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Foundations of Computer Science are not redundant

1,046 Comments

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Enrico Blanzieri
5 years ago

You will have students who know only how to patch together applications with tensorflow without knowing how to analyse properly an algorithm or define a formal grammar and parse it. Do you still teach english literature or do you strategically focus just on rap?

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Gianluca Maraschio
5 years ago

I have studied e I am very passionated about theoretical computer science. Unfortunately I cannot continue with these studies for several reason. I support this subject. I think that is very important but in the real world the money is more important than the knowledge

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Geoffrey Cruttwell
5 years ago

Very short-sighted...I urge the university to reconsider this plan.

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Jo Brewis
5 years ago

Solidarity with my former colleagues in all affected departments at UoL. Yet again the utter lack of any reasonable case for any redundancies at Leicester is laid bare.

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Jonathan Weinberger
5 years ago

Theoretical CS is an *essential* field. Abolishing it would tear away a foundational field, relevant all across STEM. (Jonathan Weinberger, TU Darmstadt)

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Robert Seely
5 years ago

An ill-thought out plan which will end up destroying the integrity and reputation of the department.

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Professor Dana S Scott
5 years ago

Remember, even “Data Scientists” need good teaching in basics!

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Carlos Gustavo Lopez Pombo
5 years ago

This is the natural follow up when you stop thinking of universities as the engine that creates and transfer knowledge and evaluate them for their "impact"; in such a view, success is about teaching practical applications of AI and some á la mode programming languages to keep software companies happy.

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Shmuel Zaks
5 years ago

if you cut foundations, you are cutting the tree you are sitting on. These AI topics come and go, tomorrow they will be replaced by others. But no application will survive n Computer Science if you do not make sure to have ,and maintain, a solid, large and strong theoretical computer scuence and pure mathematics people!

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Grit Denker
5 years ago

What a short-sighted proposal from the VC. It will be foundations in math and computer science that will propel society forward,.

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Nachiket Karnick
5 years ago

I fully agree with this petition. The areas of research they are planning to drop are essential to the future of computer science and mathematics. I really hope they reconsider this.

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Derek Sleeman
5 years ago

The changes proposed for the Departments of Computing Science & Mathematics at the University of Leicester seem very short sighted. It is very very hard to imagine a Mathematics Department which does not cover Pure Mathematics, and similarly a Computing Science Department which does not cover at least some aspects of Computational Theory. These changes would greatly weaken the coverage provided in the University's UG degrees.

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Luca Becchetti
5 years ago

Professor at University of Rome Sapienza. I completely agree with the petition. By the same argument, back in the 40's most of Turing's work would have been dismissed as useless. Moreover, as a scientist I find it very hard to discern boundaries between different areas/field, let alone what is "directly linked with applications", something that might take decades to realize. I am honestly surprised that decision-makers of an important University cannot be just a bit more far-sighted than this

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josep diaz
5 years ago

Foundational science is the seed of future technological development

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Alceste Scalas
5 years ago

"Those who fall in love with practice without science are like a helmsman who enters a waterway without a helm or a compass, and who never can be certain whither he is going" - Leonardo da Vinci

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Maria Serna
5 years ago

Professor at Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona

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Anonymous
5 years ago

This is embarrassing. It should be avoided, at any cost!

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Carolyn Talcott
5 years ago

Without foundational research science and data science, medicine, the technologies we rely on would not exist.

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Holger Schlingloff
5 years ago

In the international competition, this is another step of a UK university into insignificance... Keep on going!

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Fernando Orejas
5 years ago

This is an absolutely shortsighted view of research