This grant supports student travel for select students participating in the Doctoral Mentoring Consortium (DMC) at the Seventeenth International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS 2020) will be held in Auckland, New Zealand, May 9-13, 2020.. This is the premier international conference for researchers in agents and multi-agent systems (MAS) across a fully international research community. This consortium is oriented on research and career development for students who have identified their PhD topics and are just embarking on that independent research. The central activities for the DMC include opportunities for students to present and discuss their work with their peers; interaction with an identified group of senior researchers for advice on Ph.D. research, a career panel to discuss career choices in industry and academia, small group activities led by assigned mentors, and a great deal of opportunity for interactions with the international research community in AAMAS, which might lead to future collaborative activity. In addition, the DMC includes a tutorial program with full-day and half-day tutorials that will provide detailed overviews of specific subfields by leading researchers in the field.
Sponsoring student travel to AAMAS conveys many benefits beyond the DMC program. The sponsored students have full access to a well-developed AAMAS workshop and conference program covering a diverse range of research areas in this community. This is an opportunity for students to engage in discussion with scientists from around the world and to explore new research directions and topics. AAMAS is the major international conference that will figure prominently in the research careers of students who remain involved in agents and MAS. Students gain valuable research insights from the exchange of technical ideas in this broader venue. In the process, they make valuable connections with potential collaborators from around the world. As intelligent software and embodies systems become more prevalent, it is clear that advances in intelligent agent technology will have significant impact in virtually any domain imaginable, including such national priorities as health and well-being, e-commerce, and national defense.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
