ISIPTA '07 - 5th International Symposium on Imprecise Probability: Theories and Applications

Monday 16 to Thursday 19 July 2007
Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics
Prague, Czech Republic
http://www.sipta.org/isipta07 [1]

The ISIPTA meetings are one of the primary international forums to present and discuss new results on the theories and applications of imprecise probability.

Imprecise probability is a generic term for the many mathematical or statistical models which allow us to measure chance or uncertainty without using sharp numerical probabilities. These models include belief functions, Choquet capacities, comparative probability orderings, convex sets of probability measures, fuzzy measures, interval-valued probabilities, possibility measures, plausibility measures, upper and
lower expectations or previsions, and sets of desirable gambles. Imprecise probability models are needed in both inference and decision problems where the relevant information is scarce, vague or conflicting, and where preferences may therefore also be incomplete.

Important dates

• Paper submission deadline: 23 February 2007.
• Notification of acceptance: 27 April 2007.
• Deadline for revised papers: 18 May 2007.
• Symposium: July 16-19 2007.

Symposium format

It is a tradition of the ISIPTA meetings that we try to avoid parallel sessions. Each accepted paper is to be presented both (i) in a plenary session, where we ask for a short introduction and sketch of the context and relevance of the paper; and (ii) in a poster session, where ample opportunity and time is given for detailed explanation and discussion.

The actual symposium will take three days (17-19 July, 2007). It is preceded by a day devoted to tutorials (16 July 2007).

Themes of the symposium

The symposium is open to contributions on all aspects of imprecise probability. But we do emphasize a number of themes that will get special attention: (i) algorithms and real applications, (ii) links between existing models, and (iii) theoretical results that facilitate using imprecise probability models in practice.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• models of coherent imprecise assessments
• convex sets of probability measures (credal sets)
• interval-valued probabilities
• upper and lower expectations or previsions
• non-additive set functions, and in particular Choquet capacities (and Choquet integration), fuzzy measures, possibility measures, belief and plausibility measures
• random sets
• rough sets
• comparative probability orderings
• qualitative reasoning about uncertainty
• imprecision in utilities and expected utilities
• limit laws for imprecise probabilities
• physical models of imprecise probability
• philosophical foundations for imprecise probabilities
• psychological models for imprecision and indeterminacy in probability assessments
• elicitation techniques for imprecise probabilities
• robust statistics
• probabilistic bounding analysis
• data mining with imprecise probabilities
• dealing with missing data
• estimation and learning of imprecise probability models
• decision making with imprecise probabilities
• ambiguity aversion and economic models of imprecise probability
• uncertainty in financial markets
• algorithms for manipulating imprecise probabilities
• Dempster-Shafer theory
• information algebras and probabilistic argumentation systems
• probabilistic logic, propositional and first-order
• credal networks and other graphical models
• credal classification
• applications in statistics, economics, finance, management, engineering, computer science and artificial intelligence, psychology, philosophy and related fields.

Location

ISIPTA '07 will be held at Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, in Prague, Czech Republic.

Programme Committee Board

• Gert de Cooman (Ghent University, Belgium)
• Jirina Vejnarova (Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic)
• Marco Zaffalon (IDSIA, Switzerland).

Steering Committee

• Gert de Cooman (Ghent University, Belgium)
• Fabio Cozman (University of Sao Paulo, Brazil)
• Serafín Moral (Universidad de Granada, Spain)
• Teddy Seidenfeld (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
• Jirina Vejnarova (Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic)
• Marco Zaffalon (IDSIA, Switzerland).

Special Issues

We are currently negotiating with a number of journals about the feasibility of editing a special issue with contributions based on a selection of the papers accepted for the conference. We can already confirm at this point that there will be such a special issue for the International Journal of Approximate Reasoning.

Further details

For further details about (pre)registration, paper submission, scientific and cultural programme, and programme committee, please consult the ISIPTA '07 web site at http://www.sipta.org/isipta07/ [2].

Details about previous ISIPTA meetings can be found at http://www.sipta.org/isipta/ [3].

More information about SIPTA, the international organisation responsible for organising both the ISIPTA meetings and the SIPTA Schools on Imprecise Probabilities, please consult the SIPTA web site at http://www.sipta.org [4].

Questions
If you have any questions about the symposium, please contact the Steering Committee preferably by email (vejnar@utia.cas.cz), or at the following address:

Jirina Vejnarova
Institute of Information Theory and Automation
Pod vodarenskou vezi 4
182 08 Prague
Czech republic