The Seventh Summer School on Ontological Engineering and the Semantic Web (SSSW'09)

July 5, 2009 - July 11, 2009. Cercedilla, near Madrid (Spain)

Important Dates

  • 01-Mar-2009 - Registration Opens
  • 15-Apr-2009 - Registration Closes
  • 01-May-2009 - Notification of Acceptance
  • 01-Jun-2009 - Deadline for Payments
  • 05-Jul-2009 - Arrival of Participants
  • 06-Jul-2009 - Summer School Starts
  • 11-Jul-2009 - Summer School Ends

Sponsors

The Open University NeOn Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

STLab STI International Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies
Talis X-Media Yahoo! Research Barcelona
DERI Galway iSOCO VideoLectures.net

News

Introduction


We are pleased to announce the seventh European Summer School on Ontological Engineering and the Semantic Web (SSSW 2009). The successful and groundbreaking SSSW series of summer schools started in 2003, as part of the activities of the OntoWeb Network Consortium, continued from 2004 to 2007 as part of the activities of the Knowledge Web Network of Excellence, and is now a well-establish event within the research community and a role model for several other initiatives. Presented by leading researchers in the field, it represents an opportunity for postgraduate students to equip themselves with the range of theoretical, practical, and collaboration skills necessary for full engagement with the challenges involved in developing Ontologies and Semantic Web applications. To ensure a high ratio between tutors and students the school will be limited to 50 participants.

Approach


Previous Events:

SSSW08 Website
From the very beginning the school pioneered an innovative pedagogical approach, combining the practical with the theoretical, and adding teamwork and a competitive element to the mix. Specifically, tutorial/lecture material is augmented with hands-on practical workshops and we ensure that the sessions complement each other by linking them to a group project. Work on developing and presenting a project in cooperation with other participants serves as a means of consolidating the knowledge and skills gained from lectures and practical sessions. It also introduces an element of competition among teams, as prizes are awarded to the best projects at the end of the week. Participants will be provided with electronic versions of all course lectures and all necessary tools and environments for the hands-on sessions. PC access with all tools pre-installed will be available on site as well. SSSW09 will provide a stimulating and enjoyable environment in which participants will benefit not only from the formal and practical sessions but also from informal and social interactions with established researchers and the other participants in the school. To further facilitate communication and feedback all attendees will present a poster on their research.

Students


We welcome students from anywhere in the world. Normally, but not exclusively, postgraduate students in relevant disciplines with some knowledge of ontological or knowledge engineering and/or the development of applications for the Semantic Web. Some basic acquaintance with knowledge representation and Semantic Web technologies (RDF, OWL, etc.) is required.

Registration to attend the summer school is now closed.

The cost ot the summer school, including accomodation, meals and excusrion is 800€

Students are expected to arrive on Sunday, July 5th, between 3pm and 6pm and to participate fully in the activities of the school until its conclusion, at 2pm on Saturday, July 11th. Students are also required to bring a poster describing their own research to the summer school.

Apart from activities directly related to lectures, the summer school schedule is rightly famous for its unrivalled social programme, which enables informal interaction between all participants to the school – i.e., students, tutors, invited speakers, school staff, etc. These events include a gala dinner outside Cercedilla, walks in the mountain, discos, and sport activities.