Contemplate Ltd

These are days in which one of the outcomes of the work academics do, and one of the measures of its impact, is commercial exploitation of research and development carried out within the four walls of the "Ivory Tower". Universities the world over have different approaches towards commercial exploitation of research funding and IP rights and mine is no exception, apart from being a bit late in this game.

A discussion of IP policy issues might be the topic for a future post. Here I will just limit myself to pointing out an excellent example of a spin-off company from the University of Edinburgh, Contemplate Ltd, whose CTO and founder is Don Sannella. (Disclaimer: I have absolutely no connection with Contemplate myself!)

Contemplate was founded to commercialise research on static analysis done at the University of Edinburgh. Its product, ThreadSafe, pinpoints and helps to diagnose the most common and pernicious Java concurrency bugs. Concurrency is essential for high performance and low latency, but concurrent programming is hard to do right and therefore the use of automatic analysis tools should play an important role in the development of parallel software.

ThreadSafe is available as an easy-to-use Eclipse plug-in, which relates bug reports directly to the source code, and also as a SonarQube plugin (for team working). Also, by the end of March, as a command-line tool which generates an HTML report (for use with build tools).

This InfoQ article shows ThreadSafe in action finding concurrency errors in open source applications including Apache JMeter and K9Mail that are not caught by any other Java static analysis tool. 

Free two-week trials are available from www.contemplateltd.com/threadsafe. Moreover, I understand that the tool will soon be offered with monthly and annual subscriptions.

If you develop concurrent software with Java, I encourage you to try the tool.

EATCS-IPEC Nerode Prize 2014

The EATCS and IPEC are proud to announce that the Nerode Prize 2014 for outstanding papers in the area of multivariate algorithmics will be awarded to the following two papers:

• "On problems without polynomial kernels", Hans L. Bodlaender, Rodney G. Downey, Michael R. Fellows, Danny Hermelin, Journal of Computer and System Sciences, 2009 and
• "Infeasibility of instance compression and succinct PCPs for NP", Lance Fortnow, Rahul Santhanam, Journal of Computer and System Sciences, 2011.

Congratulations to all the award recipients!

 

The presentation of the prize will take place at IPEC 2014, which this year will be organized as part of ALGO 2014 (Wroclaw, Poland, 10-12 September 2014).

The Prize is named in honour of Anil Nerode, in recognition of his major contributions to mathematical logic, theory of automata, computability and complexity theory.

The Nerode Prize 2014 Committee consists of Georg Gottlob (University of Oxford, UK), Jan Arne Telle (University of Bergen, Norway), and Peter Widmayer (ETH Zurich, Switzerland; chair).

ACM TALG Editor-in-Chief Search: Call for Nominations

Anne Condon asked me to distribute this call. Do consider nominating colleagues for this prestigious position.

Nominations are now open for the next editor-in-chief of the ACM Transactions on Algorithms. ACM TALG (web page: http://talg.acm.org/) publishes original research of the highest quality dealing with algorithms. It is a peer-reviewed journal, appearing quarterly. Specific areas of computation covered by the journal are listed at http://talg.acm.org/Aims.html.

We are looking for a well-established person with a strong record of research achievements and service, and with a vision for the future of the field. The term of appointment is three years, to begin late summer 2014, with the possibility of  renewal for a second term. The editor-in-chief is responsible for faithfully executing the editorial charter of the journal yet should be proactive in
adapting the journal and its charter to changes in the field. A description of the duties of the EiC and evaluation criteria can be found at h ttp://www.acm.org/publications/policies/evaluation.

Professor Valerie King of the University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada is Chair of the Search Committee. All nominees, including self-nominees, should send a CV and a Vision Statement for TALG (at least one page), with subject header “EiC nomination” to: val@uvic.ca

The deadline for nominations is Friday, May 16, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. (PST).

February issue of the BEATCS on line

The 112nd issue of the EATCS Bulletin, is now available online for everyone at http://www.eatcs.org/beatcs/index.php/beatcs/issue/view/14

If you prefer, you can download a pdf with the printed version of the bulletin from http://www.eatcs.org/images/bulletin/beatcs112.pdf

Thanks to Efi and Ioannis from our secretary office in Greece for all the work they have done on this issue and to the colleagues who contributed pieces to this issue of the BEATCS.

