Our study of the theoretical foundations of computing spans algorithm design and analysis, complexity, optimization, cryptography, quantum and more.
We seek to answer fundamental and long-standing questions about the capabilities and limitations of our field, which has practical implications in economics, logistics, social welfare, transportation and many other real-world domains.
Research Groups & Labs
Cryptography Research Group
The Cryptography Group advances the foundations and applications of cryptography, including public-key and symmetric cryptography, obfuscation, attribute-based and functional encryption, secure multi-party computation, quantum cryptography and more.
Database Group
The Database Group advances both theoretical and systems work in probabilistic databases, stream processing, sensor-based monitoring, databases and the web, XML, image/video data management, data management for machine learning, data mining and more.
Faculty Members
Centers & Initiatives
Molecular Engineering Materials Center (UW-MEMC)
MEM-C is a NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center that integrates materials innovations with theory and computation to advance spin-photonic nanostructures and elastic layered quantum materials, aided by an “AI Core” that integrates artificial intelligence-driven materials discovery.
eScience Institute
The eScience Institute empowers researchers and students in all fields to answer fundamental questions through the use of large, complex, and noisy data. As the hub of data-intensive discovery on campus, we lead a community of innovators in the techniques, technologies, and best practices of data science and the fields that depend on them.
Highlights
Allen School News
A chance encounter helped Paul Beame, Paris Koutris (Ph.D., ‘15) and Dan Suciu create the award-winning MPC model that aids scientists in understanding some of the deeper nuances surrounding big data management.
Allen School News
Shayan Oveis Gharan has all the ingredients of a trailblazing researcher who also happens to be a genuinely nice guy. The combination has proved to be a genuine recipe for success, as he has racked up a series of results — and accolades — in theoretical computer science.
Allen School News
After more than 30 years of stalled progress in the field, Victor Reis and Thomas Rothvoss of the Allen School’s Theory of Computation group earned a FOCS Best Paper award for nearly resolving the Subspace Flatness Conjecture for fast integer programming.