Category: Other Announcements

*Workshop announcement*

FORMALIZATION OF PROOFS, FORMALIZATION OF PROGRAMS,

Paris, December, 18-19 2019

Campus Lourcine, 1, rue de la Glacière (RER : Port Royal; Metro, ligne 7 : Les Gobelins; Metro, ligne 6 : Glacière)

Bâtiment 2, Salle 02-Gérard Lyon-Caen.

https://programme.hypotheses.org/ffium-programme-colloquium-formalization-of-proofs-formalization-of-programs

*Mercredi 18 décembre 2019*

9h30-10h45: Ursula Martin, What can studies of crowdsourcing tell us about mathematical practice?

10h45-11h: Coffe Break

11h-12h15: Gilles Dowek: The absoluity of logical truth challenged by proof formalization.

12h15- 14h00: Lunch

14h00-15h15: Gisele Secco, Diagrams and Programs in the First Proof of the Four-Color Theorem

15h15-16h30: Raymond Turner, Some Instances of Abstraction in Mathematics and Computer Science

16h30-16h45: Coffe Break

16h45-18h30: Table Ronde “What can be formalized?” with contributions from: Simone Martini, Baptiste Mélès, Maël Pégny, Maté Szabo

*Jeudi 19 décembre 2019*

9h30-10h45: Cliff Jones, Formalisation and Proof in Computing: A Personal View

10h45-11h00: Coffe Break

11h00-12h15: Assia Mahboubi, Verified Computations in Mathematical Proofs

12h15- 14h00: Lunch

14h00-15h15: Giuseppe Primiero, Value-sensitive co-design for resilient software systems

15h15-15h30: Coffe Break

15h30-16h45: Alberto Naibo, Formalizing constructions and proofs in Euclid’s geometry

16h45-18h: Cyrille Imbert, Vincent Ardourel, Program verification in the empirical science: formal methods for all?

The workshop intends to reconsider the relations or lack thereof between Computer science and mathematics. Whereas, originally, mathematics was used to provide a disciplinary identity to computing, today, this is clearly no longer the case, and this makes urgent to rethink the possible relations between the two fields. The workshop aim to do it by studying notions and practices of formalization and computation in both contexts.

In order to register, please send a mail to maelpegny@gmail.com before 13 december 2019. *Registration is free but necessary.*

The workshop results from a collaboration between two ANR research projects:
the FFIUM Project (https://sites.google.com/view/ffium/accueil)
and the PROGRAMme project (https://programme.hypotheses.org/).

Organizors: Liesbeth De Mol, Gerhard Heinzmann, Alberto Naibo, Marco Panza.

The Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, is looking for a Post-Doc (Tenure Track) in Applied Ethics, including Information Ethics (broadly intended). The Deadline for Applications is 13/12/2019 at 12:00. More information available at

https://www.unimi.it/it/ateneo/lavora-con-noi/reclutamento-ricercatori/selezioni-ricercatori/ricercatore-tipo-b-sc-11/c3-ssd-m-fil/03-codice-4237

The Commission for the History and Philosophy of Computing has two grants to support travel of young and/or unfunded researchers to CLMPST2019 in Prague. Requirements are that

1. the applicants are PhD Students without funding and
2. that their research area is close to the History and Philosophy of Computing.

Each grant is for a total of 250USD.

We would like to receive applications via email at the address

info@hapoc.org

stating briefly position, affiliation and attaching (if available) the abstract of the contribution at CLMPST19, with a brief explanation of how it relates to the HaPoC area of interest.
Applications should be received no later than July 26th. Applications will be considered as they are received.

*** Please advertise widely — Apologies for crossposting ***

Simulations Special Issue [DEADLINE EXTENSION]
THE SOCIETAL AND ETHICAL DIMENSIONS OF COMPUTER SIMULATIONS (S18-2)

Guest Editors:
– Juan M. Durán (TU Delft)
– Jeroen van den Hoven (TU Delft)

Computer simulations are a fundamental method for the progress of scientific and engineering research. Jim Gray (2007) called them the third paradigm of research, along with theory, experiment and Big Data (the first, second and fourth paradigm respectively). While the specialised literature has extensively focused on epistemological, ontological and methodological issues of computer simulations (Humphreys, 2004, Winsberg, 2010, Morrison, 2015, Durán, 2018), less has been said on the social and ethical dimensions of computer simulations (Brey 1999, 2008, Tolk and Ören, 2017).

