First China Theoretical Computer Science Symposium Held

First China Theoretical Computer Science Symposium Held

By Li Han

Staff Writer of the Tsinghua News Center

The First China Symposium on Theoretical Computer Science opened at the Institute for Theoretical Computer Science (ITCS), Tsinghua University, on October 13. Twenty leading scientists in theoretical computer science gave lectures on their recent research results, talked with the students, and participated in an open forum held October 15 on the subject of Nurturing Science Talents in China to exchange ideas on how to best accomplish this goal.

Tsinghua University s Turing Award Winner Professor Andrew Chi-chih Yao delivered the welcoming speech at the opening session of the symposium, encouraging the students to take the opportunity to learn from those world renowned scientists. All the faculty members, Ph.D. candidates, graduate students and undergraduate students from ITCS attended the symposium.

All the invited twenty leading scientists are members of the Second Chair Professor Team of Tsinghua University s ITCS, including Princeton University Professor and American Academy of Arts and Sciences Member Bernard Chazelle, MIT Professor and American Academy of Arts and Sciences Member and National Academy of Sciece Member and National Academy of Engineering Member Shafi Goldwasser, and University of California, San Diego Professor and American Academy of Arts and Sciences Member Ronald Graham.

They will help educate the students of ITCS, give lectures, and discuss with the students on research problems.

Each year, the symposium chooses a special focus. The first of this series focuses on Nurturing Science Talents in China .

Tsinghua University s Institute for Theoretical Computer Science (ITCS) was established in January 2007, with a mission to foster first-rate scientific research and to nurture young talents in theoretical computer science. It aims to become one of the leading research centers on theoretical computer science in the world.

The Institute already has an elite graduate student body and enjoys frequent visits by world-renowned scientists all year round. ITCS has launched two unique series of conferences. The China Theory Week series is meant to be a yearly forum for top graduate students from all over the world to present their work and interact with each other.

The first two of the series, China Theory Week 2007 and China Theory Week 2008, were resounding successes.

(Photo by Guo Haijun)