.g. Constraint        Programming) and heuristic and meta-heuristic approaches (e.g. Evolutionary        Algorithms) have to face the critical issue of parameter tuning, that remains        problem- and even instance-dependent, and requires past experience of the        algorithm being used.</span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The selected candidate will reinforce the        Adaptive Combinatorial Search project, whose objective is to set up automatic        tuning methods for search algorithms in e-science, allowing scientists who have        little knowledge of the search technique itself to nevertheless solve their        optimization problem without the need for some &quot;optimization        engineer&quot;.</span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Relying on Machine Learning and statistical        techniques, the project addresses both off-line and on-line tuning issues, at        the problem level as well as at the instance level. The target algorithms are        Constraint Programming, building on the expertise of the Constraint Reasoning        Group at MSR, and meta-heuristics, with a particular emphasis on Evolutionary        Algorithms, one research area of the TAO project-team at INRIA        Futurs        .</span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The position will be located at the new        INRIA-Microsoft Joint lab in                              Orsay                    ,          France                (<a href="http://www.msr-inria.inria.fr">http://www.msr-inria.inria.fr</a>).</span> </p>
      <p><u> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Suitable Profiles</span> </u> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">:         <br />
      Post-doc candidates *must have completed their PhD*. Ideal candidates should        have a strong experience in bio-informatics, search, and Machine Learning.         <br />
      * Competencies: Computational Biology, Constraint Programming, Meta-heuristics,        Machine Learning.         <br />
      * Technical skills: C, C++, C#,        Matlab        .         <br />
      * Additional competencies: French.</span> </p>
      <p><u> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Salary</span> </u> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">:         <br />
      Standard French public Post-doc package.</span> </p>
      <p><u> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Contact</span> </u> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">:         <br />
      Send full CV and at least two letters of reference to '        youssefh        at        microsoft        dot com'.</span> </p>
      <h2><a name="_Report" id="_Report"></a> <span class="style2" lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">Logic and Optimization Post-Doctoral        Position                 <br />
      Simon        Fraser        University        ,                  Canada </span> </h2>      
      <p><span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">Applications are invited for a        Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Logic and Optimization, in the Computational Logic        Laboratory at                  Simon          Fraser          University                .        &nbsp;         Applicants should have a PhD in computing        science or a related field, ability to work on problems in both logic and        discrete optimization, and should enjoy working in both theoretical and applied        settings.</span>       </p>
      <p><span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">The successful candidate will        play a central role in a project to extend a problem modelling and solving        framework and system for search problems to handle optimization problems.        &nbsp;         Working within a dedicated team including two        faculty members, several PhD students, and scientists employed by our        industrial partner, he or she will help tackle significant theoretical and        practical challenges.        &nbsp;         Interested        applicants are encouraged to contact the project principals for further details        on project plans and goals.        For general project information          see <a href="http://www.cs.sfu.ca/research/groups/mxp/">here</a>. </span>      </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">Knowledge or interest in several        of the following would be of value:</span> </p>
      <ul>
        <li><span dir="ltr"> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">integer linear programming and applications</span> </span> </li>
        <li><span dir="ltr"> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">finite model theory and descriptive complexity</span> </span> </li>
        <li><span dir="ltr"><span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">logic and databases or database query processing</span> </span> </li>
        <li><span dir="ltr"> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">constraint or algebraic modelling languages</span> </span> </li>
        <li><span dir="ltr"> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">design and use of solvers for ILP/SAT/CSP/SMT/CLP</span> </span> </li>
        <li><span dir="ltr"> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">experimental evaluation of algorithms or solvers</span> </span> </li>
        <li><span dir="ltr"> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">knowledge representation or theorem proving</span> </span> </li>
      </ul>