The purpose of the special issue “The societal and ethical dimensions of computer simulations” is to address core questions about the role and use of computer simulations in scientific and engineering practice, as well as their influence in society, democracy, and education, among other contexts. To this end, we invite philosophers, educators, sociologists, engineers, scientists and all researchers interested in studies on computer simulations to submit their work to this special issue (for a list of possible topics, see below).

This special issue of SIMULATION (http://journals.sagepub.com/home/sim) addresses critical concerns in the actual practice and use of computer simulations in scientific and engineering research. To this end, we invite researchers invested in answering these problems to submit to this special issue. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

– Ethics:
• Code of conduct
• Bias simulations, democracy, and justice
• Irresponsible uses of results of simulations
• The profession of designing, programming, and using computer simulations

– Values for design:
• The accountability of designers, programmers, and users of computer simulations
• Responsible innovation with computer simulations
• Shaping policymaking in the light of computer-based research
• Values, uncertainties, and distrust in simulation models

– Education:
• Including methods from computer science in scientific and engineering curricula
• Educating engineers and scientists to simulate-first build-later

– The future of science and engineering:
• Computer simulations as the third paradigm of research
• New forms of scientific and engineering practice
• Computer simulations, AI, and Big Data: the new frontiers of science and engineering

Submission Guidelines: All papers should be developed, formatted and submitted based upon the editorial guidelines provided in the instructions for authors for “Simulation: Transactions of the Society for Modelling and Simulation International,” which can be accessed from (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/journal/simulation#submission-guidelines). The authors should choose the Article Type as “Special Issue “at the first step of the submission process and put “Special Issue: S18-2 THE SOCIETAL AND ETHICAL DIMENSIONS OF COMPUTER SIMULATION in the title and cover letter of your submissions. The process of review and publication is the same as the regular issue of “Simulation: Transactions of the Society for Modelling and Simulation International.”

Due Dates:

NEW submission deadline: September 30, 2019.

If you have questions, please contact: j.m.duran@tudelft.nl.

References:

Brey, Philip. 1999. “The Ethics of Representation and Action in Virtual Reality.” Ethics and Information Technology 1 (1). Kluwer Academic Publishers: 5–14.
Brey, Philip. 2008. “Virtual Reality and Computer Simulation.” In The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics, edited by Kenneth Einar Himma and Herman T Tavani, 361–84.
Durán, Juan M. 2018. Computer Simulations in Science and Engineering. Concepts – Practices – Perspectives. Springer.
Humphreys, Paul W. 2004. Extending Ourselves: Computational Science, Empiricism, and Scientific Method. Oxford University Press.
Morrison, Margaret. 2015. Reconstructing Reality. Models, Mathematics, and Simulations. Oxford University Press.
Tolk, Andreas, Tuncer I Ören, eds. 2017. The Profession of Modeling and Simulation. Wiley.
Winsberg, Eric. 2010. Science in the Age of Computer Simulation. University of Chicago Press.

Dr. Juan M. Durán
TU Delft
Department of Values, Technology and Innovation
Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management
Jaffalaan 5
2628 BX Delft – B 4.310
The Netherlands
2019 Herbert A. Simon Award – IACAP
juanmduran.net – Academia.edu

Hello.

The project DEMaIn (funded by ANR) hires a Ph.D. for a one-year post-doctoral position in Didactics of Mathematics and interactions with Informatics, at the University of Montpellier (France). The researcher will contribute to ongoing didactical engineering work in the fields of the project, and in particular, participate in the experimental setting. The position is for one year, starting in summer or autumn 2019.
(Speaking French is recommended)

Contact: simon.modeste@umontpellier.fr

Regards,
Simon MODESTE

It is my pleasure to announce that the next event on the history and philosophy of computer programs within the framework of the PROGRAMme project (https://programme.hypotheses.org/) will be held from June 5-7 2019 at the MESHS, 2 Rue des Canonniers, 59000 Lille, espace Baïetto and Salle 002.

On June 5 we will have the last session of the academic year of the Lille-Paris séminaire HEPIC (Histoire et Philosophie de l’informatique et du calcul) around the topic: /Computing – a human activity?/ Speakers are:

13h-14h15: David Aubin (Université de Paris 6), Astronomical tables as work, 16th-18th centuries
14h15-14h30: pause
14h30-15h45: Stephen Kell (University of Kent), Software against humanity? An Illichian perspective on the industrial era of software
15h45-16h15: pause
16h15-17h30: Christiane Floyd (Technical University of Vienna), The move to activity-centered views of software development

From June 6-7 the Spring workshop 2019 of the PROGRAMme project is organized. It is the second in a series of four workshops. Each focuses on one of the PROGRAMme project’s main clusters in connection to the other three. The second workshop will focus on the cluster Machines and so offers reflections on a set of historical, philosophical and epistemological question on Computing Machines, broadly interpreted, and this in relation to the other three clusters (Logic; Programming languages and notations; Systems).