Readers of TCS blogs might notice that this issue of the BEATCS includes revised versions of two essays by Sanjeev Arora and Boaz Barak that had appeared earlier in Windows on Theory. Thanks to both Boaz and Sanjeev for agreeing to publish their pieces in the BEATCS!

The EATCS Bulletin has been open access for a few years now and we are happy to make it accessible also to interested readers who are not members of the association.

As you can read in my Letter from the President published in this issue, the EATCS has been taking several steps in support of young researchers, in addition to the instruments we had already in place. If you'd like to support these initiatives and forthcoming ones, consider joining the EATCS. The membership fee for one year (two years for young researchers) is 30€ and we offer a joint membership discount with SIGACT.

9th SCANDINAVIAN LOGIC SYMPOSIUM: Call for submissions

Various topics in logic in computer science are of interest for this meeting. Consider submitting an abstract!

9th SCANDINAVIAN LOGIC SYMPOSIUM
25-27 August 2014, University of Tampere, Finland
http://www.sis.uta.fi/SLS2014/


SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS


The 9th Scandinavian Logic Symposium will be held at the Museum Centre
Vapriikki in Tampere, Finland, during 25-27 August 2014 under the auspices
of the Scandinavian Logic Society (SLS, http://scandinavianlogic.org/)

.

As with previous editions of the Symposium, its primary aims are to
reflect the current activities in logic in the Nordic countries and to
provide a local meeting forum for their logical communities, broadly
conceived. Besides, it invites and warmly welcomes participation of
logicians from all over the world.


SCOPE AND TOPICS
The scope of SLS 2014 is broad, ranging over the whole areas of
Mathematical and Philosophical Logic, as well as Logical Methods in
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Linguistics, etc. Major
topics include (but are not limited to): Proof Theory, Constructivism,
Model Theory, Set Theory, Computability Theory, Algebra and Logic,
Categorical Logic, Logic and Computer Science, Logic and Linguistics,
Logic in AI and Multi-Agent Systems, Logics of Games, Modal and other
non-classical Logics, Philosophical Logic.




     INVITED SPEAKERS:
     Mai Gehrke (LIAFA, Paris)
     Volker Halbach (University of Oxford)
     Asger Törnquist (University of Copenhagen)
Jouko Väänänen (University of Helsinki and University of Amsterdam)
     Thomas Ågotnes (University of Bergen)




     PROGRAM COMMITTEE
     Co-chairs: Sara Negri (University of Helsinki)
and Valentin Goranko (Technical University of Denmark)


     Members:
     Luca Aceto (Reykjavik University)
     Lars Birkedal (Aarhus University)
     Patrick Blackburn (Roskilde University)
     Patricia Blanchette  (University of Notre Dame, US)
     Thierry Coquand (University of Gothenburg)
     Ali Enayat (University of Gothenburg)
     Øystein Linnebo (University of Oslo and Birkbeck College London)
     Kerkko Luosto (University of Tampere)
     Dag Normann (University of Oslo)
     Gabriel Sandu (University of Helsinki)
     Arild Waaler (University of Oslo)
     Dag Westerståhl (University of Stockholm)




     ORGANISING COMMITTEE
     Chair: Lauri Hella  (University of Tampere)


     Members:
     Kerkko Luosto (University of Tampere)
     Antti Kuusisto (University of Wroclaw)
     Jonni Virtema (University of Tampere)
     Jevgeni Haigora (University of Tampere)



     SUBMISSIONS
     Abstracts of contributed talks, in PDF format, not exceeding one A4
     (11pt) page, should be submitted by  April 25, 2014, through
     EasyChair: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=sls2014
     Abstracts should be typeset following the format of a LaTeX style
file that will be posted on the conference website on March 16.



     IMPORTANT DATES:
     Submission deadline: April 25, 2014
     Notification: May 16, 2014
     Final programme: July 25, 2014

LOCATION
Museum Centre Vapriikki is situated on the banks of the Tammmerkoski
rapids.
It is within a walking distance from the center of Tampere and the railway
station.


     ACCOMMODATION
     There are several hotels within a walking distance from the conference
     venue. The organizers will provide a list of some alternatives on the
     conference website.


REGISTRATION
Details concerning registration will be posted soon on the conference
website.



     ENQUIRIES: Write email to scandinavianlogicsymposium@gmail.com

David Woodruff receives the Presburger Award 2014

The EATCS is proud to announce that the Presburger Award 2014 Committee has chosen David Woodruff (IBM Almaden Research Center) as the recipient of the Presburger Award 2014. Congratulations to David!

