Doctoral Mentoring Consortium at the Sixteenth International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems

Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

Investigators

Abstract

This grant supports student travel for select students participating in the Doctoral Mentoring Consortium (DMC) at the Thirteenth International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS), Singapore, May 8-12, 2017. This is the premier international conference for researchers in agents and multi-agent systems (MAS) across a fully international research community. This consortium is oriented on research and career development for students who have identified their PhD topics and are just embarking on that independent research. The central activities for the DMC include opportunities for students to present and discuss their work with their peers; interaction with an identified group of senior researchers for advice on Ph.D. research, a career panel to discuss career choices in industry and academia, small group activities led by assigned mentors, and a great deal of opportunity for interactions with the international research community in AAMAS, which might lead to future collaborative activity. In addition, the DMC includes a tutorial program with full-day and half-day tutorials that will provide detailed overviews of specific subfields by leading researchers in the field. Sponsoring student travel to AAMAS conveys many benefits beyond the DMC program. The sponsored students have full access to a well-developed AAMAS workshop and conference program covering a diverse range of research areas in this community. This is an opportunity for students to engage in discussion with scientists from around the world and to explore new research directions and topics. This year AAMAS also includes unique conference activities in Robotics, Virtual Agents, Innovative Applications and Special Challenges and Visions. Students also have the opportunity to attend the Demonstrations track. Such demonstrations of agent technologies and agent-related software and hardware are a significant source of motivation and inspiration to budding researchers. AAMAS is the major international conference that will figure prominently in the research careers of students who remain involved in agents and MAS. Students gain valuable research insights from the exchange of technical ideas in this broader venue. In the process, they make valuable connections with potential collaborators from around the world. As intelligent software and embodies systems become more prevalent, it is clear that advances in intelligent agent technology will have significant impact in a wide range of domains, including such national priorities as health and wellbeing, e-commerce, and national defense.