Final call for (Self-)Nominations for the VCLA International Student Awards for Outstanding Master and Bachelor Theses in Logic and Computer Science - Deadline: 9.4.2020 AoE

[Rozman, Mihaela]

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 degree must have been awarded between November 15th, 2018 and December
31st, 2019 (inclusive).
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The main areas of interest are:
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-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.

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Awards
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-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.

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Eligibility
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-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.

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Nomination Requirements
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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.

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Instructions for submitting nominations
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-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.

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Important dates
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-Submission deadline (extended): April 9, 2020 (anywhere on Earth)
-Notification of decision: end of June 2020
-Award ceremony: TBA

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Contact
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Please send all inquiries to award at logic-cs.at

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Website with the information on the award committee, and the previous awardees
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https://logic-cs.at/vcla-awards-2020