The foundations of automata theory were laid down in the 1950’s. Since then, the theory has become a mature scientific discipline that is often viewed as a cornerstone of theoretical computer science. The theory, however, has much broader connections to other research areas, such as algorithmics, algebra, and logic, just to mention a few topics. Moreover, it is widely used in many applications.
Academician Arto Salomaa is one of the founding fathers of automata theory. He is also a co-founder, jointly with Grzegorz Rozenberg, of the conference Developments of Language Theory. The conference was launched in 1993, and it has become the main conference in automata theory, formal languages, and related topics.
The Salomaa Prize is created to honour the work of Arto Salomaa, as well as the success of automata and formal language theory. The award is presented during the annual DLT conference. It consists of a diploma and a prize of 2000 euros, donated by the University of Turku.
The award is given to a distinguished researcher for his/her fundamental achievements in automata theory and related topics. The achievement might be a single article, a series of articles, or some broader impact on the theory. The main criterion is scientific excellence of the work.
Any researcher on automata theory is eligible for the prize.
The selection of a winner is based on the Call for Nominations. Any member of the community may prepare a nomination letter. Self-nominations are excluded. The letter must clearly emphasize the merits of the candidate. The letter must be signed by at least two recognized researchers.
The selection of the winner is decided by a three-person international selection committee, which is appointed by the steering committee of the conference. The selection should be approved by the steering committee. The term of the committee members is three years, and a member is a chair of the committee in his/her last year of the term. The committee is allowed to split the prize, as well as to decide that no prize be awarded in a particular year.
For a printable version see guidelines-salomaa-prize-2.pdf.
