Archive for Sweden
Monte Carlo Methods in Stockholm 2026
Posted in Statistics, Travel, University life with tags KTH, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Markov chain Monte Carlo, MCMC, Monte Carlo Statistical Methods, Stockholm, Sweden, Swedish e-Science Research Centre, theoretical foundations, workshop on September 29, 2026 by xi'an
NobAIl prAIzes
Posted in Books, pictures, Travel, University life with tags AI, AlphaFold, Amazon, artificial intelligence, Boltzmann machines, Botlzman models, ChatGPT, Deep Mind, Friedrich Nietzsche, Google, Hopfield networks, Ising model, Markov random field, MCMC algorithms, neural network, Nobel Prize, Nobel Prize in Litterature, protein folding, South Korea, Stockholm, Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, Sweden, twitter, vegetarian diet on October 11, 2024 by xi'an
I am quite surprised that the NobAIl committee did not select ChatGPT‘s Sam Altman for their literature prize—since he made a reality of monkeys typing at random on a typewriter, hence bound to a.s. produce past and future masterpieces—, now betting on Twitter’s Dorsey, Williams and Stone for their peace prize— for achieving worldwide harmony if within each single-minded community in only 140 characters—, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos for their Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel—for produing the ultimate monopoly of a single worldwide convenience store—, given their picks for physics—with spin glass Ising models that have always sounded to me like the worst possible illustration for MCMC techniques— and chemistry—for a deep learning predictor of protein structures, built by large teams and numerous CPU hours, achieving high success rates if not perfection, but prediction is not explanation, reminding me of Nietzsche’s “physics, too, is only an interpretation and exegesis of the world (to suit us, if I may say so!) and not a world-explanation”—… Keeping their sharp focus on AI’s, corporate funded research, and male recipients… (As coïncidences come, I am currently reading a book of the literature 2024 Nobel recipient, Han Kang, The Vegetarian, that I find stunning and immensely original!)
Nobels away
Posted in University life with tags awards, Karolinska Institute, Nature, Nobel Prize, Science, Stockholm, Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, Sweden, The Guardian on October 4, 2023 by xi'an
A self-administred poll in Nature about the respondents’ feeling about the prizes, with only 15% thinking it would be preferable to have none. As an absurd concept of singling out one scientist out the flock of top scientists, of comparing chalk and cheese, of idealising “great men” (since winners are predominantly men) with the ensuing hue and cry when they prove fallible, of focussing general public attention on a cartoonesque lone ranger version of scientific research, &tc. And to complete the absurdity, this meaningless statistic of a most common Nobel age!
a journal of the plague year [lazier August reviews]
Posted in Books, Kids, pictures with tags amazon associates, book reviews, Daniel Defoe, eugenics, film review, films, homecooking, homegrown vegetables, Journal of the Plague Year, Manhattan, NYT, olive tree, Orson Wells, squash vine, sterilisation, Sweden, The Guardian, The Lady from Shanghai, The Remains of the Day, TV series, Woody Allen on September 5, 2020 by xi'an
Read a wonderful collection of short stories set in the same universe and spirit as Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, The Ladies of Grace Adieu, by Susanna Clarke. With the same pleasure as I read the original novel, since the style is similarly subtle and refined, with a skilled work(wo)manship in relating the stories and a bittersweet pleasure in contemplating this alternative England where some magic lingered, although in a vanishing way. The first short story is incredibly powerful, especially for being a “first story” Susanna Clarke wrote for a writing course. To quote Neil Gaiman on his reception of the story, “It was terrifying from my point of view to read this first short story that had so much assurance. It was like watching someone sit down to play the piano for the first time and she plays a sonata.” Plus the book itself is beautifully made, from its old-fashioned binding to its pastiche of 19th century Romantic drawings. (I cannot make sense of the “Grace Adieu” village name, which would mean farewell to Grace or graceful farewell in French. Or yet thank Dog if misspelled as grâce à dieu…)
Followed a should-watch suggestion from a highly positive review on the New York Times and watched The Half of it, not to be confused with The Other Half which I did not watch… Nor the other The Other Half. The story is one of a love triangle (that the NYT relates to Cyrano, rather grandiloquently!, even though the notion of writing love letter for someone else and as a result the writer falling in love… is there indeed). Taking place in a sleepy little town on the Pacific North-West, near Wenatchee. The story is far from realistic, as far as I can tell, with almost invisible adults and with senior high teenagers behaving like adults, at least for the two main female characters, most of the teens working after class while also writing essays on Sart
Ate tomatoes from the garden for almost every lunch in August as there were so many, surprising free from bugs and birds. And had a toasted squash lunch, skin included. Peppers are still at the growing stage… And my young olive tree may have irremediably suffered from the heatwave, despite regular watering.
Also per chance noticed that the one-hundred year-old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared hilarious book had been turned into a film. And had an enjoyable time watching the understated play of this hundred-year old and his hundred year story. And listening to the multilingual if mostly Swedish original sound-track. (Incidentally, yet another intrusion of
the 1930s eugenism with a racialist (!) doctor sterilising the central character to stop his fascination and experimentation with explosives.)
Rewatched Manhattan Murders Mystery, which I had not seen since it came out in the early 1990s. Once I got into the spirit that this was filmed theater, rather than fixating on the (ir)realism of the plot, it became hilarious (starting with the urge to invade Poland when listening to Wagner for too long) and I could focus on references to older movies, although I must has missed the bulk of these references. For instance, the pas de deux of Allen and Keaton at the melting factory has a strong whiff of Astaire and Rogers step-dancing. The shooting scene in the movie theater is explicitly linked with Orson Wells, seen behind the screen in The Lady from Shanghai.
PhD position for research in ABC in Chalmers University
Posted in Statistics with tags ABC, Approximate Bayesian computation, Chalmers University, Gothenburg, likelihood-free methods, mathematical statistics, PhD position, simulation-based inference, Sweden, vacancy on May 27, 2020 by xi'an
[Posting a call for PhD candidates from Umberto Piccini as the deadline is June 1, next Monday!]
A PhD student position in mathematical statistics on simulation-based inference methods for models with an “intractable” likelihood is available at the Dept. Mathematical Sciences, Chalmers University, Gothenburg (Sweden).
You will be part of an international collaboration to create new methodology bridging between simulation-based inference (such as approximate Bayesian computation and other likelihood-free methods) and deep neuronal networks. The goal is to ease inference for stochastic modelling.
Details on the project and the essential requirements are at https://www.chalmers.se/en/departments/math/research/research-groups/AIMS/Pages/ai-project-5.aspx
The PhD student position is fully funded and is up to 5 years, in the dynamic and international city of Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden, https://www.goteborg.com/en/ As a PhD student in Mathematical Sciences you will have opportunities for many inspiring conversations, a lot of autonomous work and some travel.
The position will be supervised by Assoc. Prof. Umberto Picchini.
Apply by 01 June 2020 following the instructions at
https://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/Working-at-Chalmers/Vacancies/Pages/default.aspx?rmpage=job&rmjob=8556
For informal enquiries, please get in touch with Umberto Picchini