Since 2010, the Presburger Award has been given each year to a young scientist (in exceptional cases to several young scientists) for outstanding contributions in theoretical computer science, documented by a published paper or a series of published papers. The award is named after Mojzesz Presburger who accomplished his path-breaking work on decidability of the theory of addition (which today is called Presburger arithmetic) as a student in 1929. The Presburger Award 2014 is sponsored by CWI Amsterdam and will be presented at ICALP 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

David Woodruff, born in 1980, has made important contributions to the theory of data streams, both creating new algorithms, and demonstrating that certain algorithms cannot exist. His work has an impact on other fields, including compressed sensing, machine learning, and numerical linear algebra. In the area of data streams, he resolved the Distinct Elements Problem, simultaneously optimizing the amount of memory used, the time needed to process each new entity, and the time needed to report an estimate of the number of distinct elements in the stream. In the area of machine learning, he used his previous results on data streams to design sub-linear algorithms for linear classification and minimum enclosing ball problems. In numerical linear algebra, he developed the first algorithms for low rank approximation and regression that run in time proportional to the number of non-zero entries of the input matrix. His work also resulted in 17 patents related to data streams and their applications.

The 2014 Presburger Award Committee consisted of

Antonin Kucera	Brno, chair
Claire Mathieu	ENS Paris
Peter Widmayer	Zurich

EATCS Fellows class of 2014 named

The EATCS has recognized ten of its members for their outstanding contributions to theoretical computer science by naming them as the first recipients of an EATCS fellowship.

The EATCS Fellows for 2014 are:

• Susanne Albers (Technische Universität München, Germany) for "her contributions to the design and analysis of algorithms, especially online algorithms, approximation algorithms, algorithmic game theory and algorithm engineering";
• Giorgio Ausiello (Università di Roma "La Sapienza", Italy) for "the impact of his scientific work in the field of algorithms and computational complexity and for his service to the scientific community";
• the late Wilfried Brauer (Technische Universität München, Germany) for "outstanding contributions to the foundation and organization of the European TCS community";
• Herbert Edelsbrunner (Institute of Science and Technology Austria and Duke University, USA) for "his tremendous impact on the field of computational geometry";
• Mike Fellows (Charles Darwin University, Australia) for "his role in founding the field of parameterized complexity theory, which has become a major subfield of research in theoretical computer science, and for being a leader in computer science education";
• Yuri Gurevich (Microsoft Research, USA) for "his development of abstract state machines and for outstanding contributions to algebra, logic, game theory, complexity theory and  software engineering";
• Monika Henzinger (University of Vienna, Austria) for "being one of the pioneers of web algorithms, algorithms that deal with problems of the world wide web";
• Jean-Eric Pin (LIAFA, CNRS and University Paris Diderot, France) for "outstanding contributions to the algebraic theory of automata and languages in connection with logic, topology, and combinatorics and service to the European TCS community";
• Paul Spirakis (University of Liverpool, UK, and University of Patras, Greece) for "seminal papers on Random Graphs and Population Protocols, Algorithmic Game Theory, as well as Robust Parallel Distribute Computing";
• Wolfgang Thomas (RWTH Aachen University, Germany) for "foundational  contributions to the development of automata theory as a framework for modelling, analyzing, verifying and synthesizing information processing systems."

The aforementioned members of the EATCS were selected by the EATCS Fellow Selection Committee, after examining the nominations received from our research community. The EATCS Fellow Selection Committee for 2014 consisted of

• Rocco De Nicola (IMT Lucca, Italy,
• Paul Goldberg (Oxford, UK),
• Anca Muscholl (Bordeaux, France; chair),
• Dorothea Wagner (Karlsruhe, Germany) and
• Roger Wattenhofer (ETH Zurich, CH)

The EATCS Fellows Program was established by the association last year  to recognize outstanding EACTS members for their scientific achievements in the field of Theoretical Computer Science. The EATCS is very proud to have the above-mentioned members of the organization as its first fellows. Congratulations all of them!

Ubiquitous computing

Gordon Plotkin awarded the EATCS Award 2014

I am pleased to report that Gordon Plotkin will receive the EATCS Award 2014 for his lifetime contribution of a research corpus of exceptional depth and influence across a broad range of areas within theoretical computer science. The committee for the EATCS Award 2014 consisted of Leslie Goldberg (chair), Kim G. Larsen and Vladimiro Sassone.

