Please reconsider this decision. You will regret it: no university can afford to not have mathematicians and theoretical computer scientists among their staff. These people think beyond hype and fashion, and the most important computing results are theoretical.
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Rocco De Nicola
5 years ago
"Quelli che si innamorano della pratica senza scientia sono come nocchieri che entrano in naviglio senza timone o bussola, che mai hanno certezza dove si vadano. Sempre la pratica deve essere edificata sopra la buona teoria,..".
"Those who fall in love with practice without scientia are like helmsmen who enter a ship without rudder or compass, who are never certain of where they are going. Practice must always be built upon good theory, …..".
Leonardo da Vinci 1498
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PETROS STEFANEAS
5 years ago
NTUA, GREECE
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Richard Paige
5 years ago
This is a shortsighted decision that already has damaged Leicester's reputation. This new "research focus" makes Leicester indistinguishable from dozens of other institutions, and misses a key point: what AI, data science and modelling require is strong foundations so that you know the questions you are asking are the right ones. Leicester will be replacing a world class research programme in foundations of CS with a mediocre one. As a former external examiner for Leicester Informatics, my thoughts are with my colleagues there.
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Guy McCusker
5 years ago
Professor of Computing, University of Bath
This is a disgraceful and short-sighted proposal. Foundational work is so called precisely because it is the base upon which other work rests. To remove the foundation is to remove the possibility of further development. Removing this material from your portfolio damages the future of the discipline and robs your students of the chance to see the full picture.
S
Simon Wood
5 years ago
Cardiff University, School of Mathematics
A
Ani Calinescu
5 years ago
Senior Lecturer & Director of Teaching, Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford
Foundational, mathematics-based research is essential for sound research results in applied disciplines.
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Paul Goldberg
5 years ago
If the Leicester managers really want to focus on AI and data science, how about they reach out to people at Deepmind, Facebook AI Research, etc, and see if they reckon it's fine to bin CS theory; I think they would then reconsider...
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Prof Martin Escardo
5 years ago
It is short sighted to axe the very foundations of the subjects to which the released funds will be directed.
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Peter Thiemann
5 years ago
If you get rid of the foundations, your house starts crumbling.
A
Anonymous
5 years ago
Unacceptable
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Piotr Krysta
5 years ago
This is an extremely shortsighted decision that will severely hurt CS at Leicester. It will in particular harm the quality of studies in Leicester. In nowadays complex software, hardware and programming systems one is a handicap without a strong foundational background ).
C
Colin Runciman
5 years ago
This is not shaping for excellence. It is crude hatchet work for a rapid decline into a sub-university institution.
B
Bill Roscoe
5 years ago
I think this decision is appalling. Foundational CS research has vast impact, including that of several Leicester people past and present.
M
Michal Walicki
5 years ago
It seems that if young Turing were to work at the University of Leister today, he would be considered redundant.
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Paul Taylor
5 years ago
Lots of good people in both Maths and Theoretical CS in Leicester.
R
Rolf Niedermeier
5 years ago
Without roots a tree cannot grow...
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Tachio Terauchi
5 years ago
Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Waseda University.
This is very shortsighted. There cannot be applications without foundational theory.
M
mark perry
5 years ago
This set of redundancies seems very wrong and shortsighted.
So short-sighted!
Please reconsider this decision. You will regret it: no university can afford to not have mathematicians and theoretical computer scientists among their staff. These people think beyond hype and fashion, and the most important computing results are theoretical.
"Quelli che si innamorano della pratica senza scientia sono come nocchieri che entrano in naviglio senza timone o bussola, che mai hanno certezza dove si vadano. Sempre la pratica deve essere edificata sopra la buona teoria,..". "Those who fall in love with practice without scientia are like helmsmen who enter a ship without rudder or compass, who are never certain of where they are going. Practice must always be built upon good theory, …..". Leonardo da Vinci 1498
NTUA, GREECE
This is a shortsighted decision that already has damaged Leicester's reputation. This new "research focus" makes Leicester indistinguishable from dozens of other institutions, and misses a key point: what AI, data science and modelling require is strong foundations so that you know the questions you are asking are the right ones. Leicester will be replacing a world class research programme in foundations of CS with a mediocre one. As a former external examiner for Leicester Informatics, my thoughts are with my colleagues there.
Professor of Computing, University of Bath This is a disgraceful and short-sighted proposal. Foundational work is so called precisely because it is the base upon which other work rests. To remove the foundation is to remove the possibility of further development. Removing this material from your portfolio damages the future of the discipline and robs your students of the chance to see the full picture.
Cardiff University, School of Mathematics
Senior Lecturer & Director of Teaching, Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford Foundational, mathematics-based research is essential for sound research results in applied disciplines.
If the Leicester managers really want to focus on AI and data science, how about they reach out to people at Deepmind, Facebook AI Research, etc, and see if they reckon it's fine to bin CS theory; I think they would then reconsider...
It is short sighted to axe the very foundations of the subjects to which the released funds will be directed.
If you get rid of the foundations, your house starts crumbling.
Unacceptable
This is an extremely shortsighted decision that will severely hurt CS at Leicester. It will in particular harm the quality of studies in Leicester. In nowadays complex software, hardware and programming systems one is a handicap without a strong foundational background ).
This is not shaping for excellence. It is crude hatchet work for a rapid decline into a sub-university institution.
I think this decision is appalling. Foundational CS research has vast impact, including that of several Leicester people past and present.
It seems that if young Turing were to work at the University of Leister today, he would be considered redundant.
Lots of good people in both Maths and Theoretical CS in Leicester.
Without roots a tree cannot grow...
Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Waseda University. This is very shortsighted. There cannot be applications without foundational theory.
This set of redundancies seems very wrong and shortsighted.