News from Head of
School
AUT Action
For those who were not able to make the meeting I
called on Friday for academic staff, I should give a brief recap.
Having spent some time asking questions, looking at evidence and thinking,
I have come to the conclusion that to honestly do the best for our
students will mean making alternative arrangements to mark some work that would otherwise have
been marked by AUT members. John Latham confirmed, on behalf of the
AUT members, that they would have no problem with this so long as no
coercion was involved; he also emphasised their concern that this might
impact on standards. In summary the situation is as follows: for
1st Years, there should be enough information available to make
reasonably reliable progression decisions (with resits where necessary);
for 2nd Years, we will have enough information to make reliable
progression decisions, and will wait until the action is over to mark any
papers that will not be marked at present leading to reliable marks to
contribute to the final degree result; for Final Years, 60% of exam
scripts are likely to be marked normally, and it is probable that this
could rise to 80% reliably marked with reallocation of marking for three
papers; around 50 projects will have no mark unless they are
reallocated. I do not wish either to place AUT members in a position
where they have effectively withdrawn their labour, or to increase the
load significantly for other members of staff. I thus propose that
we reassign duties so that we get everything marked that we possibly can
(at all reliably) for final year students, with compensating adjustment of
overall load for the individuals affected. There seemed to be a
reasonable consensus amongst those present on Friday that, although this
is not ideal, it is probably the best we can do in the
circumstances. I am spending the day today (Tuesday) discussing the
details with individuals.
Feedback from Trip to India
Ning Zhang has recently
returned from a promotional visit to India, during which she visited
the offices of our overseas agents and met with both applicants and offer
holders. Nings report provides plenty of food for thought.
India is clearly a fiercely
competitive market, and success there will be central to addressing our
international student recruitment problems. A copy of the report can be
downloaded from here.
This kind of intelligence is clearly important, so if any academic member
of staff is planning overseas travel and would be willing to tie this in
with promotional activities to raise the profile of the School, with
agents and/or potential partner institutions, Bernard and the External
Affairs Office would be very pleased to hear from you.
Teaching Fellow interviews New
This Tuesday and Wednesday we will be interviewing
for two Teaching Fellow positions to support the changes we are
making to the UG programme. As part of the selection process the
candidates will be giving short talks on their ideas and experience
of teaching innovation and the ways in which they could contribute to our
efforts. The talks will be in LT1.4 on Tue 30th and Wed 31st at
10:00, 10:45 and 11:30. All who are interested are welcome to
attend.
Periodic Review
The Faculty's Periodic Review of all our UG and
PGT programmes took place on Wednesday last week. The oral feedback
received was very positive, commending the high reputation of the School,
both with our students and externally, and our procedures for
reviewing and updating our programmes. Our Industrial Advisory Board
initiative was greatly welcomed and encouraged. There were few concerns
and most were extremely minor (including asking us to post SSCC minutes on
a notice board as well as the website!). We were pleased that the panel
agreed to raise our concern about lack of appropriate space for small
group working with the University Space Review group. We will
receive written feedback on the review in a few weeks' time.
Again, many congratulations to all staff involved in the preparation for
this, especially Graham and Gill.
Events this
Week
top
Teaching Fellow
Presentations
30 & 31 May
This Tuesday and Wednesday we will be interviewing
for two Teaching Fellow positions to support the changes we are
making to the UG programme. As part of the selection process the
candidates will be giving short talks on their ideas and experience
of teaching innovation and the ways in which they can contribute to
our efforts. The talks will be in LT1.4 on Tue 30th and Wed 31st at
10:00, 10:45 and 11:30. All who are interested are welcome to
attend.
Regular Seminar Series
See links
in contents bar for information on seminar series organised by the
School of
CS, E-Science North
West and National Centre for Text Mining.
Future School
Events
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Requirements
and Technologies for
Provenance
22 Jun 06
ENSW technical meeting. Volunteers required
to give 10-15 min presentations.
1400 1700, ESNW Access Grid room, adjacent to
1.17 Kilburn
Email Dean Kuo or visit wiki
Research
Retreat
29-30 Jun 06
Palace Hotel, Buxton
Programme under
development, input welcomed (email
Ursula)
School UG Graduation
Party
5 Jul 06
We will (hopefully) be
celebrating the graduation of our UG students
1430 1530, prize-giving
1445, graduation ceremony 1645.
School
BBQ
14 Jul 06
Details to follow
Future External
Events
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Helping Students
Succeed
6 Jun 06
Steve
Potter, Director of
Counselling (and experienced psychotherapist)
An EPS-TSU sponsored event covering academic life
skills for students and recognising and responding to students with
personal problems affecting their academic performance (guidance on
assessing risk, giving appropriate non-judgemental help and referrals to
specialist help).
