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CNRS positions open (16 total in the two computer science committees)
by sdesterc Nov. 23, 2024

Nov. 23, 2024

Dear (young) colleagues, As every year, CNRS (and INRIA) is opening nation-wide positions in every field of science (for CNRS, INRIA focuses mostly on computer science and applied mathematics). For most people here, this would mean positions available in Philosophy, Economy, Mathematics and Computer Science, but maybe others. Those positions are permanent and full-time research positions, with a lot of flexibility in how you manage your time and activities. CNRS candidates typically have to produce a summary of past research and a research project for the next 5-10 years, and give three teams or laboratory (these have to be joint research units, but there are such research units in many places in France). For computer science, the official website is there: https://www.ins2i.cnrs.fr/en/cnrsinfo/researchers-competition-2025-list-pos… And you can fetch some useful info there: https://mathurinm.github.io/cnrs_inria_advice/ In computer science, recruited candidates are typically young researchers, i.e., having less than 7-8 years of research experience since the beginning of the PhD thesis (but there can be exceptions). This may change if you want to apply, e.g., in economy or philosophy, as every field has its particularities. If you wish to apply, you should try to identify and contact ASAP a laboratory in France where you would like to work (e.g., by just looking up in which laboratory is your favourite French researcher working), and contact them. Laboratories that have people dealing with imprecision in uncertainty or that would be interested in candidates working in these fields include mine, but also the CRIL (Lens), IRIT (Toulouse), GREGHEC and LAMSADE (Paris), and a couple others! Deadline for applications are beginning of January, but putting up a good application file takes quite some time and efforts. I can try to reply to your possible questions if you have some. However, I will mostly have information about the committees and processes concerned with computer science, automatic, robotic, signal treatment, machine learning and uncertainty propagation. Best Sébastien

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Next SIPTA seminar: 22nd November 3pm Paris Time. Jason Konek on philosophy and decision making
by sdesterc Nov. 19, 2024

Nov. 19, 2024

Dear Siptians, We are delighted to announce our upcoming SIPTA online seminar on imprecise probabilities (IP). These monthly events are open to anyone interested in IP, and will be followed by a Q&A and open discussion. They also provide an occasion for the community to meet, keep in touch and exchange between in-person events. The next seminar will take place on the 22nd of November (Friday). The zoom link for this seminar is https://utc-fr.zoom.us/j/85974092076 For this new seminar, we are very happy to have Jason Konek as our speaker. Jason Konek is currently Senior Lecturer at the philosophy department of Bristol University. Jason Konek had many contribution in the philosophy of imprecise probabilities, and has notably been awarded a prestigious ERC Grant “Epistemic Utility for Imprecise Probability” to pursue his work on this topic. On the 22nd of November, at 15:00 Paris time (up to 17:00 CEST, with a talk duration of 45min/1h), he will talk about "Bringing philosophy and IP into conversation: Puzzles and challenges for decision theory”. Curious? Then check out the abstract on the webpage of the SIPTA seminars: sipta.org/events/sipta-seminars. The zoom link for attending the seminar can be found on that same page. So please mark your calendars on the 22nd of November, and join us for the occasion. And for those who missed the previous seminar and want to catch up, or simply want to see it again and again, it is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GToHUaaIzjc&t=681s See you at the seminar! Sébastien, Enrique and Jasper

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REC 2026: mark your calendars, imprecise probabilities are one of the highlighted topics
by Kreinovich, Vladik Nov. 14, 2024

