The Vienna Center for Logic and Algorithms of TU Wien calls for the nomination of authors of outstanding theses and scientific works in the field of Logic and Computer Science, in the following two categories:
- Outstanding Master Thesis Award*
- Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis Award (Bachelor thesis or equivalent, 1st cycle of the Bologna process)*
*The degree must have been awarded between January 1st, 2024 and December 31st, 2024 (inclusive).
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The main areas of interest are:
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- Computational Logic, covering theoretical and mathematical foundations such as
proof theory, model theory, computability theory, Boolean satisfiability (SAT),
QBF, constraint satisfaction, satisfiability modulo theories, automated
deduction (resolution, refutation, theorem proving), non-classical logics
(substructural logics, multi-valued logics, deontic logics, modal and temporal
logics).
- Algorithms and Computational Complexity, including design and analysis of
discrete algorithms, complexity analysis, algorithmic lower bounds,
parameterized and exact algorithms, decomposition methods, approximation
algorithms, randomized algorithms, algorithm engineering, as well as
algorithmic game theory, computational social choice, parallel algorithms,
graph drawing algorithms, and distributed algorithms.
- Databases and Artificial Intelligence, concerned with logical methods for
modeling, storing, and drawing inferences from data and knowledge. This
includes subjects like query languages based on logical concepts (Datalog,
variants of SQL, XML, and SPARQL), novel database-theoretical methods (schema
mappings, information extraction and integration), logic programming, knowledge
representation and reasoning (ontologies, answer-set programming, belief
change, inconsistency handling, argumentation, planning).
- Verification, concerned with logical methods and
automated tools for reasoning about the behavior and correctness of complex
state-based systems such as software and hardware designs as well as hybrid
systems. This ranges from model checking, program analysis and abstraction to
new interdisciplinary areas such as fault localization, program repair, program
synthesis, and the analysis of biological systems.
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Awards
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- The Outstanding Master Thesis Award: 1200 EUR.
- The Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis Award: 800 EUR.
- The winners will be invited to present their work at
an award ceremony in Vienna, if the situation allows.
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Eligibility
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– The degree must have been awarded between January 1st, 2024 and December 31st, 2024 (inclusive).
– Students who obtained their degree at TU Wien are not eligible.
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Nomination Requirements
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Nominations must include:
- A cover page that contains the name and contact details of the nominated person, the title of the work for which the person is
being nominated, award category, the date on which the degree was awarded, and the name of the university.
- An English summary of the thesis of maximum 3 pages, excluding references (A4 or letter page size, 11pt font min). The summary must clearly state the main contribution of the work, its novelty, and its relevance to some of the aforementioned areas of interest.
- The CV of the nominated person, including publication list (if applicable).
- An endorsement letter from a supervisor or another proposing person. The letter must clearly state the independent and novel
contribution of the student, and why the proposer believes the student deserves the award. The endorsement letter may be provided after the submission deadline, and emailed directly to vcla_awards (AT) tuwien.ac.at.
- The full thesis.
All documents should be in English, with the exception
of the thesis. In case the thesis is in a different language, it must be
accompanied by a research report in English of at least 10 pages that should be
sufficient for the committee to evaluate the merit and quality of the submitted
work.
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Instructions for submitting self-nominations
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- Nominations should be submitted electronically by
the applicants using the following link to EasyChair: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=vclaawards2025.
- Submissions consist of two pdf files. The first is a
single pdf file containing all documents for the nomination except the full
thesis; the documents should appear in the order they are listed above. The
second pdf file is the full thesis.
- The endorsement letter may optionally be sent by
email by the endorser and omitted from the Easychair submission. In this case,
please email the letter as a pdf file, including the name of the nominated
person in the subject, to vcla_awards (AT) tuwien DOT ac DOT at.
- The submission must be accompanied by a plain text
electronic abstract of the thesis of at most 400 words, and three keywords.
- The nominated student must be listed as the only
author in the submission form.
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Important dates
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- Submission deadline: April 20th, 2025 (anywhere on
Earth)
- Notification of decision: Beginning of July, 2025
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Contact
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Please send all inquiries to vcla_awards@tuwien.ac.at.
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VCLA Award Committee 2025
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Shqiponja Ahmetaj and Anela Lolic will be co-chairing this edition of the VCLA International Student Awards. The remaining members of the committee will be announced in due time.
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Website with information on the award and the previous awardees
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https://www.vcla.at/vcla-awards/