Fourth European Summer School on Ontological Engineering and the Semantic Web (SSSW-2006)

***APOLOGIES FOR MULTIPLE POSTINGS***
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THE FOURTH EUROPEAN SUMMER SCHOOL ON ONTOLOGICAL ENGINEERING AND THE SEMANTIC WEB (SSSW-2006)

http://knowledgeweb.semanticweb.org/sssw06/

VENUE
Cercedilla, near Madrid, Spain.

DATE
9-15, July 2006

DEADLINE FOR PROVISIONAL REGISTRATION
April 15, 2006

INTRODUCTION
The KnowledgeWeb Network of Excellence is pleased to announce the fourth European Summer School on Ontological Engineering and the Semantic Web. This summer school, presented by leading researchers in the field, is the successor to the well-received schools held in 2003, as part of the activities of the OntoWeb Network Consortium, and in 2004 and 2005, as part of the activities of the KnowledgeWeb NoE.  The school represents an opportunity for postgraduate students to equip themselves with the range of theoretical, practical, and collaboration skills necessary for full engagement with the challenges involved in developing Ontologies and Semantic Web applications. To ensure a high ratio between tutors and students the school will be limited to 50 participants.


APPROACH
Our approach combines the practical with the theoretical. Tutorial/lecture material is augmented with hands-on practical workshops and we ensure that the sessions complement each other by linking them to a mini-project. Work on developing and presenting this project in cooperation with other participants will serve as a means of consolidating the knowledge and skills gained from lectures and practical sessions. 

Students will be welcome to carry out projects which are a self application of semantic web technology to the summer school itself. We are using an ontology based portal to manage the summer school and we plan to make both the ontology and the related instantiations available in an open manner.

Participants will be provided with a copy of all course lectures and access to a PC with all necessary tools and environments pre-installed.

SSSW-2006 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 in the school. To further facilitate communication and feedback all attendees will be obliged to prepare and present a poster on their own research. 

COURSE TOPICS
An Overview of the Semantic Web
Fundamentals of Ontological Engineering
Knowledge Representation Languages for the Semantic Web
Design Patterns in Knowledge Representation
Ontology Mapping and Alignment
Ontology Validation and Evaluation
Semantic Web Services
Human Language and Machine Learning Technologies for the Semantic Web

TUTORS
Sean Bechhofer (University of Manchester, UK)
Fabio Ciravegna (University of Sheffield, UK)
John Domingue (The Open University, UK)
Jérôme Euzenat (INRIA Rhône-Alpes, France)
Aldo Gangemi  (National Research Council, Italy)
Asun Gomez-Perez (Universidade Politecnica de Madrid, Spain)

INVITED SPEAKERS
Stephan Baumann (DFKI, Germany)
Jim Hendler (University of Maryland, US)
Enrico Motta (The Open University, UK)
Guus Schreiber (Free University Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
John Domingue (Director), j.b.domingue@open.ac.uk
Asun Gomez-Perez (Co-Director), asun@fi.upm.es
Arthur Stutt (Project Co-ordinator), a.stutt@open.ac.uk

FOUNDER
Enrico Motta  (The Open University, UK)

ACCOMMODATION AND SOCIAL EVENTS
Cercedilla is a small village in the mountains near Madrid. The school will be held in the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid's student house.
The student house has a range of facilities to make your stay more pleasant including en suite bathrooms, swimming pool, bars and restaurants in the village.

A gala dinner will be included in the cost. 


PARTICIPANTS
We welcome applicants from anywhere in the world. Normally, but not exclusively, applicants will be postgraduate students in relevant disciplines with some knowledge of ontological or knowledge engineering and/or the development of applications for the World Wide Web. Some basic acquaintance with knowledge representation is required.

Accepted candidates are expected to arrive on Sunday between 3pm and 6pm (July 9th) and to participate fully in the activities of the school until it ends, at 2pm on Saturday 15 July. We will not consider applications from students who cannot commit themselves to full participation for the whole duration of the school.

Note that we will make arrangements to enable students who are interested to watch the football World Cup final on the evening of Sunday 9th. 

COST OF SUMMER SCHOOL INCLUDING ACCOMMODATION, MEALS AND EXCURSION
(please note that at this stage this is still an estimate)

Euros 750.


TRAVEL AND LOCAL INFORMATION
The nearest airport is Madrid-Barajas.
Participants will be able to use local rail links from Madrid to Cercedilla.

Further information about how to reach Cercedilla can be found on the web site, http://knowledgeweb.semanticweb.org/sssw06/.

REGISTRATION
If you are interested in participating to SSSW-2006 then please fill in the online
registration form at our web site: http://knowledgeweb.semanticweb.org/sssw06/


john

___________________________
Dr. John Domingue,
Deputy Director,
Knowledge Media Institute,
The Open University,
Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK6 7AA
http://kmi.open.ac.uk/people/domingue/