Computer Science News
Professor Alan Gibbons - (1941 - 2024)
We are saddened to learn of the passing of Professor Alan Gibbons. Former colleagues and peers from DCS have put together a few words to celebrate his life and career.
Latest academic promotion
DCS Holds Alumni Reunion Event
The DCS hosted CS-ARC on the 22nd of March, with over 70 alumni coming to campus to reminisce and share their stories.
Digitally Empowering Young People: The Podcast
“Digitally Empowering Young People: The Podcast” is a ground-breaking podcast series hosted by Dr. Roxanne BibizadehLink opens in a new window.
In this inaugural series, we delve into the pressing issue of technology-assisted child sexual abuse material, focusing particularly on the misleading term “self-generated”, which problematically places the blame on the victim. Through this series, we aim to raise awareness and spark vital conversations among educators, parents/carers, law enforcement agencies and professionals working with young people.
Each episode features a distinguished expert voice, offering invaluable insights and perspectives on this critical issue. Contributors include esteemed organisations such as the Internet Watch Foundation, Marie Collins Foundation, National Policing Vulnerable Knowledge and Practice Programme, Parent Zone, Kent County Council, and Voice Box.
Our final episode is created especially for young people, providing them with essential information and resources to navigate the digital landscape safely and responsibly.
To listen to our podcast series, visit us on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3OANje22oUK5X641ACmxZOLink opens in a new window
For more information about this project and to stay updated on our latest initiatives, please visit our website: www.deyp.orgLink opens in a new window
We’re proud to announce that this project is funded by the ESRC IAA.
Dr. Fanghui Liu on AAAI-24 New Faculty Highlights
Dr Fanghui Liu was selected as a speaker in AAAI 2024 New Faculty Highlights Program to present his research on machine learning theory as well as theoretical-oriented applications.
Latest academic promotions
We are happy to announce four promotions in the department:
- Dr Charilaos Efthymiou has been promoted to Associate Professor
- Dr Igor Carboni Oliveira has been promoted to Associate Professor
- Dr Hongkai Wen has been promoted to Professor
- Dr Weiren Yu has been promoted to Associate Professor
Many congratulations to our colleagues for all their achievements!
An Easy-Sounding Problem Yields Numbers Too Big for Our Universe
On this recent article in the Quanta magazine, Alex Dixon, who wrote in Haskell the first solver for the problem, commented:
For the past 50 years, Vector Addition Systems—a simple but powerful computational model—have been a topic of great interest in theoretical CS. The reachability problem in that model asks whether we can get from some configuration to another.
The problem sounds relatively easy on a first glance, and an exponential lower bound held firm for over 40 years. Work by excellent theoreticians, including familiar names from Warwick DCS, finally closed the difficulty of the problem in 2021, concluding that it is very, very difficult indeed.