Call for IFAAMAS-09 Victor Lesser Distinguished Dissertation Award nominations
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Nominations are invited for the 2009 Victor Lesser Distinguished
Dissertation Award sponsored by IFAAMAS, the International Foundation
for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems
([[http://www.ifaamas.org]]).

This award includes a certificate signed by the IFAAMAS Chair and
1500EUR. Eligible doctoral dissertations are those defended between
January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 in the area of Autonomous Agents
or Multiagent Systems.

The award will be based on the originality, significance, and real or
potential impact of the work.  Evidence of such impact may come from
existing pre- or post-defense publications of the work at highly
selective conferences and journals, and/or from comments of the
supervisor and references.  Work that resulted primarily from the
student's initiative will be considered more favourably. The selection
committee will be the final arbiter in the decision process. The
selection committee might decide to consult external assessors and
reserves the right not to award the prize if the nominations do not
meet the expected quality level.

The dissertation must be nominated by the thesis supervisor and must
be supported by the following documents:

*A.* A pdf file of the dissertation. If the dissertation is not
written in English, the nomination must include a long paper in
English, with the nominee as the first author, published in a journal
or a prestigious conference.

*B.* A list of citations to published papers based primarily on work
reported in the dissertation with links to corresponding pdf files.

*C.* A recommendation from the supervisor nominating the dissertation
for the IFAAMAS-09 Victor Lesser Distinguished Dissertation Award. The
recommendation should argue the merit of the dissertation and
highlight, where relevant, how the work resulted from the initiative
of the student. This document, not to exceed 500 words, should also
certify the eligibility of the PhD by asserting that the PhD was
defended in calendar year 2009.

*D.* Up to three reference letters of no more than 500 words in
length, signed and scanned as pdf files, from researchers familiar
with the research of the candidate and with related research
expertise.

These documents must be placed on a web page and only a link to this
page e-mailed to the chair of the selection committee, Peter Stone,
at [[pstone@cs.utexas.edu]] on or before February 5, 2010.

Though the nomination is to be submitted by the student's supervisor,
it is assumed that the student has consented that the dissertation be
considered for this award and, if selected, commits to attend the
AAMAS10 conference where he/she will receive the award and will give
an hour-long presentation on this work in a special session. The cost
of attending the conference is not covered by the award.

Selection committee:
Peter Stone (Chair)
Ana Bazzan
Ariel Procaccia
Mike Wooldridge
Makoto Yokoo