# IAPR TC-11 (Reading Systems) Newsletter ## November, 2023 **Online, phone-friendly version:** [November 2023 Newsletter](http://www.iapr-tc11.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=IAPR_TC11_Newsletter_2023_11) **TC-11:** [TC-11 Homepage](http://www.iapr-tc11.org)    **X (Twitter):** [iapr_tc11](https://twitter.com/iapr_tc11) ### TABLE OF CONTENTS - Message from the Editor - Dates and Deadlines - Deadlines - Upcoming Conferences and Events - Open Call for Organizing DAR Events *(repost)* - PhD Positions (Fall 2024 or Spring 2025) in Information Retrieval / Extraction at RIT, USA - Call for Papers (CPF) for ICPR 2024 - Call for Papers (CPF) for ICPRAI 2024 *(repost)* - Call for Hosting Proposals: SSDA 2025 *(repost)* - Datasets - TC11 Datasets Repository - Recently published datasets - Where to share datasets Message from the Editor ======================= Dear TC11 members, I would like to invite you to follow our X (formerly Twitter) page of [TC11 Reading Systems](https://twitter.com/IAPR_TC11) with the handle: **@IAPR_TC11**. We post updates, deadlines, datasets etc. specially for updates during the periods between two newsletter issues. In this issue you will find several calls; the open call for organizing our major DAR events that will be held in the coming years, and calls for papers for ICPR 2024 and ICPRAI 2024. There are interesting openings for PhD positions in Information Retrieval / Extraction at the dprl lab, RIT, USA. As usual, make sure you check the many deadlines and events of 2023 and 2024. **Nibal Nayef, TC11 Communication Officer** ( ) **Join us!** If you are not already a member of the TC11 community, please consider joining the [TC11 mailing list](https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=iapr-tc11&A=1). **Follow us on X (Twitter) (iapr\_tc11):** Dates and Deadlines =================== Deadlines --------- **2023** - **November 30** Tutorial proposal submission for ICDAR 2024 - **November 30** Proposal submission for hosting DAS 2024 - **December 15** Paper submission for ICPRAI 2024 - **December 15** Nominations due for the IAPR/ICDAR Young Investigator Award **2024** - **January 31** Proposal submission for hosting ICDAR 2027 - **March 20** Paper submission for ICPR 2024 - **April 5** Proposal submission for hosting SSDA 2025 Upcoming Conferences and Events ------------------------------- **2024** - [ICPRAI 2024](https://brain.korea.ac.kr/icprai2024/). Jeju Island, South Korea (June 18-21, 2024) - [ICDAR 2024](https://icdar2024.net/). Athens, Greece (August 30 - September 4, 2024) - [ICPR 2024](https://icpr2024.org/). Kolkata, India (December 01-05, 2024) Open Call for Organizing DAR Events *(repost)* ============================================== The IAPR technical committees on graphics recognition (TC10) and reading systems (TC11) are regularly organizing scientific events for the Document Analysis and Recognition (DAR) community, including the ICDAR flagship conference. In addition to specific calls for bids to host one of the events, we encourage teams to announce their interest in organizing one of the following events: - **ICDAR**: International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition (annually; next possibility in **2027**) - **DAS**: International Workshop on Document Analysis Systems (satellite event of ICDAR in even years; next possibility in **2024**) - **GREC**: International Workshop on Graphics Recognition (satellite event of ICDAR in odd years; next possibility in **2025**) - **SSDA**: Summer School on Document Analysis (biannually in odd years; next possibility in **2025**) You may find the details of each specific call in the previous or future issues of this newsletter or in the respective websites of each event. Anyone interested in hosting one of these events is invited to announce their interest via email to and , in order to receive feedback and support for preparing a proposal. **Jean-Christophe Burie (Chair, TC10)** **Andreas Fischer (Chair, TC11)** PhD Positions (Fall 2024 or Spring 2025) in Information Retrieval / Extraction at RIT, USA ========================================================================================== PhD Positions Available (Fall 2024 or Spring 2025) Document and Pattern Recognition Lab (dprl), RIT, USA Area: Graphics-Oriented and Multi-Modal Information Retrieval and Information Extraction (i.e., Document Recognition) Lab director: [Prof. Richard Zanibbi](www.cs.rit.edu/~rlaz) Currently we are looking to recruit 2 PhD students to start their