News from Head of School
Following on from the earlier news on hardware
procurement, here is an update from the Information Systems Team on progress
with installation.
- Work
is nearing completion on the installation of a new webmail service for
the students. We are going to trial two pieces of free software,
Squirrel mail and RoundCube mail. These will be run on a virtualised
server and we will be looking for feedback on their suitability. (Approx
one week to completion).
- LDAP,
a replacement for the Sun Network Information System, is now running the
authentication service on the Linux PCs in the teaching labs. There is
still some work to be done to have it fully operational in the
generation of the students email aliases and mailing lists. The new
student file servers, which are reliant on this new service, will be
online shortly and a new format csinfo utility will be available soon.
(Approx Easter for completion).
- The
student printing service had been upgraded to the latest version of CUPS
(Unix printing service) and is now operational.
- The
Mac backup server is up and going. It requires extra disk storage before
it can realistically be used to back up the desktops/laptops used within
the school.
- A
new staff printing server should come online during the Easter Vacation.
- The
new backup server and tape jukebox are online and successfully being
used.
- A
project to improve/replace our internal Ethernet network is progressing
well. (Approx completion 2010).
- The
web server restructuring project is ongoing. Csonly is now available
offsite.
- A
web based library database is due to be rolled out in the summer of this
year.
- The
old Windows NT network domains used in the teaching labs and for some of
the admin staff (winnie and mucs) will be replaced by Microsoft Active
Directory. (Approx Summer for completion).
Mike Keeley
Events
Proving that programs eventually do something good 10 Mar 10
Dr Byron Cook. Microsoft Research
14:15, Lecture Theatre 1.4, Kilburn building
Seminar page
Open meeting – Insight in to the Higher Education
Academy 10 Mar 10
John Pritchard, Assistant Director (Institutions) will be
holding an open meeting for Manchester
staff from 10.30 – 11.30 am on 10th March, 2010. He will be giving
an overview of the role of the Academy, its mission, and the role of the
subject centres, and taking questions. This is a great opportunity to find
out how you can get involved in the work of the Academy, how you can receive
accreditation for your teaching and learning practice, and how the Academy
can help you in your professional development.
If you would like to attend please register your interest
with Emma Stonier in the
Teaching and Learning Support Office and you’ll be sent more information when
the details are confirmed.
Royal Academy
of Engineering Regional
Lecture 11
Mar 10
18:00, Lecture Theatre C9 Renold Building followed by a
Reception at 19.00
Keith Ridgway OBE FREng, Research Director and HEFCE
Business Fellow, Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing at Sheffield University.
The talk will examine the challenges facing manufacturing
engineers when producing high-value products and components. The
presentation will demonstrate how technology can be used to address these
challenges and produce these items better, cheaper, faster and greener.
Admission free. Email Sue Neesham for further
information.
Preconditioners 12
Mar 10
Performance of iterative solves with a novel
Gauss-Seidel-type preconditioner
Prof. Seiji Fujino.
Kyushu University,
Japan
16:00, Room 1.212, Alan Turing
Building
The OpenCL language and DX11 class GPUs 15 Mar
10
Dr Lee Howes. AMD, California.
14:00, Atlas 1, Kilburn
Building.
Presentation by the European Patent Office 22
Mar 10
10:00, Room C18, Ferranti building
Mr. Yannis Skulikaris and Ms Dafni Koutsorodis from the
European Patent Office will give a presentation on the role of the EPO. The
presentation will be illustrated with case studies on the granting and
refusal of patents for inventions in engineering and physical sciences. This
presentation is specifically tailored for academics.
Computational Science Open Meeting 25
Mar 10
10:00-14:00, Atlas rooms, Kilburn Building
Please register
your place. Lunch will be provided
after the meeting, please indicate on the form if you require lunch. Email Manchester Informatics Admin with
any queries.
