# IAPR TC-11 (Reading Systems) Newsletter ## January, 2024 **Online, phone-friendly version:** [January 2024 Newsletter](http://www.iapr-tc11.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=IAPR_TC11_Newsletter_2024_01) **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)* - Postdoctoral Position in Computer Vision, Machine Learning and Document Analysis in Luleå, Sweden - Call for Papers (CFP) for ICDAR 2024 *(updated post)* - ICPR 2024 Calls *(repost)* - Call for Papers (CFP) for ICPR 2024 *(repost)* - Call for Competitions for ICPR 2024 *(repost)* - SSDA 2025: Call for Proposals *(repost)* - Datasets - TC11 Datasets Repository - Where to share datasets Message from the Editor ======================= Dear TC11 members, In this first newsletter issue of 2024, you will find the current active calls for DAR-related events; the open call for organizing our major DAR events that will be held in the coming years, the updated call for papers for ICDAR 2024 and calls for papers, tutorials, competitions and workshops for ICPR 2024. Find also an interesting job offer for a post-doc in computer vision, machine learning and document analysis in Luleå, Sweden. As usual, make sure you check the upcoming deadlines and events. **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 --------- **2024** - **January 31** Proposal submission for hosting ICDAR 2027 (tick tock!) - **February 1** Paper submission for ICDAR 2024 (title and abstract) - **February 12** Paper submission for ICDAR 2024 (full paper upload and editing closed) - **March 1** Competition proposal submission for ICPR 2024 - **March 20** Paper submission for ICPR 2024 - **March 31** Workshop proposal submission for ICPR 2024 - **April 5** Proposal submission for hosting SSDA 2025 - **June 15** Tutorial submission for ICPR 2024 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)** Postdoctoral Position in Computer Vision, Machine Learning and Document Analysis in Luleå, Sweden ================================================================================================= Are you interested in doing cutting edge research in computer vision, machine learning and document analysis? We are excited to announce that we have a postdoctoral position available in the Machine Learning group at Luleå Technical University (LTU), Sweden. We are looking for an applicant who is ambitious and creative, who has a Ph.D., strong academic publications, and who wants to contribute to cutting edge research in this area. **Project:** Research will be conducted in Machine Learning, especially Deep Learning, for applications in the areas of computer vision and document analysis. Potential areas include unsupervised learning, one-shot learning and use of homomorphic encryption. Applications include handwriting recognition, blueprint analysis, historical document analysis, multispectral document analysis, x-ray image analysis of documents and mining samples. Work is in collaboration with Professor Elisa Barney. This position & scholarship is funded by a foundation grant instead of a research contract, and thus there is considerable flexibility in the exact projects to be conducted. In the application the candidate should propose topics that mesh with work already in progress or recently completed by Prof. Barney and her team of PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. The Post-Doc is still expected to strongly participate in development and acquisition of future project funding. **Qualifications:** Applicants must have a PhD or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering or a closely related field. A doctoral degree awarded no more than five years before the application deadline is a good benchmark qualification. Experience and demonstrated background in computer vision, document analysis, signal and image processing and statistics are desired qualifications. We are looking for enthusiastic candidates capable of conducting state-of-the-art research as demonstrated through a record of peer reviewed publications. The candidate will ideally also have some experience in international research project collaboration. We expect candidates to have a good knowledge of English both in speech and writing and have the capacity to perform independently as well as in teams. As LTU is very strong in application-oriented research, industrial experience is very welcome. The Machine Learning group is very diverse and welcomes diverse applicants. **Logistics:** The postdoc position is for two years with placement in Luleå, starting as soon as appropriate visas can be secured. It is funded as a scholarship thanks to the Kempestiftelsen paying 31 250 SEK per month for a 2-year period. This is above the average net income in the area (See https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/comparison.jsp and search with our slightly more expensive neighbor Umeå). This money is not subject to Swedish tax withholding, and you will not participate in the Swedish retirement system, but will be eligible to participate in the Swedish healthcare system. **Apply through:** https://bit.ly/LTU-MLpostdoc2 (Ref 2546-2023) ***Closing date: 28 February 2024*** About the Department, University and Region: Luleå Technical University is experiencing strong growth with world-leading competence in several research areas. We shape the future through innovative education and ground-breaking research results, and based on the Arctic region, we create global social benefit. Our scientific and artistic research and education are conducted in close collaboration with international, national and regional companies, public actors and leading universities. LTU offers well-equipped laboratory facilities for performing research and a good academic network in Sweden and abroad. The city of Luleå is located on the Gulf of Bothnia (northern Baltic Sea) a couple of hours from the Arctic Circle and the border with Finland. In the summer we have the midnight sun. In the winter you will be able to see the northern lights. Luleå is ideal for outdoor enthusiasts who want to get out and explore with a superb infrastructure of bicycling roads, and in winter our Ice Road. The city has an excellent public transportation system and nearly a dozen flights daily to the south. There are plenty of top notch restaurants and cultural activities in Luleå too. Call for Papers (CFP) for ICDAR 2024 *(updated post)* ===================================================== The organizing committee of ICDAR 2024 invites researchers to submit papers to the upcoming 18th edition of ICDAR which will take place from 30 August - 4 September 2024 in Athens, Greece. The format of the conference will build upon best practices of previous ICDAR conferences and will feature keynote talks, main track sessions, presentations, panel discussions, poster