MANCHESTER

           1824

School of Computer Science

Weekly Newsletter

30th January 2006

Contents

News from HoS

Seminars

Internal Meetings

Events Calendar

Funding Opps

Prize & Award Opps

Research Awards

Staff News

Vacancies

 

Links

Newsletter Archive

School Strategy

School Intranet

School Seminars

ENSW Seminars

NaCTeM Seminars

 

News from Head of School

Turing Lecture

Congratulations to all those involved in organising the Manchester Turing Lecture, which we hosted last Wednesday.  The event, which was sponsored by BCS, IEE, and IBM, was a great success, and provided us with an excellent opportunity to raise the profile of both the School and the University.  Chris Mairs provided a fascinating insight into the not-always-positive impact of technology on the disabled and sent us all away to think again.  The organisation was impeccable, with outstanding attention to detail.  Many thanks to Bernard and particularly to Mahalia for all their hard work in making this a success, and to everyone else who contributed.  We know that the sponsors were also extremely pleased with the event, and hope that this will help to establish Manchester as a permanent venue for the lecture.

IBM Partnerships

You will probably remember a previous item about the new UoM-IBM Partnership scheme, encouraging you to think about submitting proposals by the deadline in early December.  Unfortunately, we only managed to secure one partnership in the first round (congratulations to Kung-Kiu Lau), whereas Informatics was successful with several.  Given the importance we attach to engagement with industry, this seems like a missed opportunity.  The partnerships do not carry any funding, but provide an opportunity to build relationships that will inform our research and may lead to funding opportunities in the future.  The good news is that, now the initial cohort of partners has been agreed, we can come forward with new proposals at any time.  Trevor Hopkins, our School contact at IBM, is happy to discuss ideas at an early stage, and will help us find suitable partners within IBM.  If you have any ideas, please keep Steve Furber and Bernard Strutt in the loop.

Seminars                                                                            top

The School Seminar Series resumes on the 8th Feb

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.

Internal Meetings and Events                                            top

School Board                                                                                           Wed 1 Feb 06

Any items for the agenda to Iain Hart
1530-1700, IT407

Developing an Academic Portfolio New                                                    31 Jan 06

What is an academic portfolio?  Why do I need one?  These are the sort of questions that we shall try to answer at this lunchtime session, presented by Bland Tomkinson (University Advisor for Pedagogic Development).  Portfolios are increasingly used by universities around the world, often for the purposes of tenure and promotion, but they can also be used for personal development.  Are these two purposes compatible?  The short answer is 'Yes' but we can explore the ways in which to make it a reality.  Please book at least two days in advance (for catering purposes) by emailing: eps-tsu@manchester.ac.uk

1200-1330, Whitworth Council Chamber

More information on this and other Teaching Support Unit Events

Events Calendar                                                                 top

BBSRC Open Meeting 2006                                                                         20 Feb 06

At BBSRC's second Open Meeting, facilitated by Nick Ross, Julia Goodfellow will invite discussion on the Council’s current and future scientific priorities, and views on how best it can work with industry. Questions will also be welcomed on any aspect of BBSRC’s policies, either raised on the day, or submitted in advance to maggie.leggett@bbsrc.ac.uk.  Entrance free but tickets required.
1600-1830, Manchester Town Hall, tickets from diane.sly@bbsrc.ac.uk.

More Information

EPSRC Public Engagement Workshops                                    8 Feb & 9 Mar 06

Introducing PE to ‘virgins’ and passing on best practice.  Space limited.
More information and registration.

Genomes to Systems Conference                                                       22-24 Mar 06

An important conference concerning the latest concepts and breakthroughs in genomics and systems biology.  Discounted registration before 31 Dec 05.
More Information

BCS/IEE Accreditation Visit                                                                   18-19 May 06

Those who will definitely need to be involved should already know and have these dates in their diaries, but could all staff involved in teaching please note the dates and try to ensure they will be available if required.

Funding Opportunities                                                       top

Data & Content Storage, Management, Retrieval & Analysis             31 Jan 06

Funding is available from the DTI to support Collaborative Research and Development projects that address innovations in the systems issues associated with the management, storage, retrieval, presentation and interpretation of high volumes of data, to help mitigate the technical risks and uncertainties associated with the development of new information storage technologies.

More Information

Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences                                31 Jan 06

Call for Proposals.  The Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences is a national research institute in Cambridge. It aims to bring mathematical scientists from UK universities and leading experts from overseas together for concentrated research on specialised topics in all branches of the mathematical sciences from pure mathematics, applied mathematics, and statistics, to engineering, computer science, theoretical physics and mathematical biology.  The Institute now invites new proposals for programmes for 2008 onwards.