Plotkin is renowned for his ground-breaking contributions to programming language semantics, which have helped to shape the landscape of theoretical computer science, and which have impacted upon the design of programming languages and their verification technologies. The influence of his pioneering work on logical frameworks pervades modern proof technologies. In addition, he has made outstanding contributions in machine learning, automated theorem proving, and computer-assisted reasoning. He is still active in research at the topmost level, with his current activities placing him at the forefront of fields as diverse as programming semantics, applied logic, and systems biology. Alongside his scientific contributions of the highest calibre, he helped to lay the foundations of the theoretical computer science community, shaping the careers of generations of researchers.

Congratulations to Gordon! 

ICALP 2014 CFP

The ICALP 2014 deadline is rapidly approaching. I hope that you are making plans to submit your best work to the conference! Copenhagen and Vienna will be the places to be this July for a plethora of events across the spectrum of in TCS.

ICALP 2014: Call for Papers

The 41st International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP) takes place from Tuesday, 8 July 2014 to Friday, 11 July 2014 at IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

ICALP is the main conference and annual meeting of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS). The main conference is preceded by a series of workshops on Monday, 7 July 2014.

Web site: icalp2014.itu.dk
Local organisation: Thore Husfeldt (chair), ITU
Contact: icalp2014@itu.dk

Important dates

Submission deadline: Friday, 14 February 2014,
Submission server: www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=icalp2014
Author notification: Friday, 11 April 2014
Final manuscript due: Monday, 28 April 2014
Early registration: To be announced
Conference: 8 July 2014 to 11 July 2014

Invited speakers

Sanjeev Arora, Princeton University
Maurice Herlihy, Brown University
Victor Kuncak, EPFL Lausanne
Claire Mathieu, ENS Paris

Proceedings

ICALP proceedings are published in the Springer-Verlag ARCoSS (Advanced Research in Computing and Software Science) subseries of LNCS (Lecture Notes in Computer Science).

Topics

Papers presenting original research on all aspects of theoretical computer science are sought. Typical but not exclusive topics of interest are:

Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games

* Algorithmic Game Theory
* Approximation Algorithms
* Combinatorial Optimization
* Combinatorics in Computer Science
* Computational Biology
* Computational Complexity
* Computational Geometry
* Cryptography
* Data Structures
* Design and Analysis of Algorithms
* Machine Learning
* Parallel, Distributed and External Memory Computing
* Randomness in Computation
* Quantum Computing

Track B: Logic, Semantics, Automata and Theory of Programming

* Algebraic and Categorical Models
* Automata Theory, Formal Languages
* Emerging and Non-standard Models of Computation
* Databases, Semi-Structured Data and Finite Model Theory
* Principles of Programming Languages
* Logics, Formal Methods and Model Checking
* Models of Concurrent, Distributed, and Mobile Systems
* Models of Reactive, Hybrid and Stochastic Systems
* Program Analysis and Transformation
* Specification, Refinement and Verification
* Type Systems and Theory, Typed Calculi

Track C: Foundations of Networked Computation: Models, Algorithms and Information Management

* Algorithmic Aspects of Networks
* E-commerce, Privacy, Spam
* Formal Methods for Network Information Management
* Foundations of Trust and Reputation in Networks
* Algorithms and Models for Mobile and Wireless Networks and Computation
* Models of Complex Networks
* Models and Algorithms for Global Computing
* Network Economics and Incentive-Based Computing Related to Networks
* Models and Algorithms for Networks of Low Capability Devices
* Overlay Networks and P2P Systems
* Social Networks
* Specification, Semantics, Synchronization of Networked Systems
* Theory of Security in Networks and Distributed Computing
* Web Searching and Ranking
* Web Mining and Analysis

Submission Guidlines

Authors are invited to submit an extended abstract of no more than 12 pages in LNCS style presenting original research on the theory of Computer Science. Submissions should indicate to which track (A, B, or C) the paper is submitted. No prior publication or simultaneous submission to other publication outlets (either a conference or a journal) is allowed. The proceedings will be published in the Lecture Notes in Computer Science Series by Springer-Verlag. It is strongly recommended that submissions adhere to the specified format and length. Submissions that are clearly too long may be rejected immediately. Material other than the abstract, references and the first 12 pages may be considered as supplementary and will be read at the committee's discretion.

