This 'sweet and sour' news is already some time overdue. You might already know how a typical geographical distribution of ERC grants looks like. The next figure shows to which countries Consolidator grants went in 2017.

This distribution is usually typical for Poland, i.e., apx. 1 grant is given. This in general is rather 'sour' news. Still a 'sweet' information is that this was yet another grant in algorithms that went to our group in Warsaw. Hence, we currently have three ERC grants running:

1. Marcin Pilipczuk got ERC Starting Grant CUTACOMBS - Cuts and decompositions: algorithms and combinatorial properties,
2. Marek Cygan got ERC Starting Grant TOTAL - Technology transfer between modern algorithmic paradigms,
3. I, myself, got ERC Consolidator Grant TUGboAT - Towards Unification of Algorithmic Tools.

In other words, there are some interesting project happening right in Warsaw, and if you would like to visit us, just let us know.

Announcement of the ESA Test-of-Time Award 2017

European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA)
http://esa-symposium.org/

The ESA Test-of-Time Award (ESA ToTA) recognizes outstanding papers in algorithms research that were published in the ESA proceedings 19-21 years ago and which are still influential and stimulating for the field today. For the 2017 award, papers from ESA'96 to ESA'98 were considered.

The committee nominates the following paper for the ESA ToTA 2017. The paper stands out as a classic in the algorithms field and continues to be cited as an exemplary study in its field.

From ESA 96-98:

James Abello, Adam L. Buchsbaum, and Jeffery R. Westbrook
A Functional Approach to External Graph Algorithms
Proceedings ESA'98, pp. 332-343
also in: Algorithmica 32 (2002) 437-458

Laudation:
The paper deals with the design of algorithms that operate on massive data sets in external memory. Building on the well-known I/O model of complexity by Aggarwal and Vitter, the authors introduce a novel design principle for external algorithms based purely on functional transformations of the data, which facilitates standard checkpointing and program optimization techniques. Illustrated on a variety of graph problems, their approach is proved to be elegant and versatile in the design of both deterministic and randomized external algorithms while the resulting I/O complexities remain competitive. Functional algorithms are also designed for semi-external problems, in which the
nodes fit in main memory but the connecting edges are abundant and only available in external memory. The paper is an excellent illustration of how general principles of functional program design and model-based complexity can remain in harmony in the field of external algorithms.

Award Committee:
Giuseppe F. Italiano (Rome),
Mike Paterson (Warwick),
Jan van Leeuwen (Utrecht)

On 10-13 July we hosted ICALP in Warsaw. It was fun! See a few random pictures below.

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We in Warsaw, recently stumbled upon http://csrankings.org/ which ranks CS departments world-wide according to publication counts in mayor conferences. A cool aspect of this ranking is that one can set the year range for the counted publications. We rather only very recently, i.e., during the last 5-10, started doing well, so this parameter allows to track this change. As we are working mostly in theory let us restrict the ranking to theory only, i.e, Algorithms & complexity; Cryptography; Logic and verification. If you set the range to start in 2000 - to contain the last 15 years, then we are placed on position 10 world-wide. Quite cool already. Setting the starting point to 2005 bumps us to the 6th position. The most interesting part happens when you set the starting point to 2010, i.e., last 5 years, as you get the following table:

Quite surprising... as all the ranking are usually. However, there might be some reasons for this. First of all, we cover all three areas that are counted in theory. For example, logic is visibly stronger in Warsaw than in other places included in top 10. Second, we indeed started doing quite well, e.g., we got 6 ERC grants so far. I do not really believe in rankings, but at least it is some indication that Warsaw is not such a bad place to be - see the cat meme.

The Bratislava Declaration of Young Researchers is something I was involved in recently. Its preparation was inspired by Slovak Presidency of the EU and it was presented on today's informal Council of Ministers responsible for competitiveness (Research). I hope this will have some follow up, as current trend in funding research in EU is in my opinion (and not only my as this declaration shows) going in the wrong direction.

Some days ago I have assigned papers to my PC in ESA Track A. I tried to use automatic assignment in EasyChair and this was a rather disappointing experience. Just by running it I understood why some assignments I got as a PC member in previous conferences were so bad - they bad without any good reason. Let me explain what happened this time.