Nov. 14, 2024

The 11th International Workshop on Reliable Engineering Computing REC 2026 will be heled in Dortmund, Germany, on September 2-4, 2026 (dates are tentative) REC2026 will provide a multi-disciplinary forum to bring together various engineering and associated disciplines with the common focus on methodologies and theories in the field of risk and uncertainty. As in the previous biennial REC-meetings, the central theme of the discussions will be the reliability of engineering computations. Covering a broad range of topics, REC2024 aims to address the urgent need for innovative theories and advanced computational approaches to ensure safety of engineering systems starting with uncertainty quantification of input parameters. Topics include but are not limited to: * Uncertainty analysis and modeling * Reliability analysis * Risk analysis * Reliability-based design * Performance-based design * Risk-informed decision-making * Sustainability and resilience * Risk and hazard mitigation * Optimization under uncertainty * Inverse problems * Model reduction * Surrogate models * System and parameter identification * Structural health monitoring * Reliability analysis * Risk analysis * Reliability-based design * Performance-based design * Risk-informed decision-making * Sustainability and resilience * Risk and hazard mitigation * Optimization under uncertainty * Inverse problems * Model reduction * Surrogate models * System and parameter identification * Structural health monitoring Methods and theories may include: * Probability theory * Stochastic approaches * Bayesian theory * Fuzzy set theory * Imprecise probabilities * Evidence theory * P-box approach * Fuzzy probability theory * Interval analysis * Fuzzy analysis * Convex modeling * Information gap theory * AI and Machine Learning Contributions are invited with emphasis on both theory and applications. Previous REC-meetings have been hosted: * at Georgia Tech Savannah (United States) in 2004, 2006, and 2008, * at the National University of Singapore in 2010, * at Brno University of Technology in Brno (Czech Republic) in 2012, * at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago (United States) in 2014, * at Ruhr University Bochum (Germany) in 2016, * at Liverpool University (United Kingdom) in 2018, * online in 2021 (due to COVID-19 pandemic), * at Tsinghua University in Beijing (China) in 2024. Contacts: * Matthias Fass matthias.faes(a)tu-dortmund.de<mailto:matthias.faes@tu-dortmund.de> * Michael Beer beer(a)irz.uni-hannover.de<mailto:beer@irz.uni-hannover.de>

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I: [CISPA-Researchers] Guest talk by Michele Caprio (University of Manchester) on 19 Nov at 1400.
by Michele Caprio Nov. 12, 2024

Nov. 12, 2024

Of possible interest for someone in the SIPTA community 🙂 Yours, Michele ________________________________ Da: Siu Lun Chau <siu-lun.chau(a)cispa.de> Inviato: martedì 12 novembre 2024 10:53 A: researchers(a)lists.cispa.saarland <researchers(a)lists.cispa.saarland> Cc: Michele Caprio <michele.caprio(a)manchester.ac.uk> Oggetto: [CISPA-Researchers] Guest talk by Prof Michele Caprio (University of Manchester) on 19 Nov at 1400. Dear CISPA Researcher, You are cordially invited to Michele Caprio's (University of Manchester) research talk next Tuesday at 2 p.m. in D2 room 1.01. The talk is also available on Zoom [cispa-de.zoom-x.de]<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://cispa-de.zoom-x.de/my/muandet__;!!PDiH4…>. Title: Optimal Transport for Epsilon Contaminated Credal Set Talk Abstract: We provide a version for lower probabilities of Monge's and Kantorovich's optimal transport problems. We show that, when the lower probabilities are the lower envelopes of ε-contaminated sets, then our version of Monge's, and a restricted version of our Kantorovich's problems, coincide with their respective classical versions. We also give sufficient conditions for the existence of our version of Kantorovich's optimal plan, and for the two problems to be equivalent. As a byproduct, we show that for ε-contaminations the lower probability versions of Monge's and Kantorovich's optimal transport problems need not coincide. The applications of our results to Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are also discussed. Bio: Michele is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence at The University of Manchester. He obtained his PhD in Statistics from Duke University, and worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Computer and Information Science of the University of Pennsylvania. His general interest is probabilistic machine learning, and in particular the use of imprecise probabilistic techniques to investigate the theory and methodology of uncertainty quantification in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Recently, he won the IJAR Young Researcher and the IMS New Researcher Awards, and he was elected a member of the London Mathematical Society. P.S. Michele is visiting our group for a week, so if anyone is interested in learning about his amazing work on imprecise probabilistic machine learning, feel free to reach out and set up a meeting. Best, Siu Lun Chau --- Siu Lun (Alan) Chau, Ph.D (Oxon) | Postdoctoral Researcher CISPA - Helmholtz Center for Information Security Stuhlsatzenhaus 5, 66123 Saarbrücken, +44 7415137484 | siu-lun.chau(a)cispa.de | https://chau999.github.io/ [chau999.github.io]<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://chau999.github.io/__;!!PDiH4ENfjr2_Jw!G…>

