Aarhus University Seal

Speakers

Brian Bech Nielsen, Rector at Aarhus University

Jacob Bundsgaard, Mayor of Aarhus

Professor Emeritus Mogens Nielsen

Title: The Rise of Computer Science at Aarhus University

Abstract: We shall attempt to recall some of the pioneering atmosphere when computer science was born at Aarhus University during the years following the late 1960’s – to the best of our fading memory.

Short bio: Academic career at Aarhus University starting with MSc (1975) and PhD (1976) in computer science – professor emeritus since 2016.  Associate researcher in the UK at Universities of Edinburgh (1977-79) and Cambridge (1986), Vice-Dean for research at the AU Faculty of Science and Technology (20013-2015). Co-founder and co-director for BRICS Research Centre and International PhD School (1994-2006). President of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (2002-06), member/chair of European Research Council computer science panel (2011-18). Chair of the Danish Research Council for Natural Science (1989-91), member of the Board of the Danish National Research Foundation (2006-11).

Honorary professor Bjarne Stoustrup

Title: The Programming World Speaks Danish

Abstract: Algol, C++, C#, Java, PHP, Ruby on Rails are designed by Danes or have had significant input from Danes. Here, I focus on Aarhus' contribution prompted by Kristen Nygaards visits. This led to Beta, that influenced Java, and to C++ that influenced most modern programming languages. I emphasize C++'s dual roots in abstraction mechanism and concerns for hardware utilization.

Bio: Bjarne Stroustrup is the designer and original implementer of C++ as well as the author of The C++ Programming Language (4th Edition) and A Tour of C++ (3rd edition), Programming: Principles and Practice using C++ (2nd Edition), and many popular and academic publications. He is a professor of Computer Science at Columbia University in New York City. Dr. Stroustrup is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, and an IEEE, ACM, and CHM fellow. He received the 2018 Charles Stark Draper Prize, the IEEE Computer Society's 2018 Computer Pioneer Award, and the 2017 IET Faraday Medal. He did much of his most important work in Bell Labs. His research interests include distributed systems, design, programming techniques, software development tools, and programming languages.  To make C++ a stable and up-to-date base for real-world software development, he has been a leading figure with the ISO C++ standards effort for more than 30 years. He holds a master’s in Mathematics from Aarhus University, where he is an honorary professor in the Computer Science Department, and a PhD in Computer Science from Cambridge University, where he is an honorary fellow of Churchill College. www.stroustrup.com.

Speaker: Professor Marianne Graves Pedersen

Title: The rise of IT Product Development

Abstract: TBA

Bio: TBA

Professor Ivan Damgård

Title: Secure Multiparty Computation: From basic research to applications and back.

Abstract: We give a brief account of how multiparty computation started as a basic research topic in the late 80-ties, and how it developed into a mature technology with great commercial potential and a rich theoretical background.

Bio: Ivan Damgård is a professor of Computer Science at Aarhus University, where he studied, and has worked since the 1980s. He works on the theory and practice of cryptography and the underlying algorithms and mathematics of the field. He has supervised 30+ PhD students and is the author of 200+ scientific publications.

He is a fellow of the International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR) and has received several awards, including the 2015 RSA conference award for excellence in mathematics, the 2020 STOC test of time award and the 2022 TCC test of time award. He is also the receiver of an ERC advanced grant and the Villum annual award.

Professor Lars Birkedal

Title: Iris: a Higher-Order Concurrent Separation Logic Framework

Abstract: We give a brief overview of the Iris Framwework, which can be used for   formal reasoning about safety and security of a wide variety of concurrent programs.

Bio: Lars Birkedal is Professor of Computer Science at Aarhus University. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, USA, in Dec. 1999 and until Dec. 2012 he was at the IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He served as Head of Department at Computer Science in Aarhus from 2014 to 2017. Lars Birkedal is a Fellow of the ACM, an elected member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, the recipient of a Villum Investigator grant from the Villum Foundation 2019, the Danish Minister of Research Elite Research Award 2015 ("Videnskabsministeriets EliteForsk-pris"), a Sapere Aude Advanced Grant from the Danish National Science Research Council 2013, and the ACM SIGPLAN Milner Award 2013. He served as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Logical Methods in Computer Science from 2014 until 2020 and is now a member of the board of the journal, and served as PC Chair for the POPL 2020 conference. Lars Birkedal's main research interests lie in the area of logic and semantics of programming languages and type theories. Current work focuses on program logics for reasoning about concurrent, higher-order, and imperative programs; cyber-security; and type theories with guarded recursion.

Professor Susanne Bødker

Title: Participatory design and traces of impact on the research field of Human-Computer Interaction 

Abstract: The talk will trace the meetings of the Aarhus-Oslo school of Participatory Design (PD) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) since its start in the 1980s. It will exemplify the footprints left by PD on HCI (and vice versa) and discuss the  role that PD has today in HCI research and practice.

Bio: Susanne Bødker is professor of Computer Science at Aarhus University, where she studied, and has worked since the 1980s. She has educated numerous generations of computer science, multimedia and IT Product design students. Her research field is Human-Computer Interaction, with specific focus on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Theory of Human-Computer Interaction, and Participatory Design. She is well-known internationally for her contributions to the second wave of HCI theory, and her work with Activity Theoretical HCI.

She has received that ACM SigDOC Rigo award 2008 for extraordinary lifelong achievements “for her contributions to participatory design, computer-supported cooperative work and human-computer interaction”, and the IFIP TC13 Pioneer Award, 2016.  She is member of the ACM CHI Academy 2010 for lifelong achievements, honorary doctor, Royal Technical University (KTH), Stockholm 2018 and member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.

Professor Kasper Green Larsen

Title: How fast can we go?

Abstract: Algorithms and data structures are all about speed. The overarching goal of the field is to understand precisely how quickly we can analyse and manipulate data. In this talk, I will present two examples of data structures invented at CS-AU, which have had a profound impact in both theory and practice. I will then ask the foundational question of whether it is possible to develop even faster data structures. In many cases, the answer is “No”. Proving such negative results allow us to understand the barriers for efficient data analysis. I will then highlight some of my own research, that to this date, proves the strongest known such barriers.

Bio: Kasper Green Larsen is 36 years old and a newly appointed professor at the Department of Computer Science. But despite his young age, Kasper Green Larsen has an impressive array of groundbreaking research results and awards behind him and is passionate about making his mark on a field that is more needed than ever. Read more about Kasper: https://cs.au.dk/news-events/professor-appointment-kasper-green-larsen