August 2023 - Categories - categories.org.au

Re: "First" use of 'Category theory' to describe our field
by David Roberts 24 Feb '24

24 Feb '24

Dear Ross, no, that's pretty good! It's mildly surprising that it took ~20 years for the name to 'stick', but maybe less so given that the field grew slowly to start. Thanks, David David Roberts Webpage: https://ncatlab.org/nlab/show/David+Roberts Blog: https://thehighergeometer.wordpress.com On Thu, 11 Jul 2019 at 08:21, Ross Street <ross.street(a)mq.edu.au> wrote: > > Dear David > > From memory, the Pure Mathematics Honours (USyd) course that Max Kelly taught in 1965 > was called ``Category Theory''. It concentrated on different kinds of morphisms > and factorizations in a category, and finished with adjoint functors. > Also John Gray's (UIllinois) 1968-69 graduate course had that name. > > From Eilenberg I heard that each person using categories should have their own category of expertise. > I told this to John Gray who said that was fine; the time had come for that category to be Cat. > > I would suggest that the first category theorists to think of themselves as such were Eilenberg's students at Columbia. > However, Mac Lane was definitely a category theorist. > > This is probably not the verifiable stuff you were seeking. > > Ross > > > On 10 Jul 2019, at 10:01 PM, David Roberts <droberts.65537(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi all, > > the (idle) question is: when did the phrase 'category theory' catch on > for the field? Clearly it didn't leap from either of the heads of > Eilenberg or Mac Lane full-grown, since they used the phrase 'General > theory of natural equivalences'. There are the old 'Reports of the > Midwest Category Seminar' lecture notes (the first in 1967), which > hints that 'category theory' wasn't quite the name in use. > > Even more interesting: who was the first "category theorist", by that name? > > Answers referring to verifiable sources would be best. > > Thoughts? > > David > > > > David Roberts > Webpage: https://ncatlab.org/nlab/show/David+Roberts > Blog: https://thehighergeometer.wordpress.com > [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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PhD position in automata learning at Radboud University
by Jurriaan Rot 31 Aug '23

31 Aug '23

I have a 4-year PhD position available at Radboud University. Project: This PhD position is part of the NWO VIDI project Approximation, Abstraction and Apartness in Automata Learning (APPLE). The project is on model learning, which is a family of techniques for automatically constructing automata models of black-box systems, by systematically running tests and making observations. The aim of the project is to boost the scalability of automata learning techniques, focusing on incorporation of approximation and abstraction in learning algorithms and the underlying theory. For details, see link below or contact me. Starting date: between November 2023 and summer 2024. Application deadline: 24 September 2023. More information and application: https://www.ru.nl/en/working-at/job-opportunities/phd-candidate-in-automata… [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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PhD Position in Abstract Techniques for Programming Languages and Secure Compilation at FAU
by Sergey Goncharov 16 Aug '23

16 Aug '23

[We would be grateful for further distribution of the job advertisement below] A PhD position in a recently granted DFG-project "Abstract Techniques for Programming Languages and Secure Compilation" has just opened in the Theoretical Computer Science group (https://www8.cs.fau.de) at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universit??t Erlangen-N??rnberg. The project builds on recent advances in Higher-Order Mathematical Operational Semantics [1,2], a pivotal generalization of Turi and Plotkin's seminal approach to structural operational semantics. We seek an apt and motivated PhD candidate, who will contribute to the development of the theory and to applications in the area of secure compilation. Further details on the planned research are summarized in the technical part of the project proposal, which can be provided by request. The position is allocated for 3 years; the starting date is Nov. 1, or later, preferably not later than Feb. 1, 2024. The project is supervised by Stelios Tsampas and Sergey Goncharov. The position is in the TV-L E13 pay scale. Please inquire or apply by e-mail to {stelios.tsampas,sergey.goncharov}(a)fau.de When applying, please, enclose your CV and the degree transcript in your application. We are interested in filling in the position as soon as possible, and will thus consider applications as they arrive. Best, Stelios and Sergey [1] Sergey Goncharov, Stefan Milius, Lutz Schr??der, Stelios Tsampas, Henning Urbat, Towards a Higher-Order Mathematical Operational Semantics, POPL 2022 [2] Henning Urbat, Stelios Tsampas, Sergey Goncharov, Stefan Milius, Lutz Schr??der, Weak Similarity in Higher-Order Mathematical Operational Semantics, LICS 2023 [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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PhD position on Knowledge Engineering for Smart Diagnostics
by Georgiana Caltais 15 Aug '23