I clicked the automatic assignment button and I got a very unfair assignment. EasyChair wanted to punish 3 of my PC members by giving them 11, 12 and 15 papers from their No list. In EasyChair one can bid Yes, Maybe and No on papers. I found this rather absurd as 15 paper was more than half of the total review load. The question is: Does this poor guy need to get so many Nos in optimal assignment? The short intuitive answer is: most probably no, as there is a lot of freedom in each maximal size matching (by Gallai-Edmonds decomposition).

Hence, in 2 hours I coded my own assignment procedure. I assumed that in the assignment:

• first, I want to maximize the number of papers assigned to Maybes and Yeses,
• second, under the first assumption, I want to maximize the number of papers assigned Yeses.

This can be formalized as a maximum-cost maximum-flow problem:

• connect the source vertex with each PC member with a zero cost edge of capacity equal to review load,
• connect each PC member with each paper with edges of capacity 1 and cost 0 for No, 10000 for Maybe and 10001 for Yes.
• connect each paper with the sink with edge of cost 0 and capacity 3.

I executed it and I got assignment with the same number of Nos - 80 and Maybes -100 as EasyChair. And of course, it was not much more fair than the one given by EasyChair. If you always wondered how EasyChair computes the assignment this is the way. Essentially, there is no reason for this to be fair in any sense. One is optimizing global cost, so it should be clear that locally it can be bad, e.g., some PC members will get bad assignments without any good reason. It can be even worse as one can be getting many Nos due to the execution order of procedure, as there is always a lot of freedom in the optimal matching. It can happen that even if you bid on almost everything you will get all the Nos if all people bid No on the same papers.

There is a solution here - I added third assumption to my procedure:

• zero, no PC member can get more than X Nos, where X is a parameter.

This can be easily incorporated into the max-flow problem. One just needs to split a vertex representing each PC member into three vertices: PC_0, PC_No and PC_NotNo. The maximum-cost maximum-flow problem becomes:

• connect the source vertex with all PC_0 vertices with a zero cost edge of capacity equal to review load,
• connect PC_0 to PC_No with zero cost edge of capacity X,
• connect PC_0 to PC_NotNo with zero cost edge of capacity equal to review load,
• connect PC_No with edges of cost 0 to all papers with No,
• connect PC_NotNo with each paper with edges of capacity 1 and cost 10001 for Maybe and 10001 for Yes.
• connect each paper with sink with edge of cost 0 and capacity 3.

I executed it - the table below shows the number of Maybes in the assignment in dependence on the parameter X.

One striking thing is that there exists an optimal assignment where the poor guy that was getting 15 Nos is getting only 11 Nos. Essentially, there was no reason for giving 15 Nos to this PC member! This probably already happened to many of you ;). I the final assignment I went for X=4 as this actually meant that almost everyone gets 3 Nos and only 2 PC members get 4 Nos. This much fairer assignment costed only 20 Maybes in the quality, what I found a fair cost of being fairer.

This summer, on June 6-8 in Paris, we will be having a new algorithmic event: Highlights of Algorithms 2016 (HALG 2016) conference.

This conference will be quite unlike the conferences we are all used to. First of all, it will consist mainly of invited talks and tutorials, accompanied by a smaller number of contributed talks and posters. Secondly, there will be no conference proceedings, i.e., presenting work already published at a different venue or journal (or to be submitted there) is absolutely welcome and even encouraged.

The call for submissions  of contributed short talks and posters has been just posted online. The program committee is currently in the process of selecting invited speakers (partially based on the nominations from the community).

We already have a number of very exciting speakers committed and we expect to add a few more names shortly.

The intention here is to make HALG a forum for presenting the highlights of some of the most exciting recent developments in algorithms, discussing potential further advances in this area, as well as networking and initiating new collaborations. In a way, we want HALG to be a place one can go to catch up on what are the hottest results/topics
at the moment, as well as what one missed by not being able to attend all the STOC/FOCS/SODA/ESA/ICALP/PODC/ITCS/… conferences that year.

