The National Science Foundation (NSF) is proud to announce the selection of New York University's Subhash Khot, an associate professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, to receive its 2010 Alan T. Waterman Award. Khot, a theoretical computer scientist, works in an area called "Computational Complexity" which seeks to understand the power and limits of efficient computation.
The annual Waterman award recognizes an outstanding young researcher in any field of science or engineering supported by NSF. Candidates may not be more than 35 years old, or seven years beyond receiving a doctorate, and must stand out for their individual achievements. In addition to a medal, the awardee receives a grant of $500,000 over a 3-year period for scientific research or advanced study in their field.
Khot is a brilliant theoretical computer scientist, and is most well known for his Unique Games Conjecture. He has made many unexpected and original contributions to computational complexity and his work draws connections among optimization, computer science and mathematics.
Khot has a long relationship with NSF, and an even longer history receiving awards. He received an NSF CAREER Award, a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, and a Microsoft New Faculty Fellowship. With his colleagues at New York University, Princeton, Rutgers University, and the Institute for Advanced Study, he is part of a $10 million NSF "Expeditions in Computing" grant under which the researchers are seeking to bridge fundamental gaps in our understanding of computational intractability.
