Call for Papers

BNP@NeurIPS 2018: “All of Bayesian Nonparametrics (Especially the Useful Bits)”

A workshop at the Thirty-Second Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2018).

Date: Friday, December 7, 2018

Location: [Room TBD], Palais des Congrès de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Contact: nipsbnp2018@gmail.com (please check the FAQ first)

Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=bnpnips2018


IMPORTANT DATES

  • September 21, 2018 October 11, 2018: Round 1 Submission Deadline and ISBA@ NIPS Travel Award Application Deadline

We strongly recommend authors that need a NIPS workshop registration to submit to Round 1.

  • October 20, 2018: Round 1 Notification
  • November 1, 2018: Round 2 Submission Deadline
  • November 12, 2018: Round 2 Notification
  • November 23, 2018: Camera-ready submissions due (AoE time)
  • November 21, 2018: Travel Award Notification
  • November 26, 2018: NIPS Refund Deadline
  • December 7, 2018: Workshop at NeurIPS

Overview

Bayesian nonparametric (BNP) methods are well suited to the large data sets that arise in a wide variety of applied fields. By making use of infinite-dimensional mathematical structures, BNP methods allow the complexity of a learned model to grow as the size of a data set grows, exhibiting desirable Bayesian regularization properties for small data sets and allowing the practitioner to learn ever more from larger data sets. These properties have resulted in the adoption of BNP methods across a diverse set of application areas. This workshop aims to highlight recent advances in modeling and computation through the lens of applied, domain-driven problems that require the infinite flexibility and interpretability of BNP.

We welcome extended abstract submissions from the following (non-exhaustive list) of areas:

  • New Bayesian nonparametric models, especially applied to domain-specific problems, including, but not limited to biology, neuroscience, healthcare, the humanities, social sciences, economics, and finance.
  • Computational inference algorithms applicable to new or existing Bayesian nonparametric models including MCMC, SMC, variational methods, and others.
  • Applications of Bayesian nonparametric methods to problems in machine learning and statistics, including but not limited to probabilistic numerics, Bayesian optimization, deep learning, and reinforcement learning.
  • Software packages that allow the widespread use of BNP methods, including probabilistic programming languages and implementations of general-purpose inference algorithms.

Researchers may contribute to the workshop by submitting a short research paper which follows the submission instructions below. All submissions that are accepted by our peer review process will be invited to present a poster at the workshop. Some submissions will be invited to present a contributed talk. There will be no published proceedings for this workshop (although accepted papers will be posted on the workshop website if authors wish); we hope that authors will find discussion and feedback at the workshop beneficial for developing the research they present, and we encourage authors to submit their resulting work for archival publication in other venues after the workshop.

We have several travel awards available for junior researchers (see below).


Submission Instructions

Extended abstracts will be submitted in two rounds.

Round 1. The deadline for the first round is September 21, 2018 October 11, 2018 (anywhere on earth). Authors that wish to apply for the ISBA@NIPS travel award must submit by this deadline. We strongly recommend authors that need a NeurIPS workshop registration to submit to Round 1.

Note: after the Round 1 deadline, we will close EasyChair for submissions until around 10/21/18.

Round 2. The deadline for the second round is November 1, 2018 (anywhere on earth). To be considered for other travel awards (excludes the ISBA@NeurIPS award), submit by this deadline.

To submit, authors should upload short papers of up to 4 pages in PDF format using this EasyChair submission link.

Update (9/10/18): In light of NeurIPS registration selling out, we ask that authors indicate in the EasyChair submission whether the presenting author needs a workshop registration. We will assume that authors are registered for the workshops unless indicated in the submission. The form below will be available in the EasyChair submission.

Submission Style and Format Guidelines

Submissions should be short research papers of 2 - 4 pages in PDF format using the NeurIPS style (use these LaTeX templates). Author names do not need to be anonymized and references may extend as far as needed beyond the 4 page limit. If authors' research has previously appeared in a journal, workshop, or conference (including the NeurIPS 2018 conference), their workshop submission should meaningfully extend that previous work.

The main 4-page paper should include all text and figures, and should adequately describe the work, its contributions, and its limitations. Submissions may include supplementary material as an appendix within the submitted PDF file, but reviewers are not required to read any supplementary material beyond the 4 page limit.

Peer Review and Acceptance Criteria

All submissions will undergo peer review via the workshop’s program committee. Accepted papers will be chosen based on technical merit and suitability to the workshop's goals. All accepted papers will be included in a poster presentation session on the day of the workshop. Some accepted papers of top quality will be invited to give short contributed talk presentations at the workshop.


TRAVEL AWARDS FOR JUNIOR RESEARCHERS

Travel awards for students and junior researchers (within 5 years of finishing their PhD) are available for the best contributed submissions. To be considered for a travel award, check “Junior Researcher Travel Awards” box in the EasyChair submission.

ISBA@NeurIPS Travel Award: Authors may also apply for a competitive ISBA@NeurIPS Travel Award, which is a $500 travel award for recipients chosen from all ISBA-endorsed workshops at NeurIPS. To apply, authors must submit to Round 1. The recipients must be ISBA members at the time of receiving the award.

Google Travel Award: We have one travel award sponsored by Google for $500.

BNP@NeurIPS Award: There are several travel awards in the form of free workshop registration available for contributed work. Award recipients will be reimbursed by NeurIPS for their workshop registration.