We believe that this kind of venue is very much needed today and will help to make our community stronger and more cohesive. In particular, we hope that the success of the first edition will make HALG become a recurring event. In fact, HALG draws some inspiration from Highlights of Logic, Games and Automata (HLGA) conference series that became very successful in its respective community already. There are some differences in how both conferences are constructed: HALG will concentrate on invited talks with some contributed talks, whereas HLGA was only having short contributed talks so far; but the overall premise is the same and seems to be working very well. (We also heard some rumors that the next edition of HLGA will move in the direction of HALG and have invited talks too.)

In any case, the HALG 2016 in Paris should be a lot of fun. We hope to see many of you there! So please submit your work to HALG.
This year for the first time we will have a new algorithmic event taking place - Highlights of Algorithms 2016 (HALG 2016) will be in Paris, June 6-8, 2016. I actually hope that this will become a recurring event in European CS calendar. Some crazy idea for future could be to collocate it with Highlights of Logic, Games and Automata conference that inspired a lot creation of HALG. There are, however, differences in how both conferences are organized. HALG will concentrate on invited talks with some contributed talks, whereas the logic Highlights was only having short contributed talks. I heard some rumors that the next edition of Highlights of Logic, Games and Automata will move into the direction of HALG and have invited talks. Anyway, I hope you will plan to attend the event as it already seem that we will have and interesting program with many highlights of recent developments in algorithms.

The HALG conference has opened the registration and the program is available as well - see the links below. The program looks very interesting so I hope many of you will be coming.

Highlights of Algorithms - HALG 2016
June 6-8, 2016, Paris, France
http://highlightsofalgorithms.org/

The Highlights of Algorithms conference is designed to be a forum for presenting the highlights of recent developments in algorithms and for discussing potential further advances in this area. The conference will provide a broad picture of the latest research in algorithms through a series of survey and invited talks, as well as possibility for all researchers and students to present their recent results through a series of short talks and poster presentations. Attending the Highlights of Algorithms conference will also be an opportunity for networking and meeting leading researchers in algorithms.

The registration for the Highlights of Algorithms conference is open.
To register, please visit the link at http://highlightsofalgorithms.org/registration/. (early registration is due April 30)

A preliminary program is available online at http://highlightsofalgorithms.org/program/.
The program is packed with 28 invited talks and with even a larger number of short contributions.

Those interested in attending the conference are advised to book accommodation as early as possible (given the high hotel prices in Paris).

Guest post by Aleksander Mądry

This summer, on June 6-8 in Paris, we will be having a new algorithmic event: Highlights of Algorithms 2016 (HALG 2016) conference.

This conference will be quite unlike the conferences we are all used to. First of all, it will consist mainly of invited talks and tutorials, accompanied by a smaller number of contributed talks and posters. Secondly, there will be no conference proceedings, i.e., presenting work already published at a different venue or journal (or to be submitted there) is absolutely welcome and even encouraged.

The call for submissions  of contributed short talks and posters has been just posted online. The program committee is currently in the process of selecting invited speakers (partially based on the nominations from the community).

We already have a number of very exciting speakers committed and we expect to add a few more names shortly.

The intention here is to make HALG a forum for presenting the highlights of some of the most exciting recent developments in algorithms, discussing potential further advances in this area, as well as networking and initiating new collaborations. In a way, we want HALG to be a place one can go to catch up on what are the hottest results/topics
at the moment, as well as what one missed by not being able to attend all the STOC/FOCS/SODA/ESA/ICALP/PODC/ITCS/… conferences that year.

We believe that this kind of venue is very much needed today and will help to make our community stronger and more cohesive. In particular, we hope that the success of the first edition will make HALG become a recurring event. In fact, HALG draws some inspiration from Highlights of Logic, Games and Automata (HLGA) conference series that became very successful in its respective community already. There are some differences in how both conferences are constructed: HALG will concentrate on invited talks with some contributed talks, whereas HLGA was only having short contributed talks so far; but the overall premise is the same and seems to be working very well. (We also heard some rumors that the next edition of HLGA will move in the direction of HALG and have invited talks too.)

