BLC2016

The British Logic Colloquium, BLC 2016, will be held at the University of Edinburgh, on 7^th & 8^th September, followed by a symposium in celebration of Gordon Plotkin's 70th Birthday, GDP70, on 9^th September.

Invited Speakers

Sylvy Anscombe, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK
Diego Figuera, CNRS, Bordeaux, France
Orna Kupferman, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Maurizio Lenzerini, Sapienza Universita di Roma, Rome, Italy
Alexandra Silva, UCL, London, UK
Alex Wilkie, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

The links lead to titles and abstracts.

Programme Committee

Michael Fourman, Leonid Libkin, Philippa Gardner, Martin Hyland, Angus Macintyre, Ursula Martin, Valeria de Paiva

This is the annual meeting of the British Logic Colloquium. The scope of the BLC includes mathematical and philosophical logic as well as logic in computer science and applications of logic.

We anticipate that our BLC programme will include contributed talks on a range of topics including proof theory, set theory, model theory, computability and complexity, logical aspects of computer science, and philosophy of mathematics. We especially encourage students and early-career researchers to present their work.

The programme for the Friday GDP70 symposium may include any contributions, technical or otherwise, relevant to this celebration.

Registration

Registration will close on 31^st August.

Once you have provided your details, the registration page offers a number of options:

BLC16 Regular registration £45 :
reception Tuesday 6 + two days attendance, coffee, lunch, tea Wedenesday 7 - Thursday 8. September
BLC16 Member registration £35 :
reception Tuesday 6 + two days attendance, coffee, lunch, tea Wedenesday 7 - Thursday 8. September
Banquet £45:
for attendees of either event and their guests (please register guests individually — before checking out you can use the Continue Shopping button to add another delegate).
GDP70 registration £0 :
attendance, coffee, lunch, tea Friday 9 September.

If you get lost in the ePay system, you can find BLC2016 under
Conferences and Events >
College of Science and Engineering >
School of Informatics >
BLC2016 / GDP70

Timetable

The Colloquium will be on the 4^th floor of the Informatics Forum:
talks in room 4.31/33;
Reception, lunches and breaks in MiniForum 2 (MF2).
Turn right as you exit the main lifts, then MF2 is directly ahead.

Dinner on the ground floor of the Forum

The panel discussion Shifts of Emphasis since the time of Godel, Church and Turing, on the morning of Thursday 8th September, is organised by Michael Atiyah and will be chaired by Angus Macintyre.

The panel will include:

Michael Atiyah
Julian Bradfield
Alan Bundy
Mateja Jamnik
Ekaterina Komendantskaya
Maurizio Lenzerini
Phil Scott
Aaron Sloman

The aim of the discussion is to gain a perspective on how the heroic ideas of the 1930's have evolved, both mathematically and philosophically. How have they been adapted by working mathematicians and computer scientists? What oversights, or over-emphases, have occurred? What are the outstanding challenges now, and what ideas have faded away? One wants to hear from diverse areas of research and diverse generations, with particular emphasis on the the diversity of the legacy of the 1930's.

There wil be two sessions, with a break for refreshments. Sir Michael Atiyah, whose idea it was, suggests the following structure. Each session has around 4 panellists, with little if any overlap except perhaps having a common Chair. The panellists can make short introductions (following one by the Chair) spelling out their background relative to the topic, and should then field questions from the audience. The Chair will summarize at the end of each session. The first session will begin at the beginning , following the development of the classical ideas, including mathematical achievements and foundational ones such as the development of computational complexity and connections to physics, semantics of programming languages,artificial intelligence,etc. The second will focus on the present, and the gap between formal proof on the one hand, and mathematical intuition and comprehension on the other.

Childcare

The meeting will be held in the Informatics Forum, a child-friendly building with facilities for nappy changing and breastfeeding. Participants may be eligible for support under the LMS childcare grant scheme. Participants are encouraged to contact the organisers if help with arranging childcare is required.

Other Events

Some participants may be interested in the following events, more or less nearby, in focus, time and place:

4-6 September, Edinburgh: Sinn und Bedeuting on topics in natural language semantics, pragmatics, philosophy of language, and psycholinguistic investigations related to meaning.
5-11 September, Edinburgh: PPDP, LOPSTR, and SAS
9-11 September, Aberdeen: Web Reasoning and Rule Systems (RR 2016)

Accommodation

Edinburgh has a wide range of accommodation. Early booking is advised.

Directions

The Forum is a 15 minute walk from Edinburgh Waverley railway station. A taxi from Waverley to the Forum should cost around £5.

The express Airlink bus #100 runs at least every 10 minutes (except in the wee hours, between 00:15 and 04:00, when it is less frequent), from the airport to Waverley Station. The single adult fare is £4.50. The tram is slower than the bus, and more expensive.

For those staying at Pollock Halls (Masson House, Salisbury Green), a taxi from the Airport will cost around £25, while a taxi from Waverley should be around £6.

There is a 20 minute walk from Pollock Halls to the Forum, or you can take any Northbound bus 2,14,30,33 from the stop on Dalkeith Road opposite the Commonwealth Pool.

The single adult bus fare (for all except the airport bus) is £1.60; a day ticket is £4.00 — you need the correct change. Or you can download in advance the Bus app which provides real-time bus information, and e-tickets.

Last modified: Tue Sep 6 11:09:29 BST 2016

British Logic Colloquium 2016

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