Best Paper Awards

As in previous editions of ICALP, there will be best paper and best student paper awards for each track of the conference. In order to be eligible for a best student paper award, a paper should be authored only by students and should be marked as such upon submission.

Committees

Track A: Algorithms, complexity, and games

* Elias Koutsoupias (chair), University of Oxford, United Kingdom
* Dimitris Achlioptas, UC Santa Cruz, USA
* Pankaj Agrawal, Duke University, USA
* Nikhil Bansal, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands
* Gerth Stoting Brodal, Aarhus University, Denmark
* Jean Cardinal, Universite libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
* Ning Chen, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
* Giorgos Christodoulou, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
* Xiaotie Deng, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
* Ilias Diakonikolas, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
* Chaled Elbassioni, Masdar Institute, Abu Dhabi
* Amos Fiat, Tel Aviv University, Israel
* Leslie Goldberg, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
* Vipul Goyal, Microsoft, India
* Giuseppe Italiano, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Italy
* Marcin Kaminski, University of Warsaw, Poland
* Haim Kaplan, Tel Aviv University, Israel
* Ioardanis Kerenidis, University of Paris «Diderot», France
* Anna Karlin, University of Washington, USA
* Robert Krauthgamer, Weizmann Institute, Israel
* James Lee, University of Washington, USA
* Ashwin Nayak, University of Waterloo, Canada
* Jared Saia, University of New Mexico, USA
* Piotr Sankowski, University of Warsaw, Poland
* Maria Serna, UP Catalunya, Spain
* Christian Sohler, TU Dortmund, Germany
* Ryan Williams, Stanford, USA

Track B: Logic, semantics, automata and theory of Programming

* Javier Esparza (chair), Technische Universitat Munchen
* Paolo    Baldan,    Dipartimento di Matematica Pura e Applicata, Universita' di Padova
* Michele Boreale, Universita di Firenze
* Tomas Brazdil, Masaryk University
* Veronique    Bruyere, University of Mons
* Veronique    Cortier, CNRS, Loria
* Anuj Dawar, University of Cambridge
* Kousha Etessami, University of Edinburgh
* Maribel Fernandez, KCL
* David    Frutos Escrig, Universidad Complutense
* Pierre Ganty, IMDEA Software Institute
* Peter Habermehl, LIAFA University Paris 7
* Manfred Kufleitner, University of Stuttgart
* Stawomir Lasota, Warsaw University
* Oded Maler, CNRS-VERIMAG
* Sebastian Maneth, NICTA and UNSW
* Madhavan Mukund, Chennai Mathematical Institute
* Jens Palsberg, UCLA
* Thomas Schwentick, Universitt Dortmund
* Sonja Smets, University of Amsterdam
* Jiri Srba, Department of Computer Science, Aalborg University
* Steve Zdancewic, University of Pennsylvania

Track C: Foundations of networked computation: Models, algorithms and information management

* Pierre Fraigniaud (chair), CNRS and University Paris Diderot
* Andrea Clementi, Roma Tor Vergata
* Benjamin Doerr, Max-Planck-Institut
* Panagiota Fatourou, University of Crete
* Michal Feldman, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
* Antonio Fernandez Anta, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
* Leszek Gasieniec, University of Liverpool
* Phillip B. Gibbons. Intel Labs
* Magnus Halldorsson, Reykjavik University
* Robert Kleinberg, Cornell
* Anne-Marie Kermarrec, INRIA Rennes
* Michal Koucky, Czech Academy of Sciences
* Gopal Pandurangan, Nanyang Tech. University
* Boaz Patt-Shamir, Tel-Aviv University
* Andrea Pietracaprina
* Andrea Richa, Arizona State University
* Luis Rodrigues, Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa
* Christian Scheideler
* Jukka Suomela, University of Helsinki
* Philipp Woelfel, University of Calgary

Workshops

ICALP 2014 hosts a number of workshops on Monday 7 July 2014 at ITU.

Contact the ICALP organisers ( icalp2014@itu.dk) if you are interested in arranging a workshop. Registration, lunches, and rooms are provided by the ICALP conference organisation.

TOLA (Trends in Online Algorithms) 2014

The purpose of this workshop is to bring together researchers interested in all aspects of online algorithms, including classical competitive analysis, alternative performance measures, and advice complexity.

