Mission

The International Society for Artificial Life (ISAL) is a democratic, international, professional society dedicated to promoting research and education in Artificial Life. Our mission is to 1) create a supportive and inclusive community focused on ethical and effective scholarship in Artificial Life and 2) increase the external impact, accessibility, and relevance of scholarship in Artificial Life. 

The vision of the International Society for Artificial Life is for the field of Artificial Life to be widely known and valued as a highly interdisciplinary, impactful, and welcoming area of scholarship.

The following core values guide us:

  • Public good  
    • We want to contribute to the good of human society and the biosphere
    • As we try to understand life as it could be, we aim to minimize harm to life as we know it
    • We aim to support others in using Artificial Life to contribute to the betterment of the world
    • We believe that visibility and public awareness and understanding of the field will improve our scholarship and the world
  • Inclusive and supportive community
    • We believe our community is strongest when it includes people with wide breadth of experiences and backgrounds 
    • We want all members to feel welcome and included in our scholarly community
    • We believe our Code of Conduct improves our community
    • We believe that you shouldn’t need thick skin to be in this field
  • Strong community
    • We support excellent communication among researchers, including very diverse fields 
    • We value interdisciplinary research, evaluated in both disciplinary and transdisciplinary research (research that requires collaboration and transfer between fields to succeed)
    • We prioritize making this a field that is viable for junior and early career scholars to succeed and thrive in
  • Strong scholarship
    • We value scientific rigor and high ethical standards in scientific work
    • We aim to guide and support scholars in the conduct of strong, ethical Artificial Life research 

Publications

Artificial Life (published by MIT Press) is the official journal of ISAL, and the annual Conference on Artificial Life is the society’s official scientific gathering. The annual conference series arose from the merger (in 2018) of the former biannual International Conference on Artificial Life (ALIFE) and European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL) series. Further information on these activities can be found in the Publications and Conferences sections of this website.

Awards

The society’s annual awards recognize outstanding contributions to the field. Recipients are chosen by an open nomination process open to all members of the broader Artificial Life community, which are then reviewed by three committees, who make recommendations for final approval by the ISAL board of directors.

Membership

ISAL was established in May 2001 as a non-profit organization. It is governed by a Board of Directors that consists of elected ISAL members as well as individuals specially appointed by the Board. For information on how to join ISAL, please see the Membership section of this website.

We also have an active ISAL Student and Postdoc Group named ERA – Emerging Researchers in Alife for students and postdocs working in Artificial Life and related areas.

Bylaws and Policies

Further information about the structure, bylaws and policies of the society is available in the following documents: