THE 14TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON UNCONVENTIONAL COMPUTATION & NATURAL COMPUTATION

University of Auckland, New Zealand
31 August – 4 September, 2015

http://ucnc15.wordpress.fos.auckland.ac.nz/

SCOPE

The International Conference on Unconventional Computation and Natural Computation has been a forum where scientists with different backgrounds, yet sharing a common interest in novel forms of computation, human-designed computation inspired by nature, and the computational aspects of processes taking place in nature, meet and present their latest results. Continuing this tradition, the 14th International Conference on Unconventional Computation and Natural Computation will focus on the current important experimental and theoretical results and their critical evaluation.

Papers and poster presentations are sought in all areas that relate to unconventional computation and natural computation. Both theoretical and experimental papers are welcome. Typical, but not exclusive, topics are:

1. •Molecular (DNA) computing, quantum computing, optical computing, chaos computing, physarum computing, computation in hyperbolic spaces, collision-based computing;
   

2. •Cellular automata, neural computation, evolutionary computation, swarm intelligence, nature-inspired algorithms, artificial immune systems, artificial life, membrane computing, amorphous computing;
   

3. •Computational systems biology, genetic networks, protein-protein networks, transport networks, synthetic biology, cellular (in vivo) computing.
   

4. •Computations beyond the Turing model and philosophical aspects of computing.
   

The first edition of UCNC (formerly called Unconventional Models of Computation and Unconventional Computation) was held at CDMTCS, Auckland, New Zealand in 1998, and the conference logo became the logo of its first host.

Subsequent sites of the conference were Brussels, Belgium in 2000, Kobe, Japan in 2002, Seville, Spain in 2005, York, UK, in 2006, Kingston, Canada in 2007, Vienna, Austria, in 2008, Ponta Delgada, Portugal in 2009, Tokyo, Japan in 2010, Turku, Finland, in 2011, Orleans, France in 2012, and Milan, Italy in 2013.

1. •Auckland, New Zealand, Jan. 5-9, 1998
   

2. •Brussels, Belgium, Dec. 13-16, 2000
   

3. •Kobe, Japan, Oct. 15-19, 2002
   

4. •Sevilla, Spain, Oct. 3-7, 2005
   

5. •York, UK, Sep. 4-8, 2006
   

6. •Kingston, Canada, Aug. 13-17, 2007
   

7. •Vienna, Austria, August 25-28, 2008
   

8. •Ponta Delgada, Portugal, Sep. 7-11, 2009
   

9. •Tokyo, Japan, Jun. 21-25, 2010
   

10. •Turku, Finland, June 6-10, 2011
    

11. •Orléans, France, Sep. 3-7, 2012
    

12. •Milano, Italy, June 1-5, 2013
    

13. •London, Ontario, Canada, July 14-18, 2014
    

Call for Papers

THE CONFERENCE

The International Conference on Unconventional Computation and Natural Computation has been a forum where scientists with different backgrounds, yet sharing a common interest in novel forms of computation, human-designed computation inspired by nature, and the computational aspects of processes taking place in nature, meet and present their latest results. Continuing this tradition, the 14th International Conference on Unconventional Computation and Natural Computation will focus on the current important experimental and theoretical results and their critical evaluation.

VENUE

Auckland, the City of Sails, is the gateway to New Zealand, one of the world’s top outdoor paradises. It is located on both Tasman Sea and Pacific and boasts countless beaches, islands, a vibrant cosmopolitan culture, and excellent cuisine and wines. It is connected to many major cities in Asia, Australia, North America and the USA by direct airline flights. A great springboard for excursions to the Bay of Islands or the world-famous glow worm caves of Waitomo, hot springs and geysers of Rotorua, the World Heritage Area of the volcanoes in Tongariro National Park, and the beautiful and historic Coromandel Peninsula.

TOPICS

Papers and poster presentations are sought in all areas that relate to unconventional computation and natural computation. Both theoretical and experimental papers are welcome. Typical, but not exclusive, topics are:

1. •Molecular (DNA) computing, quantum computing, optical computing, chaos computing, physarum computing, computation in hyperbolic spaces, collision-based computing;
   

2. •Cellular automata, neural computation, evolutionary computation, swarm intelligence, nature-inspired algorithms, artificial immune systems, artificial life, membrane computing, amorphous computing;
   

3. •Computational systems biology, genetic networks, protein-protein networks, transport networks, synthetic biology, cellular (in vivo) computing.
   

4. •Computations beyond the Turing model and philosophical aspects of computing.
   