PhD as members of the [Document and Pattern Recognition Lab](https://www.cs.rit.edu/~dprl/index.html) in the CS Department of RIT in Fall 2024. The focus of our work is on recognizing and retrieving information in documents, images, and videos, with an emphasis on graphical notations (e.g., math and chemistry). An overview of some projects from the lab may be found online [here](https://www.cs.rit.edu/~dprl/projects.html). Former PhD students from the dprl work in a variety of industrial research positions (e.g., at Apple in the bay area) and as professors at US universities (e.g., at DePaul University in Chicago, and the University of Southern Maine). **Information for Applicants:** - All applicants should carefully review the dprl lab pages at: https://www.cs.rit.edu/\~dprl/index.html. Have a look at the demonstrations, papers, dissertations, and theses published out of the lab. - PhD applicants must hold or soon be completing a BSc or MSc in Computer Science (with foundations in theory, algorithms, and implementation). - To apply, send your CV/resume along with a brief research proposal (1-2 pages) that includes three sections detailing: 1. a specific research question, 2. how this is related to previous work completed in the dprl, and 3. a short sketch of how you would go about addressing the question - Note: You will not be committed to work proposed, this is for application purposes only. - If your background and materials are a fit for the lab, I will email to set up two interviews over Zoom: the first for discussion, and the second is a technical interview. If you wish to apply or have any questions about the available positions, please do not hesitate to email me at **rxzvcs\@rit.edu**. If you think you may be interested, please contact me soon, the deadline for formal applications to the program is in ***early-to-mid January of 2024***. Call for Papers (CPF) for ICPR 2024 =================================== The International Conference on Pattern Recognition (ICPR) is the flagship conference of the International Association of Pattern Recognition and the premier conference in Pattern Recognition, covering Computer Vision, Machine learning, Image, Speech, Sensor Pattern Processing etc. ICPR-2024 is the 27th event of the series which will be held at Kolkata, India during December 1-5, 2024. This conference provides a great opportunity to nurture new ideas and collaborations for students, academics, and industry researchers. ICPR-2024 will cover the following six tracks: - Artificial Intelligence, Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning - Computer and Robot Vision - Image, Speech, Signal and Video Processing - Biometrics and Human Computer Interaction - Document Analysis and Recognition - Biomedical Imaging and Bioinformatics The main conference has several highlights, including keynotes by top experts, invited talks by academic and industry professionals, oral paper presentation, poster paper presentation, etc. ICPR-2024 will also have many workshops and Tutorials. Prospective authors are invited to submit papers. Important deadlines for ICPR-2024 are as follows: \* Paper submission open: January 20, 2024 \* Paper submission deadline: March 20, 2024 \* Reviews sent to authors (Acceptance/rejection/Revision): June 20, 2024 \* Revision / rebuttal submission deadline: July 10, 2024 \* Final Acceptance notification: August 5, 2024 \* Camera-ready submission: August 31, 2024 Submission and Review: ICPR-2024 will follow a single-blind review process. Authors can include their names and affiliations in the manuscript. Paper Format and Length: Springer LNCS format with maximum 15 pages (including references) during paper submission. To take care of reviewers' comments, one more page is allowed (without any charge) during revised/camera ready submission. Moreover, authors may purchase up to 2 extra pages. Springer LNCS paper formatting instructions and templates for ICPR-2024 are available in the icpr2024 website: (https://icpr2024.org/cfp.html) The PDF version of the CFP has been attached for your kind reference. Please visit the ICPR-2024 website (icpr2024.org) for more details. **Contact** For any enquiry please contact the ICPR-2024 Secretariat via email at icpr2024\@gmail.com and icpr2024\@isical.ac.in Please also circulate it among your colleagues. The ICPR-2024 organizing committee is looking forward to your participation in ICPR-2024. ICPR-2024 General Chairs: \* Umapada Pal, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India \* Josef