Brown University Department of Computer Science

The 24th Annual Paris C. Kanellakis Memorial Lecture “A Fine-Grained Approach To Algorithms And Complexity” Virginia Vassilevska Williams Massachusetts Institute of Technology 4 PM on December 5 in CIT 368 Abstract: A central goal of algorithmic research is to determine how fast computational problems can be solved in the worst case. Unfortunately, for many central problems, the best known running times are essentially those of their classical algorithms from the 1950s and 1960s. For years, the main tool for explaining computational difficulty have been NP-hardness reductions, basing hardness on P ≠ NP. However, if one cares about exact running time (as opposed to merely polynomial vs non-polynomial), NP-hardness is not applicable, especially if the problem is already solvable in polynomial time. In recent years, a new theory has been developed, based on "fine-grained reductions" that focus on exact running times. In this talk I will give an overview of this area, and will highlight some new developments. Bio: Virginia Vassilevska Williams is a Professor at MIT EECS and CSAIL. She obtained her Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in 2008. After research and postdoctoral positions at the IAS in Princeton, UC Berkeley and Stanford, she spent 3.5 years as an assistant professor at Stanford University before joining MIT in early 2017. She is the recipient of an NSF CAREER award, a Google Faculty Research Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, a 2023 Simons Investigator Award and a FOCS 2024 Test of Time Award. In 2018 she gave an invited lecture at the International Congress of Mathematicians.

It's not easy to say goodbye to one of our founders, but singing helps. Brown CS faculty, staff, and students lift their voices in a tribute to Steve Reiss at his last lecture: https://lnkd.in/ej3rsq3B

Brown's School Of Professional Studies Interviews Brown CS Faculty Member Don Stanford Don Stanford is an esteemed educator and industry leader with a longstanding history at Brown University. As a core instructor and mentor in the technology leadership master’s program since its second cohort, Stanford has been instrumental in shaping the curriculum and guiding students through the complexities of leadership in the rapidly evolving tech industry. Read the whole interview at Brown CS Blog: https://lnkd.in/eWSU5zS2

Brown CS And CNTR PhD Student Rui-Jie Yew And Collaborators Are An AIES Best Student Paper Runner-Up At the Center for Technological Responsibility, Re-imagination, and Redesign (CNTR), second-year Brown CS PhD student Rui-Jie Yew is carving out a niche for herself at the intersection of law and computer science. Her ideas in this field were recently recognized at the 2024 Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Society (AIES) Conference. Learn more at Brown CS News: https://lnkd.in/e4V8DqNr

Serena Booth Joins Brown CS As Assistant Professor Serena Booth earned a doctorate in CS at MIT in 2023 and currently works in the U.S. Senate as an AAAS AI Policy Fellow. In the fall of 2025, she’ll join Brown CS as assistant professor. Serena is one of the four latest hires in the multi-year CS With Impact campaign, our largest expansion to date. Learn more about Serena and her work in our full interview at Brown CS News: https://lnkd.in/e9gJGc4c

Strong Representation At ACM CCS, Including A Top Reviewer Award, Shows The Impact Of Brown CS Security Research Held recently in Salt Lake City, the ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS) is a premier peer-reviewed publication venue and forum that brings together information security researchers, practitioners, developers, and users from all over the world to explore cutting-edge ideas and results. In a testament to Brown’s tradition of research excellence and leadership in computer security for two and a half decades, members of the Brown CS community co-authored fourteen of the conference’s accepted papers in a broad range of areas, served as seven members of its Program Committee, and were recognized as one of its Distinguished Reviewers. Learn more at Brown CS News: https://lnkd.in/gfN_iUXc