May 2026 - SIPTA News - lists.sipta.org

IJAR Special Issue: Call for Papers in Memory of Thomas Augustin
by Rodemann, Julian May 20, 2026

May 20, 2026

Dear fellow SIPTAns, As you know, Thomas Augustin sadly passed away on January 10th. Thomas was one of the founders of our society, being already present at the very first ISIPTA in Gent in 1999 and contributing decisively to the establishement of the society in 2002. From the very beginning, Thomas intensively supported the development of the society and the spread of imprecise probabilities. He contributed to and participated in every single edition of ISIPTA until the last ISIPTA 2025 in Bielefeld. Many SIPTA members have paid their last respects on our memorial board for Thomas: https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/CHZiwhnm/ThomasAugustin and a flower wreath with a banner saying "Your friends from SIPTA" was placed at Thomas' grave (see attached photo) at the funeral. A printed version of the memorial board has now been handed over to Thomas' Family. Thanks to everyone who participated! In order to pay homage to Thomas' legacy, the International Journal of Approximate Reasoning (IJAR) is devoting a special issue to papers broadly related to his work and interests. In particular, topics of interest include, but are not limited to: * Statistical inference with imprecise data and/or imprecise probabilities * Decision making under severe uncertainty * Machine learning with imprecise information * Partial identification and analysis of deficient data * Imprecise probabilities for survey- and official statistics * Philosophical foundations and history of imprecise probabilities * Imprecision and indeterminacy in probabilities in applied statistics * Philosophical foundations and history of statistics * Measurement error models with and without imprecise probabilities Important Dates: * Submission Open Date: May 15, 2026 * Submission Deadline: December 31, 2026 * Notification of Acceptance: June 30, 2027 Manuscripts must be submitted via the International Journal of Approximate Reasoning online submission system. Please select the article type “VSI: Memory of Thomas Augustin” when submitting your manuscript online. All submitted papers under this call will undergo the standard review process of the journal. Further information can be found here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/special-issue/333213/papers-in-memory-of-thom… We look forward to this very special issue in honor of Thomas and hope it will serve as a lasting tribute to a remarkable scholar and dear friend of so many of us. Kind regards, Christoph, Georg, Rudi and Julian (guest editors)

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12th SIPTA School on Imprecise Probabilities. Call for Participation and Financial Support
by Enrique Miranda May 11, 2026

May 11, 2026

** *##################################################* * The 12th SIPTA School on Imprecise Probabilities Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany July 27 — July 31, 2026 https://www.ifi.lmu.de/kiml/en/school26/ ################################################### The SIPTA School on Imprecise Probabilities is organized every even year, since 2004. The aim of the school is to introduce interested students to the basics of various imprecise probability topics, both theoretical and applied. Some of the best specialists in different aspects of imprecise probabilities lecture, for about one week, on the main concepts and techniques in their area of expertise, in a friendly environment favouring interaction between participants. An important part of the time is devoted to the resolution of proposed exercises involving applied problems. SIPTA School 2026 The twelveth edition of the SIPTA School on Imprecise Probabilities will take place in Munich, Germany from Monday 27 to Friday 31 July 2026. It is organized by the Chair of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AIML), Institute of Informatics, and AG Augustin, Department of Statistics, both at LMU Munich. More information about the summer school, including the tentative program and practical details, is available on the school’s website. Student early registration (which include the tuition fees, lunches, coffee breaks and the social event): 140€ FINANCIAL SUPPORT: Financial support will be offered by SIPTA to some students for attending the school. Grants will cover registration fees. An additional amount may also be granted to cover part of the travel or accommodation, depending on individual circumstances. IMPORTANT DATES: • May 1, 2026: Registration opens • June 15, 2026: Deadline for SIPTA grant application • July 1, 2026: Deadline for early-bird registration • July 27-31, 2026: School INSTRUCTIONS FOR GRANT APPLICATION If you are participating at the school and would like to apply for one of the SIPTA grants, please send a message to mirandaenrique(a)uniovi.es <mailto:mirandaenrique@uniovi.es>subject: SIPTA SCHOOL 2026 – grant application with the following information: -Name, forename, email address -Current position and university -Proof of studentship (e.g., a copy of the student card) -Name(s) of supervisor(s), and if possible a support letter from them -A letter of introduction, detailing the motivation to attend the school and the additional sources of funding, if applicable. The final selection of the grantees will be made by the SIPTA Executive Committee. The payment of grants will be made by SIPTA after the school, conditional upon the grantees’ physical attendance. Best regards, Enrique *

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article on preferences and choices learning
by Alessio Benavoli May 9, 2026

May 9, 2026

Dear SIPTA colleagues, I'd like to share with you our recent publication on the prestigious journal Foundations and Trends in Machine Learning, Benavoli A, Azzimonti D (2026), “A tutorial on learning from preferences and choices with Gaussian processes <https://www.emerald.com/ftmal/article-abstract/19/1/1/1360815/A-tutorial-on…> ”. The PDF is also here https://arxiv.org/pdf/2403.11782 which focuses on learning utility functions from preferences and choices data to predict future preferences/choices of a subject based on her past behavior. We use choice functions to model a subject who must select from items that may be incomparable due to trade-offs, leading to imprecise models. We discuss rationality and deviations from rationality. Using simple running examples, we explain the choice situations the decision-maker faces and the various models. Finally, Chapter 6 focuses on real-applications of the introduced models, including the use of preferences to predict tennis match results. I hope you enjoy reading it. Best regards, Alessio

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link to the sipta seminar
by Enrique Miranda May 6, 2026

May 6, 2026

Dear all, Here is the link to the SIPTA seminar by Marnix Suilen we have in 5 minutes (there was a mistake in the one we sent last week, sorry). Best wishes, Enrique

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SIPTA Summer School registration open
by Yusuf Sale May 4, 2026

May 4, 2026

To the SIPTA community and interested researchers, We are pleased to announce that registration for the SIPTA Summer School 2026 is now open. The summer school will take place in Munich, Germany, from Monday, 27 July to Friday, 31 July 2026. Further information, including the program, speakers, registration details, and practical information, can be found on the website: https://www.ifi.lmu.de/kiml/en/school26/ We warmly invite interested participants to register and will continue to share further updates via this mailing list and on the homepage. We look forward to welcoming you in Munich and invite you to contact us at school26(a)sipta.org in case of any questions. Best regards, Yusuf Sale (on behalf of the summer school orga team)

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