'What Impressed Me Most Was the Highly Active and Energetic Group of Students'

A tapestry from the medieval series 'The Lady and the Unicorn'

Source: Didier Descouens / Musée de Cluny Paris

Sankha Basu, Assistant Professor at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-Delhi), taught a course at the Spring School 'Logic, Linguistics and Formal Philosophy' hosted by the International Laboratory for Logic, Linguistics and Formal Philosophy. This was his first visit to a Russian university, and he shared his impressions with the HSE News Service.

— Prof. Basu, how did you learn about HSE University?

— I became interested after hearing about it from my student, Sayantan Roy, who recently joined your International Laboratory for Logic, Linguistics and Formal Philosophy. This was my first visit to a Russian university, and I was curious to see how things are organised here. I really enjoyed the atmosphere at HSE University and would be glad to establish a collaboration. In particular, I plan to publish an article in a journal published by HSE University.

Sankha Basu

— What do you remember most from the Spring School?

— What impressed me most was the highly active and energetic group of students. Their genuine interest in their subjects, along with the way they reached out to me and offered help in every possible way, reflects a strong spirit of cooperation and meaningful discussion. I think this is one of the great strengths of your university.

— What was your course at the Spring School about?

— My course focused on paraconsistent logic, a topic I have been working on for quite some time. I spoke about it at the Spring School, which was largely devoted to this and related topics.

— Which of your colleagues' presentations at the Spring School did you find most significant?

— The ones given by colleagues from Brazil, Prof. Itala D’Ottaviano and Prof. Evandro Luis Gomes, whom I know from previous conferences. Itala’s contribution to the history of philosophy and philosophical logic is truly significant, and I would like to follow her work more closely.

— Which formats of international collaboration do you find most engaging and productive?

— Attending conferences and reading papers are important, but meeting someone in person and discussing problems in mathematics or logic directly is especially engaging and stimulating.

— New communication technologies allow us to stay constantly in touch with colleagues. In your opinion, what are the most valuable aspects of face-to-face meetings and offline communication?

— Let me go back to the time of COVID-19, when in-person interactions first stopped and then moved entirely online. As soon as the pandemic ended, however, we returned to face-to-face communication. I value this kind of interaction much more than online communication. Perhaps this is just my personal preference, but I believe that traveling somewhere and speaking with someone in person is not the same as listening to a talk online.

— To what extent does direct exchange of ideas and personal communication contribute to the emergence of new ideas and research?

— I can share a bit from my experience in Japan and Poland. I spent many hours there with colleagues discussing new ideas. I had my own ideas, and other researchers had theirs, and we combined them. With a projector at hand, we were able to write things down immediately, and results emerged very quickly. But then I returned to my country, and we lost touch, even with all the online tools available. To move our work forward, we need to visit each other again. We often say, 'We need to meet again,' because you can accomplish a great deal in a short time when you’re together. So personal communication really makes a significant difference.

— Brainstorming?

— Yes, brainstorming. 

— What are the main areas of your research?

— Today, I am particularly interested in paraconsistency. My PhD thesis was on intuitionistic logic. It remains an area of interest for me and will continue to be so in the future, but at the moment I am more focused on paraconsistent logic.

More information about Sankha Basu’s course, 'Paraconsistency: An Overview of Its History and Motivations, Followed by an Exposition of the New Syntax Independent Approach to It,' as well as other lectures at the Spring School, can be found here.