Award Granted for Research into Computational Methods

Congratulations to Giorgio Parisi, a professor of quantum theories at the University of Rome "La Sapienza" and researcher into complex systems. Parisi is this year's recipient of the the 2007 Royal Society and Academie des sciences Microsoft European Science Award, which recognizes scientists working in Europe who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of science through computational methods.

Parisi's work on the theory of spin glasses has had an important impact on theoretical computing, particularly formal neural networks and optimization. This award recognizes his work on quantum chromodynamics and spin glasses, his approach of using computers to corroborate the conclusions of analytical proofs, and to motivate further research fundamental in his field. He is also the author or co-author of books on field theory, spin glass theory, and related topics.

Parisi plans on using the 250,000 Euro (let's see, that's about $360,000 US) cash award to build IANUS, a massively parallel system machine based on a 2D array of FPGA processors with nearest-neighbor connections. IANUS will be able to simulate physical systems, such as spin glasses, for a much longer time than is possible by actual computers.

"It will significantly improve the range of complex systems that can be studied, both in the size and the time we can observe them," said Parisi. "One would be able to eliminate the artifacts due to small system size. This will be crucial in order to make predictions for real systems, because, in this case, the number of components is very large, and the observation time is much longer than microscopic time."

"The power of software is, on a practical level, helping us expand the frontiers of knowledge," added Jean-Philippe Courtois, president of Microsoft International. "Through this award and other Microsoft European Science Initiative programs, we hope to accelerate advances in science and computing, and encourage and support the scientists of today and tomorrow." The 250,000 Euro award was funded solely by Microsoft.

Posted by Jon Erickson at 09:02 AM  Permalink