ACAT Guidelines Purpose

ACAT goals

• Bridging Disciplines: Bringing together the 3 pillars sustaining modern research: computing, theory and experiment
• Fostering discussions, initiating new collaborations and new projects

Organization Principles: To FIRE

• Transparency: initiatives should be reported to "the Board" before hand.
• The Flexibility of a workshop, adaptive format and coordination (depending on the venue and local circumstances)
• Innovation: focusing on bringing new scientific topics and on improving the way participants communicate and exchange ideas
• Responsibility: who does what, who is responsible for what
• Efficiency: based good communication between the organizers

Workshop date and venue

• The ACAT periodicity is 18 months.
• The date should be selected depending on conference rooms and lodging availability. The date should be chosen taking into account other scheduled workshops which may interfere with ACAT as well as the date of the various holidays in each participating countries.

Workshop Format

• Usually ~ 5 days (one possibility is to have it over a week-end, the social event being on a Sunday) ...
• Plenaries in the mornings
• 3 parallel sessions(one per track) in the afternoons

Discussion on the possible ACAT dates (e.g. ACAT 2017):

IAC, LOC, SPC information and communication tools

• The ACAT workshops list(see also the Inspires list) marks the history of the series. Listed workshops may serve as example for the organization of future ACAT workshops.
• Preparatory meetings
  • Preparation Videoweb meetings will be scheduled at the beginning of the workshop organization (every ~1-2 months). For example the preparation meeting for 2017 Seattle workshop is available here.
  • The Vydio videoconference meeting installed at CERN will be used for the regular meeting. Participants should get registered and must download the Vydio application. Non-CERN members can be invited a guest participants.
  • If necessary scheduling extraordinary meetings may go through Doodle.
• Dedicated mailing lists are made available using the e-groups CERN system: e.g. ACAT-iac, ACAT-spc, ACAT-loc, ACAT-tc_1(2,3) (Track coordinators) and more.

Chairs

• International Advisory Committee (IAC): David Britton david(dot)britton(at)glasgow.ac.uk
• Local Organizing Committee (LOC): to be announced for each workshop. For the 2017 Seattle workshop: GordonWatts gwatts(at)uw(dot).edu
• Scientific Program Committee (SPC): Axel Naumann axel(dot)naumann(at)cern(dot)ch

ACAT Board

Members: the 3 chairs: IAC, SPC, LOC.

Operation

• Decisions are Collegial.
• Formal representation of ACAT. Initiatives should be reported to the Board before action.

Main Tasks: overall coordination

• Invitation of the SPC members and track coordinators
• Final program decision, bulletin approval before mailing.
• Financial support decision and formal invitation of the plenary speakers

Editorial Board

Membership:

• The Board + track coordinator liaisons

IAC Membership

• IAC ACAT is shown on the most recent ACAT workshop page.

Scientific Program Committee (SPC)

• the SPC chair is invited by the IAC chair
• the other members are invited by the Board:

Members:

• The Board
• 3 x 3 track coordinators
• 1 IAC member: Relations with the industry (SPCI)
• 1 IAC member: Outreach and education (Students and Professors, tutorials, general public presentation, press) (SPCE)
• 1 IAC member: Website: Indico (SPCW)

Main task:

• To manage the abstract reviewing process for parallel (highlight talks, regular, posters) and propose plenary talks.
• To setup the sessions: grouped by topics, select the session chairs, organize track and plenary round-tables
• To issue the formal invitation for parallel speakers after the Board final program approval.

Track coordinators

• Members are invited by the Board on IAC advice, in total 3-4, out of which 1 from the LOC and a liaison: overall responsibility over the track, connection with the SPC chair and the Board

Tasks:

1. to propose to the Board the main topics to be addressed during the workshop related to their track.
2. to propose to the Board the plenary speakers related to their track
3. to suggest presentations from the main leaders of their track. Special parallel talks "Highlight talks" maybe scheduled, not overlapping each other so that all participants can attend all of them.
4. to select the submitted talks (plenary, parallel, poster).
5. to propose and manage round tables or special events (demos, tutorials, ...)
6. finally and this is mandatory, to attend the workshop and manage the running of the parallel sessions (schedule, session's chairs, talk uploads...). They will be helped by the local organization.