      <p> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">Candidates should also expect to        play a lead role in writing papers, should have sufficient C++ programming        experience to take part in software development, and to supervise graduate students.</span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">The position is to commence as        soon as possible after a candidate is chosen.        &nbsp;         Salary is to be between CDN $45,000 and $60,000, depending upon        qualifications and experience.        &nbsp;         The initial        appointment will be for one year, with possibility of extension.</span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">Simon</span> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE"> Fraser        University        is located atop        Burnaby        Mountain        in                  Vancouver          ,          Canada                .</span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">Vancouver</span> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE"> thrives as a scenic        waterfront city located just minutes away from the mountains and a wide range        of outdoor activities.                  Vancouver                's        cultural and intellectual pursuits, leisure opportunities, favourable climate,        and clean and safe environment are consistently cited as quality of life        factors that make it one of the most desirable places in the world to live and        work.</span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">Interested applicants should        contact one of project leaders at the earliest opportunity:</span> </p>
      <blockquote>
        <p> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE"> Eugenia        Ternovska <a href="mailto:ter@cs.sfu.ca">mailto:ter@cs.sfu.ca</a> <br />
          David Mitchell <a href="mailto:mitchell@cs.sfu.ca">mailto:mitchell@cs.sfu.ca</a></span> </p>
      </blockquote>
      <p> <span lang="EN-IE" xml:lang="EN-IE">Please forward to any interested        parties.</span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><strong>Faculty        position in        Orl&eacute;ans        , FRANCE</strong></span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">In 2009,        the LIFO (        Laboratoire        d'Informatique        Fondamentale        d'Orl&eacute;ans        )        will be inviting applications for a tenured full professor position in computer        science.        &nbsp;         In accordance with the        french        academic system, this position carries both teaching        and research duties.</span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The <a href="http://www.univ-orleans.fr/lifo/">LIFO</a> is a computer science research        lab at the                              university                     of <a href="http://www.univ-orleans.fr/">Orl&eacute;ans</a> </span> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">in France, and is composed of 4 research                      groups:</span></p>
      <ul>
        <li><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><span dir="ltr">Constraints                          and Machine Learning </span> </span> </li>
        <li><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><span dir="ltr"> Parallelism,                          Virtual Reality, and Verification </span> </span></li>
        <li><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><span dir="ltr"> Graphs                          and Algorithms </span> </span></li>
        <li><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><span dir="ltr"> Security                          of Distributed Systems </span> </span> </li>
      </ul>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> The                        candidate is expected to join one of the first 3 groups.                        &nbsp;                         However, priority will be given to a                        recruitment in the &quot;Constraints and Machine Learning&quot; group.                        &nbsp;                         We especially welcome applications from                        candidates with expertise in the field of constraints or/and computational                        linguistics (NLP), possibly also statistical machine learning. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> IMPORTANT:                        before s/he can be allowed to apply for such a position, a candidate MUST apply                        for &quot;qualification&quot;.                        &nbsp;                         Information about this procedure can be found <u> <a href="http://www.education.gouv.fr/personnel/enseignant_superieur/enseignant_chercheur/default.htm">online </a></u> .                        &nbsp;                         This MUST be done before <u> <a href="http://www.education.gouv.fr/personnel/enseignant_superieur/enseignant_chercheur/calendrier_qualification.htm">Oct 14 </a></u> .                        &nbsp;                         In order to be granted &quot;qualification&quot; you either need a                        &quot;habilitation&quot; or a research career which can be accepted as                        equivalent. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> If                        you may be interested, you need to act NOW!                         <br />
      ASAP contact: <a href="mailto:denys.duchier@univ-orleans.fr ">denys.duchier@univ-orleans.fr </a><a href="mailto:denys.duchier@univ-orleans.fr"></a></span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><strong> Internship                        position in // SAT </strong></span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> We                        are opening a three-months internship position to work on parallel SAT.                        &nbsp;                         The main work location is Cambridge (UK), but                        the candidate will have to travel to Redmond (US) at the beginning of her                        internship.                        &nbsp;                         The objective of the work is                        to study and implement innovative parallel search techniques. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> Required                        skills: C++, C#. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> Optional                        skills: Windows threads, MPI, knowledge of classical parallel search                        techniques. