CFP: The 34rd Annual Conference on Learning Theory (COLT 2021)

[Mikhail Belkin]

Call for Papers COLT 2021

http://www.learningtheory.org/colt2021/cfp.html

The 34rd Annual Conference on Learning Theory (COLT 2021) will take place July 7-10, 2021. Assuming the circumstances allow for an in-person conference it will be held at CU Boulder, in Colorado. We invite submissions of papers addressing theoretical aspects of machine learning, broadly defined as a subject at the intersection of computer science, statistics and applied mathematics. We strongly support an inclusive view of learning theory, including fundamental theoretical aspects of learnability in various contexts, and theory that sheds light on empirical phenomena.

The topics include but are not limited to:

    Design and analysis of learning algorithms

    Statistical and computational complexity of learning

    Optimization methods for learning, including online and stochastic optimization

    Theory of artificial neural networks, including deep learning

    Theoretical explanation of empirical phenomena in learning

    Supervised learning

    Unsupervised, semi-supervised learning, domain adaptation

    Learning geometric and topological structures in data, manifold learning

    Active and interactive learning

    Reinforcement learning

    Online learning and decision-making

    Interactions of learning theory with other mathematical fields

    High-dimensional and non-parametric statistics

    Kernel methods

    Causality

    Theoretical analysis of probabilistic graphical models

    Bayesian methods in learning

    Game theory and learning

    Learning with system constraints (e.g., privacy, fairness, memory, communication)

    Learning from complex data (e.g., networks, time series)

    Learning in neuroscience, social science, economics and other subjects

Submissions by authors who are new to COLT are encouraged.

While the primary focus of the conference is theoretical, authors are welcome to support their analysis with relevant experimental results.

Accepted papers will be presented at the conference in both oral and poster sessions. At least one author of each accepted paper should present the work at the conference. Accepted papers will be published electronically in the Proceedings of Machine Learning Research (PMLR). Authors of accepted papers will have the option of opting out of the proceedings in favor of a 1-page extended abstract, which will point to an open access archival version of the full paper reviewed for COLT.

PAPER AWARDS

COLT will award both best paper and best student paper awards. To be eligible for the best student paper award, the primary contributor(s) must be full-time students at the time of submission. For eligible papers, authors must indicate at submission time if they wish their paper to be considered for a student paper award. The program committee may decline to make these awards, or may split them among several papers.

DUAL SUBMISSIONS POLICY

Conferences: In general, submissions that are substantially similar to papers that have been previously published, accepted for publication, or submitted in parallel to other peer-reviewed conferences with proceedings may not be submitted to COLT. The only exception is for papers under submission to STOC 2021, as detailed below.

Dual submission with STOC 2021: The STOC 2021 notification date falls on February 7. We will allow submissions that are substantially similar to papers that have been submitted to STOC 2021, provided that the authors (1) declare such dual submissions through the submission server, and (2) immediately withdraw the COLT submission if the STOC submission is accepted.

Journals: In general, submissions that are substantially similar to papers that have been previously published, accepted for publication, or submitted in parallel to journals may not be submitted to COLT.

REBUTTAL PHASE

As in previous years, there will be a rebuttal phase during the review process. Initial reviews will be sent to authors before final decisions have been made. Authors will have an opportunity to address the issues brought up in the reviews.

IMPORTANT DATES

(All dates are in 2021.)

    Paper submission deadline: January 29, 4:00 PM PST

    Author feedback opens: March 31

    Author notification: May 14

    Conference: July 7-10