The THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE will meet in the town of Jackson, Wyoming, February 8 - 13, 2009. The conference covers a wide range of subjects in what has come to be called cognitive science, ranging from visual and auditory physiology and psychophysics to human information processing, cognition, learning and memory, to computational approaches to these problems including neural networks, artificial intelligence and, most recently, brain imaging. The aim is to provide overview talks that are comprehensible and interesting to a wide scientific audience -- such as one might fantasize would occur at a National or Royal Academy of Science.

The Conference begins with a reception on Sunday evening, February 8, at 5:00p followed by a half-session. Regular sessions meet from Monday through Friday at 4:00p to 8:00p; the rest of the day is free. After the last session on Friday, there is a banquet for participants and guests.

Paper submissions are hereby invited. The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2008. To participate, send a title and abstract to AIC conference organizer George Sperling (sperling@uci.edu) and complete the registration form at the AIC website http://www.socsci.uci.edu/HIPLab/AIC/registration.html or provide equivalent information via email directly to < sperling@uci.edu > or hardcopy to:

Annual Interdisciplinary Conference
c/o Prof. George Sperling
Department of Cognitive Sciences, SSPA-3
University of California
Irvine, CA 92697-5100

Submissions are not finally accepted until registration is complete and the registration fee of $150 ($160 after January 1, 2009; $75 for students) is paid. Conference registration includes daily snacks and refreshments, and the closing banquet, and is payable by check (no credit cards) to "Annual Interdisciplinary Conference" mailed to the address above. Applicants will be notified on or before November 14, 2008 of the acceptance of proposed presentations. Registration fees for speakers are nonrefundable after November 14, but they are refundable at any time for nonspeaking participants.

The 33 previous programs, photos, and hotel information are published on the AIC website; the 2009 program will be posted as it becomes available. To receive future electronic mailings, write your email address on the registration form or send it by letter or email. (Persons already on the AIC mailing list are retained until they request to be removed).

The THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE will meet in the town of Jackson, Wyoming. This is a departure from previous meetings in Teton Village due to changes in hotel ownership and the availability in town of very reasonably priced accommodations. For participants who do mainly backcountry or XC skiing, staying in the town of Jackson is more convenient than staying in Teton Village. And the town of Jackson is enormously more interesting and has a much greater variety of restaurants, shopping, and sightseeing than Teton Village. The disadvantage is that to ski at the Jackson Ski Area will require a bus ride to Teton Village of about 1/2 hour (the bus stops at the door of the conference hotel) or, alternatively, a 20-minute car drive. See the AIC website (in heading) for details about accommodations.

The conference hotel -- The Ranch Inn -- is in the very center of the town of Jackson. The Conference has arranged special room rates for registered participants which may be reserved by telephone [The Ranch Inn, 800-348-5999] or electronically at http://www.ranchinn.com/. Verify that you are on their list of registered AIC (Annual Interdisciplinary Conference) participants. Many other hotels, restaurants, ski rental facilities, and shops are within walking distance. As noted above, there is regular ski-bus service to the Jackson Ski Area and there are town buses to various XC locations. There are frequent direct flights to Jackson Hole AP from Denver and from Salt Lake City, and there are occasional flights from several other major cities. It is then a 15-minute bus or taxi ride from the airport to the hotel. (Alternatively, Jackson is a five-hour drive from Salt Lake City.)

Additional information about the conference, travel, and skiing opportunities, is available at the website.

UCI is continuing with its plan to approximately double its size (although California's well-publicized budget problems are slowing the growth rate). In line with a University-wide initiative in Cognitive Brain Imaging, 4T and 3T magnets are now available for fMRI research studies. In 2007, UCI made five new faculty appointments in the Department of Cognitive Sciences, and the department may initiate additional faculty searches this fall. For information see http://www.cogsci.uci.edu/open-positions.shtml

UCI's expanding graduate program in Cognitive Sciences invites applications: See http://www.cogsci.uci.edu