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> Agenda:                        Please contact Youssef Hamadi (youssefh at microsoft dot com) asap. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><strong> Post-doc                        opportunity at 4C, Ireland </strong></span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> <u> <a href="http://4c.ucc.ie">Cork Constraint Computation Centre (4C) </a></u> ,                        University College Cork, is looking for a post-doctoral researcher to work on a                        constraint application project                        &nbsp;                         for                        generating personalized TV schedules. Experience in finite domain constraint                        solving is required, Java and GUI design experience is welcome.                        &nbsp;                         The project is funded by Enterprise Ireland,                        pay is between 40,000 and 46,000 Euro. We would like the position to be taken                        up as soon as possible.                        &nbsp;                         For more                        information, contact <u> <a href="mailto:h.simonis@4c.ucc.ie">Helmut Simonis </a></u>at 4C.                        &nbsp; </span> </p>
      <p><a href="mailto:h.simonis@4c.ucc.ie" class="style3">SFI                        President of Ireland Young Researcher Award (PIYRA) </a></p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> Outstanding                        candidates who are interested in applying for the <u> <a href="http://www.sfi.ie/content/content.asp?section_id=516&amp;language_id=1">SFI President of Ireland Young Researcher Award (PIYRA)</a></u>,                        and whose research interests overlap those of the <u> <a href="http://4c.ucc.ie">Cork                            Constraint Computation Centre </a></u> (broadly speaking Artificial                        Intelligence, Constraint Programming, Decision Support) are encouraged to                        contact: <a href="mailto:e.freuder@4c.ucc.ie">Prof. Gene Freuder </a>. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><strong> Postdoc                position MBARI, California </strong></span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> The                Autonomous System group at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)                invites applications for 1 postdoc position. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> <u> <a href="http://www.mbari.org/" target="_blank">MBARI </a></u>is a private non-profit                Oceanographic research institute located in Moss Landing, California, in the                heart of the largest marine sanctuary in the United States, just outside                Silicon Valley. The institute is an inter-disciplinary research institution                guided by a strong peer relationship between scientists, engineers and marine                operations staff. MBARI pioneered the use of Remotely Operated Vehicles ( <u> <a href="http://www.mbari.org/dmo/vessels_vehicles/tiburon/tiburon.html">ROVs </a></u>) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles ( <u> <a href="http://www.mbari.org/auv/default.htm">AUVs</a></u>) for deep ocean research and                continues to be at the cutting edge of marine robotics, marine sensor development,                ocean chemistry, marine geology, micro-biology and ecology. </span> </p>
      <p><u> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> Research                Focus: </span> </u></p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> The                Autonomous Systems group is uniquely placed as being the only Artificial                Intelligence group within an operational oceanographic setting anywhere. The                focus of the groups effort is in automated reasoning for embodied robust                intelligence for AUVs with a focus on Automated Planning, Execution,                Constraint-Based Reasoning and Machine Learning. The core development effort is                to enable adaptive control for AUVs to survey, sample and characterize dynamic                and episodic ocean phenomenon such as Harmful Algal Blooms, Fronts and Thin                Layers which have <u> <a href="http://www.mbari.org/autonomy/TREX/" target="_blank">substantial societal impact</a></u>. Further                efforts are underway to study the feasibility of goal-based commanding for                underwater feature-based SLAM, mixed-initiative platform control and                multi-vehicle coordination. </span> </p>
      <p><u> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> Research                Environment: </span> </u></p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> The                Autonomous Systems group was established in 2005 by researchers from NASA with                extensive background in commanding spacecraft including the twin Mars Rovers                Spirit and Opportunity. A strong inter-disciplinary effort with biological                oceanographers at MBARI and others outside has driven the design and deployment                of a hybrid executive* which enables an AUV to adaptively sample the                environment using Planning and Machine Learning techniques to inform dynamic                in-situ behavior. Publishing in peer-reviewed conferences and journals in AI,                Robotics and the Ocean Sciences and interacting with scientists in the fields                of biology, chemistry, ecology, genetics, ocean physics, marine robotics is an                important aspect of the research effort. The group collaborates with AI and                Robotics researchers in academia in the US and Europe and hosts visiting                graduate students and researchers from within the US and Europe. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> Key                topic areas of interest for this position are: </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> 1.                Automated Planning and Execution                 <br />
