CALL for PARTICIPATION

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

EWSCS is a series of regional-scope international winter schools held annually in Estonia. EWSCS are organized by CIDEC, a joint initiative of Institute of Cybernetics (Tallinn), Tallinn Technical University and University of Tartu for the advancement of higher education in computer science and information technology. EWSCS'03 is the eighth event of the series.

The main objective of EWSCS is to expose Estonian, Baltic, and Nordic graduate students in computer science (but also interested students from elsewhere) to frontline research topics usually not covered within the regular curricula. The subject of the schools is general computer science, with a bias towards theory, this comprising both algorithms, complexity and models of computation, and semantics, logic and programming theory. The working language of the schools is English. This year the focus of the winter school will be on randomness, cryptography and abstract interpretation.

PROGRAMME

The schools' scientific programme consists of short courses by renowned specialists and a student session.

The course list for EWSCS'03 is the following:

Andris Ambainis (University of Latvia): Quantum Algorithms and Quantum Cryptography (details)
Gregory Chaitin (IBM T.J. Watson RC): Algorithmic Information Theory (details)
Patrick Cousot (ENS): An Introduction to Abstract Interpretation
Ivan Damgård (Aarhus U.): Theory and Practice of Multiparty Computation (details)
Johan Håstad (KTH): Probabilistically Checkable Proofs and Inapproximability (details)

The purpose of the student session is to give students an opportunity to present their work (typically, thesis work) and get feedback. Registrants are invited to propose short talks (20 min) or posters. The selection will be based on abstracts of 150-400 words.

The social programme consists of an excursion and a conference dinner.

VENUE

Palmse is a small settlement in the county of Lääne-Viru, 80 kms to the east from Tallinn, renowned for a large manor that used to belong to the von Pahlen family, today hosting the visitors' center of the Lahemaa National Park, a museum, and a hotel.

Tallinn, Estonia's capital, is famous for its pictoresque mediaeval Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are direct flights to Tallinn from London, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Vienna, Moscow, Warsaw, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, ferries from Stockholm and Helsinki. From Vilnius, Riga, the Eurolines coach service is the practical travel option.

REGISTRATION AND COST

Registration is done via WWW . Please register early; the number of participants is limited.

The deadline for registration and submission of abstracts is 24 January 2003. All registrants will be notified of acceptance to school and of acceptance of their talks/posters by 31 January 2003.

The participation fee is 3100 EEK (approx 200 EUR) and includes the course material, full boarding, the transportation from Tallinn to Palmse, excursion and conference dinner. The fee should be paid by bank transfer to Institute of Cybernetics, Hansapank (SWIFT code HABA EE2X), account No. 221007122812 (please refer to EWSCS'03 plus your name and make sure that the payment is made in EEK or EUR with all charges on your side) by 14 February 2003.

Participants from Tallinn Technical University and University of Tartu may be able to get their costs paid by their universities and are expected to contact their supervisors about this.

For participants from abroad, there is a limited number of grants available that cover the participation fee. To apply for such a grant, please send an email to cidec@cs.ioc.ee.

PROGRAMME COMMITTEE / ORGANISING COMMITTEE

Jaan Penjam, Institute of Cybernetics (co-chair)
Jüri Vain, Tallinn Technical University (co-chair)
Monika Perkmann, Institute of Cybernetics (secretary)
Helger Lipmaa, Helsinki University of Technology
Tarmo Uustalu, Institute of Cybernetics
Heli Uibo, University of Tartu
Varmo Vene, University of Tartu
Jaak Vilo, EGeen Inc.

WEBPAGE

www.cs.ioc.ee/yik/schools/win2003/

EMAIL CONTACT

cidec@cs.ioc.ee

8th Estonian Winter School in Computer Science (EWSCS) VIII Eesti Arvutiteaduse Talvekool (EATTK)

Palmse, Estonia March 2 - 7, 2003