6 ms·

1. SF for now. 2. Yes, eventually we'd like to have multiple groups in the same space just for this reason--I always think the interdisciplinary stuff is under

by sama 11y ago

1. SF for now. 2. Yes, eventually we'd like to have multiple groups in the same space just for this reason--I always think the interdisciplinary stuff is underrated. 3. Some of both, probably, but mostly we want to support people that the existing system does not support (e.g. people that are not yet famous)

mizzao 11y ago
Interdisciplinary work is incredibly hard to pull off in academia due to tribal affiliations. I think the MSR NYC lab (where I work), which consists of computer scientists, economists, and other social scientists, is one of the few places I've seen it actually flourish.
- tcpekin 11y ago
  I don't think interdisciplinary work has to be between fields that disparate to begin with either. From personal experience, I think there are definite benefits from just having different fields of engineering collaborate and share ideas.
gone35 11y ago
FWIW, two (partially self-serving) suggestions: 1. Try set up a lab in Cambridge at some point down the road. 2. Pay particular attention to CS theory: it's (arguably) high-impact and very cost effective --you can practically fund an entire generation of researchers in a subfield for a fraction of the cost of, say, a major interdisciplinary initiative. See for instance what the Simons foundation is doing at Berkeley[1]. Best of luck with what you're doing. You can end up actually changing the world in this way. [1] https://simons.berkeley.edu https://simons.berkeley.edu
- j2kun 11y ago
  Can't stress this enough, but a lot of TCS research only becomes valuable once you put it into the wild, and that takes a lot of interdisciplinary work. A lot of the stuff in TCS is theory for the sake of theory, and one would want to avoid too much of this.
- lightcatcher 11y ago
  Serious question: In what ways is CS theory high-impact? I'm particularly interested in any arguments that complexity theory is high-impact (beyond the very useful insight that there are some problems for which no polynomial time algorithm is known). I have a pretty good idea of the impact of cryptography and randomized linear algebra (sometimes considered CS theory), but am also interested in hearing about other fields considered CS theory with useful applications.
  - jonsterling 11y ago
    type theory has broad applicability, since it serves as the basis for all modern programming languages design and research. another nice example is kripke logical relations, which can be used to give a model for a programming language in which you can prove certain safety lemmas for critical code.
  - gone35 11y ago
    Again I'm being a bit self-serving, but I think Neil deGrasse Tyson put it better [1, from 1:35-2:30]: [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0SUpwIAjQs&t=1m35s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0SUpwIAjQs&t=1m35s
  - swordswinger12 11y ago
    Graph theory is a good example of this - the asymptotically fastest minimum spanning tree algorithm was made possible by Hopcroft and Karp just drawing weird data structures on a chalkboard until union-find popped out, which gives you near-linear time MST.
- grkvlt 11y ago
  > Try set up a lab in Cambridge at some point down the road MA or UK, though? Both would be awesome, I think, but I don't believe YC has any offices outside the US at the moment...?

by sama 11y ago

mizzao 11y ago

Interdisciplinary work is incredibly hard to pull off in academia due to tribal affiliations. I think the MSR NYC lab (where I work), which consists of computer scientists, economists, and other social scientists, is one of the few places I've seen it actually flourish.

tcpekin 11y ago
I don't think interdisciplinary work has to be between fields that disparate to begin with either. From personal experience, I think there are definite benefits from just having different fields of engineering collaborate and share ideas.

gone35 11y ago

FWIW, two (partially self-serving) suggestions: 1. Try set up a lab in Cambridge at some point down the road. 2. Pay particular attention to CS theory: it's (arguably) high-impact and very cost effective --you can practically fund an entire generation of researchers in a subfield for a fraction of the cost of, say, a major interdisciplinary initiative. See for instance what the Simons foundation is doing at Berkeley[1]. Best of luck with what you're doing. You can end up actually changing the world in this way. [1] https://simons.berkeley.edu https://simons.berkeley.edu

j2kun 11y ago
Can't stress this enough, but a lot of TCS research only becomes valuable once you put it into the wild, and that takes a lot of interdisciplinary work. A lot of the stuff in TCS is theory for the sake of theory, and one would want to avoid too much of this.
lightcatcher 11y ago
Serious question: In what ways is CS theory high-impact? I'm particularly interested in any arguments that complexity theory is high-impact (beyond the very useful insight that there are some problems for which no polynomial time algorithm is known). I have a pretty good idea of the impact of cryptography and randomized linear algebra (sometimes considered CS theory), but am also interested in hearing about other fields considered CS theory with useful applications.
- jonsterling 11y ago
  type theory has broad applicability, since it serves as the basis for all modern programming languages design and research. another nice example is kripke logical relations, which can be used to give a model for a programming language in which you can prove certain safety lemmas for critical code.
- gone35 11y ago
  Again I'm being a bit self-serving, but I think Neil deGrasse Tyson put it better [1, from 1:35-2:30]: [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0SUpwIAjQs&t=1m35s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0SUpwIAjQs&t=1m35s
- swordswinger12 11y ago
  Graph theory is a good example of this - the asymptotically fastest minimum spanning tree algorithm was made possible by Hopcroft and Karp just drawing weird data structures on a chalkboard until union-find popped out, which gives you near-linear time MST.
grkvlt 11y ago
> Try set up a lab in Cambridge at some point down the road MA or UK, though? Both would be awesome, I think, but I don't believe YC has any offices outside the US at the moment...?