Two faculty positions at the School of Computer Science, Reykjavik University

At long last, we are hiring! Student numbers have sky-rocketed and we now have more than 900 students enrolled in CS degree programs. We were, and still are, bursting at the seams, but these hires should help. Do consider applying if you are looking for an academic position and you have a strong research profile. 

 

 

Faculty positions
School of Computer Science
Reykjavik University

The School of Computer Science at Reykjavik University invites applications for two faculty positions at the rank of an assistant professor, to begin in August 2014.  We are looking for energetic, highly qualified academics who, apart from developing their own research programs, will strengthen some of the existing research areas within the School, or build bridges between them or with industry.  Applications from all areas of computer science are welcomed, but of particular interest are candidates in systems, broadly construed, and other applied areas.

Candidates are expected to have a proven international research record and will be expected to play a full part in the teaching and administrative activities of the School. A PhD in computer science or closely related field is required.

The application deadline is March 1st, 2014.  For further details on the positions and the School of Computer Science at Reykjavik University, see http://en.ru.is/the-university/open-positions/.

One postdoctoral position at Reykjavik University

Nominal Structural Operational Semantics

School of Computer Science, Reykjavik University

One postdoctoral position

Applications are invited for one postdoctoral position at the School of Computer Science, Reykjavik University.  The position is part of a research project funded by the Icelandic Research Fund, under the direction of Luca Aceto and Anna Ingolfsdottir. The general aim of the project is to bring the framework of Nominal Structural Operational Semantics, proposed by Cimini, Mousavi, Reniers and Gabbay, to a level of maturity that is comparable to that of the standard theory of Structural Operational Semantics. More specifically, the main general goals of the research project are

• to provide further evidence that Nominal SOS is expressive enough to capture the original semantics of nominal calculi, such as value-passing CCS, variants of the (higher-order) pi-calculus, the spi-calculus, the psi-calculi and the object calculi, and to prove formally the correspondence between the presentation in terms of Nominal SOS and the original ones;
• to develop the meta-theory of Nominal SOS and to extend a wealth of classic SOS meta-results and techniques to the framework of Nominal SOS; and
• to provide tool support for Nominal SOS.

See here for details on the project.

The successful candidates will benefit from, and contribute to, the research environment at the Icelandic Centre of Excellence in Theoretical Computer Science (ICE-TCS). For information about ICE-TCS and its activities, see

http://www.icetcs.ru.is/.

Qualification requirements

Applicants for the postdoctoral position should have, or be about to hold, a PhD degree in Computer Science or closely related fields. Previous knowledge of at least one of concurrency theory, process calculi, (structural) operational semantics and logic in computer science is highly desirable.

Remuneration

The wage is 400,000 ISK (roughly 2,550 € at the present exchange rate) per month before taxes. The position is for two years, starting on August 1, 2014 (earlier starting dates are possible), and is renewable for another year, based on good performance and mutual satisfaction.

Application details

Interested applicants should send their CV, including a list of publications, in PDF to both addresses below, together with a statement outlining their suitability for the project and the names of at least two referees.

Anna Ingolfsdottir
email: annai@ru.is

Luca Aceto
email: luca@ru.is

We will start reviewing applications on February 14, 2014, and will continue to accept applications until the position is filled.

Royal Pardon for Alan Turing

From S. Barry Cooper, here is an official release with the details of the Royal Pardon for Alan Turing, embargoed until 00:01 this morning. Season greetings to all my readers.

PARDON FOR WW2 CODE-BREAKER TURING

By Jamie Grierson, Press Association Home Affairs Correspondent

Second World War code-breaker Alan Turing has been given a posthumous
royal pardon for a 61-year-old conviction for homosexual activity. Dr
Turing, who was pivotal in breaking the Enigma code, arguably shortening
the Second World War by at least two years, was chemically castrated
following his conviction in 1952.

His conviction for "gross indecency" led to the removal of his security
clearance and meant he was no longer able to work for Government
Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) where he had continued to work
following service at Bletchley Park during the war.

Dr Turing, who died aged 41 in 1954 and is often described as the father
of modern computing, has been granted a pardon under the Royal Prerogative
of Mercy by the Queen following a request from Justice Secretary Chris
Grayling. "Dr Alan Turing was an exceptional man with a brilliant mind,"
Mr Grayling said.

