Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lectures

The Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lectures were created in Fall 2019 to celebrate the role of Simons Institute Founding Director Dick Karp in establishing the field of theoretical computer science, formulating its central problems, and contributing stunning results in the areas of computational complexity and algorithms. Formerly known as the Simons Institute Open Lectures, the series features visionary leaders in the field of theoretical computer science, and is geared toward a broad scientific audience. To view the video of a past lecture, please follow the link in the list below.

The Institute gratefully acknowledges the many contributors to the Richard M. Karp Fund.

Fall 2020

Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture – Reductionism in Reinforcement Learning
Speaker: Dale Schuurmans (University of Alberta)
Nov. 23, 2020 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
This talk will be held virtually and will be live streamed on our website. Full participation (including the capacity to ask questions) will be available via Zoom webinar. A link to the Zoom webinar will be shared on this page closer to the event date.
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Is Your Distribution In Shape?
Speaker: Ronitt Rubinfeld (MIT)
Nov. 9, 2020 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
This talk will be held virtually and will be live streamed on our website. Full participation (including the capacity to ask questions) will be available via Zoom webinar. A link to the Zoom webinar will be shared on this page closer to the event date.
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture – Safe Learning in Robotics
Speaker: Claire Tomlin (UC Berkeley)
Oct. 5, 2020 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
This talk will be held virtually and will be live streamed on our website. Full participation (including the capacity to ask questions) will be available via Zoom webinar. A link to the Zoom webinar will be shared on this page closer to the event date.
The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values
Speaker: Brian Christian (UC Berkeley)
Sep. 17, 2020 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/98690190921
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Insights on Gradient-Based Algorithms in High-Dimensional Learning
Speaker: Lenka Zdeborová (EPFL)
Sep. 14, 2020 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
This talk will be held virtually and will be live streamed on our website. Full participation (including the capacity to ask questions) will be available via Zoom webinar. Zoom link: https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/97166437509.
Hard Choices in Artificial Intelligence
Speaker: Thomas Gilbert (UC Berkeley)
Sep. 10, 2020 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Zoom

Spring 2020

Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — A Tale of Turing Machines, Quantum-Entangled Particles, and Operator Algebras
Speaker: Henry Yuen (University of Toronto)
Apr. 20, 2020 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/169236905
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Lattices, Post-Quantum Security and Homomorphic Encryption
Speaker: Daniele Micciancio (UC San Diego)
Apr. 6, 2020 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/212109352
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Lattices ∩ Quantum
Speaker: Zvika Brakerski (Weizmann Institute of Science) 
Mar. 16, 2020 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Calvin Lab auditorium

Fall 2019

Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Average-Case Complexity through the Lens of Interactive Arguments
Speaker: Rafael Pass (Cornell University) 
Dec. 2, 2019 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Banatao Auditorium, Sutardja Dai Hall

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