Scientific program preparation

• For each track, the 3 track liaisons must reach a common agreement on the submitted or suggested talks. When unanimity is not reached, the decision is taken by the Board.
• The track scientific program proposal is then presented to the Board and then submitted to the IAC.
• Invitations involving financial support are discussed by the Board and under the strict final approval of the LOC Chair.
• To minimize the nb of mails sent to "acat-iac" mailing list, each track have its own mailing list for communication between the track coordinators (acat-tc_1,2,3)

Local Organizing Committee (LOC)

Membership:

• Members are invited by the LOC chair and presented to the Board.
• One track coordinator for each track ---> 3 track coordinators

Main task

• The LOC takes in charge the practical organization of the ACAT workshop, including the budget (including invitations), logistics, timetable, posters, webcast, proceedings, social events, mailing of the conf. poster and of the bulletins (after Board approval)...
• Budget management (visible by the Board)
• Relation with the industry (in liaison with the SPCI)
• Outreach, education, press (in liaison with the SPCE)
• Website management (in liaison with the SPCW)
• Visa and other assistance to the attendance

LOC members

Responsibility:

Budget

General view of the ACAT organization

Application to host an ACAT workshop

LOI: Letter of Intent

• The candidate (university/research organization) willing to organize a future ACAT workshop should provide, at the latest, a month before the date of a coming workshop, namely 19 months in advance of the expected workshop date, a Letter of Intent addressing, at least, all the issues described in this document.
• The LOI should be sent to the ACAT IAC Chair who will make it available to the IAC members so that questions and clarifications can be made ahead of the ACAT workshop.
• Each application will be presented to the IAC members during the regular IAC meeting held at each ACAT workshop.
• After a detailed discussions within the IAC, the selection of the venue for the next workshop will be made by the Board during the IAC meeting organized at each workshop

The following topics will be addressed:

Presentations

• The venue attractiveness
• The main bidders: affiliation and past history in organizing similar events

Facilities

• 1 room (~ 200-250) for plenary sessions and 2 additional rooms ( ~100) for the parallel sessions. The size will depend on the participation estimates.
• Usually the place for the breaks is also used for the poster session so that during the breaks people can discuss the posters.
• In addition, a dedicated poster session is organized
• Optionally a showroom for the industry participation (if any)
• Internet connection (WIFI, ...), video conference...

Lodging

• The LOC should provide a recommended list of close-by hotels with mention on quality, distance and access to the workshop venue and price.
• The LOC may negotiate group prices with some hotels.

Proposed Date

• Related to other local events or special conditions
• Taking into account other international events (conferences, workshops, meetings)

Rough Timeline

• Compatible with local/general constraints

Estimated Budget

• Fees including room renting, lunch, breaks, banquet, IAC dinner, conference equipement renting/buying, ....see LOC responsibilities
• Expected Local/National/International support.

ACAT Logo

• Original Aztec feather shield, ACAT logo available in the "Attachments".
• Re-designed logo available here and as a svg file in the "Attachments".

ACAT Motto/Slogan

• For example, ACAT 2017 the moto was: "AI Reloaded"

The ACAT series was originally called AIHENP  (Artificial Intelligence in High Energy and Nuclear Physics). 
Machine Learning, long existing within our field, now has a very active community outside it. 
As a result, more progress than ever has been made driving Machine Learning forward.
+++
This year motto "AI reloaded" is a wink to the famous S-F movie "Matrix reloaded" where humans and 
digital characters live in a computer (the matrix) simulated world. Large computing systems, advanced 
data analysis and simulation are central topics to the workshop although in physics and not in a societal 
environment.  This is also a "reload" here  as the series started with AI as the main thread. Obviously this
 is just putting AI in a spot light. All the regular themes of the workshop will be addressed as usual.
+++
 ACAT is a forum for discussing all types of cutting edge uses of computing in physics, we will have several 
plenaries and panel discussions focusing on Machine Learning at this edition of ACAT.

ToDo list and Time line

• see for example ACAT 2019 time-line (in preparation) here

Information and Announcements

Conference Poster

Websites

• Indico site: to be announced e.g. ACAT 2017 conference web site

Mailing lists

• The ACAT mailing list is currently kindly managed at CERN by F. Carminati
• IAC mailing list acat-iac(at)cern(dot)ch
• Tack mailing lists:
  1. Track1 acat-tc_1@cernNOSPAMPLEASE.ch
  2. Track 2 acat-tc_2@cernNOSPAMPLEASE.ch
  3. Track 3 acat-tc_3@cernNOSPAMPLEASE.ch
• Advertisement and information
  1. A "past ACAT participants" mailing list is available from the same CERN mailing list system, please contact Patricia
  2. Post mail addresses of most of the physics institutes are available here.
  3. Additional mailing lists provided by IACC members can either be merged with item 1 or bulletin and anouncement can be forwarded by the IACC members.