"His brilliance was put into practice at Bletchley Park during the Second
World War where he was pivotal to breaking the Enigma code, helping to end
the war and save thousands of lives.

"His later life was overshadowed by his conviction for homosexual
activity, a sentence we would now consider unjust and discriminatory and
which has now been repealed.

"Dr Turing deserves to be remembered and recognised for his fantastic
contribution to the war effort and his legacy to science. A pardon from
the Queen is a fitting tribute to an exceptional man."

Dr Turing died of cyanide poisoning and an inquest recorded a verdict of
suicide, although his mother and others maintained his death was
accidental.

There has been a long campaign to clear the mathematician's name,
including a well-supported e- petition and private member's bill, along
with support from leading scientists such as Sir Stephen Hawking.

The pardon under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy will come into effect
today. The Justice Secretary has the power to ask the Queen to grant a
pardon under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy, for civilians convicted in
England and Wales.

A pardon is only normally granted when the person is innocent of the
offence and where a request has been made by someone with a vested
interest such as a family member. But on this occasion a pardon has been
issued without either requirement being met.

In September 2009, then-prime minister Gordon Brown apologised to Dr
Turing for prosecuting him as a homosexual after a petition calling for
such a move.

An e-petiton - titled "Grant a pardon to Alan Turing" - received 37,404
signatures when it closed in November last year. The request was declined
by Lord McNally on the grounds that Dr Turing was properly convicted of
what at the time was a criminal offence.

Job Ad: Dean of the School of Computer Science at Reykjavik University

The School of Computer Science at Reykjavik University, where I have been working for about nine years now, is looking for a new dean. I append the official job ad, which is being posted on several mailing lists, in the hope that highly-qualified computer scientists will be enticed to apply, despite the short deadline (January 9th, 2014). 

Interested people might want to have a look at the profile of the faculty within the school and at the research centres that it hosts.

Feel free to spread this ad as you see fit.

Dean of School of Computer Science

Reykjavik University seeks an ambitious leader to carry on the development of a growing School of Computer Science. The dean is responsible for administrative affairs as well as for leading the faculty's academic agenda. The dean reports to the Rector of Reykjavik University and is a member of the university‘s executive committee.

We seek candidates that have:

• Strong strategic vision and the ability to shape and lead a team of faculty members and staff

• Doctorate in computer science or related subjects

• Academic teaching and research experience

• Management, operations and leadership experience

• Experience from industry or collaborations with industry

• International experience

Reykjavik University‘s School of Computer Science provides education and research in computer science. The school offers BSc, MSc and PhD degrees and has a leading role in research.  External accreditation committee for doctorate studies claimed the school to be the strongest in Iceland and leading in research.  (PDF file)http://www.ru.is/media/td/SCS_accreditation.pdf   The school has about 900 enrolled students and nearly 30 faculty members.
For further information, please contact Ari Kristinn Jónsson, rector (ari@ru.is), tel: +354-599-6200.
Applications should be submitted before January 9th, 2014, through our applications website:  http://en.ru.is/the-university/open-positions/  or by e-mail at mannaudur@ru.is.
Supplements can be sent to: Reykjavik University, Menntavegur 1, 101 Reykjavík, labeled „Dean's position“. All applications are confidential.
The role of Reykjavik University is to create and disseminate knowledge to enhance the competitiveness and quality of life for individuals and society, guided by good ethics, sustainability and responsibility.
There are four schools within the university; School of Business, School of Computer Science, School of Law and School of Science and Engineering. Education and research at RU are based on strong ties with industry and society. We emphasize interdisciplinary collaboration, international relations and entrepreneurship. Reykjavik University currently has around 3400 students and 250 employees.

Web site for ICALP 2014

The web site for ICALP 2014 is now live. There you will find the call for papers and further details on the conference tracks. The deadline for submitting a paper is February 14, 2014.

October issue of the Bulletin of the EATCS

The October issue  of the EATCS Bulletin is now available online at http://www.eatcs.org/beatcs/index.php/beatcs/issue/view/10. You can download a pdf with the printed version of the Bulletin from http://www.eatcs.org/images/bulletin/beatcs111.pdf. 

