(Chinanews.com.cn, Beijing, Sept. 13) Five renowned theoretical computer scientists and twenty-six talented graduate students gathered at Tsinghua University to attend China Theory Week 2010.

Participants are from such eminent universities as Princeton University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University, New York University, Sapienza University of Rome, Aarhus University, and Tsinghua University. During the five-day academic workshop, they’ll present cutting-edge problems and their latest research results in theoretical computer science.

Johan Håstad, Professor at Kungl Tekniska Hogskolan and Gödel Prize winner, gives a keynote talk. He believes that one should change topics every now and then and learn in a broad area while young. 

China Theory Week (CTW) is initiated by Prof. Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, Director of the Institute for Computer Science (ITCS) and winner of the A.M. Turing Award in 2000. It aims to provide a platform for young and talented graduate students to gain exposure to latest research results and discuss their research.

CTW has been successfully organized for three consecutive years, during which speakers present their most exciting research results. Prof. Yao says that there are some really brilliant first-rate young faculty members at ITCS including people in the Program Committee of this workshop and the Institute will continue to hire faculty members in the future. There lies a “selfish” reason for hosting CTW 2010 which is to get all the participants to know ITCS and Tsinghua University, so that they may consider at some point in the future to join ITCS. 

As an annual gathering of top CS theory students, CTW has grown into a brand of Tsinghua University. Prof. Yao believes with its development, the workshop will further promote international academic exchanges in theoretical computer science and expand China’s presence in this field.