Kittler, University of Surrey, UK \* Anil Jain, Michigan State University, USA ICPR-2024 Program Chairs: \* Rama Chellappa, Johns Hopkins University, USA \* Apostolos Antonacopoulos, University of Salford, UK \* Cheng-Lin Liu, Institute of Automation of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China \* Subhasis Chaudhuri, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India Call for Papers (CPF) for ICPRAI 2024 *(repost)* ================================================ We are pleased to host the 4th International Conference on Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence ([ICPRAI2024](www.icprai2024.org)), taking place on Jeju Island, South Korea from June 18 to 21, 2024. The conference aims to bring together researchers, students, and practitioners of pattern recognition and artificial intelligence to encourage overview, in-depth talks, and discussions on the latest research and state of the art. **Important Dates and Deadlines** Regular Paper Submission: December 15, 2023 Work-in-progress Paper Submission: February 1, 2023 Regular Paper Notification to Authors: March 8, 2024 Work-in-progress Paper Notification to Authors: March 15, 2024 All Papers Camera-ready Submission: April 14, 2024 Conference Dates: June 18-21, 2024 Our main topics of interest are organized in four areas and include - but are not limited to - the following: - Topic Area 1 Pattern Recognition: Data Clustering, Domain Adaptation and Generalization, Information Retrieval, Feature Extraction/Selection and Evaluation, Statistical Pattern Recognition, Structural Pattern Recognition, Time Series Processing - Topic Area 2 Computer Vision: Behavior Recognition, Depth Processing and 3D Data, Face and Facial Expression Recognition, Human Pose Estimation, Image Fusion, Image Processing/Analysis, Multimodal Models (Vision + Language), Object Detection and Recognition, Scene Understanding, Segmentation, Video Analysis - Topic Area 3 Artificial Intelligence: Causal Inference, Continual Learning, Expert Systems, GANs and Diffusion Models, Generative AI, Graph Neural Networks, Interpretability and Explainable AI, Knowledge Representation and Representation Learning, Machine/Deep Learning, Optimization, Reinforcement Learning, Semantic Analysis, Uncertainty Prediction, Zero- and Few-Shot Learning - Topic Area 4 Applications: Autonomous Vehicles, Biometrics, Brain-Computer/Machine Interface, Brain-Inspired Computing, Document Analysis and Recognition, Human-Computer Interaction, Medical Data Processing, Natural Language Processing, Neural Information Processing, Odometry, Robotics, Social Computing, Unmanned Systems **Paper Submissions and Guidelines** Regular papers will follow the LNCS Springer template and are restricted to 14 pages. They must present original research and represent a significant contribution to the field. Accepted regular papers will be presented in either oral or poster sessions. All accepted regular papers will be published in the LNCS proceedings by Springer. In addition, selected best papers will be eligible for consideration of several best paper awards. Work-in-progress papers will use the same template and are restricted to 8 pages. These papers are meant to showcase new results and current work for discussion at the conference. Accepted work-in-progress papers will be presented as posters in a separate session and will be published in the proceedings by Springer. All papers will be peer-reviewed single-blind. The submission site opens at a later time - please check back the conference website at: www.icprai2024.org. Contact: icprai2024\@gmail.com Call for Hosting Proposals: SSDA 2025 *(repost)* ================================================ This is a call for proposals for hosting the IAPR TC10/TC11 Summer School on Document Analysis (SSDA) 2025. **Important Dates** Proposal Submission Deadline: April 5, 2024 Submit Proposals via email to: - Foteini Simistira Liwicki (TC11 Representative), foteini.liwicki\@ltu.se - Momina Moetesum (TC10 Representative), momina.moetesum\@seecs.edu.pk Part of the mission of International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR) TC11 and TC10 is to promote high quality educational activities related to Reading Systems and Graphics Recognition. Responding to this need, TC10 and TC11 have established a series of summer schools. After the successful organization of summer schools in India, France, Pakistan, Sweden, and Switzerland, we are now soliciting proposals for the organization of the sixth "IAPR TC10/TC11 