Bulletins

• 3 bulletins are emailed to the "past participants" mailing list.

Visa

Proceedings

proceeding list

Social Event(s)

• Social event(s) are organized for the participants and for the accompanying persons. They are an important ingredient of the success of a workshop. People gets to know each others and collaborations are often initiated during these events.
• The welcome cocktail, the banquet and the half-day visit/tour in the middle of the scientific program are usually organized. If possible other events can be scheduled like concert, art manufacturing, ...

Workshop Fees

• The fee should be moderate so that local people and foreigners who have to cover higher travel and lodging can attend.
• The fee should be charged preferably by bank transfer or credit card. Cash should be exceptional and preferably in Dollar or Euro.
• The workshop fee covers the following items: the conference materials, the breaks and refreshments, the welcome cocktail, the banquet, the local transportation (if needed) and the basic social event. Additional offers can be made optional at additional cost.
• A special fee should be proposed for accompanying persons.
• The LOC may propose lower earlier registration fee (before a precise dead-line date) and regular fee for aftter deadline and on site registrations as well as students fee.

Tutorials/School/ Training

• The nb of interested/potential students ?
• The availability of trainers/professors

Public Presentation, Science cafe, ...

Host country involvement

Political Support/endorsement

• Beyond the official support from the main organizers institution directorate, it is important to get the support from governmental official in charge of Research.
• Presentations from officials during the opening (or closing) ceremony give more visibility to the workshop and bring valuable although general information about the host country research and educational situation.

Attendance

• The number of local participants is a important criterion in the selection of the host country.

Industry/Company Participation

Exhibition

• The ACAT workshop is a good opportunity for the host country to promote the local computing activity.
  • A product/service showroom can be accommodated at the workshop venue.
  • Presentations (plenaries or parallels) can be scheduled as long as they are of great interest to the audience and not a mere commercial talk. The final decision lies on The Chairs.
• Some foreign county companies will also be interested to presenting their products to the Host country community.

Sponsoring

• the ACAT 2014 "Call for sponsors" was drafted as follows:

Computing activity in scientific research has always been closely related to the progress in the computing industry and, even more recently, with the IT companies. This has been a win-win cooperation; research cannot be performed without the great progress of the industry on CPU design, for example, and on the other hand the WEB was invented for HEP as well as the WIFI for astronomy. The ACAT workshop series is, therefore, welcoming the participation and sponsorship of the industry. Three levels of involvement are proposed, please contact the organizers for the associated fees.

• Platinum
  • Possibility of one oral technical presentation at the workshop. Based on abstract, the Programme Committee may select as plenary or parallel presentation, if high content of scientific and or technical information in line with the interests of the workshop is proposed. No advertisement during presentation is allowed.
  • Rollup in Foyer
  • Table with 2 chairs in the Foyer
  • Introduction at the dinner
  • Company logo on the ACAT website, programme leaflet and possibly on other materials
  • Right to giveaways
• Gold
  • Rollup in Foyer
  • Table with 2 chairs in the Foyer
  • Introduction at the dinner
  • Company logo on the ACAT website, programme leaflet and possibly on other materials
  • Right to giveaways
• Silver
  • Table with 2 chairs in the Foyer
  • Introduction at the dinner
  • Company logo on the ACAT website, programme leaflet and possibly on other materials
  • Right to giveaways

Scientific Program

Beyond HEP

The track conveeners and advisors are selected by the

Track 1: Computing Technology for Physics Research

Coordinators: e.g.: ACAT 2017

• Niko Neufeld (liaison)
• Graeme Stewart
• Maria Girone
• Shih-Chieh Hsu

Topics

1. Languages, Software quality, IDE and User Interfaces
   • Languages (new C++ standard, Java, ...), Code Portability: using templates, toward Compiler
   • Software quality assurance; code reflection; documentation, performance and debugging tools
   • Computer system Benchmarking, beyond LinpackComputer system Benchmarking, beyond Linpack
   • IDE and frameworks
   • User Interfaces, Common Libraries.
2. Distributed and Parallel Computing
   • Multilevel parallelism
   • Distributed computing
   • GRID and Cloud computing
3. New architectures, many and multi-cores
   • Many-core
   • accelerator-based computing (GPU, etc)
   • High precision computing (hardware)
4. Virtualisation
5. Online computing
   • Advanced Monitoring, Diagnostics and Control
   • Scalable distributed data collectors
   • High Level Triggering (HLT)
   • Stream event processing & High Throughput Computing (HTC)

