VCLA International Student Awards 2020 for Outstanding Master and Bachelor Theses in Computer Science

The Vienna Center for Logic and Algorithms of TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology), calls for the nomination of authors of outstanding theses and scientific works in the field of Logic and Computer Science, in the following two categories:

• Outstanding Master Thesis Award
• Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis Award (Bachelor thesis or equivalent, 1st cycle of the Bologna process)

The main areas of interest are:

-Computational Logic, covering theoretical and mathematical foundations such as proof theory, model theory, computability theory, Boolean satisfiability (SAT), QBF, constraint satisfaction, satisfiability modulo theories, automated deduction (resolution, refutation, theorem proving), non-classical logics (substructural logics, multi-valued logics, deontic logics, modal and temporal logics).

-Algorithms and Computational Complexity, including design and analysis of discrete algorithms, complexity analysis, algorithmic lower bounds, parameterized and exact algorithms, decomposition methods, approximation algorithms, randomized algorithms, algorithm engineering, as well as algorithmic game theory, computational social choice, parallel algorithms, graph drawing algorithms, and distributed algorithms.

-Databases and Artificial Intelligence, concerned with logical methods for modeling, storing, and drawing inferences from data and knowledge. This includes subjects like query languages based on logical concepts (Datalog, variants of SQL, XML, and SPARQL), novel database-theoretical methods (schema mappings, information extraction and integration), logic programming, knowledge representation and reasoning (ontologies, answer-set programming, belief change, inconsistency handling, argumentation, planning).

-Verification, concerned with logical methods and automated tools for reasoning about the behavior and correctness of complex state-based systems such as software and hardware designs as well as hybrid systems. This ranges from model checking, program analysis and abstraction to new interdisciplinary areas such as fault localization, program repair, program synthesis, and the analysis of biological systems.

-Formal Methods for Security and Privacy, covering design and analysis techniques for security and privacy critical systems, such as cryptographic protocols, software, hardware and so on. The category of formal methods is to be meant in a broad sense, including related questions in logic, model checking, static analysis, dynamic monitoring, theorem proving, and artificial intelligence.

In Memory of Helmut Veith

The award is dedicated to the memory of Helmut Veith, the brilliant computer scientist who tragically passed away in March 2016, and aims to carry on his commitment to promoting young talent and promising researchers in these areas.

Awards

*The Outstanding Master Thesis Award: 1200 EUR

*The Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis Award: 800 EUR *The winners will be invited to present their work at an award ceremony in Vienna.

Eligibility

*The degree must have been awarded between November 15th, 2018 and December 31st, 2019 (inclusive).

*Students who obtained their degree at TU Wien are not eligible.

Nomination Requirements

Nominations must include:

*A cover page that contains the name and contact details of the nominated person, the title of the work for which the person is being nominated, award category, the date on which the degree was awarded, and the name of the university

*An English summary of the thesis of maximum 3 pages, excluding references (A4 or letter page size, 11pt font min). The summary must clearly state the main contribution of the work, its novelty, and its relevance to some of the aforementioned areas of interest

*The CV of the nominated person, including publication list (if applicable

*An endorsement letter from a supervisor or another proposing person. The letter must clearly state the independent and novel contribution of the student, and why the proposer believes the student deserves the award. The endorsement letter may be provided after the submission deadline, and emailed directly to award (AT) logic-cs.at.

*The full thesis

All documents should be in English, with the exception of the thesis. In case the thesis is in a different language, it must be accompanied by a research report in English of at least 10 pages that should be sufficient for the committee to evaluate the merit and quality of the submitted work.

Instructions for submitting nominations

*Nominations should be submitted electronically using the following link to EasyChair here

*Submissions consist of two pdf files. The first is a single pdf file containing all documents for the nomination except the full thesis; the documents should appear in the order they are listed above. The second pdf file is the full thesis

*The endorsement letter may optionally be sent by email by the endorser and omitted from the Easychair submission. In this case, please email the letter as a pdf file, including the name of the nominated person in the subject, to award (AT) logic-cs DOT at

*The submission must be accompanied by a plain text electronic abstract of the thesis of at most 400 words, and three keywords.

*The nominated student must be listed as the first and corresponding author in the submission form.

Important dates

*Submission deadline (extended): April 9, 2020 (anywhere on Earth)

*Notification of decision: end of June 2020

*Award ceremony: TBA

Contact

Please send all inquiries to award (AT) logic-cs.at

Previous Awardees

https://logic-cs.at/vcla-awards-2020/