More Information

BBSRC International Scientific Interchange Scheme (ISIS)                       Open

BBSRC's International Scientific Interchange Scheme (ISIS) provides support to help scientists make and establish new contacts with their international counterparts. Funding is available to BBSRC grantholders, and researchers working on BBSRC-supported projects at BBSRC-sponsored Institutes for travel and subsistence for three main types of visit. The scheme is open to bids at any time (at least 6 weeks before travel) with payments being made in advance of any visits. Please note BBSRC-supported students are not eligible to travel under ISIS support.

More Information

Royal Commission Research Fellowships                                             23 Feb 06

The scheme of 1851 Research Fellowships is intended to give a few young scientists or engineers of exceptional promise the opportunity for conducting research for a further period of two years. Approximately six awards are made each year. Candidates in science subjects must normally be in possession of a PhD degree, or in the final stages of their PhD studies. 
The Fellowships are open to candidates in any of the physical or biological sciences, in mathematics, in applied science, or in any branch of engineering.

More Information

Royal Society Research Grants New                                                          4 April 06

The Research grants scheme provides seed-corn funding for new projects of timeliness and promise initiated by research scientists at an early stage of their career or by established scientists wishing to change the direction of their research.  The objectives of the scheme are to increase the availability of equipment and consumables for high quality research.

More Information

RAEng Industrial Secondment Scheme                                                           Open

The Industrial Secondment Scheme provides an invaluable opportunity for university lecturers in engineering to gain state-of-the-art industrial experience.
Applicable to engineers of all disciplines, the Scheme's objective is to enable the secondees to impart the fruits of this experience to their students through teaching, through case studies using up-to-date material and, in the longer term, through course design. The benefits also accrue to the host organisation which gains a temporary but highly qualified member of staff, and to the university which has the opportunity of strengthening its links with industry. The Scheme provides funding for the university to employ a temporary replacement for the secondee. In this way it minimises the effects on the normal flow of teaching, and makes it easier for universities to release members of staff for secondment. The Scheme has also been well received by industry, and many organisations have indicated a willingness to offer places to engineering academics: where possible The Royal Academy of Engineering helps in the 'matchmaking process'.

More Information

Royal Academy of Engineering Global Research Awards

Global Research Awards provide an opportunity for engineers currently engaged in research and development to undertake projects in centres of excellence overseas. Projects should focus on activities which could help stimulate wealth creation and improvements in the quality of life, supporting the international development of research networks and encouraging the uptake of globally competitive technology in the UK.

More Information

Prize and Award Opportunities                                         top

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.

MacRobert Award for innovation in engineering                                   31 Jan 06

The Award, first presented in 1969, honours the winner company with a gold medal and the team members with a prize of £50,000. The presentation of the Award recognises the successful development of innovative ideas in engineering. It seeks to demonstrate the importance of engineering and the role of engineers and scientists in contributing to national prosperity and international prestige.

More Information

IEEE Internet Award                                                                                       31 Jan 06

The IEEE Internet Award was established by the IEEE Board of Directors in June of 1999. It is presented annually for exceptional contributions to the advancement of Internet technology for network architecture, mobility and/or end-use applications. This award can be given to an individual or team of up to three.

More Information

The IEEE Koji Kobayashi Award                                                                31 Jan 06

The IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communications Award was established by the IEEE Board of Directors in 1986 for outstanding contributions to the integration of computers and communications. This award can be given to an individual, multiple recipients, or a team.

More Information

The IEEE Emanuel R Piore Award                                                            31 Jan  06

The IEEE Emanuel R. Piore award is presented annually to an individual, or team of two individuals, for outstanding contributions in the field of information processing, in relation to computer science, deemed to have contributed significantly to the advancement of science and to the betterment of society.

More Information

UK National Science Week 2006 – Nominations New                           17 Feb 06

Young researchers in science, engineering and technology (SET) are invited to participate in the annual presentations in the House of Commons that have been a feature of National Science Week since 1999.  Successful applicants present posters at Westminster on "leading-edge" science, engineering, medicine and technology research, and compete for prestigious national awards and prizes.  This year’s event is sponsored by Dr Brian Iddon MP.  This is an opportunity to strengthen your CV, whilst helping to communicate the importance and excellence of UK SET to MPs and ministers.  The event will take place in the House of Commons on 13th March 2006 with separate lunchtime and evening presentations.

More Information

René Descartes Prizes 2006                                                                         4 May 06

The European Commission is inviting proposals under its framework 6 science and society programme for Rene Descartes prizes. These are to recognise excellence in research and science communication. Prizes for research will be at least 200000 euros each, and projects must include legal entities from 2 different member or associated states, and include at least one member state or associated candidate country.

More Information

Research Awards                                                               top

None this week

Staff News                                                                           top

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

None

Administrative Staff

None