Summer School on Document Analysis" (SSDA) in 2025. The "IAPR TC10/TC11 Summer School on Document Analysis" is intended to become the primary educational activity of IAPR TC11 (Reading Systems) and TC10 (Graphics Recognition). The School is meant to be a training activity where participants are exposed to the latest trends and techniques of Reading Systems and Graphics Recognition. The aim of the School is to provide both an objective and clear overview and an in-depth analysis of the state-of-the-art research in selected topics of Reading Systems and Graphics Recognition. The School should aim to provide a stimulating opportunity for young researchers and PhD students in the field. Individuals and groups who are interested in Reading Systems and Graphics Recognition are invited to submit proposals for organizing and hosting the 2025 IAPR TC10 / TC11 Summer School. As the previous summer schools were organized in Asia, Europe, and the Sub-continent, organizing teams from the Americas and Africa are encouraged to submit a bid in order to facilitate the envisioned rotational scheme of the IAPR TC10 / TC11 Summer School. In order to fully plan their bid, it is expected that proposers familiarize themselves with the guidelines for organizing the School first. The Guidelines can be found at the TC11 Web site or click [here](http://www.iapr-tc11.org/mediawiki/index.php/Guidelines_for_Organising_and_Bidding_to_Host_the_TC10_/_TC11_Summer_School). The submission of a bid implies full agreement with the rules and procedures for organizing the School. Especially, this means that organizers will apply for IAPR support and that the event will use the series title "IAPR TC10/TC11 Summer School on Document Analysis" with an optional sub-title denoting a special focus of the respective event. Please consider submitting a proposal for this increasingly important event for the TC10/TC11 community. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact the TC11 and TC10 SSDA representatives: Foteini Simistira Liwicki (TC11 Representative) and Momina Moetesum (TC10 Representative). **Previous events** As a reference, the 2023 Summer School on Document Analysis was held in Fribourg, Switzerland (URL: https://ssda2023.isc.heia-fr.ch/) Datasets ======== TC11 Datasets Repository ------------------------ ### Recently published datasets A Public Ground-Truth Dataset for Handwritten Circuit Diagram Images (**CGHD**) - Contributed: 2023-11-20 - Keywords: Engineering Diagrams, Schematic, Line Drawings, Object Detection, Semantic Segmentation, Instance Segmentation, Handwritten Text Recognition - URL: https://tc11.cvc.uab.es/datasets/CGHD\_1 ### Where to share datasets Did you know it? We have two official places for datasets: - Our historical platform for storage and listing: http://datasets.iapr-tc11.org - A Zenodo community (if you choose to submit your datasets there): https://zenodo.org/communities/iapr-tc11 TC11 maintains a collection of datasets that can be found online in the [TC11 Datasets Repository](http://www.iapr-tc11.org/mediawiki/index.php/Datasets). If you have new datasets (e.g., from competitions) that you wish to share with the research community, please use the [online upload form](http://tc11.cvc.uab.es/upload/). For questions and support, please contact the TC11 Dataset Curator (contact information is below). **Joseph Chazalon (TC11 Dataset Curator)** ( ) Contributions and Subscriptions ================================== **Call for Contributions:** To contribute news items, please send a short email to the editor, [Nibal Nayef](mailto:n.nayef@gmail.com). Contributions might include conference and workshop announcements or reports, job opportunities, book reviews, or anything else of interest to the TC11 community. **Subscription:** This newsletter is sent to subscribers of the IAPR TC11 mailing list. To join the TC11 mailing list, please click on [this link](https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=iapr-tc11&A=1). To manage your subscription, please visit the [mailing list homepage](https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=IAPR-TC11). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IAPR TC11 HOMEPAGE: [http://www.iapr-tc11.org](http://www.iapr-tc11.org) The IAPR is the International Association for Pattern Recognition. IAPR's Technical Committee No. 11 (TC11) includes researchers and practitioners working with Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and more generally the analysis and recognition of information in documents.