[lively-kernel] Onward! 2012 call for papers, due April 13

[Jonathan Edwards]

Call for Research Visions

Do you have an idea that could change the world of software development?
Onward! is the place to present it and get constructive criticism from
other researchers and practitioners. We are looking for grand visions and
new paradigms that could make a big difference in how we build software in
5 or 10 years. We are not looking for research-as-usual papers -
conferences like OOPSLA are the place for that. Those conferences require
rigorous validation such as theorems or empirical experiments, which are
necessary for scientific progress, but which unfortunately can also
preclude the discussion of early-stage ideas. Onward! also requires
validation: mere speculation is insufficient. However Onward! accepts less
rigorous methods of validation such as compelling arguments, exploratory
implementations, and substantial examples. It bears repeating that we
strongly encourage the use of worked-out examples to substantiate your
ideas.

This year, Onward! is reaching out to graduate students. You have been
taught that conference papers, key to your career, must be solid bricks of
incremental research, with scientifically sober claims. But why are you
doing research in the first place? You want to change the world with your
ideas! You can't talk about that in conference papers. Onward! gives you
the chance to spread your wings and share your dreams. We want you to
inspire us with your ideas, and perhaps in the process better inspire
yourself.

This call is also directed at practicing programmers who are deeply
dissatisified with the state of our art and who have thought long and hard
about how to fix it. The committee encourages you to share your hard-won
wisdom about how to reform software development. Many practitioners have
dismissed computer science conferences as sterile academic exercises.
Onward! is different, and asks you to join the conversation for the good of
our field. How else can we ever make progress if we don't share what has
been learnt from practical experience? We suggest that to best communicate
your ideas you avoid sweeping principles expressed in general terms,
especially terms you have coined yourself. It is often more effective to
present serveral detailed examples of how your approach would yield
concrete benefits, while also revealing what offsetting disadvantages it
may entail.

If others are working on related ideas you might consider proposing an
Onward! workshop: see the call for Onward!
workshops<http://splashcon.org/2012/cfp/due-april-13-2012/389-workshops>
.

*Selection Process*

Onward! papers are peer-reviewed, and accepted papers will appear in the
SPLASH proceedings and the ACM Digital Library. Papers will be judged on
the potential impact of their ideas and the quality of their presentation.

*Submission*

The submission deadline is April 13, 2012. See the online version of this
call <http://splashcon.org/2012/cfp/due-april-13-2012/380-onward-papers> for
further details.

*For More Information*

For additional information, clarification, or answers to questions please
contact the Onward! Papers Chair, Jonathan Edwards, at onward at splashcon.org.

*Onward! Papers Committee*

Jonathan Edwards, MIT, USA (chair)
Bjorn Freeman-Benson, New Relic, US
Bret Victor, US
Brian Foote, US
Caitlin Sadowski, UC Santa Cruz, US
Chung-chieh Shan, University of Tsukuba, Japan
Dave Thomas, Bedarra Research, Canada
Derek Rayside, University of Waterloo, Canada
John Field, Google, US
Kevin Sullivan, University of Virginia, US
Klaus Ostermann, University of Marburg, Germany
Mads Torgersen, Microsoft, US
Mark Miller, Google, US
Martin Fowler, ThoughtWorks, US
Nat Pryce, UK
Sean McDirmid, Microsoft Research Asia, China
Tom van Cutsem, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
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