B4 Council Chamber, Sackville
Street (time not available at time of
writing)
Email EPS-TSU to book two days in
advance (for catering purposes)
Brouwer and the Development of his Foundational
Views New 13 Jun
06
Prof Dirk van Dalen (Utrecht)
A guided tour through the highlights of Brouwer's
intuitionism(!)
1400, G17 Newman Building
EPSRC Regional Academic
Seminars
14 Jun 06
Presentation by Professor John O'Reilly, Chief
Executive of EPSRC, Question and Answer session, session on Peer Review
and the grant application process. There will also be a session on
opportunities for interaction between industry, academia and other
organisations.
14 June 2006 Manchester: Manchester Conference Centre
(register by 2nd June)
More
Information
Microsoft Invites you on a Deep Dive!
27 29 Jun 06
The UK Academia Team is partnering with DevelopMentor, to host an intense,
hands-on technical event for academics in June 2006.
More
Information & Registration
CLASS (Clerical and Secretarial Support) Network:
New
30 Jul 06
One Day
Conference
Following on from the success of a similar event
two years ago, the CLASS network, in conjunction with the STDU, is
delivering a conference which gives staff the opportunity to attend a
range of personal and professional development sessions and the chance to
network with colleagues from across the University. The key-note
speaker will be Albert McMenemy, University Registrar and Secretary and
Head of Administration.
More
details and Registration
Interdisciplinary Summer School on Complex
Systems
20 29 Aug 06
From Individual to Collective
Behaviour in Large-Scale Complex Systems
Organised by the Schools of Computer Science,
Mathematics and Physics
Young researchers (PhD students and postdocs) in
mathematics, physics, computer science, biology, and quantitative social
sciences are invited to apply.
St.
Martin's College,
Ambleside.
More
Information
Lunchtime Yoga Classes Karon
Mee
Every Tues
1200 1300 Tuesdays, Staff
House
UMSA members £1.50; non-UMSA £2.00 per
class
Funding
Opportunities
top
RAEng Industrial Secondment Scheme
New
Open
An opportunity for university lecturers in
engineering to gain state-of-the-art industrial
experience.
More
Information
BBSRC International Scientific Interchange Scheme
(ISIS)
Open
To help scientists make and establish new contacts
with their international counterparts.
More
Information
RAEng Global Research
Awards
Open
Projects in centres of excellence overseas
focussing on stimulating wealth creation and improvements in the quality
of life.
More
Information
Wellcome Trust Equipment Grants
Apr/May 06
For multi-user items of equipment.
More
Information
BBSRC Research Equipment Initiative (REI)
2006
28 June 06
For the purchase of mid-range multi-user,
multi-project equipment.
More
Information
EPSRC Postdoctoral Fellowships
26 Sep 06
For talented young researchers, shortly or
immediately after completing a PhD.
More
Information
Prize and Award
Opportunities
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We have acknowledged the need to raise the profile
of the School both nationally and internationally. Nominating
individuals for awards, and working actively with others to ensure that
deserving individuals are nominated is one way of doing
that.
Microsoft European Science Award
31 May 06
For a major contribution to the advancement of
science through the use of computational methods. More
Information
The IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal
1 Jul 06
'For exceptional contributions to information
sciences, systems and technology.'
More
Information
The IEEE John von Neumann
Medal
1 Jul 06
'For outstanding achievements in computer-related
science and technology.'
More
Information
Research
Awards
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Computational Exploration of Molecules in the
context of Biological Pathways Network
Funding Body: National Science
Foundation
PI: Robert Stevens
Award Amount: £13286
Staff
News
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Awards and Promotions
None this week
Academic Arrivals
None this week
Academic Departures
None this week
Research Arrivals
None this week
Research Departures
None this week
Administrative Arrivals
None this week
Administrative Departures
None this week
Sabbatical Leave
Andrei
Voronkov: Microsoft Research, Redmond USA Aug 05 Aug
06.
Ian
Horrocks: University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bell Labs, and Stanford University Feb 06 Sep
06.
Peter
Aczel: Nijmegen University, and Maths Institute at the
University
of Munich Jan 06
Sep 06.
Alasdair
Rawsthorne: 80% secondment to
Transitive Technologies Oct 05 Sep 06.
Alvaro
Fernandes: IBM Almaden Research Centre
US Jul Dec 06.
Vacancies
top
Academic Staff
None
Research Staff
Research Associate in Automated Reasoning and Web
Ontologies
More
Information
Postdoctoral Research Associate/Fellow,
ISBE
More
Information
Academic-Related Staff
Manchester Centre for MesoScience and NanoTechnology:
Senior Experimental Officer and Technical
Director
More
Information
Administrative Staff
None
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