On 24 March 2011, the Chancellor conferred the title of Docent of computer science to Teemu Roos, Doctor of Philosophy. Teemu works as a senior researcher at HIIT and the Department of Computer Science.

 

Teemu researches topics around machine learning and especially information theory. These past years he has especially studied the history of Mediaeval manuscripts and applied methods of computer science and evolutionary biology in this area. His goal is to discover the copying history of mutually different manuscript copies and find the text that most closely resembles the original. Researchers in history, linguistics, and literature from around the world have cooperated with him.

 

In addition to his research, Teemu is also an instructor at the Department of Computer Science. In autumn 2011, he will be giving an introductory course in artificial intelligence. Teemu is also in charge of the research programme for undergraduates at the Bachelor’s stage.

 

For his test lecture for the docentship, Teemu had chosen 'Cauliflower complexity' as his topic. The title may sound strange, but it referred to the Kolmogorov complexity; its connection to cauliflower comes from the fractal-like shape of the Romanesco cauliflower. The fractal structure shows that a cauliflower is a simple piece. The committee for evaluating teaching skills assessed that Teemu has excellent teaching skills.

 

In addition to his university teaching, Teemu tries to help his two sons consider algorithms for adding and multiplying. His older son is in first grade.

 

 Photos: Teemu’s family album