Author: Giuseppe Primiero

11 February 2017 is the second celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

Enjoy the celebrations and spread the news!

United Nations website http://www.un.org/en/events/women-and-girls-in-science-day/ Science and gender equality are both vital for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Over the past 15 years, the global community has made a lot of effort in inspiring and engaging women and girls in science. Unfortunately, women and girls continued to be excluded from participating fully in science. According to a study conducted in 14 countries, the probability for female students of graduating with a Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree and Doctor’s degree in science-related field are 18%, 8% and 2% respectively, while the percentages of male students are 37%, 18% and 6%.

In order to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls, and further achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/70/212 (draft A/70/474/Add.2) declaring 11 February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

UNESCO website

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/int-day-of-women-and-girls-in-science/international-day-of-women-and-girls-in-science-2017#.WJrEEWeKw8o

On April 4 2017, Tomas Petricek and several others are organizing a workshop which seeks to provide a space for programming research that is less mainstream. For more information, see: https://refuses.github.io/

We are happy to announce that the IACAP 2017 Covey Award will go to Ray Turner, one of the HAPOC council members and we congratulate Ray with this well-deserved recognition of his work on the philosophy of computer science. See the announcement below for more details.

The International Association for Computing and Philosophy’s Covey Award
recognizes senior scholars with a substantial record of innovative
research in the field of computing and philosophy broadly conceived.

IACAP’s Executive Board is delighted to announce that Professor Raymond
Turner will be presented with the Covey Award at IACAP 2017, June 26-28,
Stanford University, where he will present the Covey Award Keynote
Address.

Professor Turner is Professor Emeritus of Logic and Computation in the
School of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the University
of Essex, where he has served since 1985. Holding doctorates in
Mathematical Logic and Theoretical Computer Science (Queen Mary College,
London, 1973) and Philosophy (Bedford College, London, 1981). Professor
Turner has also been a Sloan Research Fellow at the University of
Massachusetts-Amherst (1982) and CSLI, Stanford University (1984). He
was Visiting Professor and Research Fellow at the University of
Texas-Austin (1984 and 1987) and Senior Research Fellow at the
University of Massachusetts-Amherst (1984 and 1986). Currently he serves
on the editorial board of the Journal of Logic and Computation and, for
the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, as Editor of Logic and
Computation.

Professor Turner’s work in Theoretical Computing Science and the
Philosophy of Computer Science has been field-defining and
ground-breaking. His books include Computable Models (Springer 2010),
Constructive Foundations for Functional Languages (McGraw Hill 1991),
Truth and Modality for Knowledge Representation (MIT Press 1990), and
Logics for Artificial Intelligence (Pitman, 1984). His publications
include “A Theory of Properties”, (Journal of Symbolic Logic, 1987),
“The Foundations of Specification” (Journal of Logic and Computation,
2005), “Type Inference for Set Theory” (Theoretical Computer Science,
2001), “Specification”, (Minds and Machines, 2011), “Programming
Languages as Technical Artefacts”, (Philosophy and Technology, 2014),
“Logics of Truth” (Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, 1990), and “The
Philosophy of Computer Science”, (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy,
2013).

As Professor Turner describes his research,

The philosophy of computer science is concerned with those
philosophical issues that arise from within the academic
discipline of computer science. It is intended to be the
philosophical endeavour that stands to computer science as
philosophy of mathematics does to mathematics and philosophy of
technology does to technology. Indeed, the abstract nature of
computer science, coupled with its technological ambitions,
ensures that many of the conceptual questions that arise in the
philosophies of mathematics and technology have computational
analogues. In addition, the subject will draw in variants of
some of the central questions in the philosophies of mind,
language and science.

In contrast, I take the central task of Theoretical Computing
Science to be the construction of mathematical models of
computational phenomena. Such models provide us with a deeper
understanding of the nature of computation and representation.
For example, the early work on computability theory provided a
mathematical model of computation itself. Turing’s work is of
fundamental importance here. Adapting Gödel’s diagonalization
argument, he demonstrated that there are problems that do not
admit of an algorithmic solution. He thus provided a
mathematical model of computation that displayed its
limitations. Later work on the semantics of programming
languages enabled a precise articulation of the underlying
differences between programming languages and led to a clearer
understanding of the distinction between semantic representation
and implementation. Early work in complexity theory supplied us
with abstract notions which formally articulated informal ideas
about the resources used during computation. I take this model
building endeavour to be the central and fundamental role of
theoretical computer science.

