Gödel Prize

Gödel Prize

The Gödel Prize for outstanding papers in the area of theoretical computer science is sponsored jointly by the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS) and the Special Interest Group on Algorithms and Computing Theory of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM-SIGACT). This award is presented annually, with the presentation taking place alternately at the International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP) and ACM Symposium on the Theory of Computing (STOC). The Prize is named in honor of Kurt Gödel in recognition of his major contributions to mathematical logic and of his recently discovered interest in what has become the famous "P versus NP" question.

The Prize includes an award of $5000.

Nominations

The Call for Nominations for the 2004 Gödel Prize (deadline January 10, 2004) is now available.

Nominations for the award should be submitted to the Award Committee Chairperson. Nominations may be made by any member of the scientific community. A nomination should contain a brief summary of the technical content of the paper and a brief explanation of its significance. A copy of the research paper or papers should accompany the nomination. The work may be in any language. However, if it is not in English, a more extended summary written in English should be enclosed. Additional recommendations in favor of the nominated work may also be enclosed. To be considered for the award, the paper or series of papers must be recommended by at least two individuals, either in the form of two distinct nominations or one nomination including recommendations from two different people. It is the duty of the Award Committee to actively solicit nominations from as broad a spectrum of the theoretical computer science community as possible, so as to ensure that potential award-winning papers are not overlooked. To this end, the Award Committee will accept informal proposals of potential nominees, as well as tentative offers to prepare formal nominations, should they be needed to fulfill the requirements that the paper have two separate recommendations.

Eligibility

Any research paper or a series of papers published (not reprinted) in a recognized refereed journal by a single author or a team of authors in the seven years preceding the year of the award is deemed eligible. This extended period is in recognition of the fact that the value of fundamental work cannot always be immediately assessed. The research work nominated for the award should be in the area of theoretical computer science. The term "theoretical computer science" is meant in a broad sense, and encompasses, but is not restricted to, those areas covered by ICALP and STOC. The Award Committee shall have the ultimate authority to decide whether a particular paper is eligible for the Prize.

Award Committee

The winner of the Prize is selected by a committee of six members. The EATCS President and the SIGACT Chair each appoint three members to the committee, to serve staggered three-year terms. The committee is chaired alternately by representatives of EATCS and SIGACT.

Selection Process

Although the Award Committee is encouraged to consult with the theoretical computer science community at large, the Award Committee is solely responsible for the selection of the winner of the award. In the case that the Award Committee cannot agree on a recipient, the prize may be shared by more than one paper or series of papers, and the Award Committee reserves the right to declare no winner at all. All matters relating to the selection process that are not specified here are left to the discretion of the Award Committee.

Past Winners

Created by Wolf Bein, March 24, 1999.
Last updated Fri Sept 26 12:40:44 PST 2003