Track 2: Data Analysis - Algorithms and Tools

Coordinators: i.e.L ACAT 2017

• Sergei Gleyzer (liaison)
• Georgy Golovanov
• Andy Haas
• Toby Burnett

Topics

1. Machine Learning
   • Neural Networks and Other Pattern Recognition Techniques
   • Evolutionary and Genetic Algorithms, Multi-variate analysis
   • Package Benchmarking
   • Automation of Science: Data to formula
2. Advanced Data Analysis Environments
   • Statistical Methods, Multivariate analysis
   • Data mining
3. Simulation, Reconstruction and Visualisation Techniques
   • Detector and Accelerator Simulations, MC and fast MC
   • Reconstruction Algorithms
   • Visualization Techniques; event displays
4. Advanced Computing
   • Quantum Computing
   • Bio Computing: life process simulation, brain simulation, Quantum biology
5. New topics ???

Track 3: Computations in Theoretical Physics: Techniques and Methods

Coordinators: i.e.: ACAT 2017

• Ayres Freitas (liaison)
• Stephen Jones
• Fukuko Yuasa
• TBD

Topics

1. Automatic Systems
   • Automatic Computation Systems: from Processes to Event Generators
   • Multi-dimensional Integration and Event Generators
   • Intensive High Precision Numerical Computations: Algorithms and Systems
2. Higher orders
   • One-loop event generators
   • Multi-loop Calculations and Higher Order Corrections
3. Computer Algebra Techniques and Applications
4. Computational physics, Theoretical and simulation aspects
   • Lattice QCD,
   • Cosmology, Universe Large Scale Structure, Gravitational waves
   • Nuclear physics N-body computation,
   • Plasma physics,
   • Earth Physics, climate, earthquakes

Scientific Program Preparation

General workshop format (e.g.: ACAT 2017)

• The so-called "Highlight" talks are special talks on which the organiser want to put more emphasis. They are longer that the regular parallel session talks. They are dedicated to a given track and therefore in a parallel session. In the meantime in the other 2 tracks regular parallel session talks are running. So for the first hour of each afternoon session there are 2 "highlight" talks running at the same time that 3 regular parallel session talks. So a participant may attend all highlight talks of the conference.
• The round-table following the highlight talk may cover the main topic presented in the highlight talk or be different. Some tracks may prefer to have a 1 hour round table instead of the highlight talk and the short round-table.
• The everyday end of the parallel session may depend of the total number of contributions and may end at 18: or 17:30.
• Poster session(s), Tutorials, Public talk, Industry sessions .... are not yet included in this preliminary draft, some of them still need to be scheduled ...

Total number of talks: (e.e. aCAT 2017)

Plenary talks

Number of plenary talks

• from the above ~ 22

Plenary talk selection

google doc

• level of general interest for the 3 tracks attendance (1 for mainly 1 track interested, 2: for any 2 tacks and 3: for the 3 tracks). 3 is prefered.
• how didactic it is, to be understood by a large part of the whole attendance (even if some sections can be more technical).
• New and hot topics should be preferred.
• At least 2 talks on the specific ACAT motto (AI)
• At least 1-2 talks on topics outside HEP
• Is the speaker requiring to be supported (fee, travel, lodging, ...) by the ACAT budget ?
• The overall scientific program must be balanced over the 3 track topics, the speaker's region and the gender.

Talks submitted by participants can be promoted to the a plenary session when appropriate.

Following the discussion, a priority listed selection will be prepared by the SPC. The final decision will be arbitrated by the board. The official invitation to the speaker will be done by the SPC Chair.

Plenary talk proposals (e.g. ACAT 2017)

Current list of plenary proposals (from Google Docs). Columns can be sorted (tracks, ...)

Nb	Topic	Speaker	Suggested by	Track	Comment	Votes	Invited	Answer
01	D-WAVE - Quantum Computing: link	Colin Williams	A.Neumann	1		12	Yes	Accepted

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