The 2015 E.W. Beth Dissertation Prize has been awarded to:

Michał Skrzypczak, Descriptive set theoretic methods in automata theory, University of Warsaw

FoLLI Affiliated Meeting @ CLMPS, August 4, 2015

Organizers

Michael Moortgat, Utrecht University
Philip Scott, University of Ottawa

Confirmed speakers

Steve Awodey, Carnegie Mellon University
Wojciech Buszkowski, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan
Claudia Casadio, University of Chieti
Robin Cockett, University of Calgary
Bob Coecke, University of Oxford
Kosta Dosen, Mathematical Institute, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Michael Moortgat, Utrecht University
Glyn Morrill, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya
Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh, Queen Mary University of London
Philip Scott, University of Ottawa

Aim and scope

Joachim Lambek (Dec 5, 1922 – June 23, 2014), for more than 60 years, has been a profoundly inspirational mathematician, with groundbreaking contributions to algebra, category theory, linguistics, theoretical physics, logic and proof theory. As part of the 15th Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science (CLMPS 2015), FoLLI organizes an Affiliated Meeting on the legacy of Joachim Lambek. Talks at the meeting will present current research in the various areas where the impact of Lambek’s work can be felt, and highlight some remarkable convergences of methods and techniques across these fields, linking category theory, deductive systems, and models of computation.

The meeting consists of two parts.

I. Foundations: logic, mathematics

The first part of the meeting is devoted to the impact of Jim Lambek’s foundational ideas on category theory, algebra, logic, proof theory and the theory of computation on current work in these areas.

II. Applications: physics, linguistics

In his latest book, From Rules of Grammar to Laws of Nature (2014), Jim Lambek’s interests in the application of mathematical ideas range from the grammatical analysis of natural languages to the use of quaternions in special relativistic quantum mechanics. The second part of the meeting is devoted to current work on resource-logical themes in theoretical physics and formal linguistics, and the connections between these two disciplines via shared categorical structures.

FoLLI’s call for workshop sponsorship has attracted 16 outstanding proposals. The FoLLI board has awarded two of those proposals with 1000 euros:
– The Notion of Proof
– Formal Ontologies for Artificial Intelligence

The 2014 E.W. Beth Dissertation Prize has been awarded to:

Thomas Graf, Local and Transderivational Constraints in Syntax and Semantics, University of California, Los Angeles

On 26 and 27 September 2014 ILLC and the University of Amsterdam organize a Celebration Event for Johan van Benthem, on the occasion of his official retirement from the University of Amsterdam. The first day will have lectures for the general public, Johan’s valedictory lecture, and a reception. The second day is a scientific workshop devoted to current trends in logic, with emphasis to the areas where Johan was or is active.

Friday September 26: The Impact of Logic

Venue: Aula Oude Lutherse kerk, Singel 411, Amsterdam.

Friday September 26 will bring us Lectures on the Impact of Logic by five internationally renowned speakers who all have made significant contributions to general public awareness of logic, and to the development of areas of logic related to the interests of Johan van Benthem:

• Vincent Hendricks (http://www.vince-inc.com/vincent/)
• Hans Kamp (http://www.ims.uni-stuttgart.de/institut/mitarbeiter/hans)
• Peter Gaerdenfors (http://www.fil.lu.se/en/department/staff/PeterGardenfors)
• John Perry (http://john.jperry.net/)
• Fenrong Liu (http://fenrong.net/).

The talks will be accessible to a broad audience. In the afternoon, Johan van Benthem will give his Valedictory Lecture
as University Professor of the University of Amsterdam. This is followed by speeches, a book presentation, and a reception offered by the University of Amsterdam.

Saturday September 27: Workshop on the Future of Logic

Venue: Tobacco Theater, Nes 75–87, Amsterdam

Prominent colleagues and friends of Johan van Benthem will give talks targeted at an audience specialized in logic. All colleagues and former students of Johan are invited to attend. Themes are:

• Logic, Mathematics and Computation
  Talks by Albert Visser (Utrecht), Hajnal Andreka and Istvan Nemeti (Budapest), Balder ten Cate (Santa Cruz).
• Logic, Language and Cognition
  Talks by Thomas Icard (Stanford), Dag Westerstahl (Gothenburg).
• Logic and Philosophy
  Talks by Hannes Leitgeb (Munich), Wesley Holliday (Berkeley), Sergei
  Artemov (New York, Moscow).
• Logic, Games and Argumentation
  Talks by Samson Abramsky (Oxford), Dov Gabbay (London), Giacomo Bonanno (UC Davis, California).

Saturday Evening: Buffet Dinner and Reunion Party

The workshop will be succeeded by a buffet dinner with speeches, and then by a big reunion party. The party is meant for everyone connected to ILLC or to Johan. This includes students, colleagues, collaborators, friends and family. You are all cordially invited to be there, and to help us make this a truly memorable event.

For further info on the Johan Jubilee Events we advise you to keep an eye on the dedicated website http://www.illc.uva.nl/J65, where further details will appear.

The organizers:
Robert van Rooij (chair), Alexandru Baltag, Jan van Eijck, Peter van Ormondt

The Association for Logic, Language and Information is opening a new mailing list at folli@folli.info. You can subscribe to the list by sending an email at folli-subscribe@folli.info.

The 2014 edition of the E.W. Beth Award call for nominations is now published here.

The workshop on Natural Language Services for Reasoners that is sponsored by FoLLI and affiliated to the conference RTATLCA is now online here. This workshop take place during the Vienna Summer of Logic.

The call for paper for the student session of ESSLLI 2014 is available here.