why no european computer science department is in the world’s top-10 willy zwaenepoel
TRANSCRIPT
Why no European Computer Science Department is in the World’s Top-10
Willy Zwaenepoel
Why no European Computer Science Department is in the World’s Top-10
Is it true?
Shanghai Jiao’Tong 2010
1 Stanford2 MIT3 U of California - Berkeley4 Princeton5 CMU6 Cornell7 U of Southern California8 U of Texas - Austin9 Harvard10 Toronto
Shanghai Jiao’Tong 2010
1 Stanford2 MIT3 U of California - Berkeley4 Princeton5 CMU6 Cornell7 U of Southern California8 U of Texas - Austin9 Harvard10 Toronto
At best meaningless and at worst misleading.Relies on WoS for publications and citations.
1 CMUMITStanfordU of California - Berkeley
5 CornellUIUC
7 U of Washington - Seattle8 Princeton9 U of Texas - Austin10 Georgia Tech11 Cal Tech
U of Wisconsin - Madison13 Michigan14 U of California – Los Angeles
U of California – San DiegoU of Maryland – College Park
17 ColumbiaHarvardU of Pennsylvania
20 BrownPurdueRiceU of Massachussets - AmherstU of North Carolina – Chapel HillU of Southern CaliforniaYale
US News and World Report 2010
1 CMUMITStanfordU of California - Berkeley
5 CornellUIUC
7 U of Washington - Seattle8 Princeton9 U of Texas - Austin10 Georgia Tech11 Cal Tech
U of Wisconsin - Madison13 Michigan14 U of California – Los Angeles
U of California – San DiegoU of Maryland – College Park
17 ColumbiaHarvardU of Pennsylvania
20 BrownPurdueRiceU of Massachussets - AmherstU of North Carolina – Chapel HillU of Southern CaliforniaYale
US News and World Report 2010
1 CMUMITStanfordU of California - Berkeley
5 CornellUIUC
7 U of Washington - Seattle8 Princeton9 U of Texas - Austin10 Georgia Tech11 Cal Tech
U of Wisconsin - Madison13 Michigan14 U of California – Los Angeles
U of California – San DiegoU of Maryland – College Park
17 ColumbiaHarvardU of Pennsylvania
20 BrownPurdueRiceU of Massachussets - AmherstU of North Carolina – Chapel HillU of Southern CaliforniaYale
US News and World Report 2010
Mostly makes sense, but restricted to U.S.
The Z-factor
Z-factor = number of ACM Fellows
Consistency check: USNWR vs. Z
USC
UNC
U Mass
Rice
Purdue
Brown
U Penn
Harvard
Columbia
U Maryland
UCSD
UCLA
U Mich
U Wisc
CalTech
Georgia Tech
UT Austin
Princeton
U Washington
UIUC
Cornell
UCB
Stanford
MIT
CMU
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
No. of ACM Fellows
USN
WR
Where are the European departments?
YaleVirginia
UCLARutgers
OSU
NYU
RiceDuke
USC
ColumbiaBrown
U MichiganPurdue
U WashingtonUCSD
GeorgiaU Mass
U MarylandU Wisconsin
UT AustinCornell
UIUCPrinceton
MITCMUUCB
Stanford
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Top-10
No. of ACM Fellows
European schools
Why no European Computer Science Department is in the World’s Top-10
Why is this so?
Ten Days in Amersfoort …
Ten Days in Amersfoort …
Ten Days in Amersfoort …
Ten Days in Amersfoort …
The Reasons
1. They are not departments.They are loose confederations of fiefdoms.
2. They do not do computer science.They do applications of computers.
Disclaimer
All examples discussed next are from theNetherlands. Any resemblance to situations
at EPFL, past or present, is purely coincidental.
Symptoms1. They are not departments
• They do not call themselves departments• Curriculum = ∑ professors’ pet topics• Doctoral program = ∑ professors’ labs• Over-representation in one or two areas• Under-representation in others• …
Symptoms2. They do not do computer science
• Computer science has applications• Computer science ≠ applications of computers
Symptoms2. They do not do computer science
• Computer science has applications• Computer science ≠ applications of computers
in the sciences HPC, supercomputing, computational science, e-science, simulation-based science, …
2009 HPC vs. IT Market
IT Market ($1.4T)
HPC Market ($8.6B)
Symptoms2. They do not do computer science
• Computer science has applications• Computer science ≠ applications of computers
in the sciences HPC, supercomputing, computational science, e-science, simulation-based science, …
• Why?– Press likes it – Administrators like it– Funding agencies like it
Why no European Computer Science Department is in the World’s Top-10
Why am I saying this?
Because I believe that at EPFL we have a unique chance to make it into the world’s top-10. If anywhere in Europe it is going to happen, it is here!
We are in Switzerland
SwitzerlandReal World
Map of the academic world, anno 2011, © Willy Zwaenepoel
The competition is not doing so well
SwitzerlandReal World
Map of the academic world, anno 2011, © Willy Zwaenepoel
Brain Gain
We may have problems, but we are lightyears ahead of others in Europe
1. They are not departmentsTenure track, little inbreeding, attracting MS
and PhD students, balance, etc.Main impediment: EPFL lab culture.
2. They do not computer scienceWe are in good shapeStay the course !
We are doing well: ACM Fellows
Institution Active ACM FellowsEPFL 5
ETHZ 4
Imperial 3
5 institutions 2
26 institutions 1
Institution Total ACM FellowsETHZ 8
Cambridge 6
EPFL, Imperial 5
5 institutions 2
27 institutions 1
We are doing well: ERCsInstitution PE6 ERCs
INRIA 8
EPFL 6
CNRS, Technion, Weizmann 4
Bar-Ilan, Imperial, Oxford 3
ETHZ, KUL, Roma, VU A’dam 2
33 institutions 1
ENACICSBSTISV
The glass is half-full!
Even if you are on the right track, you are going to get run over if you just sit there
