The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) presents the annual ACM A.M Turing Award for outstanding achievements in computer science. The Turing Award is considered the highest honor in computer science and is endowed with one million dollars.

The seminar focuses on the lives and contributions of potential candidates for the next Turing Award. Students are to nominate a selected personality in computer science for the Turing Award and write a scientific statement to the ACM A.M. Turing Award Committee. The statement should include a summary of the nominee's major life stages and career steps, a detailed description of key contributions, and a rationale for the Turing Award in terms of the significance and impact of the contributions on computer science.

Finally, the statement will be presented and discussed in plenary. Furthermore, students are expected to write two scientific reviews of papers written by other seminar participants.

Learning Objectives

Through the proseminar, students learn about central, technical contributions and milestones in computer science. They will expand their subject knowledge, be able to place significant accomplishments in historical perspective, and reflect on the lives and career paths of significant individuals in computer science.

Upon completion of the proseminar, students will be able to

• conduct an independent literature search on a given topic and evaluate the literature found for its relevance to the task at hand. Students will be able to analyze, interpret and classify the structure, goal, addressees and characteristics of an existing text written by others.
• Prepare a scientific paper on a technical topic. Students can present technical contributions and evaluate them in a differentiated manner. Students are able to present a point of view and to argue logically coherently.
• Write expert opinions on scientific contributions. Students are able to deal critically with texts, to evaluate texts according to a given scheme and to work out constructive suggestions for improvement.
• process the results of research and present them in a scientific form appropriate to the audience.

Information about the organizational procedure of the proseminar can be found on the websites tva.kastel.kit.edu.