The Quantum Pontiff

An interesting summer school for computer scientists interested in probabilistic techniques to be held in Bristol, UK (you know the school that had a chalkboard with the statement that quantum computers could efficiently solve NP-complete problems :) ) Deadline fast approaching. Details below.

From the summer school webpage:

The purpose of this school is to provide a graduate-level introduction to probabilistic methods in modern theoretical computer science, and to the mathematics underlying these methods. The school is primarily aimed at research students, postdocs and early career researchers in computer science or mathematics, although attendees from other backgrounds are welcomed.

A range of top international speakers will give short courses on a selection of probabilistic techniques in computer science. The programme includes topics ranging from immediate commercial applications to pure mathematics. There will be a poster session, at which we encourage attendees to present their work. The programme also includes a mid-week excursion and dinner.

The summer school will be held at the University of Bristol. The school is partly funded by the EPSRC and partly by "Bridging the Gaps", an EPSRC-funded initiative to set up an environment that nurtures interdisciplinary working, with the aim of developing new collaborative research programmes at the interface between mathematical sciences, information and computing technology and engineering. We also have generous support from the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research and from Google.

Important dates:
Registration deadline: 14 March 2008
Summer school dates: 6-11 July 2008

Planned topics:
Data stream algorithms
Communication complexity
Concentration of measure
Auction theory for sponsored search
Approximation algorithms
Random graphs and stochastic processes on graphs