Please join us at IACAP 2017, June 26-28, Stanford University to
congratulate Professor Turner on this well-deserved award.

http://www.iacap.org/iacap-2017/

Best,

Don Berkich
IACAP President

FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS:
================

CiE 2017: Unveiling Dynamics and Complexity
Turku, Finland
June 12-16, 2017
http://math.utu.fi/cie2017

NOTE:

======

Symposium “Magic in Science”, co-located with CiE 2017, dedicated to Grzegorz Rozenberg on the occasion of his 75th birthday takes place just after CiE, on June 17, 2017. Details below and at at http://combio.abo.fi/rozenberg75/

IMPORTANT DATES:
================

Deadline for article submission: January 5, 2017
Notification of acceptance: March 1, 2017
Final versions due: March 13, 2017
Early registration before: May 8, 2017

CiE 2017 is the thirteenth conference organized by CiE (Computability in Europe), a European association of mathematicians, logicians, computer scientists, philosophers, physicists and others interested in new developments in computability and their underlying significance for the real world.

Previous meetings have taken place in Amsterdam (2005), Swansea (2006), Siena (2007), Athens (2008), Heidelberg (2009), Ponte Dalgada (2010), Sofia (2011), Cambridge (2012), Milan (2013), Budapest (2014), Bucharest (2015) and Paris (2016).

THE PROGRAMME COMMITTEE cordially invites all researchers (European and non-European) to submit their papers in all areas related to computability for presentation at the conference and inclusion in the proceedings at https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=cie2017.

Papers must be submitted in PDF format, using the LNCS style (available at ftp://ftp.springer.de/pub/tex/latex/llncs/latex2e/llncs2e.zip) and should have a maximum of 10 pages, including references but excluding a possible appendix in which one can include proofs and other additional material. Papers that build bridges between different parts of the research community are particularly welcome.

The CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS will be published by LNCS, Springer Verlag.

ORGANIZED BY:
=============

Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Turku
Computer Science, Åbo Akademi University

email: cie2017@utu.fi

WOMEN IN COMPUTABILITY PROGRAM AND GRANTS:
==========================================

We are happy to announce that the CiE Women in Computability program, coordinated by the Special Interest Group Women in Computability
http://sat.mdx.ac.uk/cie-wp/index.php/cie-conference-series/cie-cs-women-in-computability/
offers four grants of up to 250 EUR for junior female researchers who want to participate in CiE 2017. Applications for this grant should be send to Liesbeth De Mol (liesbeth.demol@univ-lille3.fr) before 1 May 2017 and include a short cv (at most 2 pages) and contact information for an academic reference. Preference will be given to junior female researchers who are presenting a paper (including informal presentations) at CiE 2017.

TUTORIAL SPEAKERS:
==================

Denis R. Hirschfeldt (University of Chicago)
Daniel M. Gusfield (University of California, Davis)

INVITED SPEAKERS:
=================

Scott Aaronson (University of Texas at Austin)
Karen Lange (Wellesley College)
Ludovic Patey (Université Paris Diderot)
Nicole Schweikardt (Humboldt-Universit ät zu Berlin)
Alexander Shen (Université de Montpellier)
Moshe Vardi (Rice University)

SPECIAL SESSIONS:
=================

Algorithmics for biology:
————————-

Organized by Paola Bonizzoni (Milano, Italy) and Veli Mäkinen (Helsinki, Finland). Speakers:

Tobias Marschall (Max-Planck-Institut für Informatik)
Fabio Vandin (University of Padova)
Gregory Kucherov (University Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée)
Gianluca Della Vedova (University of Milano-Bicocca)

Combinatorics and algorithmics on words:
—————————————-

Organized by Tero Harju (Turku, Finland) and Dirk Nowotka (Kiel, Germany). Speakers:

Stepan Holub (Charles University in Prague)
Pascal Ochem (Université de Montpellier)
Svetlana Puzynina (Sobolev Institute of Mathematics and École Normale Supérieure de Lyon)
Narad Rampersad (University of Winnipeg)

Computability in analysis, algebra, and geometry:
————————————————-

Organized by Julia Knight (Notre Dame, USA) and Andrey Morozov (Novosibirsk, Russia). Speakers:

