Algorithms and Friends is an initiative by the CS theory group at Stanford (consisting of people doing research in algorithms, theory of computation, cryptography etc). Our aim is to increase interaction between the theory group and other Stanford researchers. As part of this initiative, we offer help in solving algorithmic questions that come up in applied research. We also organise a seminar where researchers from varied backgrounds share their work.

If you are a Stanford affiliate, and want to discuss with us any algorithmic problem related to your research, please fill out this Google form. Based on your problem description, we will find out someone suitable to talk to you, and schedule an appointment. Here is a list of areas we may be able to help with:

• Combinatorial Algorithms
• Cryptography
• Error Correcting Codes
• Graph Algorithms
• Numerical Linear Algebra
• Optimization
• Statistical Algorithms

This list is not exhaustive, and we will be happy to talk even if your problem doesn't belong to these areas. If you have any questions, please refer to FAQs or contact us.

Seminar

We organize a seminar where speakers from varied backgrounds discuss ideas and problems. The speaker can talk about an open or already solved problem with some computational component, or anything in general that is somewhat relevant to people with a background in CS theory. If you want to give a talk, please contact us! You are welcome to give a talk even if it is an ongoing work, and you are still exploring solutions to some problems. Also, people at all levels including PhD students, postdocs, industry researchers and professors are welcome to give a talk.

The list of speakers can be found here.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Ariana Mann, Kiran Shiragur and Kevin Tian for helping in organizing the seminar in the past, and Annie Marsden for designing the logo.