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PhD Position at The University of Manchester in the area of Uncertainty in Machine Learning
by Michele Caprio Nov. 7, 2024

Nov. 7, 2024

PhD Position at The University of Manchester in the area of Uncertainty in Machine Learning The UKRI AI CDT in Decision Making for Complex Systems<https://www.ai-decisions-cdt.ac.uk/> — joint between The University of Manchester and the University of Cambridge — has an open position for a PhD student in Manchester. The PhD research's more specific area is Imprecise Probabilistic Machine Learning. The research focuses on developing a new Multimodal Learning paradigm based on the notion of Credal Sets. This project allows for doing both fundamental and applied research, with the aim of advancing and bridging both theory and applications. The candidate should hold a master's degree in mathematics, computer science, statistics, or a related field. Further details about this position, and a link to the application system, can be found at https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/multimodal-credal-learning-theory/?p1… For further information, please contact Michele Caprio (michele.caprio(a)manchester.ac.uk<mailto:michele.caprio@manchester.ac.uk>).

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First Announcement: 14th International Symposium on Imprecise Probabilities (ISIPTA 2025) - Bielefeld
by Alexander Erreygers Oct. 17, 2024

Oct. 17, 2024

We are excited to announce that the 14th International Symposium on Imprecise Probabilities: Theories and Applications (ISIPTA 2025) will be held at the Bielefeld University Center for Interdisciplinary Research from Tuesday, July 15, 2025, to Friday, July 18, 2025. ISIPTA is the premier international event dedicated to the exploration of imprecise probabilities, providing a platform for both theoretical advancements and practical applications. We invite contributions on all aspects of imprecise probabilities, a term encompassing a wide range of mathematical and statistical models that quantify uncertainty without the restriction of precise probabilities. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, sets of probability measures, partial preference orderings, game-theoretic probability, choice functions, interval probabilities, risk measures, nonlinear expectations, belief functions, and possibility theory. The symposium will feature both contributed sessions and keynote talks from leading experts in the field. Keynote speakers are • Carole Bernard (Grenoble École de Management & Vrije Universiteit Brussel) • Itzhak Gilboa (Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris) • Peter Grünwald (Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica & Leiden University) • Jan Obłój (University of Oxford) The deadline for full paper submissions is February 2nd, 2025. More information about submission will follow in due course. For further details, please visit the conference website: https://isipta25.sipta.org/home . We look forward to welcoming you to Bielefeld! The ISIPTA 2025 Steering Committee Jasper De Bock Sébastien Destercke Alexander Erreygers Max Nendel Frank Riedel Matthias Troffaes

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I: OASIS talk next Friday: Michele Caprio - Imprecise Probability in Machine Learning
by Michele Caprio Oct. 16, 2024