Energy Institute Event 25
Mar 10
LED Lighting Developments
Colin Pearce, Lighting Engineer, Philips Solid
State Lighting
18:30, Room 1.218, University Place
Colin, a qualified lighting engineer with over 20 years
experience in the lighting industry, will provide an overview of the latest
lighting developments using LED (light emitting diode) technology. Both
energy and cost savings are achievable in all types of businesses including
offices, industrial, retail and public sector. This presentation will
highlight examples of both interior and exterior uses including what options
are available and the potential energy savings achieved with new equipment.
Operational samples of some of the LED products will also be on display to
enable comparison between LED and tungsten lamps.
Funding Opportunities
BBSRC Fellowships Call for Proposals Mar & May 10 deadlines
Enterprise Fellowships
BBSRC and The Royal Society of Edinburgh seek proposals to the Enterprise
Fellowships scheme to support researchers who wish to play a key role in the
commercialisation of their research. The Fellowships provide salary and formal
business training, allowing the Fellows to focus on developing the commercial
potential of their research over a 12-month period.
The Fellowships are available to academic staff, research staff and
postgraduates with relevant experience employed by a UK Higher Education
Institution or a BBSRC-sponsored Research Institute. The business idea may be
in any area within BBSRC's remit provided the original research was largely
funded through the Research Council.
The next closing date for applications is 5pm on *4 May 2010*. Interviews will take place in early 2010
and Fellowships are expected to start in October 2010.
Further
information
Industry Fellowships
The Industry Fellowship scheme promotes collaboration between the UK
science base and industry by supporting the exchange of mid-career
researchers either from the science base to industry or vice-versa. The
Fellowships are administered by the Royal Society, co-sponsored by the BBSRC
and BBSRC Institute employees are now eligible to apply for a fellowship. The
scheme has successfully supported researchers in the biosciences and has
involved a range of industry sectors, from large pharmaceutical companies to
Biotech SMEs.
The deadline for applications for the next round of funding is *24 March
2010*.
Further
information
Royal Society Call for Proposals: International
Joint Projects 25 Mar 10
The Royal Society
International Joint Project programme is designed to enable international
collaboration by providing a mobility grant for researchers and members of
their research teams to cover travel, subsistence and research expenses. It
also aims to provide seed money for research that will lead to further
collaboration and greater funding in the future from larger funding bodies.
*Subjects Covered:* All areas of the life and physical sciences,
including engineering, but excluding clinical medicine.
*Eligibility:*
The Project Leaders must be from academia, of at least postdoctoral status or
equivalent and hold a permanent or fixed-term contract in an eligible
organisation which, if it is the latter, continues at least for the duration
of the project. Collaborations should be based on a single project including
two teams or individuals: one based in the UK
and the other based outside the UK. A relationship between both
parties should already be established prior to making an application and the
collaboration should involve bilateral visits between the UK and the
country with which the overseas collaborator is based.
*Length of Tenure:* 2 years
*Value of Grant:*
Up to £6000 a year for 2 years for travel and subsistence. Within the £6000
available each year, up to £1000 can be used for research expenses (excluding
computer hardware).
*Countries covered:*
Currently Joint Projects are available to those in European and Former Soviet
Union countries, China, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Ghana,
Tanzania, South Africa and certain countries in Latin America. Please check
appendix 2 of the scheme notes for eligible countries.
More information
Royal Society Call for Proposals: International
Travel Grants 31 May 10
The International
Travel Grants scheme enables UK scientists to engage in collaborations with
overseas scientists in order to explore opportunities for building lasting
networks or participate (excludes organising/selection committee and
poster contributions) in overseas conferences, workshops and seminars which
are of particular strategic importance in order to engage with scientists
(available to UK scientists only). The International Travel Grant
Scheme is available for all countries outside of the UK.
Eligibility: Conference participation applications must have confirmation of
their invitation or acceptance of oral paper presentation. Collaboration
applications must have a letter of support from the host Head of Department. UK based scientist must hold a fixed or
permanent contract at an eligible UK institution. Scientists must
have completed their PhD or have extensive experience at an equivalent level.
Only one application can be submitted per round.
Length of tenure: Lasting up to 12 weeks (except in the case of UK applicants
presenting at overseas conferences, workshops and seminars, in which case the
maximum duration of award is 10 days).
Value: A maximum of £4000 is available for activities.
More information
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