Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

events:individual_past_events:2013-09-25_ursi_symposium [2013/09/25 11:01]
events:individual_past_events:2013-09-25_ursi_symposium [2013/09/25 11:01] (current)
Line 1: Line 1:
 +/* If you have not already done so, please begin the heading below 
 +   with a date in YYYY-MM-DD format followed by a short description.
 +   This is what will appear in the event listing and the event list 
 +   itself is sorted by this.   */
  
 +
 +==== 2013-09-25 - URSI Symposium ====
 +
 +FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 +
 +SUMMARY:  Annual concluding symposium for Vassar’s Undergraduate Research Summer Institute to include keynote address by Cal-Berkeley computer scientist Christos Papadimitriou, on September 25
 +
 +
 +POUGHKEEPSIE, NY -- Each summer over 100 combined Vassar students and professors participate in the Undergraduate Research Summer Institute (URSI), an intensive 10-week campus program in which students conduct original scientific research under faculty direction. Together through URSI they create and nurture a tightly knit community of scientific scholars. Each fall at the annual URSI symposium students make presentations about their summer research projects and an invited distinguished scientist provides a keynote address.
 +
 +
 +
 +The 2013 URSI symposium will be held on Wednesday, September 25, from 3:00-6:45pm in the Villard Room of Main Building, beginning with oral presentations by five of this summer’s student researchers. At 4:15 computer scientist Christos H. Papadimitriou will present his keynote “Computational Insights and the Theory of Evolution”, immediately followed by a gallery of student poster presentations on the all of the 2013 URSI projects (held in areas adjacent to the Villard Room). All activities are free and open to the public.
 +
 +
 +
 +URSI was founded in 1986 and is among the nation's oldest undergraduate scientific research programs. Complete information on the September 25 symposium and the overall URSI program can be found online at http://ursi.vassar.edu
 +
 +
 +
 +In his address Papadimitriou will discuss how recent computational techniques have provided unique insights into the theory of evolution. For example, developments such as genetic algorithms, Boolean functions, and unsupervised learning have advanced the understanding certain aspects of evolution and population genetics.
 +
 +
 +
 +Papadimitriou’s special interest is the theory of algorithms and complexity, and its applications to databases, optimization, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet, game theory, and evolution. His scholarly books includeElements of the Theory of Computation (1982), Combinatorial Optimization: Algorithms and Complexity (1982),The Theory of Database Concurrency Control (1988), Computational Complexity (1994), and Algorithms (2006).
 +
 + 
 +Papadimitriou is the C. Lester Hogan Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Cal-Berkeley, where he has taught since 1996. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Engineering, his honors also include the Goedel Prize, the Knuth Prize, and several honorary doctorates.  In addition to his scholarly articles and books, he has published the novels Turing (2003) and Independence (2012), as well as the graphic novel Logicomix (2010).Papadimitriou earlier taught at Harvard, MIT, Athens Polytechnic, Stanford, and the University of California-San Diego.  He graduated from Athens Polytechnic and received his PhD. from Princeton.
 +
 + 
 +Vassar College strives to make its events, performances, and facilities accessible to all. Individuals with disabilities requiring special accommodations must contact the Office of Campus Activities at least 48 hours in advance of an event, Mondays-Fridays, at (845) 437-5370. Without sufficient notice, appropriate space/and or assistance may not be available. For detailed information about accessibility to specific campus facilities, search for “campus accessibility information” on the Vassar homepage (http://www.vassar.edu).
 +
 +
 +
 +Vassar is located at 124 Raymond Avenue in Poughkeepsie, NY, and directions to the campus can be found athttp://www.vassar.edu/directions.
 +
 +
 +
 +Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential, liberal arts college founded in 1861.