The theory of belief functions, also referred to as evidence theory or Dempster-Shafer theory, was first introduced by Arthur P. Dempster in the context of statistical inference, and was later developed by Glenn Shafer as a general framework for modelling epistemic uncertainty. These early contributions have been the starting points of many important developments, including the transferable belief model and the theory of hints. The theory of belief functions is now well established as a general framework for reasoning with uncertainty, and has well understood connections to other frameworks such as probability, possibility and imprecise probability theories. It has been applied in diverse areas such as machine learning, information fusion and risk analysis.
The biennal BELIEF conferences, sponsored by the Belief Functions and Applications Society, are dedicated to the confrontation of ideas, the reporting of recent achievements and the presentation of the wide range of applications of this theory. The first edition of this conference series was held in Brest, France, in 2010. Later editions were held in Compiègne, France in 2012, Oxford, UK in 2014, Prague, Czech Republic in 2016, and again in Compiègne, France in 2018. The previous edition was delayed by the global pandemic and took place in 2021 in Beijing, China. The Seventh International Conference on Belief Functions (BELIEF 2022) will be located in Paris, France, and it will take place on October 26-28, 2022.
Proceedings of BELIEF 2022 will be published by Springer-Verlag in a volume of the Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (LNCS/LNAI) series and indexed by: ISI Web of Science; EI Engineering Index; ACM Digital Library; dblp; Google Scholar; IO-Port; MathSciNet; Scopus; Zentralblatt MATH. Previous BELIEF proceedings can be found on SpringerLink.
Thanks to the continued support of the International Journal of Approximate Reasoning, the best papers presented at the conference will be distinguished by the IJAR Best Paper Award. The prize will consist of a certificate and 1000 euros, which will be split between the winners.
Authors should submit their papers through Easychair - conference BELIEF 2022 following the Springer LNCS/LNAI series template, also available in Overleaf.
The expected length of papers is no longer than 10 pages, references included, that should present original contributions with significant results. Springer encourages authors to include their ORCIDs in their papers. In addition, the corresponding author of each accepted paper, acting on behalf of all of the authors of that paper, will have to complete and sign a Consent-to-Publish form. The corresponding author signing the copyright form should match the corresponding author marked on the paper. Once the files have been sent to Springer, changes relating to the authorship of the papers cannot be made.
Authors of selected papers from the BELIEF 2022 conference will be invited to submit extended versions of their papers for possible inclusion in a special issue of the International Journal of Approximate Reasoning.
Original contributions are solicited on theoretical aspects including, but not limited to
as well as on applications to various areas including, but not limited to
The BELIEF 2022 Conference Committee is pleased to invite submissions of abstracts for poster presentations. The poster session aims to encourage discussions either around preliminary works or works in progress. For poster presentation, we also encourage the submission of abstracts corresponding to works in recent papers accepted or submitted elsewhere. The conference or journal where the paper was published or submitted must be specified at submission.
Submissions should include a title and an abstract no longer than 250 words. If accepted, they will be presented at the conference in a special poster session but will not appear in the proceedings. The main objective of the poster session is to foster discussions around preliminary works, or to popularize newly published works, therefore poster presenters are required to participate on site to the conference. The deadline for submissions is: July 31, 2022. Poster presenters will be notified by August 8th.
Abstract submission: belief2022@bfasociety.org
Researcher Rémi Bardenet, CRIStAL, CNRS and Lille University, France.
Title: Topics in Monte Carlo computation and Bayesian learning
Abstract: to be announced.
Professor Stéphane Canu, INSA Rouen, France.
Title: Robustness of neural networks and adversarial attacks
Abstract: to be announced.
Assoc. Professor Philippe Xu, Université de Technologie de Compiègne, France.
Title: Fusion of heterogeneous deep neural networks with belief functions
Abstract: to be announced.
The event will take place at the Sorbonne Center for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI). There are multiple ways to arrive to the conference site: on subway (Metro lines 7 or 10), by taxi, or by bus.
The gala dinner will take place inside the Wine Museum, in the heart of Paris and a stone's throw away from the Eiffel Tower. Visiting this location is a great opportunity to discover the long history of this inherent part of French culture and tradition, and we are currently trying to secure a guided visit of the museum for the BELIEF 2022 participants (to be confirmed soon). Update: guided visit is confirmed. Optionally, the wine enthousiasts may subscribe to a blind wine tasting competition organized by the Museum hosts (you need to tick the Cultural Activity option during registration) - the winner gets a prize ! Update: the competition will take place just before the dinner, and will consist in a crash course given by a museum expert presenting the main regions and grape varieties, followed by the actual tasting. Thus, you don't need to be well accustomed to French wine to participate. Note however that if you are not a wine fan or if you don't drink alcohol, the gala dinner is non-alcohol friendly.
The registration fee for the onsite participants includes the following items:
Online participants benefit from a discounted registration fee, which includes the following items:
Each paper must have at least one author registered with regular on-site registration (i.e., not student registration) with payment received by the author-registration deadline of August 15 to avoid being withdrawn from the conference. A single, full registration may cover up to two (2) papers. When registering, please enter the ID number(s) of the paper(s) that you will be covering with your full registration; for the paper ID number, use the 5-digit Easychair Paper ID number.
If you are a student who will be presenting a paper, and you are covering that paper with your registration, then you must register with the regular on-site rate.
BELIEF 2022 requires that each accepted paper be presented by one of the authors in-person at the conference site according to the schedule published. Any paper accepted into the technical program, but not presented on-site will be withdrawn from the official proceedings archived on Springer. The only exception is in the case of all non-EU authors who might face travel difficulties. In this case, you are required to contact us as early as possible to inform us about your intention to present online.
A student presenting a poster and not covering a paper registration may register with the on-site student rate.
You may find below the registration price depending on the participant category (faculty or student), attendance type (on-site/on-line) and registration period (standard or late registration). Optionally, you may purchase:
| Registration fees (EUR) | Standard fee* (ending Aug. 31, 2022) | Late fee* (Sept. 1 - Sept. 30, 2022) |
|---|---|---|
| On-site student | 300€ | 350€ |
| On-site faculty | 500€ | 550€ |
| On-line student | 50€ | 100€ |
| On-line faculty | 100€ | 150€ |
| Additional ticket for welcome reception and gala dinner | 150€ | 150€ |
| Optional cultural activity | 25€ | 25€ |
| Please note that the registration fees will switch according to Central European Time (CET) | ||
Please note: for foreigners requiring invitation letters, contact us before attempting to pay the registration fee if you are not a co-author of an accepted paper. Provide a proof of affiliation with an academic institution, contact references and a list of publications on a public indexing engine such as Google Scholar. The organizing committee reserves the right to refuse attendance to individuals who can not demonstrate a clear link with the topic of the conference, and you will be informed. As stated by the registration policy, the registration fee is not refundable.
On-site and on-line participants have to register using this link (Azur-Colloque platform) and have to pay the suitable registration fee mentioned above. Before pursuing, make sure to read carefully the payment guidelines:
Participants are requested to familiarize themselves with their own applicable visa requirements well in advance of the conference. Present worldwide security regulations generally result in more stringent visa requirements and associated longer visa processing time. The BELIEF 2022 organizers cannot intervene with embassies or consulates on behalf of any participant.
In order to obtain a letter of invitation for visa purposes, contact the Organizing Committee directly.