As part of the process of monitoring and reviewing activity within the university, the APR (formerly known as Operational Performance Review) collects large numbers of facts about schools and faculties. Here are several selected figures for Computer Science.

Citation Performance (2006-2010): While analysing citations is a tricky business, and under some headings we benefit from volume, our citations-per-paper figures are looking strong compared with key competitors, and (not shown) are improving over time (we were second to Oxford for 2005-2009).

Institution	Total Sources	Total Citations	Total Uncited	Average Citations
Manchester	480	1450	192	3.02
Oxford	392	1000	179	2.55
Imperial	505	1279	248	2.53
Cambridge	462	1120	229	2.42
UCL	391	893	187	2.28
Edinburgh	365	743	185	2.04

Grant income: Research income figures also have to be treated with caution, as they are subject to timing effects. The pattern here seems to be of reducing research council income (the 2010/11 value is significantly increased by the CDT) and of growing EU Income. Given that our strategy has been to try to grow EU income, the second trend is encouraging. However, the drop in research council income is a worry, perhaps reflecting the fact that traditionally we have had significant income from special initiatives, of which there have been fewer recently.

Year	Research Councils		EU
Year	Number	fEC Value	Number	fEC Value
2010/11	8.9	3,172	6.1	2,293
2009/10	12.2	3,229	2.5	1,308
2008/09	12.0	7,983	4.8	912

Student Staff Ratios: As discussed in the previous newsletter, total cohort sizes are influenced by many factors, including admissions across several years, dropout and transfer rates. The following table shows incrementally growing numbers of taught students, and incrementally reducing staff numbers. Current SSRs for All Students in the faculty vary from 11.6:1 to 23.6:1.

Year	Staff FTE	All Students		Taught Students (UG,PGT)
Year	Staff FTE	FTE	SSR	FTE	SSR
2010/11	58.7	768	13.1 : 1	658	11.2 : 1
2009/10	63.2	761	12.1 : 1	640	10.1 : 1
2008/09	64.3	777	12.1 : 1	636	9.9 : 1

Industry Club Launch Meeting

With the recruitment of graduate Computer Scientists becoming increasingly competitive, the school is seeing a significant rise in the number of companies looking to raise their profile with our students. The industry club is a mechanism for managing the relationship with organisations that are keen to employ our graduates, including opportunities, for example, for participating in networking activities and sponsoring student events. A launch event for the industry club was held in the school on 12^th October, featuring a range of frequent employers of our students (Accenture, AstraZeneca, BBC, Deloitte, IBM, Credit Suisse, etc). The event explored a range of possible mechanisms that may be run through the club, and follow-on actions are now taking place to bring these into being. Thanks to Bernard for having the idea, and leading the process of getting the show on the road.

Events

CS Away Day 4 Nov 11

I am planning an away day for all academic staff and a number of PSS staff in CS on 4^th November 2011. This is the last day of Reading Week and the day after the CS Research Symposium. It is likely to run from mid/late morning until the end of the afternoon and it will not be held very far away. We will be discussing a range of important topics that relate to the future of the School, and the outcome of the day will feed directly into the next School plan. I will provide further details as soon as possible, but in the meantime please could you put this in your diaries. Please could you reply to Lynn Howarth to confirm your attendance or let her know if you are unable to attend.

Best Wishes

Jim Miles

University of Manchester: Headstart 9 11 Nov 11

We are now arranging the ninth running of HEADSTART, the University of Manchester's Leadership Development Programme. Completed applications should be endorsed by the candidate's HOS/line manager and Dean/Director as set out in the brochure link below. Applications should be sent to Emma Rygielska in STDU by 11 November. If a hard copy of this information is required, please contact Emma. If you require any more information about the Headstart programme please contact Paul Dixon.

HEADSTART Distribution Memo (doc) (pdf)

HEADSTART Brochure 2011 (pdf)

HEADSTART 9 APPLICATION FORM (doc) (pdf)

New Funding and Award Opportunities

RAofE - Engineering Enterprise Fellowships 21 Oct 11

The Royal Academy of Engineering has launched a new scheme, Engineering Enterprise Fellowships, which provide funding and support to outstanding entrepreneurial researchers, working in UK Universities, to enable them to spend 12 months developing the commercial potential of their research.

Enterprise Fellowships provide up to £85,000 seed funding, including salary support, to build a commercial enterprise at a UK University.
In addition to the funding, business training is provided to develop skills and masterclasses will be offered using experienced entrepreneurs to supplement the training.

Mentors will be allocated to each Enterprise Fellow to provide support and advice during the Fellowship.

Access will be given to business angels and venture capital networks through the Mentors.

