The organisers: Samuel Balco, and Roy Crole (MGS Director), University of Leicester.
The Midlands Graduate School (MGS) provides an intensive course of lectures on the Mathematical Foundations of Computing Science. It has run annually since 1999 and has been held at either the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester, the University of Nottingham, or at the University of Sheffield. The lectures are aimed at graduate students, typically in their first or second year of study for a PhD. However, the school is open to anyone who is interested in learning more about mathematical computing foundations, and all such applicants are warmly welcomed. We very much encourage students from abroad to attend, and many have done so in the past.
MGS 2017 will be held at College Court, a new conference centre in the heart of South Leicester. All activities of MGS 2017 take place here: lectures, examples classes, networking and discussions; in addition all meals are served here, and accommodation (9 Sunday night to 12 Wednesday night - with a lunch on 13 Thursday) is on site. This means you can take your courses during the daytime, and still be able to interact with the MGS team in the evenings (and over breakfast ...), be it for intellectual discussions or more light-hearted banter. All of this is included in the FULL registration fee.
There are Basic courses which are taken by everyone, and consist of five one hour lectures. There are also optional Advanced courses, which consist of four one hour lectures. These are listed below, and a few links take you to lecture notes. This year, MGS has invited Pawel Sobocinski, University of Southampton, as guest lecturer.
| Basic Courses | |
|---|---|
| Naïve Type Theory | Thorsten Altenkirch |
| Denotational Semantics | Achim Jung |
| Category Theory | Alexander Kurz |
| Advanced Courses | |
| Graphical Linear Algebra | Invited Speaker Pawel Sobocinski |
| Testing with Theorem Provers | Achim Brucker | Coalgebras and Infinite Data Structures | Venanzio Capretta |
| Higher Categories | Paolo Capriotti and Nicolai Kraus | Computational Effects and Call-By-Push-Value | Paul Levy |
| Machine Learning | Leandro Minku |
There are 4 Lecture rooms: Oak 1, Oak 2 (which can be joined into a single room), Chestnut and Birch.
Each course consists of lectures and exercise classes.
| 9:00-10:00 | Denotational Semantics (Oak) |
| 10:00-11:00 | Category Theory (Oak) |
| 11:00-11:30 | Registration |
| 11:30-12:30 | Naïve Type Theory (Oak) |
| 12:30-14:00 | Lunch Break |
| 14:00-15:00 | Graphical Linear Algebra (Oak) |
| 15:00-16:00 | Higher Categories (Oak 1) |
| Testing with Theorem Provers (Oak 2) | |
| Category Theory (Chestnut) | |
| 16:00-16:30 | Coffee |
| 16:30-17:30 | Machine Learning (Oak 1) |
| Computational Effects and Call-By-Push-Value (Oak 2) | |
| Naïve Type Theory (Chestnut) | |
| 17:30-18:30 | Coalgebras and Infinite Data Structures (Oak 2) |
| Testing with Theorem Provers (Chestnut) | |
| Denotational Semantics (Birch) |
Registration is now closed.
The full package for students (accommodation Sunday to Wednesday with all meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner plus refreshments) will be £595. For all other participants the full package costs £850. A day package for students (all classes, lunch and refreshments) is £350, but there is limited availability.
If accommodation is required for Saturday evening/night, you may book a room directly with the College Court Reservations team on +44 (0)116 244 9629, or by emailing College Court. You should quote the reference number 27012 for these rates: Standard room (double bed) at £65 B&B or an Executive room (double bed) at £75 B&B.
The accommodation for this year's MGS, as well as the lectures and all meals will be at the College Court conference centre. Thus participants remain may either relax together or indeed work together during the evenings. College Court is situated close to the University of Leicester main campus and the city centre; it provides high quality conference spaces, accommodation and dining facilities with excellent food.
There is a good pub, the Cradock Arms, almost next door if you fancy trying it and there is a range of small shops, bars and resturants on the nearby Queen's Road.
MGS is accessible by car, train and bus. College Court has ample parking space for delegates. We suggest that you use Google Maps, to assist in planning your journey, together with the following information.
The map below shows the Leicester city centre, with a bus route from the rail station to College Court:
For general information about travel to Leicester, please consult the University map and transport information. You might also wish to look at the conference centre website.
For any additional information or queries about MGS 2017, you may contact the organisers at: mgs2017 at le dot ac dot uk