In order to register, please send a mail with your affiliation to: liesbeth.demol@univ-lille3.fr *before May 20 2019*. Registration is free but required in order to attend.

For more details, including the program, see:

https://programme.hypotheses.org/spring-workshop-i-machines

Organizor of the workshop: Liesbeth De Mol (CNRS, UMR 8163 STL, Université de Lille 3)

Organizers of the séminaire are: Liesbeth De Mol (CNRS, UMR 8163 STL, Université de Lille), Alberto Naibo (IHPST, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, ENS), Maël Pegny (IHPST, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, ENS)

The workshop is supported by l’UMR 8163 Savoirs, Textes, Langage (https://stl.univ-lille.fr/); l’ANR PROGRAMme (https://programme.hypotheses.org/), le platforme DATA de la MESHS (projet HEPIC, https://www.meshs.fr/page/hepic).

The séminaire is supported by: l’UMR 8590 IHPST (http://www.ihpst.cnrs.fr/); l’UMR 8163 Savoirs, Textes, Langage (https://stl.univ-lille.fr/); l’ANR PROGRAMme (https://programme.hypotheses.org/), le platforme DATA de la MESHS (projet HEPIC, https://www.meshs.fr/page/hepic).

Joint PhD Scholarship on History and Philosophy of Computing (Université de Lille and University of Kent)

We rely on computers to manage our communication, access to information, finances and even health. Despite recurring reports of software failures, programming mistakes and unintended consequences, most of our understanding of how computers work is of a highly technical nature. Consider, for example, the rich conceptual arsenal that programmers have developed to help them control what computers do. Where do these programming concepts, methods and practices come from? What are their inherent limitations? And can they provide a reliable way of controlling computers, as the word “science” in “computer science” suggests?

We are inviting applications for a 3-year funded PhD position in History and/or Philosophy of Computing, jointly supervised by Liesbeth De Mol (CNRS – (UMR 8163, Université de Lille), Tomas Petricek (University of Kent) and Shahid Rahman (UMR 8163, Université de Lille).The position will be shared between Université de Lille and University of Kent in Canterbury in the framework of the call for proposals of co-supervised doctorates between I-site ULNE and the University of Kent (
uploads/2019/01/Call-for-co-supervised-doctorates-Kent-2019.pdCall for co-supervised doctorates 2019). You will be expected to spend two years in Lille and one year in Canterbury. The scope of the project is open-ended and we encourage interested applicants to informally contact us as soon as possible in order to develop a more detailed research proposal.

Possible research topics

We believe that understanding the full complexity of computing and programming requires a rich inter-disciplinary approach that is aware of the history and origins of computing concepts,  understands their technical nature and reflects on them from a philosophical perspective. The following list is just a brief example to illustrate the kind of insights that we can gain from considering computing and programming in context:

            
• What is a computer program? A program exists as a physical entity stored in a machine, formal entity used for reasoning about it, but also as a rich socio-technological entity. Understanding programs cannot be limited to just one level, but requires pluralistic approach studying all three levels, but also their interactions.
• Programs are constructed using programming concepts such as types, processes or objects. What is the nature of these entities and how do they evolve? For types are imported from logic, but the way they are used in modern programming is very different from their logical predecessors. Do concepts like types share characteristics with mathematical entities like polyhedra, physical entities like electrons, or are they a wholly different thing?
• What is computation? How to account for the extension of the scope of what can be computed since the rise of electronic general-purpose computation in light of the Church-Turing thesis? How to relate what is theoretically computable (i.e.. Turing computable) to actual computing and programming practices which do not necessarily fit into the (older) framework of a deterministic one-tape Turing machine.
• What is the nature of the methodology of computer programming? Does it follow a form of scientific method that allows it to increase its problem solving ability? Is computer programming adopting ideas from science, engineering, art or a combination of these? Is there historical evidence that would support either of the views?
• What kind of limits do we need to take into account in computational practices? Is it just the theoretical limitation or should we also account for the physical, economical and social limitations? What are the consequences of those limitations for the development of the field?
• What is the significance of the human user of computer programs? How do we account for this “user” in developing notions of computation and computer programs? To what extent is the user shaped by a program and the practice underpinning it (industrial, scientific or other), and vice versa?

