Remember the part where I posted that next year's European Symposium on Algorithms had been moved from Lund to Copenhagen due to “academic politics at Lund that I can't find any details of online”? Now Joachim posts some details. As he describes (and as I heard at ESA), Lund University has decided to stop offering degrees in computer science, and to close down the associated faculty which has included well-known researchers such as Thore Husfeldt, Christos Levcopoulos, and Andrzej Lingas. There would still be computer engineering at Lund, but not a computer science program.




Comments:

None: Clarifications
2008-11-26T19:42:06Z

David, let me correct and clarify a few points while avoiding (at least after some editing) speculation and personal frustration:

The Department of Computer Science at Lund continues to exist. Historically, it has always been split across faculties, one part at the faculty of science, the other at the faculty of engineering. Physically, the whole department is in the same building.

The faculty of science used to offer a B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. programme in Computer Science. These programmes have been cancelled as of 2008, which is the faculty decision Joachim linked to. To be clear: Lund University retains computer engineering programmes; the CS department offers a lot of those courses. Also, Lund University has an Information Sciences programme at yet another faculty. But as of 2008 there is no CS programme at Lund.

As a consequence, the CS department will cease to exist as an administrative unit at the science faculty in the future. (Of course, currently there are actually students left who enrolled in the B.Sc. programme in 2007.)

As another consequence, the future of those teachers and researchers that used to be associated with the CS programme, and are employed at the science faculty, is very unclear. Specifically, this includes the entire algorithms group. Actually firing people at associate professor level and above is of course difficult, and let me clarify that I have not been fired from Lund. (I have, however, also accepted a permanent position at IT University of Copenhagen, where I spend most days of the week now.)

Thore Husfeldt

11011110: Re: Clarifications
2008-11-26T21:10:59Z

Thanks for the correction -- the reason I hadn't posted about this previously was precisely to avoid misstatements such as this. I've reworded my post, I hope to be more accurate.

mcfnord:
2008-11-28T06:34:31Z

You cats are accurate!

11011110:
2008-11-28T07:19:00Z

We try.