[From Jelani Nelson and David Woodruff. This workshop can be very important to ensure TCS is represented in what is likely to be a difficult funding environment in coming years. --Boaz ] The CATCS will be hosting a virtual “Visioning Workshop” the week of July 20 in order to identify broad research themes within theoretical computer science (TCS) that have potential for … Continue reading TCS visioning workshop

Guest post by Benny Applebaum The ITC 2020 program is out, and this newborn looks healthy and strong! The program contains exciting new works in the area of Information-Theoretic Cryptography, confirming the importance of this new venue. The PC, chaired by Daniel Wichs, also chose an amazing sequence of invited talks by Dachman-Soled, Natarajan, Jafar, … Continue reading ITC 2020 program is out

[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

(If you're not already following him, I highly recommend reading Luca Trevisan's dispatches from Milan, much more interesting than what I write below.) On the topic of my last post, Ross Douthat writes in the New York Times that "In the fog of coronavirus, there are no experts", even citing Scott Aaronson's post. Both Aaronson … Continue reading Experts shmexperts

Scott Aaronson blogged in defense of "armchair epidemiology". Scott makes several points I agree with, but he also advocates that rather than discounting ideas from "contrarians" who have no special expertise in the matter, each one of us should evaluate the input of such people on its merits. I disagree. I can judge on their … Continue reading In defense of expertise

The new coronavirus upended much of society, including our little corner of it. I believe at this point almost all theorists are teaching and doing research at home, and I thought it would be good to share some of the tools we use for doing so. Below I will describe my setup, but I hope … Continue reading Technology for theory: COVID-19 edition