This is issue number 111 of the BEATCS and is the first one edited by Kazuo Iwama, the new editor in chief of the EATCS. Apart from four  EATCS columns, including the first one edited by Giovanni Pighizzini, this issue of the Bulletin also features contributions by Erik Demaine (recipient of the Presburger Award 2013), by Luca Moscardelli (recipient of the first Young Researcher in Theoretical Computer Science Award of the Italian Chapter of the EATCS) as well as by Jacopo Mauro and Alessandra Scafuro (recipients of the two Best Italian Ph.D. Thesis in Theoretical Computer Science Awards for 2013 of the Italian Chapter of the EATCS). And I have not yet mentioned the conference reports and the contributions related to EATCS matters, amongst which the calls for nominations for several EATCS awards and fellowships.

I hope that you will enjoy this issue of the Bulletin. Of course, Kazuo and I welcome suggestions for improving the BEATCS. Feel free to drop us a line with your ideas and desiderata.

Call for Nominations: The EATCS-IPEC Nerode Prize 2014 for outstanding papers in multivariate algorithmics

The call for nominations for the EATCS-IPEC Nerode Prize 2014 for outstanding papers in multivariate algorithmics is out. The award committee consists of Georg Gottlob (Oxford University), Jan Arne Telle (University of Bergen) and Peter Widmayer (ETH Zurich, chair). Do make their job hard by nominating your favourite eligible papers!

Turing Machine Opera by Helsinki Skaala Opera

The full show can be watched by starting from this link.

ERC Advanced Grants to TCS researchers

A couple of days ago, the ERC announced that, in its sixth and last Advanced  Grant competition under the EU's Seventh Research Framework Programme, it is awarding over €660 million to 284 senior research leaders. TCS folks will be happy to hear that the following colleagues of ours have been awarded ERC Advanced Grants:

• Monika Henzinger. Challenges in Graph Algorithms with Applications.
• Rachid Guerraoui. Adversary-Oriented Computing.
• Pavel Pudlak. Feasibility, logic and randomness in computational complexity.
• Jean-Daniel Boissonnat. Algorithmic Foundations of Geometry Understanding in Higher Dimensions.
• David Pointcheval. Cryptography for the Cloud.
• Nello Cristianini. Patterns in Big Data: Methods, Applications and Implications. 
• Leslie Ann Goldberg. Mapping the Complexity of Counting.

Congratulations to the award recipients! I am sure that, with the support of the ERC, they will advance the state of the art in their respective fields of interest, benefiting TCS as a whole.

Addendum: As kindly pointed out by anonymous commenters, I have failed to mention that Nati Linial received an ERC Advanced Grant for the project High-dimensional combinatorics and that Lex Schrijver got one for Applying Fundamental Mathematics in Discrete Mathematics, Optimization, and Algorithmics. These two grants are in the field of mathematics, as is the one awarded to Saharon Shelah for the project Model theory and its applications: dependent classes.

Call for Nominations for the Presburger Award 2014

Presburger Award for Young Scientists 2014 

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS 

Deadline: December 31st, 2013

Starting in 2010, the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS) established the Presburger Award. The Award is conferred annually at the International Colloquium on Automata, Languages and Programming (ICALP) to a young scientist (in exceptional cases to several young scientists) for outstanding contributions in theoretical computer science, documented by a published paper or a series of published papers. The Award is named after Mojzesz Presburger who accomplished his path-breaking work on decidability of the theory of addition (which today is called Presburger arithmetic) as a student in 1929.

Nominations for the Presburger Award can be submitted by any member or group of members of the theoretical computer science community except the nominee and his/her advisors for the master thesis and the doctoral dissertation. Nominated scientists have to be at most 35 years at the time of the deadline of nomination (i.e., for the Presburger Award of 2014 the date of birth should be in 1978 or later).

The Presburger Award Committee of 2014 consists of Antonin Kucera (Brno, chair), Claire Mathieu (Paris), and Peter Widmayer (Zurich). Nominations, consisting of a two page justification and (links to) the respective papers, as well as additional supporting letters, should be sent by e-mail to:

Antonin Kucera
kucera@fi.muni.cz

The subject line of every nomination should start with "Presburger Award 2014", and the message must be received before December 31st, 2013.

The award includes an amount of 1000 Euro and an invitation to ICALP 2014 for a lecture. The Presburger Award is sponsored by CWI, Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica.

Previous Winners:

• Mikolaj Bojanczyk, 2010 
• Patricia Bouyer-Decitre, 2011 
• Venkatesan Guruswami and Mihai Patrascu, 2012 
• Erik Demaine, 2013 

Official website: http://www.eatcs.org/index.php/presburger