Bill McCune PhD Award in Automated Reasoning 2023 Call for Nominations

[geoff]

The Bill McCune PhD Award in Automated Reasoning 2023 Call for Nominations
http://cadeinc.org/McCune-Award

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Automated Reasoning is the area of Computer Science dedicated to applying 
reasoning in the form of logic to computing systems. The Bill McCune PhD Award 
in Automated Reasoning distinguishes each year a PhD thesis defended the 
previous year, for its substantive contributions to the field of Automated 
Reasoning, its theory, its implementation, and/or its application on important 
problems. The award is named after the American computer scientist William 
Walker McCune, known for his contributions in the fields of Automated 
Reasoning, Algebra, Logic, and Formal Methods. He was the implementer of OTTER, 
Prover9 and Mace 4, automated tools for first-order reasoning which are known 
to this day for their accuracy and robustness. He was also known for his 
generosity towards research colleagues and as a great supporter of young 
researchers in the field.


* Eligibility *

Eligible for the award are those who successfully defended their PhD
- at an academic institution;
- in the field of Automated Reasoning; and
- in the period from January 1, 2022 - December 31, 2022.

The PhD students supervised or co-supervised by the Expert Committee members 
are not eligible.

* Nomination *

Candidates for the award must be nominated by their supervisor(s) and one 
additional independent researcher who reviewed/examined the thesis. Nominations 
are to be submitted via email sent to nalon@unb.br, by April 06, 2023.

The nomination must consist of one compressed file (.zip) containing:

- a letter from the supervisor(s) describing why the thesis should be 
considered for the award and the relationship of the contributions to 
CADE/IJCAR;
- a report from the nominating additional independent researcher who 
reviewed/examined the thesis;
- the thesis itself;
- a copy of the PhD diploma; and
- a copy of relevant papers by the nominee, if any, containing results 
published in the thesis.

* Procedure *

The thesis will be evaluated with respect to its quality, originality and 
(potential) impact to the field of Automated Reasoning.

- The nominations will be evaluated and compared by an international Expert 
Committee (see below).
- The procedure to be followed is analogous to the review phase of a 
conference. The justification by the supervisor and the nominating additional 
independent researcher report will play an important role in the evaluation.
- The final decision is made by the Expert Committee at least one month before 
CADE/IJCAR is being held.
- The award consists of a certificate announcing the winner to have received 
the Bill McCune PhD Award in Automated Reasoning. The award will be announced 
at the respective year's CADE/IJCAR. The nominators of the winner will also 
receive a copy of this certificate. The recipient of the award is expected to 
attend the award ceremony. 
- The decision of the Expert Committee is final and cannot be appealed.

* Expert Committee *

The Expert Committee, consisting of leading researchers in Automating 
Reasoning, is formed by the board of CADE Trustees with the aim to reflect the 
broad diversity in the area of Automated Reasoning. It is announced with the 
call for nominations, and thus formed before this call. The decision on the 
award is taken by the Expert Committee. The Expert Committee can seek 
additional expertise, even after the submission deadline for nominations. 
Expert Committee members cannot nominate a PhD student. Expert Committee 
members cannot contribute an independent report seconding a nomination.

The Expert Committee for the Bill McCune PhD Award 2023 consists of the 
following people:

- Pascal Fontaine, University of Liege
- Carsten Fuhs, Birkbeck, University of London
- Marijn Heule, Carnegie Mellon University
- Laura Kovacs, TU Wien
- Claudia Nalon, University of Brasilia
- Andrew Reynolds, The University of Iowa
- Philipp Ruemmer, University of Regensburg
- Martina Seidl, Johannes Kepler University
- Viorica Sofronie-Stokkermans, University of Koblenz

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