With the beginning of the Fall 2005 semester, we continue the weekly Theory Seminar. The time slot remains the same (4-5pm), but the location has changed to the Wozniak Lounge on the fourth floor of Soda Hall. We will have an informal gathering immediately after the talk at which wine and cheese will be served. This is intended as a forum in which the entire Theory community (students, visitors, post-docs, faculty and friends) can mix in a relaxed atmosphere. All are encouraged to come along (even those who can't make the talk that day).

Talks are announced in mailshots to the entire division, and separately to the theory mailing list. Scheduling and local arrangements are handled this semester by Sam Riesenfeld (samr@cs).

The seminar relies on a supply of good speakers. If you know of a visitor (or a local, including yourself) who would like to give a talk, please take the initiative and help to arrange it, in consultation with Sam.

This is perhaps a good place to mention another, related activity. Each week, the theory group meets for lunch followed by a short (half-hour) informal talk. For Fall 2005, Theory Lunch is Wednesdays from noon until one. The talk normally starts at 12:30. This is an ideal forum for presenting short results and interesting open problems. To schedule a talk, contact Luca Trevisan.

Another forum for theory talks is TGIF (the grad student informal forum) Seminar on Friday afternoons at 3:30 pm, in Soda 373. This seminar is entirely student-run, and is intended as a casual forum for the presentation of ideas in a wide variety of forms (e.g., preliminary research findings, full research talks, papers by other authors, open problems, brain-storming sessions, reports on conferences, practice talks, etc). The emphasis here is on low-pressure interactive and/or tutorial presentations, and on the creation of an atmosphere in which making a fool of yourself is OK.

Suggestions for improvements in these arrangements are always welcome. Please let any one of us know if you have an idea.

Enjoy,

Richard Karp
Christos Papadimitriou
Satish Rao
Alistair Sinclair
Luca Trevisan
Umesh Vazirani