As many of you will have noticed, Logic Programming is not among the most fashionable or trendy branches of computer science these days. Like other more traditional fields in computing, LP currently suffers from decreasing numbers of paper submissions and conference attendees. We believe that it is particularly important for researchers to actively demonstrate their interest and support for the area they are working in during such periods when ``their'' field seems to appear less exciting than other new and booming areas. Apart from that, we believe that quite independent of the overall situation in science this year's JICSLP offers quite an attractive program which we try to enrich by a pleasant and stimulating athmosphere.
Two tutorials of two hours each - placed as plenary sessions in the conference program - will be devoted to new logic languages turned into efficient systems: The Mercury language developed in Melbourne will be presented, and the LP group of D.S. Warren from Stony Brook will summarize their work on combining LP with tabulation techniques.
In a separate evaluation, a poster committee chaired by Norbert E. Fuchs of Zurich and Ulrich Geske of Berlin about 20 submissions have been accepted for short presentation in a special poster session.
Like in previous years, a number of attractive and up-to-date topics will be covered by a series of post-conference workshops (organized in parallel during the last one and a half days of JICSLP):
Last not least, we hope to be able to equip the conference site with a sufficient number of machines in order to run a Prolog Programming Contest again this year. Bart Demoen of Leuven offered to organize this competition as he did before (see the most recent LP Newsletter for a report about the 1995 contest in Portland).
The trip to the dinner site will be performed by boat on the Rhine river. The conference venue - Bad Honnef - is located some ten miles up the river, at the gate to the most scenic and romantic part of the Rhine valley. During two hours we will first cruise south towards this famous and beautiful area which has inspired many painters and poets since centuries. The boat will then head north again towards Bonn and land very close to the German ``Bundestag'' (the federal parliament) from where participants can walk within a few minutes up to the dinner place. We hope that the boat tour will present ample opportunity for meeting each other, talking and drinking, or just quietly enjoying the landscape. Our banquet speaker will be Alan Robinson, the ``father of resolution'', who is well-known as a brilliant speaker (not only on proofs and logic).
There will be smaller, optional social events on each of the remaining conference days, such as a ``Weinprobe'' (which literally means: wine testing) in a local vineyard or a ``Rheinischer Abend'', an evening featuring typical food and drinks from the Rhine area in a historical restaurant from the 17th century. A highlight of the non-scientific program will be another performance of classical music by the famous ``Logic Programming Trio'' (Jacques Cohen/violin, Koichi Furukawa/cello and Alan Robinson/piano), who first performed at the previous JICSLP in Washington four years ago. Of course, the only appropriate composer for this occasion will be Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born in Bonn over two-hundred years ago. They promised to rehearse one of his piano trios which will be played during a small concert on the second evening of the conference. Unfortunately, our initial plan to organize this performance in Beethoven's birthplace in downtown Bonn failed due to a professional concert taking place in that place at the same day, but we are looking for an appropriate replacement.
The site of the conference will be Bad Honnef, a small town situated at the Eastern shore of the Rhine opposite to Bonn, surrounded by the Siebengebirge mountains. The most famous of these seven mountains - the ``Drachenfels'' - overlooks Bad Honnef. It is closely linked to the ancient tale of Siegfried and the Dragon (as featured in Richard Wagner's operas). The Drachenfels is visited by millions of tourists every year and can be reached on foot or by train.
Bad Honnef is situated within the most Northern wine growing area in Germany. In September, there will be plenty of ``Winzerfeste'' (wine growers feasts) going on in the area attracting ten thousands of people from all over the country. Of course, one of the social events will be devoted to studies of local wine both from a theoretical and practical perspective. Bad Honnef has been the residence of Germany's famous post-war Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer. His former home can still be visited today.
The conference will be held at a specialized conference hotel, called Seminaris, offering ideal facilities for every aspect of a conference like JICSLP: all sessions, workshops, meetings, poster presentations, breaks and meals will be available in this place. The hotel offers a sufficient number of modern, comfortable and fully equipped rooms at very reasonable rates. In addition, a wide range of recreational facilities is available at the Seminaris including swimming pool, sauna, fitness room and so on. Seminaris will be reserved to JICSLP attendees during the conference week so that there will be no danger of ``getting lost''. The cosy downtown area of Bad Honnef offering shops, restaurants and leisure facilities (``Bad'' means ``spa'' in English) can be reached by just a few minutes walking.
For the more energetic (and for those feeling like having to escape the one or the other session) there is a wide choice of activities such as walks along the river or through the mountains and vineyards, boat trips, excursions to downtown Bonn or to near-by Cologne (a one-million-inhabitants city with a rich cultural and historical heritage including the world-famous cathedral, the ``Kölner Dom'').
Bonn and Bad Honnef can be reached easily by car (a motorway leads into Bad Honnef, free parking space is available in front of the hotel). By plane you may either go directly to the Cologne-Bonn airport, or - if you come from overseas - go to Frankfurt or Düsseldorf international airports and go to Bonn by train. The trip from Frankfurt airport (train station inside the airport building) directly to Bonn takes less than two hours and offers a very scenic ride along the most beautiful part of the Rhine river - don't miss it if you have the choice! The conference organizers will be happy to assist you in planning your trip.
A Call for Registration including registration forms and hotel reservation forms will be issued separately in June both electronically and physically. In order to make sure that you do get this information as soon as it is available, please send e-mail to
jicslp96@informatik.uni-bonn.deindicating your intention to attend and your postal coordinates. All members of ALP will receive a hardcopy call by mail automatically.
The conference poster - featuring a romantic 19th century painting of the landscape around Bad Honnef - will be available very soon as well and is going to be distributed to ALP members too. If you are not (yet) a member and want to make sure you get your personal copy, please send mail as well. A preview of the conference poster is available.
If you have any further question or remark concerning the conference, don't hesitate to contact any of the organizers by mail whenever you like. We hope to see many of you in Bonn in September for a hopefully enjoyable and worthwhile conference!