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

Authors are invited to submit original papers (at most 12 pages in LNCS format) or one-page poster abstracts using the link

https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ucnc2015

Papers must be submitted in Portable Document Format (PDF). The revised version of the manuscripts, to appear in a LNCS volume by Springer, must be prepared in LATEX according to the LNCS format:

http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs/lncs+authors

The papers must not have been submitted simultaneously to other conferences with published proceedings. All accepted papers must be presented at the conference. The proceedings will be available at the conference venue. Extended versions of selected papers from the proceedings will appear in a special issue of the International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science (IJFCS) [http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscinet/ijfcs] and the International Journal of Unconventional Computing (IJUC). [http://www.oldcitypublishing.com/IJUC/IJUCeditorialboard.html]

IMPORTANT DATES

1. •Submission deadline: 15 February 2015
   

2. •Notification of acceptance: 2 April 2015
   

3. •Final versions due: 1 May 2015
   

4. •Conference: 31 August — 4 September 2015
   

INVITED TUTORIALS

To be announced

INVITED SPEAKERS

1. •Rusins Freivalds, University of Latvia, Latvia
   

2. •Giuseppe Longo, École Normale Supérieure Paris, France
   

3. •Mark Sagar, University of Auckland, New Zealand
   

4. •Yaroslav Sergeyev, Università della Calabria, Italy
   

WORKSHOPS

1. •Biological Cell Information Processing — Organiser Mike Cooling (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
   

2. •Membrane Computing — Organiser Michael J. Dinneen (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
   

3. •Physics of Computation — Organisers Alastair Abbott (University of Auckland and École Normale Supérieure Paris, France), Viv Kendon (University of Leeds, UK) and Susan Stepney (University of York, UK)
   

4. •Unconventional Computation in Europe — Organisers Martyn Amos (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) and Susan Stepney (University of York, UK)
   

PROGRAM COMMITTEE

1. •Martyn Amos (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)
   

2. •Selim G. Akl (Queen’s University, Canada)
   

3. •Olivier Bournez (École Politechnique, France)
   

4. •Cristian S. Calude (University of Auckland, New Zealand, Co-Chair)
   

5. •Nachum Dershowitz (Tel Aviv University, Israel)
   

6. •Michael J. Dinneen (University of Auckland, New Zealand, Co-Chair)
   

7. •David Doty (Caltech, USA)
   

8. •Marian Gheorghe (Sheffield University, UK)
   

9. •Masami Hagiya (University of Tokyo, Japan)
   

10. •Oscar H. Ibarra (University of California, USA)
    

11. •Kazuo Iwama (Kyoto University, Japan)
    

12. •Natasha Jonoska (University of South Florida, Tampa FL, USA)
    

13. •Jarkko Kari (University of Turku, Finland)
    

14. •Lila Kari (University of Western Ontario, Canada)
    

15. •Viv Kendon (University of Leeds, UK)
    

16. •Fred Kroon (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
    

17. •Rossella Lupacchini (University of Bologna, Italy)
    

18. •Giancarlo Mauri (Universita degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Italy)
    

19. •Kenichi Morita (Hiroshima University, Japan)
    

20. •Matthew Patitz (University of Arkansas, USA)
    

21. •Ion Petre (Åbo Akademi University, Finland)
    

22. •Susan Stepney (University of York, UK)
    

23. •Karl Svozil (Vienna University of Technology, Austria)
    

24. •H. Todd Wareham (Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada)
    

25. •Damien Woods (California Institute of Technology, USA)
    

ORGANISING COMMITTEE

1. •Elena Calude (Massey University at Albany, New Zealand, Publicity Chair)
   

2. •Ulrich Speidel (University of Auckland, New Zealand, Chair)
   

PROCEEDINGS COMMITTEE

1. •Cristian S. Calude (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
   

2. •Michael J. Dinneen (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
   

STEERING COMMITTEE

1. •Thomas Back (Leiden University, The Netherlands)
   

2. •Cristian S. Calude (University of Auckland, New Zealand, Founding Chair)
   

3. •Lov K. Grover (Bell Labs, USA)
   

4. •Natasha Jonoska (University of South Florida, USA, Co-Chair)
   

5. •Jarkko Kari (University of Turku, Finland, Co-Chair)
   

6. •Lila Kari (University of Western Ontario, Canada)
   

7. •Seth Lloyd (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
   

8. •Giancarlo Mauri (Universita degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Italy)
   

9. •Gheorghe Paun (Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy, Romania)
   

10. •Grzegorz Rozenberg (Leiden University, The Netherlands, Emeritus Chair)
    

11. •Arto Salomaa (University of Turku, Finland)
    

12. •Tommaso Toffoli (Boston University, USA)
    

13. •Carme Torras (Institute of Robotics and Industrial Informatics, Spain)
    

14. •Jan van Leeuwen (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
    

CONTACTS

1. •Cristian S. Calude, cristian@cs.auckland.ac.nz
   

2. •Michael J. Dinneen, mjd@cs.auckland.ac.nz
   

3. •Ulrich Speidel, ulrich@cs.auckland.ac.nz