How to apply

Interested applicants should contact Liesbeth De Mol (liesbeth.demol@univ-lille3.fr) and Tomas Petricek (t.petricek@kent.ac.uk) well before March 20 2019. If you would like to be considered for the project, please send us a brief 1-2 paragraph summary of your research interests and a one-page CV. We also welcome informal inquiries before the official proposal submission.

Simulations Special Issue
THE SOCIETAL AND ETHICAL DIMENSIONS OF COMPUTER SIMULATIONS (S18-2)
Guest Editors:
– Juan M. Durán (TU Delft)
– Jeroen van den Hoven (TU Delft)

Computer simulations are a fundamental method for the progress of scientific and engineering research. Jim Gray (2007) called them the third paradigm of research, along with theory, experiment and Big Data (the first, second and fourth paradigm respectively). While the specialised literature has extensively focused on epistemological, ontological and methodological issues of computer simulations (Humphreys, 2004, Winsberg, 2010, Morrison, 2015, Durán, 2018), less has been said on the social and ethical dimensions of computer simulations (Brey 1999, 2008, Tolk and Ören, 2017).

The purpose of the special issue “The societal and ethical dimensions of computer simulations” is to address core questions about the role and use of computer simulations in scientific and engineering practice, as well as their influence in society, democracy, and education, among other contexts. To this end, we invite philosophers, educators, sociologists, engineers, scientists and all researchers interested in studies on computer simulations to submit their work to this special issue (for a list of possible topics, see below).

This special issue of SIMULATION (http://journals.sagepub.com/home/sim) addresses critical concerns in the actual practice and use of computer simulations in scientific and engineering research. To this end, we invite researchers invested in answering these problems to submit to this special issue. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

– Ethics:
• Code of conduct
• Bias simulations, democracy, and justice
• Irresponsible uses of results of simulations
• The profession of designing, programming, and using computer simulations

– Values for design:
• The accountability of designers, programmers, and users of computer simulations
• Responsible innovation with computer simulations
• Shaping policymaking in the light of computer-based research
• Values, uncertainties, and distrust in simulation models

– Education:
• Including methods from computer science in scientific and engineering curricula
• Educating engineers and scientists to simulate-first build-later

– The future of science and engineering:
• Computer simulations as the third paradigm of research
• New forms of scientific and engineering practice
• Computer simulations, AI, and Big Data: the new frontiers of science and engineering

Submission Guidelines:
All papers should be developed, formatted and submitted based upon the editorial guidelines provided in the instructions for authors for “Simulation: Transactions of the Society for Modelling and Simulation International,” which can be accessed from (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/journal/simulation#submission-guidelines). The authors should choose the Article Type as “Special Issue “at the first step of the submission process and put “Special Issue: S18-2 THE SOCIETAL AND ETHICAL DIMENSIONS OF COMPUTER SIMULATION in the title and cover letter of your submissions. The process of review and publication is the same as the regular issue of “Simulation: Transactions of the Society for Modelling and Simulation International.”

Due Dates:
Submission deadline: June 30, 2019.
Notification to authors of acceptance: August 30, 2019.
If you have questions, please contact: j.m.duran@tudelft.nl.

References:
Brey, Philip. 1999. “The Ethics of Representation and Action in Virtual Reality.” Ethics and Information Technology 1 (1). Kluwer Academic Publishers: 5–14.
Brey, Philip. 2008. “Virtual Reality and Computer Simulation.” In The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics, edited by Kenneth Einar Himma and Herman T Tavani, 361–84.
Durán, Juan M. 2018. Computer Simulations in Science and Engineering. Concepts – Practices – Perspectives. Springer.
Humphreys, Paul W. 2004. Extending Ourselves: Computational Science, Empiricism, and Scientific Method. Oxford University Press.
Morrison, Margaret. 2015. Reconstructing Reality. Models, Mathematics, and Simulations. Oxford University Press.
Tolk, Andreas, Tuncer I Ören, eds. 2017. The Profession of Modeling and Simulation. Wiley.
Winsberg, Eric. 2010. Science in the Age of Computer Simulation. University of Chicago Press.

Call for papers: History of Formal Methods 2019 Workshop, 11th October 2019, Porto, Portugal (co-located with FM’19)

We invite submissions to the HFM2019 workshop. See the website (https://sites.google.com/view/hfm2019) for complete details and instructions on how to submit. Submission is via EasyChair (https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=hfm2019).

