UC Berkeley to host computer institute

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BERKELEY, Calif., May 2 (UPI) -- The University of California, Berkeley, says a new computer theory institute will help solve problems in healthcare, climate change, business and other fields.

The Simons Foundation has announced a $60 million grant to the university to establish the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing to open in July, the Contra Costa Times reported Wednesday.

UC Berkeley was chosen over other grant applicants for its "outstanding leadership, an excellent site, great scientific ambience and a substantial campus commitment," the foundation said in a release.

The institute will focus on the uses of computers to solve problems ranging from disease and climate change to making the Internet more secure, university officials said.

"So many of the challenges now confronting the planet and the human race can only be overcome by bringing together disparate scientific fields," Graham Fleming, the university's vice chancellor for research, said in a statement.