Saugata Basu (Purdue University)
Margarita Korovina (University of Aarhus)
Alexander Melnikov (University of California, Berkeley)
Russell Miller (Queens College, City University of New York)

Cryptography and information theory:
————————————

Organized by Delaram Kahrobaei (New York, USA) and Helger Lipmaa (Tartu, Estonia). Speakers:

Jean-Charles Faugère (Université Pierre et Marie Curie)
Elham Kashefi (University of Edinburgh-Scotland, Université Pierre et Marie Curie)
Aggelos Kiayias (University of Edinburgh)
Ivan Visconti (Università degli Studi di Salerno)

Formal languages and automata theory:
————————————-

Organized by Juhani Karhumäki (Turku, Finland) and Alexander Okhotin (St. Petersburg, Russia). Speakers:

Kai Salomaa (Queen’s University at Kingston)
Matrin Kutrib (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen)
Thomas Colcombet (Université Paris Diderot)
Artur Jez (University of Wrocław)

History and philosophy of computing:
————————————
Special topic: History and foundations of recursion, in memory of Rósza Péter (1905-1977)

Organized by Liesbeth De Mol (Lille, France) and Giuseppe Primiero (London, United Kingdom). Speakers:

Juliette Kennedy (University of Helsinki)
Jan von Plato (University of Helsinki)
Cliff Jones (Newcastle University)
Hector Zenil (University of Oxford, and Karolinska Institute)

Contributed papers will be selected from submissions received by the PROGRAM COMMITTEE consisting of:

Andrew Arana (Urbana-Champaign, US)
Arnold Beckmann (Swansea, UK)
Paola Bonizzoni (Milan, IT)
Olivier Bournez (Palaiseau, FR)
Vasco Brattka (Munich, DE)
Cristian S. Calude (Auckland, NZ)
Ann Copestake (Cambridge, UK)
Liesbeth De Mol (Lille, FR)
Helena Durnová (Brno, CZ)
Ekaterina Fokina (Vienna, AT)
Tero Harju (Turku, FI)
Emmanuel Jeandel (Nancy, FR)
Emil Jeřábek (Prague, CZ)
Natašha Jonoska (Tampa, US)
Jarkko Kari (Turku, FI, co-chair)
Viv Kendon (Durham, UK)
Takayuki Kihara (Berkley, US)
Florin Manea (Kiel, DE)
Klaus Meer (Cottbus, DE)
Russell Miller (New York City, US)
Bernard Moret (Lausanne, CH)
Rolf Niedermeier (Berlin, DE)
Dag Normann (Oslo, NO)
Dirk Nowotka (Kiel, DE)
Isabel Oitavem (Lisbon, PT)
Ion Petre (Turku, FI, co-chair)
Kai Salomaa (Kingston, CA)
Reed Solomon (Storrs, US)
Mariya Soskova (Sofia, BG)
Susan Stepney (York, UK)
Peter Van Emde Boas (Amsterdam, NL)
Philip Welch (Bristol, UK)
Damien Woods (Pasadena, US)