In any case, the HALG 2016 in Paris should be a lot of fun. We hope to see many of you there! So please submit your work to HALG.
This year for the first time we will have a new algorithmic event taking place - Highlights of Algorithms 2016 (HALG 2016) will be in Paris, June 6-8, 2016. I actually hope that this will become a recurring event in European CS calendar. Some crazy idea for future could be to collocate it with Highlights of Logic, Games and Automata conference that inspired a lot creation of HALG. There are, however, differences in how both conferences are organized. HALG will concentrate on invited talks with some contributed talks, whereas the logic Highlights was only having short contributed talks. I heard some rumors that the next edition of Highlights of Logic, Games and Automata will move into the direction of HALG and have invited talks. Anyway, I hope you will plan to attend the event as it already seem that we will have and interesting program with many highlights of recent developments in algorithms.

The HALG conference has opened the registration and the program is available as well - see the links below. The program looks very interesting so I hope many of you will be coming.

Highlights of Algorithms - HALG 2016
June 6-8, 2016, Paris, France
http://highlightsofalgorithms.org/

The Highlights of Algorithms conference is designed to be a forum for presenting the highlights of recent developments in algorithms and for discussing potential further advances in this area. The conference will provide a broad picture of the latest research in algorithms through a series of survey and invited talks, as well as possibility for all researchers and students to present their recent results through a series of short talks and poster presentations. Attending the Highlights of Algorithms conference will also be an opportunity for networking and meeting leading researchers in algorithms.

The registration for the Highlights of Algorithms conference is open.
To register, please visit the link at http://highlightsofalgorithms.org/registration/. (early registration is due April 30)

A preliminary program is available online at http://highlightsofalgorithms.org/program/.
The program is packed with 28 invited talks and with even a larger number of short contributions.

Those interested in attending the conference are advised to book accommodation as early as possible (given the high hotel prices in Paris).

Guest post by Aleksander Mądry

This summer, on June 6-8 in Paris, we will be having a new algorithmic event: Highlights of Algorithms 2016 (HALG 2016) conference.

This conference will be quite unlike the conferences we are all used to. First of all, it will consist mainly of invited talks and tutorials, accompanied by a smaller number of contributed talks and posters. Secondly, there will be no conference proceedings, i.e., presenting work already published at a different venue or journal (or to be submitted there) is absolutely welcome and even encouraged.

The call for submissions  of contributed short talks and posters has been just posted online. The program committee is currently in the process of selecting invited speakers (partially based on the nominations from the community).

We already have a number of very exciting speakers committed and we expect to add a few more names shortly.

The intention here is to make HALG a forum for presenting the highlights of some of the most exciting recent developments in algorithms, discussing potential further advances in this area, as well as networking and initiating new collaborations. In a way, we want HALG to be a place one can go to catch up on what are the hottest results/topics
at the moment, as well as what one missed by not being able to attend all the STOC/FOCS/SODA/ESA/ICALP/PODC/ITCS/… conferences that year.

We believe that this kind of venue is very much needed today and will help to make our community stronger and more cohesive. In particular, we hope that the success of the first edition will make HALG become a recurring event. In fact, HALG draws some inspiration from Highlights of Logic, Games and Automata (HLGA) conference series that became very successful in its respective community already. There are some differences in how both conferences are constructed: HALG will concentrate on invited talks with some contributed talks, whereas HLGA was only having short contributed talks so far; but the overall premise is the same and seems to be working very well. (We also heard some rumors that the next edition of HLGA will move in the direction of HALG and have invited talks too.)

In any case, the HALG 2016 in Paris should be a lot of fun. We hope to see many of you there! So please submit your work to HALG.
The ESA call for papers is out: http://conferences.au.dk/algo16/esa/. The submission deadline is April 21, 23:59 AoE, 2016, whereas the notifications will be send out no later than on June 9, 2016. I hope there will be many submissions to keep us in the PC busy during this time. Anyway, if you plan to submit something, you might read (or maybe read again) the post by Boaz Barak: http://windowsontheory.org/2014/02/09/advice-for-focs-authors/. It contains advice on how to increase your chances that your paper gets accepted to a conference - FOCS in this case. The same applies to most conferences and "putting the worst foot forward" is often the hardest part. However, believe me that doing the opposite usually hurts even more.