15 Aug '23

The Formal Methods and Tools <https://www.utwente.nl/en/eemcs/fmt/> group at the University of Twente is looking for a highly motivated and talented PhD candidate to join the team working on diagnostic methods for cyber-physical systems. You will be working on the ZORRO <https://zorro-project.nl> project: “Engineering for Zero Downtime in Cyber-Physical Systems via Intelligent Diagnostics”, led by Prof. Dr. Mariëlle Stoelinga <https://people.utwente.nl/m.i.a.stoelinga>. The project is a collaboration between the University of Twente, VU Amsterdam, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, TNO-ESI and five industrial partners. If you are passionate about computer science and interested in working on cutting-edge research, we encourage you to apply for this exciting opportunity! Application deadline: *24 September 2023* *We offer*: One 4-year PhD studentship on Knowledge Engineering for Smart Diagnostics. You will be working on finding ways to formally model knowledge about organisations, agents and domains for the specific task of diagnostics, developing knowledge extraction methods in large industrial systems, extracting knowledge from various information sources and integrating the various extracted knowledge and data into the actual diagnostic process. You will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Mariëlle Stoelinga <https://people.utwente.nl/m.i.a.stoelinga> and Dr. Georgiana Caltais <https://people.utwente.nl/g.g.c.caltais>. For more details, please check the full description at: https://utwentecareers.nl/en/vacancies/1370/phd-position-on-knowledge-engin… [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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Postdoc position, Logic and Semantics Group in Tallinn
by Tarmo Uustalu 11 Aug '23

11 Aug '23

The Logic and Semantics Group at the Tallinn University of Technology is seeking an aspiring talented and hard-working young scientist to fill a departmentally funded postdoc position. The group, currently consisting of 7 faculty and 4 PhD students, specializes in functional programming, type theory, mathematical semantics of programming languages, proof theory, constructive mathematics, proof assistants, formalization of mathematics and programming theory. Consult our webpage to get a picture of our work. https://cs.ioc.ee/lsg/ The group belongs to the High-Assurance Software Lab of the Department of Software Science at the School of IT. https://cs.taltech.ee/ The position is for 2 years; the start date is negotiable, preferrably between 1 Nov 2023 and 1 Feb 2024. The monthly gross salary will be 2500-3200 EUR depending on the previous experience of the successful candidate. The deal includes coverage by the national health insurance system, a paid annual leave etc. A salary rate like this ensures a high standard of living in Estonia. Send your statement of purpose (cover letter), CV and research statement to Tarmo Uustalu, tarmo(a)cs.ioc.ee, and Niccolò Veltri, niccolo(a)cs.ioc.ee, as soon as possible, but latest by 10 September 2023. We will assess applications as they arrive. With questions about the research topics of the group, the research environment, the conditions of the contract or living in Estonia, do not hesitate to ask. [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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Re: Peter Aczel
by amp12 03 Aug '23

03 Aug '23

I was very saddened to read the news of Peter Aczel's death. I greatly admired his work, not only for its content but also for its clarity. His promotion of informal rigorous reasoning in type theory that Andrej Bauer mentioned in another post is an example. He also had very nice handwriting! -- I found this out when he very generously shared some of his unpublished work with me when I was a graduate student in the late 70s and early 80s. (He later examined my PhD thesis.) RIP, Peter. Andrew M. Pitts Professor of Theoretical Computer Science Department of Computer Science and Technology University of Cambridge William Gates Building 15 JJ Thomson Ave Cambridge CB3 0FD, UK > On 3 Aug 2023, at 08:42, Nicola Gambino <Nicola.Gambino(a)manchester.ac.uk> wrote: > > Dear colleagues and friends, > > I write to let you know of the sad news that Peter Aczel passed away on August 1st. > > As readers of this list surely know, Peter made many fundamental and deeply influential contributions to Logic, Computer Science, Category Theory, and Constructive Mathematics. > > I had the good fortune of having him as PhD supervisor and we remained in contact since then. I always admired his clarity of thinking and his kindness. He will be deeply missed. > > With best regards, > Nicola > > = > Dr Nicola Gambino > Department of Mathematics, University of Manchester > [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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