Oct. 16, 2024

Of possible interest for someone in the SIPTA community 🙂 Yours, Michele ________________________________ Da: Paolo Perrone <paolo.perrone(a)cs.ox.ac.uk> Inviato: lunedì 14 ottobre 2024 10:08 A: talk-announce(a)cs.ox.ac.uk <talk-announce(a)cs.ox.ac.uk>; Rob Cornish <rob.cornish(a)stats.ox.ac.uk>; Kaushik Chintam <k.chintam(a)se23.qmul.ac.uk>; Michele Caprio <michele.caprio(a)manchester.ac.uk> Oggetto: OASIS talk next Friday: Michele Caprio - Imprecise Probability in Machine Learning Hi all, The OASIS seminar is back! (https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/seminars/oasis/ [cs.ox.ac.uk]<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/seminars/oasis/__;!!PDi…>) This Friday at 2 PM AM in Lecture Theatre A we are going to have an OASIS talk by Michele Caprio (University of Manchester), titled "Imprecise Probabilistic Machine Learning: Being Precise About Imprecision". The abstract is below. Before the talk some of us are planning to have lunch with the speaker. If you are interested in joining us, please let me know by Thursday morning. The talk is also accessible remotely, at the following Zoom link: https://cs-ox-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/99562853810?pwd=VmJFUlhNbVJwOUpjTE5hUk9LUkMvU… [cs-ox-ac-uk.zoom.us]<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://cs-ox-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/99562853810?pwd=V…> Meeting ID: 995 6285 3810 Passcode: 983333 For further information see the following links, https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/seminars/oasis/ [cs.ox.ac.uk]<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/seminars/oasis/__;!!PDi…> https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/seminars/2688.html [cs.ox.ac.uk]<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/seminars/2653.html__;!!…> All the best, Paolo --- Speaker: Michele Caprio (University of Manchester) Title: Imprecise Probabilistic Machine Learning: Being Precise About Imprecision Abstract: This talk is divided into two parts. I will first introduce the field of “Imprecise Probabilistic Machine Learning”, from its inception to modern-day research and open problems, including motivations and clarifying examples. In the second part, I will present some recent results that I've derived on Imprecise Markov Processes. I will introduce the concept of an imprecise Markov semigroup Q. It is a tool that allows to represent ambiguity around both the initial and the transition probabilities of a Markov process via a compact collection of plausible Markov semigroups, each associated with a (different, plausible) Markov process. I will use techniques from geometry, functional analysis, and (high dimensional) probability to study the ergodic behavior of Q. I will show that, if the initial distribution of the Markov processes associated with the elements of Q is known and invariant, under some conditions that also involve the geometry of the state space, eventually the ambiguity around their transition probability fades. I call this property ergodicity of the imprecise Markov semigroup, and I will relate it to the classical notion of ergodicity. I will present ergodicity when the state space is Euclidean or a Riemannian manifold. The importance of my findings for the fields of machine learning and computer vision will also be discussed. This talk is based on the following work, https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.00081 [arxiv.org]<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.00081__;!!PDiH4ENfjr…>, where I also extend the results to the case where the state space is an arbitrary measurable space.

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Next SIPTA virtual seminar: Alessio benavoli on "Learning from preferences and choice functions", 24th October (3pm Paris time)
by sdesterc Oct. 14, 2024

Oct. 14, 2024

Dear colleagues, We are delighted to announce our upcoming SIPTA online seminar on imprecise probabilities (IP). These monthly events are open to anyone interested in IP, and will be followed by a Q&A and open discussion. They also provide an occasion for the community to meet, keep in touch and exchange between in-person events. The next seminar will take place on the 24th of October (Thursday). The zoom link for this seminar is https://utc-fr.zoom.us/j/89110869537 For this new seminar, we are very happy to have Alessio Benavoli as our speaker. Alessio Benavoli is Associate Professor in Statistics at the School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Alessio is a widely recognised expert in imprecise probability theories, in which he has done foundational work, and has connected imprecise probabilities to a bunch of different fields such as Machine Learning, Artificial intelligence, Quantum Mechanics, Control, ... On the 24th of October, at 15:00 CEST:paris time (up to 17:00 CEST, with a talk duration of 45min/1h), he will talk about "Learning from preferences and choice functions”. Curious? Then check out the abstract on the webpage of the SIPTA seminars: sipta.org/events/sipta-seminars. The zoom link for attending the seminar can be found on that same page. So please mark your calendars on the 24th of October, and join us for the occasion. And for those who missed the previous seminar and want to catch up, or simply want to see it again and again, it is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tGQi8tpVvY&list=PLXsgvF2_g5Ht-BYPWsSjcunA3… See you at the seminar! Sébastien, Enrique and Jasper

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FW: Call for Papers: IUKM 2025, 17 - 19 March 2025, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (Extended deadline)
by Kreinovich, Vladik Oct. 2, 2024

