Theoretical computer science

The Algorithms and Complexity group is recruiting postdoctoral researchers in theoretical computer science for autumn 2027. Candidates from all areas of theoretical computer science are invited. Apply by January 31, 2027 using the email application instructions on the official group page, supplying a CV, research statement and three recommendation letters. The group sits within Waterloo’s School of Computer Science and Faculty of Mathematics.

…symposium series in mathematics and theoretical physics, including theoretical computer science. Selected series may comprise up to three weeklong meetings with travel, lodging, and meals covered for participants, creating sustained time for collaboration on timely research problems.

…of major importance in mathematics, theoretical physics, or theoretical computer science. Awards support multi-investigator teams across career stages for four years, with up to three new collaborations expected to begin in January 2028.

We examine consciousness from the perspective of theoretical computer science (TCS), a branch of mathematics concerned with understanding the underlying principles of computation and complexity, including the implications and surprising consequences of resource limitations. We propose a formal TCS model, the Conscious Turing Machine (CTM). The CTM is influenced by Alan Turing's simple yet powerful model of computation, the Turing machine (TM), and by the global workspace theory (GWT) of consciousness originated by cognitive neuroscientist Bernard Baars and further developed by him, Stanislas D

Neuroscience is witnessing extraordinary progress in experimental techniques, especially at the neural circuit level. These advances are largely aimed at enabling us to understand precisely how neural circuit computations mechanistically cause behavior. Establishing this type of causal understanding will require multiple perturbational (e.g optogenetic) experiments. It has been unclear exactly how many such experiments are needed and how this number scales with the size of the nervous system in question. Here, using techniques from Theoretical Computer Science, we prove that establishing the m