In late 2009 I started writing the post below:

I have spent 3 months in Berkeley, California as part of a sabbatical, although not affiliated formally with the university. The university, despite recent budget worries, is still very impressive, and the town is comfortable (if expensive) to live in.

The Computer Science Theory Lunch and seminars in the Wozniak Lounge in Soda Hall were enjoyable and informative. A particularly interesting talk was Why Sex? by Adi Livnat (view the associated paper). I am still on the mailing list for seminars, and this year they have some very interesting-sounding ones.

Now I am back in Berkeley, this time visiting officially (thanks to my excellent host Elchanan Mossel).
I gave a talk in the Probability seminar in the Statistics Department. This was a daunting task, given the kind of speakers they normally get. It was a good experience for me (not sure about the audience). One of the best-known people in that department is David Aldous (who, I think, attended my talk). He has some really interesting stuff on his website. I found this interview with Persi Diaconis very worthwhile.

Theory Lunch is still going on, and I have been to a talk by Shayan Oveis Gharan on the Asymmetric Travelling Salesman Problem. There is a joint Berkeley-Stanford series of talks on Data, Inference, and Society, and so far I have heard Jon Kleinberg (Cornell) on algorithmic detection of memorable phrases and Randall Lewis (Google) on the near-impossibility of measuring the returns to advertising. Further afield, a public talk by Craig Venter on synthetic life was held in a very small room (appalling organization – didn’t they think he might be a popular speaker) and was alternately incomprehensible and inspiring (I guess I should have studied some biology). There are so many interesting talks, I wouldn’t have enough time to get any work done if I went to all of them.

I do have worries about the state of Californian public finances and the impact it may have on the university system. But that’s still very good from what I have seen.