Deadline for applications is Friday 21 October 2011. Further details are available here

Royal Society Research Grants 25 OCT 11

Aim: This scheme provides ‘seed corn' funding for new projects initiated by research scientists at an early stage of their career (within the first 5 years). The objective of the scheme is to increase the availability of specialised equipment, consumable materials and services, and to support essential field research. The scheme also provides support for research in the history of science or to assist with publication of scholarly works in the history of science.
Subjects covered: All areas of the life and physical sciences, including engineering, but excluding clinical medicine. Additionally, the scheme provides support for research in the history of science and we welcome any research proposal or publication in the area of Royal Society history.
Eligibility: Applicants must be resident in the UK. They should have postdoctoral level or equivalent status at the time of the application and have a permanent or a named limited-tenure position in an eligible organisation. An applicant who is a post-doctorate paid by a grant for which someone else is the principal investigator is not eligible. Applicants must play a major part and take a leading role in the project and not make its fulfilment more than marginally dependent on the services of postgraduate/doctoral students. For further information regarding eligibility, please refer to the 2011R2 scheme notes, which will be available on the website when the round opens.

Length of tenure: The grant is for a period of 12 months

Place of tenure: UK University or not-for-profit research organisation (except for Research Council Institutes).

Value: For all subject categories, up to £15,000 (including VAT) is available for the purchase of specialised equipment, essential consumable materials and services. Up to £5,000 (including VAT) is available for the publication of scholarly works in the history of science. For further information regarding admissible costs, please refer to the 2011/R1 scheme notes, which will be available on the website when the round opens.

More Information
Opening date: 30 August 2011
Closing date for approved applications: 25 October 2011

Academy’s Research Fellowship scheme 31 OCT 11

The Academy’s Research Fellowship scheme is now open for applications. In brief, it’s a 5 year fully funded post-doctoral Research Fellowship scheme aimed at the best early career researchers. Applications are welcome from all engineering disciplines and applicants should have up to 3 year’s post-doctoral experience at the time of application.

Full details are available on the website Here

The application and assessment process is the same as last year, being a Stage 1 outline application followed by a Stage 2 full proposal.

Most universities are limited to two applications each, some are allowed 3 based upon past success in the scheme – a list of which universities can submit three applications is on the website.We expect to receive in the region of 80 applications and to award 8 Fellowships.

The submission deadline for Stage 1 is Monday 31 October 2011.

If you have any questions on the scheme please contact either Angus Baker The Academy’s Research Fellowship scheme is now open for applications. In brief, it’s a 5 year fully funded post-doctoral Research Fellowship scheme aimed at the best early career researchers. Applications are welcome from all engineering disciplines and applicants should have up to 3 year’s post-doctoral experience at the time of application.

Full details are available on the website Here

The application and assessment process is the same as last year, being a Stage 1 outline application followed by a Stage 2 full proposal.

Most universities are limited to two applications each, some are allowed 3 based upon past success in the scheme – a list of which universities can submit three applications is on the website. We expect to receive in the region of 80 applications and to award 8 Fellowships.

The submission deadline for Stage 1 is Monday 31 October 2011.

If you have any questions on the scheme please contact either Angus Barker or Rob Barrett

Research Exchanges 4 Nov 11

The next round of the of the Research Exchanges with China and India scheme run by The Royal Academy of Engineering is now due to start. The scheme provides funding to enable researchers in engineering departments at UK universities to spend time at academic centres of excellence in China or India, and academic engineering researchers in China or India to spend time at a UK university. Awards support visits of 3-12 months and should be part of longer-term efforts to build UK-China/India partnerships. The aim of the scheme is to support international research collaborations and strengthen networks of excellence in engineering research. The deadline for applications is 4 November 2011. Please do not hesitate to contact Radhar Babbar if you require any further information or have any queries regarding this scheme. Further information including application forms and notes for guidance are also available at Here

Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Awards 8 Nov 11

Jointly funded by the Wolfson Foundation and BIS, this scheme aims to provide universities with additional support to enable them to attract to this country, or retain, respected scientists of outstanding achievement and potential. Awards are made to the university and as such researchers must remain at the university named on the application.

The focus of the award is a salary enhancement. Research expenses are also considered for research costs not suitable for Research Councils' research grants applications and for overseas applicants to support integration into the UK research and funding environment.

Eligibility: Applicants can be of any nationality and must hold, or be guaranteed, a permanent post at a UK university. All applicants must have their basic salary wholly funded by the university.

Length of tenure: Five years funding after which the award holder continues with the permanent post at the host university.

Place of tenure: UK university. Please note that these awards are made to the host university and cannot be transferred to another university.

Value: Salary enhancements have been made usually in the range of £10K to £30K per annum.

Website link: royalsociety.org/Wolfson-Research-Merit-Awards/

Closing date for approved applications: 08 November 2011

Research Awards and Prize Opportunities

EPSRC Windfall Funding

We have had significant success with our applications to the EPSRC Windfall Funding round:

PI: Uli Sattler, Andy Brass, Bernard Strutt, Steve Furber

Title: Support for the Computer Science Industry Club

Amount: £20,000

PI: Gavin Brown, Mikel Lujan

Title: Machine Learning for Massive Data on many-core Architectures

Amount: £19,396

PI: Tom Thomson, Aravind Vijayaraghavan

Title: Preparation of EU-FP7 Proposals in Magnetism and Graphene

Amount: £14,000

PI: Carole Goble, Simon Harper, Chris Todd

Title: Online Social Support for Cancer Patients and their Families

Amount: £34,035

PI: Chris Taylor, Rob proctor, Iain Buchan

Title: Manchester Informatics: Building mHealth

Amount: £19,618