[Note: While I and many others are fortunate to be able to go on with our work, deadlines, and (as mentioned in this post) seminars, this is not the case for many in the U.S. following yet another demonstration that black lives don't matter as much as they should in this country. I would like … Continue reading Theory of Machine Learning summer seminar

This semester, like many other universities, Harvard switched to a pass/fail grade model. (In typical Harvard style, we give them different names - "Emergency Satisfactory" and "Emergency Unsatisfactory" - but that doesn't matter much). One unexpected but happy consequence of this policy is that even though I already submitted the grades for my crypto course, … Continue reading Liberation from grades

[Hat tip: Aaron Roth] The inaugural conference on the foundations of responsible computing will take place in less than two weeks (June 1-2). Registration is FREE but you need to register by May 28. The program looks fantastic, and includes keynotes by Adrian Weller, Rakesh Vohra, Patricia Williams, and Jon Kleinberg, as well as a … Continue reading Foundations of responsible computing

Aside from its devastating death toll, the COVID-19 pandemic has had severe economic implications. The impact on universities is particularly substantial, including disruptions to our physical campuses and student residences, as well as to the sources of income for private and public universities such as endowments and state budgets. All this means that the academic … Continue reading Resources for the upcoming job market crunch

(I am now on Twitter , so you can follow this blog there too if you prefer it. --Boaz) Between Zoom meetings and deadlines, I thought I'd jot down a few of my impressions so far on what lessons we can draw from this period on how well research and education can work online. I've … Continue reading Lessons from COVID-19: What works online and what doesn’t

Gerard Ben Arous, Surya Ganguli, Florent Krzakala and Lenka Zdeborova are organizing a summer school on statistical physics of machine learning on August 2-28, 2020 in Les Houches, France. If you don't know Les Houches, it apparently looks like this: They are looking for applications from students, postdocs, and young researchers in physics & math, … Continue reading Summer School on Statistical Physics and Machine Learning

Harvard Computer Science is seeking a Lecturer/Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies. A great candidate would be someone passionate about teaching and mentoring and excited to build a diverse and inclusive Undergraduate Computer Science community at Harvard. The position requires a Ph.D and is open to all areas of computer science and related fields, but of course … Continue reading Harvard opportunity: lecturing / advising position

[Guest post by David Steurer - seems like a great opportunity! --Boaz] The Swiss Winter School on Lower Bounds and Communication Complexity (10-14 February 2020, https://theory.epfl.ch/WinterSchool2020/ ) is the first in a series of annual winter schools in Theoretical Computer Science jointly organized by EPFL and ETH Zurich. The goal of the school is to … Continue reading Swiss TCS winter school (guest post by David Steurer)

We invite you to submit your papers to the 11th Innovations inTheoretical Computer Science (ITCS). The conference will be held atthe University of Washington in Seattle, Washington from January 12-14,2020. ITCS seeks to promote research that carries a strong conceptual message(e.g., introducing a new concept, model or understanding, opening a newline of inquiry within traditional … Continue reading ITCS 20 call for papers (guest post by Thomas Vidick)