Oct. 2, 2024

FYI, imprecise probabilities are one of the highlighted topics -----Original Message----- From: Van Nam Huynh <huynh.vannam(a)gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 2, 2024 9:09 AM Subject: Call for Papers: IUKM 2025, 17 - 19 March 2025, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (Extended deadline) [Apologies for cross-posting. Your help in circulating this call for papers to potentially interested parties is highly appreciated.] ———————————————————————————————————————————————————— CALL FOR PAPERS ———————————————————————————————————————————————————— IUKM 2025: The Eleventh International Symposium on INTEGRATED UNCERTAINTY in KNOWLEDGE MODELLING and DECISION MAKING 17 - 19 March 2025, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Conference website: https://www.jaist.ac.jp/IUKM/IUKM2025/ Submission deadline: 15 October, 2024 (Extended) ———————————————————————————————————————————————————— The International Symposium on Integrated Uncertainty in Knowledge Modelling and Decision Making (IUKM) aims to provide a forum for exchanges of research results, ideas for and experience of application among researchers and practitioners involved with all aspects of uncertainty management and application. The Eleventh International Symposium on Integrated Uncertainty in Knowledge Modelling and Decision Making (IUKM 2025) will be held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam during 17-19 March, 2025, and be jointly organized by Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City, University of Science (Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City), and Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST). ———————————————————————————————————————————————————— Proposal for special sessions and workshops is encouraged and welcome. List of Topics: Relevant topics for the IUKM 2025 Symposium include (but are not limited to) the following: —————Theory and Methodology————— Uncertainty formalisms: Bayesian probability, Dempster-Shafer theory, imprecise probability, random sets, rough sets, fuzzy sets and interval methods Modelling uncertainty and inconsistency in big data Learning and reasoning with uncertainty Logics for reasoning under uncertainty Uncertainty modelling in machine learning and deep learning Information fusion and knowledge integration in uncertain environments Decision making under various types of uncertainty Aggregation operators for decision making Copulas for dependence modelling Granular and soft computing Computational intelligence —————Application————— Data mining and knowledge discovery Multi-agent reinforcement learning Ontology engineering and Semantic Web Privacy preserving data analysis Intelligent data analysis and modelling Agents and argumentation Natural language processing Medical informatics and bioinformatics Ranking and recommendation systems Big data and cloud computing Social network analysis and mining Sensor fusion System identification and modelling Diagnosis and reliability Decision support systems Kansei/affective engineering Service computing Engineering management Supply chain management Environmental management Economics and econometrics Statistics and Applications --------------------------------------------------- Paper Submission and Publication: The authors are invited to submit their full papers by 15 October, 2024. The submissions will be peer-reviewed for originality and scientific quality. As done in previous editions, the proceedings of IUKM 2025 will be published by Springer-Verlag in the Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence series, and be available at the Symposium. ————————————————————————— _______________________________________________ General Chairs: Masahiro Inuiguchi (Osaka University, Japan) Hieu T. Huynh (Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) Program Chairs: Van-Nam Huynh (Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Japan) Katsuhiro Honda (Osaka Prefecture University, Japan) Bac H. Le (University of Science, Vietnam National University (VNU)-Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

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2024 SIPTA School: Lecture recordings/materials & recap
by Alexander Erreygers Sept. 27, 2024

Sept. 27, 2024

Dear IP enthusiasts and sympathisers, It’s been more than a month already since the eleventh edition of the SIPTA School on Imprecise Probabilities took place in Ghent, so about time for us to announce that the recordings of (selected) lectures are available on SIPTA's YouTube channel<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyDqpSY5B5s&list=PLXsgvF2_g5HsKtgnqhuW9sWQA…> and that all of the lecture material (slides, notebooks, …) is available on the school’s website<https://school24.sipta.org/programme>. If you want to get an even better idea of the nice atmosphere during the school, we encourage you to read Adrián Detavernier’s post on the SIPTA blog<https://sipta.org/blog/school-2024/> — although sometimes pictures<https://school24.sipta.org/photo-gallery/> do say more than words. Kind regards, Floris Persiau and Alexander Erreygers The 2024 SIPTA School organisers

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