BEIJING, June 21 (Wen Wei Po) -- The Tsinghua-MIT-CUHK Research Center for Theoretical Computer Science was inaugurated at Tsinghua University today. It is the first joint venture of its kind that Chinese universities have established with MIT in the field of theoretical computer science. It is also the first established by a university in Hong Kong with MIT. In an interview with Wen Wei Po, Vice Chancellor Designate of CUHK Professor Joseph Sung said that the three universities would join efforts in nurturing students through exchange programs.
Prof. Sung believed that the Research Center, as the first joint venture CUHK established together with Tsinghua and MIT, would attract top talents with profound influences on research activities in computer science. And CUHK, the merging point of China and the West, would serve as a bridge in this joint program.
Great attention has been focused on the field of theoretical computer science which is the basis of computer science. The Research Center’s initial research agenda is broadly based on algorithm design, complexity analysis, computational security and quantum computing. And this will gradually expand to include various other research areas in the field of computer science, such as computational biology and machine learning. It provides an important platform for international exchange of both students and faculty members in the field.
The Research Center has been co-founded by the Institute of Theoretical Computer Science and Communications at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Institute for Theoretical Computer Science at Tsinghua University, and the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ITCSC has witnessed rapid development in recent years. ITCS headed by Prof. Andrew Chi-Chih Yao has generated impressive research outputs in its efforts to nurture the talents of students while CSAIL has long been a many-faceted driver of innovation in the area of theoretical computer science.
Prof. Yao, the first Chinese winner of the Turing Award, and Prof. Silvio Micali from MIT will serve as co-directors of the Research Center. Prof. Yao said that the exchange programs of students and faculty members together with joint research projects would further expand China’s international influence in the field of computer science.
Prof. Chen Xi, Deputy Secretary of Party Committee and Vice Minister of Education, Prof. Gu Binglin, President of Tsinghua University, Prof. Susan Hockfield, MIT President and Prof. Joseph Sung, Vice Chancellor Designate of CUHK delivered short addresses at the Inauguration Ceremony. They all hoped that the three universities would carry out diversified research activities and join efforts in the cultivation of talents.