sessions, side workshops and social events. **Important Dates** 1 February 2024 -- Title and Abstract submission deadline 12 February 2024 -- Full paper upload and editing closed 15 April 2024 -- Paper acceptance notification 30 April 2024 -- Camera-ready **Submission and Review** ICDAR 2024 conference papers will follow a single blind review process. The Abstract submission deadline is on 1 February 2024. Full papers and edits may be submitted until 12 February 2024. Papers should be formatted according to the instructions and style files provided by Springer. The LaTeX template for LNCS can be downloaded [here](https://resource-cms.springernature.com/springer-cms/rest/v1/content/19238648/data/v7). It is also available on [Overleaf](https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/springer-lecture-notes-in-computer-science/kzwwpvhwnvfj#.WtR5Hy5ua71). Papers accepted for the conference will be allocated up to 15 pages (usually not counting references) in the proceedings. Submissions are expected to be in the range of 10-15 pages. Submit your papers via this link: https://icdar2024.net/call-for-papers-2/ **Topics of Interest** Document image processing Physical and logical layout analysis Text and symbol recognition Handwriting recognition Document analysis systems Document classification Indexing and retrieval of documents Document synthesis Extracting document semantics NLP for document understanding Office automation Graphics recognition Human document interaction Document Representation Modeling Structured document generation Multimedia document analysis Mobile text recognition Pen-based document analysis Scene text detection and recognition Recognition of tables and formulas Historical document analysis Signature verification Document summarization and translation Document forensics and provenance Medical document analysis Document analysis for social good Document analysis for literature search Gold-standard benchmarks and datasets Enquiries should be sent to pc-chairs\@icdar2024.net. ICPR 2024 Calls *(repost)* ========================== This is an ICPR-2024 call for Papers / Workshops / Tutorials / Competitions: Greetings from the ICPR-2024 organizing committee! 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. ICPR-2024 Organizing committee invites prospective researchers to submit papers, workshop proposals, tutorial proposals, competition proposals, etc. Information about the calls for Papers/Workshops/Tutorials/Competitions are available at the links in the left column of the ICPR-2024 website: https://icpr2024.org/ The deadlines for the different calls are as follows: - Paper submission deadline: March 20, 2024 - Workshop proposal submission deadline: March 31, 2024 - Tutorial proposal submission deadline: June 15, 2024 - Competition Proposal submission deadline: March 1, 2024 Thank you very much and we are looking forward to your participation in ICPR-2024. Organization Committee: Umapada Pal, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India Josef Kittler, University of Surrey, UK Anil Jain, Michigan State University, USA Call for Papers (CFP) for ICPR 2024 *(repost)* ---------------------------------------------- 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 Competitions for ICPR 2024 *(repost)* ---------------------------------------------- The ICPR 2024 Organizing Committee invites proposals for competitions that aim at evaluating the performance of algorithms and methods related to pattern recognition. We encourage competition proposals with a solid plan to remain active and challenging for the community over and above ICPR 2024. **Competition Important Dates (2024):** March 1: Competition Proposal Due March 15: Competition Acceptance Notification April 2: Individual Competition Websites are Live July 21: Deadline for competition participants August 18: Initial Submission of Competition Reports Deadline September 2: Camera-Ready Papers Due October 28: Communicate Winners to Chairs December 1-5: Presentation at ICPR Conference **Competition Proposal Requirements** You are cordially invited to submit a proposal, that should contain the following information: - Contest title and abstract. **Note:** The name of competition must be standardized by starting with "ICPR 2024" e.g. "ICPR 2024 Competition on ..." or "ICPR 2024 ... Competition." - A brief description of the competition, including what the particular task under evaluation is, why this competition is of interest to the ICPR community, and the expected number of participants - An outline of the competition schedule - Description of the dataset to be used, and the evaluation process and metrics for submitted methods - The names, contact information, and brief CVs of the competition organizers, outlining previous experience in performance evaluation and/or organizing competitions **Proposal Acceptance Criteria** - Datasets used in the competitions must be made available after the end of the competitions. Specifically, the training data and ground truth must be publicly released and there must be a way to evaluate performance on a test set. This could take the form of an evaluation server, or the test data, ground truth, and evaluation script could be made publicly available. - Evaluation methodologies and metrics used must be described in detail so that results can be replicated later. Evaluation scripts must be released afterwards. - Each competition has to be presented with a poster at a prominent place at the conference venue, and some good competitions may be selected for oral presentation during ICPR 2024. - Competitions must have a sufficient number of participants (greater or equal to 3) to be able to draw meaningful conclusions. - Reports (full papers) on each competition will be reviewed and, if accepted (the competition ran according to plan, attracted a minimum level of participation and is appropriately described), will be published in the ICPR 2024 conference proceedings. - Participants should not have access to the ground-truth test dataset until the end of the competition. The evaluation should be done by the organizers. **Submission Guidelines & Inquiries** All proposals should be submitted by electronic mail to the Competition Chairs (Lian Wen Jin, Richard Zanibbi, and Laurence Likforman-Sulem) via: icpr2024competition\@gmail.com For any inquiries you may have regarding the competitions, please contact us via above email. SSDA 2025: Call for Proposals *(repost)* ======================================== Call for proposals for hosting the next summer school on document analysis Important Dates April 5, 2024 Proposal Submission Deadline 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. 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 ------------------------ ### 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.