This is a workshop on the history of formal methods in computing. The aim is to bring together historians of computing, technology, and science with practitioners in the field of formal methods to reflect on the discipline’s history. There will be a round of abstract submission prior to the workshop which will determine who is invited to give a presentation at the workshop. Afterwards, presenters may submit papers based on their presentations for inclusion in the workshop’s proceedings.

Scope

The theme of the workshop is the history of formal methods in computing. By ‘formal methods’ we mean mathematical or logical techniques for modelling, specifying, and reasoning about aspects of computing. This could include programming language description, concurrency modelling, theorem proving, program specification and verification, or mathematical foundations of computing.

Theoretical aspects of computing have been present almost since the beginning of electronic computers, and in various ways these techniques have evolved and changed, including into what are now called “Formal Methods”. Such aspects have been instrumental in developing fundamental understanding of computation and providing techniques for rigorous development of software, but have not always had the desired impact on practical and industrial computing.

This makes the field ripe for historical research and we invite submissions to our workshop which take a historical view of the topic. This may include discussion of developments of various formal methods, evolving agendas within the field, consideration of the effect of social and cultural factors, and evaluation of the way in which formal methods have impacted computing more broadly.

The workshop is intended to be of interest to current researchers in formal methods and to be accessible to people without any historical background. It should also be a venue for historians of science whose work covers formal aspects of computing as we believe understanding the the history of the field brings greater clarity to current technical research. We encourage early stage researchers to try their hand at historical reflection and gain an idea of the field’s grounding; we invite historians to contribute to the history of formal methods; and we invite researchers who have worked in formal methods for whom an historical talk provides the opportunity to reflect on their field.

Submission information

Submissions prior to the workshop will take the form of abstracts no longer than 500 words. If references are required, these can be added as an optional PDF file (and do not count towards the word count). All abstracts will be reviewed by the program committee whose details can be found on the website; based on these reviews, a decision will be made on who to invite to present at the workshop.

Following to the workshop, proceedings will be published (details of publisher to be finalised later). Please indicate during your submission if you wish for a paper to be considered for inclusion in the proceedings—select “Yes” even if you are not totally certain. All papers submitted for the proceedings will be subject to peer review.

Important Dates

Call for papers: January 2019
Submissions: 30 April 2019
Notification of acceptance: 30 June 2019
Presentations ready: 1 September 2019
Workshop: 11th October 2019
Papers for proceedings: 31 December 2019

Chairs

Troy Astarte
Brian Randell
(Newcastle University)

Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) is one of the leading research universities in Germany. As a reform-oriented campus university, it houses the full breadth and width of expertise in the main branches of science and research under one roof. Working in an environment that promotes a dynamic exchange between individual academic disciplines and their cultures, researchers and students alike benefit from the opportunities of interdisciplinary collaboration. After its application to the federal-state programme for the promotion of early career researchers has been accepted, RUB is currently implementing 18 new tenure-track professorships. Following a successful tenure evaluation, the respective tenure-track professor will subsequently be awarded permanent tenure. Each applicant will be notified of the evaluation criteria upon receipt of application.

The Faculty of Philosophy and Educational Research at Ruhr-Universität Bochum will be awarding a W1 (W2) tenure-track professorship for Ethics of digital methods and technologies
at the Institute of Philosophy I.

Anticipated start date: 1 October, 2019.

The future tenure-track professor will be representing the field of ethics in union with philosophy of current technology excellently in education and research. She/he has performed in different areas of digital ethics by pertinent publications and features excellent knowledge of digital methods and technologies. Ethical problems of digitisation are treated in close relation with epistemological and methodological analysis of current IT-developments. Close cooperation with nearby professorships in the humanities and social sciences and the emerging ‘Center for Computer Science’ at RUB is expected.

The appointment requirements in accordance with § 36 ff. of the Higher Education Act of North Rhine-Westphalia (Hochschulgesetz NW; www.rub.de/appointments) must be met. Other mandatory requirements include:

– Qualification for and deep commitment to academic teaching;
– Willingness to engage with interdisciplinary research and collaboration;
– Some experience with securing projects with third-party funding;
– Readiness to participate in academic administration.

Ruhr-Universität Bochum is an equal opportunity employer. Applications and all relevant documents (cover letter, academic CV, list of publications, certificates, list of acquired third-party funding, list of lectures and seminars) are to be submitted by e-mail by 31January, 2019 to the Dean at the Faculty of Philosophy and Educational Research at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Prof. Dr. Norbert Ricken, e-mail: dekanat-pe@rub.de.