Second ISAL Summer School
The International Society for Artificial Life is organizing the Second ISAL Summer School on Artificial Life, hosted by ECAL 2015 on Monday 20 July at the University of York. This school is open to all ECAL participants whose registration includes attendance on Monday.
Curriculum Overview
| 09:30 - 09:40 | Welcome and introduction |
| 09:40 - 11:00 | Introduction to the Modeling and Analysis of Complex Systems |
| 11:30 - 12:50 | Autonomic Management in Open Multi-Objective Computing Networks |
| 14:00 - 15:20 | Historical and Philosophical Perspectives on Artificial Life |
| 15:50 - 17:10 | Origins of Life and Protocells |
| 17:10 - 18:30 | Model Driven Engineering and Biomedical Simulations |
Abstracts and Instructor Bios
09:40 - 11:00 — Introduction to the Modeling and Analysis of Complex Systems
Hiroki Sayama (Binghamton University, State University of New York, USA)
This lecture will be a brief overview of the concepts and techniques of mathematical/ computational modeling and analysis of complex systems, i.e., systems made of a large number of components that interact with each other in nontrivial ways. The field of complex systems is deeply related to Artificial Life in historical, philosophical and practical aspects. Various modeling frameworks will be reviewed by roughly following the historical path of mathematical models in science, including: discrete-time and continuous-time dynamical systems, bifurcations and chaos, continuous field models, cellular automata, static networks, dynamic networks, and agent-based models. Their backgrounds and relationships will be articulated to help the audience gain a birds-eye view of the field.
Bio: Hiroki Sayama is Associate Professor of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering and Director of the Collective Dynamics of Complex Systems (CoCo) Research Group at Binghamton University, State University of New York, USA. His research interests and expertise include complex dynamical networks, human and social dynamics, collective behaviors, artificial life/chemistry, and interactive evolutionary systems, among others. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings papers, has edited seven books and conference proceedings about complex systems related topics, and has recently written an open-access introductory textbook on the modeling and analysis of complex systems. He currently serves as an elected Board Member of the International Society for Artificial Life and as an Assistant Editor of a SpringerOpen journal, Complex Adaptive Systems Modeling.
11:30 - 12:50 — Autonomic Management in Open Multi-Objective Computing Networks
Ada Diaconescu (Telecom ParisTech, France)
Autonomic Computing aims to address the challenge of managing complex computing systems by enabling them to self-administer (e.g. self-configure, -heal, -optimise, -protect, and -adapt). In addition to specific self-management algorithms, autonomic systems that operate in complex competitive environments must also be able to dynamically integrate such algorithms and other computing resources into a coherent whole, in order to adapt to changing objectives and to use available resources opportunistically. This presentation will show how software engineering can facilitate the understanding, development and maintenance of such networked autonomic systems; by offering a structural and methodological foundation that includes generic goal formalisations and reusable integration patterns.
Bio: Dr. Ada Diaconescu is an assistant professor at Telecom ParisTech and member of the CNRS LTCI research laboratory, in France. Her research interests include autonomic and organic computing, software engineering for self-adaptive and self-organising systems, component and service-oriented architectures and interdisciplinary solutions for managing complex computing systems. She received a PhD in computer science and electronic engineering from Dublin City University (2006). Before joining Telecom ParisTech (in 2009), she has been an active researcher at University of Grenoble, Orange Labs, INRIA Rhône Alpes and Dublin City University. Her main publications concentrate on the software engineering of self-adaptive and self-organising systems, including a Springer book on Autonomic Computing (2013). In parallel, she has started investigating the application of her research to adjacent areas such as artificial life, unconventional computing and socio-technical systems.
14:00 - 15:20 — Historical and Philosophical Perspectives on Artificial Life
Mark Bedau (Reed College, USA)
My presentation is a view of artificial life from 30,000 feet. I will briefly introduce the historical roots of the contemporary multi-disciplinary sciences involved in artificial life, including its "soft", "hard", "wet" and "socio-technical" forms, and some of their grand challenges. I will also introduce artificial life's foundational philosophical assumptions and implications, and say a word about its special social responsibilities.
Bio: Mark Bedau pioneered the field of quantifying and comparing the evolutionary activity in artificial and natural systems, and is an international leader in the evolutionary design of complex biochemical systems using statistical models and prediction algorithms. Because he combines training in analytical philosophy with over a decade of experience in artificial life, he is recognized as a uniquely qualified expert in the philosophical foundations of complex adaptive systems. Mark Bedau is Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Artificial Life (published by MIT Press), he co-organized five international conference on artificial life, co-founded a start-up company, ProtoLife SRL, and co-founded the European Center for Living Technology, a research institute in Venice, Italy, that investigates theoretical and practical issues associated with living systems.
15:50 - 17:10 — Origins of Life and Protocells
Steen Rasmussen (University of Southern Denmark)
What are the creative forces in nature? How can nonliving materials become alive?
Bio: Professor in physics and center director at University of Southern Denmark as well as external research professor at the Santa Fe Institute, USA. Main scientific effort over the last ten years has been to explore and construct a transition from nonliving to living materials. Bridging this gap requires an interdisciplinary scientific effort, which is why he has assembled, sponsored and lead research teams in the US, across Europe and in Denmark. He has further (co-) founded the interdisciplinary European Center for Living Technology in Venice, Italy (2004-) and the cross-university Initiative for Science Society and Policy in Denmark (2009-). Elected science policy advisor on living and intelligent technologies for the European Commission, the Danish Parliament, the US congress and the German Parliament. He has won $35+ million in competitive research grants (half as a PI), published 100+ peer reviewed papers and edited seven books, given 250+ invited talks and had 100+ media features.
17:10 - 18:30 — Model Driven Engineering and Biomedical Simulations
Fiona Polack and Louis Rose (University of York, UK)
Model driven engineering (MDE) is a software development framework for the design of abstract representations of application domains. This session introduces the principles and techniques of MDE, and discusses how these might apply in the context of biological complex systems and agent-based modelling. Our approach is based on CoSMoS, a process, developed at the York Centre for Complex Systems Analysis (YCCSA) and used extensively by the York Computational Immunology Lab (YCIL). Imagine trying to solve the origin of cancer without being able to observe exactly what the cells are doing, or how they are affected by treatment: a well-designed computer simulator can be used to explore cell dynamics, and can be changed to try out new hypotheses much more easily than a laboratory experimentation. Such biomedical case studies allow us to explore the development of demonstrably fit-for-purpose, flexible simulation software for use alongside laboratory experiments.
Bio: Fiona Polack lectures in software engineering at University of York. With Prof. Richard Paige, she led pioneering work in model driven engineering in the York Enterprise Systems group. She was part of the team which developed the CoSMoS approach to complex systems modelling and simulation, and is a member of the York Computational Immunology Lab, which has developed a range of successful scientific simulations. She has pioneered the use of argumentation to expose the rationale for simulation developments, a key part of fitness for purpose. She has been working with the Yorkshire Cancer Research Lab led by Prof. Norman Maitland on simulation of cell proliferation, implicated in the formation of cancer and other related conditions.
Bio: Louis Rose conducts research on model-driven and domain-specific structures and techniques for engineering large-scale, complex and distributed systems. His ongoing collaborations with Dr. Fiona Polack and Prof. Jon Timmis are investigating applying state-of-the-art software engineering techniques to increase the quality, robustness and repeatability of simulation. Louis is a Lecturer in the Enterprise Systems group at York, and a developer of Epsilon, an open-source family of tools for model-driven and domain-specific engineering.
