The aim of the Promise Winter School on information retrieval and information visualization is to give participants a grounding in the core topics that constitute the multidisciplinary area of multilingual and multimedia information retrieval. Other topics of the school will include usability of systems, system evaluation, social media and several other related fields.

The school is a week-long event consisting of guest lectures from invited speakers who are recognized experts in the field of information retrieval and information visulization. [...]

In many areas of science, simulations and experiments begin to generate many petabytes of data, with some sciences facing exabytes of data near term. Similarly, the collection of information about the Internet applications and users for a variety of purposes is generating only more data. Our ability to manage, mine, analyze, and visualize the data is fundamental to the knowledge discovery process. That is, the value of data at extreme scale can be fully realized only if we have an end-to-end solution, which demands a collective, inter-disciplinary effort to develop. [...]

Visual analytics is the science of analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual interfaces. One key aspect that separates visual analytics from other related fields (InfoVis, SciVis, HCI) is the focus on analytical reasoning. While the final products generated at from an analytical process are of great value, research has shown that the processes of the analysis themselves are just as important if not more so. These processes not only contain information on individual insights discovered, but also how the users arrive at these insights.

We are delighted to announce the call for participation in VIZBI 2011, the 2nd workshop on ‘Visualizing Biological Data’, to be held at the Broad Institute, Cambridge-MA (USA), March 16-18, 2011. VIZBI 2011 brings together scientists actively using or developing computational visualization to study a diverse range of biological data. As shown on the attached poster, they have assembled a list of high-profile speakers who will each review the state-of-the-art and challenges with visualization in their field. VIZBI 2011 also features an ‘art & science’ evening (Thursday) during which they will be joined by medical illustrators, graphic designers, and artists interested in biological visualization. On Saturday, March 19, immediately after the workshop, participants can choose from a range of tutorials and take part in a hands-on ‘bring-your-own-data’ session.

The objective of this workshop is to bring together researchers and practitioners that are developing and applying the state-of-the-art in visual analytics; to provide a forum for presentation and discussion of the newest both mature and greenhouse ideas, research and developments in visual analytics and supporting disciplines, and to identify the short- and long-term research directions in the field and preferences of the potential end users.

We solicit papers that will introduce new research results, present forward-looking positional statements, or define relevant research challenges.