TCS A1: Strategic InformationCulture Carrier in Theoretical Computer Science

Training PhD:s for industry

Backbone of CS Engineering program

Algorithms and ComplexityComputer and Information Security and SafetyLanguage TechnologyUncertainty management

Following both CUDOS (Merton)and PLACE (Ziman) Ethoses

Foundational studies

Algorithms and complexity:Can computation problem P besolved efficiently? If so, how?If not, can it be solved efficientlywith high probability, approximatetlycorrect, etc.? How to prove that it can’t?Cryptography and information security:Can I prove that electronic voting results are correct without revealing individual votes? Similar in auctions.Program safety and security:rapid formal verification, theory of testingUncertainty and Language technology

Utility-driven research

Software security (EU S3MS, 4WARD)

Program analysis and testingSoftware safety

Language tools: anonymization of public documents, Swedish and minority languages

Realistic decision support: CC/psychiatry/primary health careEffects-Based operations

Strategic Impact• Trained PhD:s (many with postdocs at MIT, ETH,..) at

Saab, Ericsson, Swedish Defense, Ernest&Young, Cinnober Financial Technology, Nasdaq Omx Spotify, Google, scholars at KTH, UU, MHD, Imperial College, Cornell university,

• 200 Master’s theses since year 2003: trained CS engineers everywhere.

• Spectacular performances can recruit good students: Cipher Challenge, ACM ICPC, 24-hour Extreme Challenge

• Security: exploitable technology area

Some results:

• Per Austrin: Towards sharp inapproximability for any 2-CSP, FOCS 2007 (Machtey Award)

• Mika Cohen, Mads Dam: A Complete axiomatization of Knowledge and Cryptography, LICS 2007

• Jakob Nordström: Narrow proofs may be spacious: separating space and width in resolution, STOC 2006 (Lewin best student papers award)

• Douglas Wikström: A sender-verifiable mix-net and a new proof of a shuffle (ASIACRYPT 2005) (author got an Ingvar Carlsson award in 2007)

• Torbjörn Granlund: GMP: Code for multiple precision arithmetic on most of the worlds computers.

SWOC

• Strength: Competence, reputation, breadth• Weakness: Financing, KTH organization• Opportunity: Regroup around security and

safety issues, competitive Master’s programs in theory/security/software

• Challenge/threat: Little CSC involvment in KTH strategic discussions, student recruitment, PhD student financing, inappropriate KTH organization.

SWOC

• Strength: Competence, reputation, breadthCompetence: Four (and more coming) full professors, five DocentsReputation: Membership in International panels: Gödel, Nevanlinna prizes, University, department and research proposal/program evaluations, selections and promotions.Best (Swedish) engineering teacher prize.Breadth: Spans discrete math/complexity/logic/automata/semantics/inference/statistics/…

SWOC

• Strength: Competence, reputation, breadth• Weakness: Financing, KTH organization

Financing from internal faculty grants and Swedish research councils have decreased dramatically. Alternative financing (Vinnova, Vårdal) is random,and no feedback to applicants is typically given.

It is not completely obvious that the KTH organization of ICT/CS is appropriate.

SWOC

• Strength: Competence, reputation, breadth• Weakness: Financing, KTH organization• Opportunity: Regroup around security and

safety issues, competitive Master’s programs in theory/security/software. Work has just started.

SWOC

• Strength: Competence, reputation, breadth• Weakness: Financing, KTH organization• Opportunity: security and safety issues,

competitive Master’s programs• Challenge/threat: Little CSC involvement in

KTH strategic discussions, student recruitment, PhD student financing, inappropriate KTH organization.