Second Call for Participation
2nd INTERNATIONAL CONVERSATIONAL INTELLIGENCE SUMMER SCHOOL
CISS 2019
Lowell, USA
June 24-29, 2019
http://ciss.deephack.me/
Co-organized by:
Text Machine Lab, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Neural Networks and Deep Learning Lab, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
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UPDATE (Fri, Apr 26):
- A few additional spots open for non-student participants! Please use eventbrite to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-international-conversational-intelligen...
UPDATE (Wed, Feb 20):
- Maximum number of participants: 50
- Student pre-registration is now open. Register to receive qualifying round problems! Qualifying round starts on February 25, 2019
- Non-student registartion is now open. Please note that a substantial number of seats will be reserved for students, so please register early to ensure your space!
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SCOPE:
Recent advances in deep learning have sparked a renewed interest in dialogue systems in the research community. We are happy to announce the 2nd international Conversational Intelligence Summer School. The school is planned as a one-week intensive program that includes (1) lecture instruction and programming tutorials, (2) invited lectures by guest speakers and (3) supervised project work. Instruction will include an introduction to the principles of deep neural networks application for natural language processing, including recurrent and convolutional networks, sequence-to-sequence encoder-decoder architectures with attention, as well as vector space lexical embeddings, and other advanced topics. Participants will work in teams to build working prototypes for conversational agents, to be presented at the end of the school. Hosted by UMass Lowell, this summer school offers participants a chance to build solid understanding of core conversational AI concepts and techniques.
AUDIENCE:
The intended audience of this summer school consists of 1st and 2nd year PhD and Masters’ students, advanced undergraduate students, and industry practitioners. Required background: one semester of machine learning, with some exposure to neural network models, background in natural language processing is not required but desirable. Overall, CISS particularly encourages young researchers and students to apply. This is your chance get hands-on skills in conversation modelling and learn about state-of-the-art techniques in this exciting field.
STRUCTURE:
A one-week intensive program that includes instruction and programming tutorials in the morning, invited speaker colloquiums after lunch, followed by supervised project work in the late afternoon.
See tentative schedule: http://ciss.deephack.me
VENUE:
СISS 2019 will be held at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA (located in the Greater Boston area). UMass Lowell is a public research university and the second largest campus in the University of Massachusetts system, located 25 miles north of Boston on the picturesque Merrimack river.
LOCATION:
The city of Lowell combines the natural beauty of scenic river banks with a rich history as a mill town and an early textile manufacturing center during the industrial revolution, with many of the 19th c. manufacturing sites preserved in the Lowell National Historical Park. Lowell is easily accessible from both Logan International and Manchester Airports.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
Jason Weston, Facebook AI Research
Alexander Rush, Dept of Computer Science, Harvard University
João Sedoc, Dept of Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania
Kate Saenko, Dept of Computer Science, Boston University
ORGANIZERS:
Mikhail Burtsev, Neural Networks and Deep Learning Lab, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Anna Rumshisky, Text Machine Lab, Dept of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell
IMPORTANT DATES:
February 15, 2019 - Registration opens.
February 25, 2019 - Problems for the qualifying round released.
March 25, 2019 - Solutions for the qualifying round due.
April 5, 2019 - Admission notification.
April 15, 2019 - Registration closes.
June 24-29, 2019 - Conversational Intelligence Summer School
REGISTRATION:
Registration will open February 15, 2019. Information about registration will be available at http://ciss.deephack.me/.
Participants will be selected using a set of qualifying problems. Problems for the qualifying round will be released on February 25, 2019. The application deadline is March 25, 2019. Maximum number of participants: 50.
FEES:
Participation is free for students.
Academic researchers: $450 USD
Industry participants: $900 USD
ACCOMMODATION:
Accommodations in the River Hawk Village residence hall will be provided free of charge to student participants. For non-students, accommodations will be available upon request.
TRAVEL GRANTS:
A limited number of travel grants will be available to assist admitted students with travel expenses.
CERTIFICATE:
A certificate of participation in the event will be awarded to all participants upon successful completion.
QUESTIONS AND FURTHER INFORMATION:
ciss [at] deephack.me
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