      2. Scheduling                 <br />
      3. Machine Learning                  <br />
      4. Constraint-based Reasoning                 <br />
      5. Distributed Planning </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> Applicants                are encouraged to communicate with the PI for project feasibility and relevance                to ongoing MBARI research. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to                apply. Details of the application process are <u> here </u> . The deadline for applications is <strong>December                11th 2008</strong>. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> 1.                &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;                 McGann, C., Py, F., Rajan, K., Ryan, J.,                Thomas, H., Henthorn, R., and McEwen, R. &ldquo;Preliminary Results for Model-Based                Adaptive Control of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle&rdquo;                &nbsp;                 Intnl. Symposium on Experimental Robotics                (ISER) (Athens, Greece, 2008). </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> 2.                &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;                 McGann, C., Py, F., Rajan, K., Ryan, J.,                and Henthorn, R. &ldquo;Adaptive Control for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles&rdquo;                &nbsp;                 In Proc. Assoc. for the Advancement of Arti&iuml;&not;&#129;cial                Intelligence, National Conference (AAAI) (Chicago, IL, 2008). </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> 3.                &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;                 McGann, C., Py, F., Rajan, K., Thomas, H.,                Henthorn, R., and McEwen, R. &ldquo;A Deliberative Architecture for AUV Control&rdquo; In                Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)                (Pasadena, CA, May 2008). </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> 4.                &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;                 McGann, C., Py, F., Rajan, K., Thomas, H.,                Henthorn, R., and McEwen, R., &ldquo;Automated Decision Making For a New Class of AUV                Science&rdquo;, In ASLO/Ocean Sciences, Florida, 2008. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> 5.                &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;                 Py, F., Ryan, J., Rajan, K., McGann, C.,                Fox, M, &ldquo;Adaptive Water Sampling from an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle based on                Unsupervised Clustering&rdquo;, In ASLO/Ocean Sciences, Florida, 2008 </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><strong> POSTDOC            POSITION on CONSTRAINT REASONING             <br />
      University of Padova, Italy </strong></span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> The            constraint reasoning group of the University of Padova (Italy), led by prof.            Francesca Rossi, is looking for a motivated Postdoc fellow to work on constraint            issues related to &quot;Modelling and solving soft constraint problems with            incompleteness, imprecision, and instability&quot;.            &nbsp;             Relevant research topics include preference            reasoning, decision making under uncertainty, sensitivity and risk analysis,            parameter assessment, preference elicitation, and multi-agent preference            reasoning. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> The            candidate should hold a PhD or equivalent qualification.            &nbsp;             A good track record in constraint related            research is desirable.            &nbsp; </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> The            appointment will be initially for two years, but it can be renewed for another            two years subject to satisfactory performance and available funds. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> The            constraint reasoning group of the University of Padova is an active research            group working on several aspects of constraint programming and multi-agent            preference aggregation.            &nbsp;             Current topics            of interest include, but are not limited to, soft constraints, preference            modelling, preference elicitation, multi-agent preference aggregation,            computational social choice, stable matching. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> Padova            is a pleasant city with a population of 250.000, located in the north-east of            Italy. The University of Padova, founded in 1222, is a very large university            (about 60.000 students) with a long tradition of high quality research in many            areas.            &nbsp;             The Department of Pure and Applied            Mathematics is located in a new building which is walking distance to the            center of town. </span> </p>
      <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> The            formal call will be opened in December, with deadline in mid January.            &nbsp;             Candidates will be evaluated on the basis of            their            cv            and of a colloquium with a local committee.            Salary is about 16000 EUR a year. </span> </p>
    <p> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"> Interested            candidates should contact<a href="mailto:frossi@math.unipd.it"> Francesca Rossi</a> as soon as possible and            send their updated CVs.            &nbsp;             Further            information about the formal call will be communicated in due time.   </span> </p>