Announcement: SSSW 2015 - the 11th Semantic Web Summer School. July 2015, Bertinoro, Italy

THE 11TH SEMANTIC WEB SUMMER SCHOOL - SSSW 2015
Now in Bertinoro, near Bologna, Italy.
5-11 July, 2015
http://sssw.org/2015, contact@sssw2015.org, Twitter: @sssw2015

The groundbreaking SSSW series of summer schools started in 2003. It is now
a well-established event within the research community and a role model for
several other initiatives. After 10 years in Cercedilla, Spain, SSSW is
coming back in 2015 to a new location – Bertinoro, Italy – and a new
programme centred on research and the open challenges facing the semantic
web and the related technologies. As always, the summer school includes
lectures, invited talks, practical research work and projects, led by a set
of tutors comprising leading researchers in the community and prestigious
invited speakers. SSSW also represents a unique opportunity for networking
with research and industry leaders (including former students of the
school), including of course, an exciting social programme in one of the
most beautiful locations in Italy.

Applications to attend SSSW 2015 will open in January, and close in March.
To ensure a high ratio between tutors and students the school will be
limited to 60 participants.

In 2013, SSSW celebrated its 10th edition and its 10 year anniversary,
demonstrating through the quality of the content, the great environment and
the amazing engagement of the some of the brightest young researchers in
the area as students that it remains the premier educational event in our
research community. In 2015, SSSW is entering a new phase: As the
technologies evolved and the Semantic Web is getting mature, the focus of
the school is also evolving to cover the open research challenges that are
being faced by the scientific community related to the Semantic Web.

Keeping the “mixed” approach pioneered in the previous editions of SSSW,
invited talks and lectures by some of the greatest researchers in the area
are now complemented with “Research in Practice” sessions where key
research questions are being investigated and collectively discussed. A
wide range of skills are required when working in this area. Therefore the
summer school also includes a “hackday”, as a break from the research focus
where participants will be able to apply and show off their technical
skills too. SSSW 2015 will provide a stimulating and enjoyable environment
in which participants will benefit not only from the formal and practical
sessions but also from informal and social interactions with established
researchers and the other participants to the school. To further facilitate
interaction and exchange of ideas, a poster session will also take place,
which will provide an opportunity for attendees to present and obtain
feedback on their research.

TOPICS

(Linked) Data Workflows
Web Data Management
Knowledge Discovery
Knowledge Extraction
Sense-Making
Cognitive/Human Computing
Semantic Web Applications
Semantic Web Technologies
Semantic Web Research Methods

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Mathieu d'Aquin (Director), m.daquin@open.ac.uk
Oscar Corcho (Co-Director), ocorcho@fi.upm.es
Valentina Presutti (Co-Director), valentina.presutti@cnr.it

TUTORS AND INVITED SPEAKERS (MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED)

Claudia d'Amato (University of Bari, Italy)
Mathieu d'Aquin (The Open University, UK)
Eva Blomqvist (Linköping University, Sweden)
Oscar Corcho (UPM, Spain)
Philippe Cudre-Mauroux (University of Fribourg, Switzerland)
Roberto Navigli (Sapienza University of Rome, Italy)
Frank van Harmelen (Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Valentina Presutti (ISTC-CNR, Italy)
Maria-Esther Vidal (Universidad Simón Bolívar, Venezuela)

HOW TO APPLY

Applications will open in January 2015.

We welcome applicants from anywhere in the world. Normally, but not
exclusively, applicants will be postgraduate students in relevant
disciplines with some knowledge of semantic and web technologies. Some
basic acquaintance with knowledge representation languages for the Semantic
Web (RDF, OWL, etc.) is required.

The deadline for applications will be in March 2015.

Accepted candidates are expected to arrive on Sunday, July 5th, between 3pm
and 6pm and to participate fully in the activities of the school until its
conclusion,
at 2pm on Saturday, July 11th. Applicants should keep in mind that we will
not consider applications from students who cannot commit themselves to a
full participation for the whole duration of the school. Students are also
required to bring and present a  poster at the summer school, describing
their own research.

Apart from activities directly related to lectures, the summer school
schedule is rightly famous for its unrivalled social programme, which
enables informal interaction between all participants to the school - i.e.,
students, tutors, invited speakers, school staff, etc. These events include
a gala dinner, picnic at the swimming pool, a disco, and sport activities.

STUDENT GRANTS

We expect to provide a number of grants for students who would not
otherwise be able to attend the school. More details about student grants
will be published at a later date.

VENUE AND ACCOMMODATION

SSSW 2015 will be located at the University Residential Center located in
the small medieval hilltop town of Bertinoro. This town is in Emilia
Romagna, about 50km east of Bologna at an elevation of 230m above sea
level. It can easily be reached by train and taxi from Bologna.

Bertinoro is picturesque, with many narrow streets and walkways winding
around the central peak. Sessions of the summer school will be held in an
archiepiscopal castle that has been converted by the University of Bologna
into a modern conference centre with computing facilities and Internet
access.  From the castle you can enjoy a beautiful vista that stretches
from the Tuscan Apennines to the Adriatic coast and the Alps over the Po
Valley.

More information about the location will be available at
http://sssw.org/2015/venue-details/

The cost of the summer school, including accommodation, meals and excursion
will be 900€.