[Sent on 1 February 2010]
To:
Professor Rick Trainor, Principal
Mr C. Mottershead, Vice-Principal (Research)
Professor Keith Hoggart Vice-Principal (Strand)
Professor Jan Palmowski Head of School of Arts and Humanities
Re: restructuring at King's College
Dear colleagues,
We have been informed by our London colleagues of the impending restructuring affecting Logic and Computational Linguistics. With this letter, we want to express serious concern about these plans.
In the development of the sciences, important innovations may require the removal of artificial boundaries separating the traditional disciplines. Philosophy very often has been an initiating force in creating the dynamic exchanges between fields that are vital for progress.
One such development has been the rise of an interdisciplinary area linking key concerns in logic, formal linguistics, computer science, and the cognitive (neuro)sciences. The Association for Logic, Language and Information (FoLLI) was founded twenty years ago to foster research and education in what was then an emerging area, and what has grown into a high-profile international movement. The yearly Summer School organized by the Association is a crucible for interaction at the interfaces between logic and the neighbouring disciplines. The School attracts hundreds of the brightest young minds from over the world.
Among the institutions that have been instrumental in bringing into existence this expanding new area, King's College has been a key player from the start, and it has consistently made cutting-edge contributions shaping the directions in which the field has evolved. The individual researchers affected by the planned restructuring are of the highest international quality. By redefining its research mission in such a way that these people qualify as 'redundant', King's College ceases to be a center of excellence in the Logic/Language/Computation area. At a time when the European and international funding opportunities for this interdisciplinary area, both within Academia and within industry, are high, the planned redefinition of the research mission would seem to be diametrically opposed to what a restructuring should aim for: it destroys a highly competitive group that can play a vital role in increasing the financial viability of the institution.
Given the above, we would urge you to reconsider the way in which the restructuring is implemented.
For the Association for Logic, Language and Information:
Prof Michael Moortgat, Utrecht Institute of Linguistics
President
Dr Ann Copestake, Cambridge University
Vice-President