Magic in Science:
—————–

The symposium “Magic in Science” will be co-located with CiE 2017. It takes place on June 17, 2017, immediately after CiE. The symposium celebrates the 75th birthday of Prof. Grzegorz Rozenberg, University of Leiden, the Netherlands and University of Colorado at Boulder, USA. Grzegorz Rozenberg is one of the world leaders in research on Theoretical Computer Science and Natural Computing. As a matter of fact, he is often called the guru of Natural Computing, having started promoting it as a coherent scientific discipline already from the 1970s – he gave this area its name and defined its scope. He played a central role in the development of theoretical computer science in Europe. His research is very broad in scope and it is a prime example of interdisciplinary research. He has authored exceptionally many research papers opening new vistas, as well as well-known books about developmental languages, decidability and DNA computing. He supervised numerous Ph.D. students, many of whom have become known scientists. He serves or has served the international computer science community in numerous roles, including: president of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS); cofounder and president of the International Society for Nanoscale Science, Computation, and Engineering (ISNSCE); chair of the steering committee of the DNA Computing Conference; cofounder and chair of the steering committee of the International Conference on Application and Theory of Petri Nets; chair of the steering committee of the European Educational Forum; cofounder and chair of the steering committee of the International Conference on Developments in Language Theory; co-chair of the steering committee of the International Conference on Unconventional Computation and Natural Computation; and director of European Molecular Computing Consortium. The talks given at the symposium will have an overview character and together they will cover a broad range of topics from Computer Science, reflecting Grzegorz Rozenberg’s broad research interests. Among the topics covered are: P vs NP, reaction systems, membrane computing, graph isomorphism, combinatorics on words, DNA rearrangements, smart textiles, smart drones, magic squares, wonder cubes, and odor reproduction. Confirmed speakers include: David Harel, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel- “On odor reproduction and how to test for it” Hendrik Jan Hoogeboom, University of Leiden, the Netherlands – TBA Juraj Hromkovic, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland – “Why P vs. NP is so hard that even magicians failed to solve it” Natasha Jonoska, University of South Florida, USA – TBA Juhani Karhumäki, University of Turku, Finland – “Combinatorics on words and k-abelian equivalence” Hermann Maurer, Academia Europaea and Graz University of Technology, Austria: “Some unusual applications of computer science” George Paun, Institute of Mathematics of the Academy of Romania – TBA Azaria Paz, Technion, Israel – “Linked magic squares on a cube. Theme and variations” Moshe Vardi, Rice University, USA – TBA The symposium is free of charge. Details: http://combio.abo.fi/rozenberg75/
———————————–

Association CiE:
http://computability.org.uk
CiE Conference Series:
http://illc.uva.nl/CiE
CiE 2017 on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/CIE.Conference2017
CiE 2017 on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/2017Cie
CiE 2017 on Instagram:
https://instagram.com/cie.2017

Command Lines: Software, Power and Performance

March 18-19, 2017
Computer History Museum
Mountain View, CA
Call for Papers Deadline: Dec 30 2016

What is Command Lines?

Command Lines: Software, Power, and Performance is a meeting that will draw together scholars from a variety of fields that study software. These fields include: the history of computing; science and technology studies; software studies; code studies; game studies; media studies; the study of women, gender and sexuality; studies of race, ethnicity and postcoloniality; network and internet histories; and computer science and engineering. Command Lines is collaboratively organized by SIGCIS (Special Interest Group for Computing, Information and Society) and the Computer History Museum.

The meeting will explore how software relates to social and technical constructs of power and performance. Attendees will discuss why connections between the creation and use of software are integral to understanding social and technical power in multiple senses.

Purpose and Theme
The purpose of the meeting, Command Lines: Software, Power, and Performance, is to draw together scholars from a variety of fields that study software: the history of computing; science and technology studies; software studies; code studies; game studies; media studies; the study of women, gender and sexuality; studies of race, ethnicity and postcoloniality; network and internet histories; and computer science and engineering. The meeting hopes to explore the connections between the creation and use of software and “power” in multiple senses, and the connection between software and conceptions of technical and cultural “performance.”

The SIGCIS organizing committee now seeks proposals for short papers (15-20 min.) to present new work at the conference. We welcome work that hinges on, links to, or reacts against the themes of the meeting. We also welcome submissions that may not connect specifically with the themes but have bearing on the larger project of SIGCIS–the study of computing and sociotechnical change. We especially encourage submissions from graduate students and early career scholars.

Deadlines and Submission Protocol
Proposals for papers are due by December 30th, 2016. Decisions will be made by January 16th, 2017. Proposals should include:

a one-page abstract (maximum 400 words) addressing the paper’s topic, approach, sources, and relationship to existing literatures
a one-page CV

Please email your proposal to SIGCIS organizing committee by midnight (Pacific time) on December 30th to Conference Assistant kera.allen@gatech.edu.

​Financial Support
SIGCIS and the Museum will be able to provide partial financial support to graduate students to present at the meeting. Please note in your proposal if you would like to be considered for a travel award.

Location and Logistics
The meeting events will be held at CHM at 1401 North Shoreline Boulevard, Mountain View, CA 94043. During the event, attendees will have access to CHM’s most recent major exhibit on software and its implications, Make Software: Change the World!

There will be no official meeting hotel or transportation. The meeting has a $40 registration fee, waived for graduate and undergraduate students as well as independent scholars. Presenters and attendees may register here. We encourage early registration, as attendance will be limited.

And the website for the meeting is http://meetings.sigcis.org/

Thanks in advance for your kind help.