News from Head of
School
Visit from Harbin Institute of
Technology
On Friday the University was visited by a
delegation from Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), led
by the President of the Institute. They came to sign an agreement to
run joint 2+2 undergraduate courses, and to explore opportunities for more
extensive collaboration. HIT is ranked 4th in
China in CS, and we are
one of five Schools in Manchester where the Institute is
interested in placing a total of 50 students each year. The Head of
their School of Computer Science came to visit us in the
afternoon, together with the Head of their associated School of
Software. They
made an impressive presentation and it seems hopeful that we will be able
to recruit good quality students (both UG and PG) from them if we invest
some effort in building the relationship. There are also significant
opportunities for research collaboration.
RAE Action Plans
I apologise again for the delay in circulating
full information regarding RAE action plans. Many thanks to those of
you who have already responded. A gentle reminder to those who have
not got around to doing so yet. One point of clarification: the
message setting out the details was sent to all members of academic staff;
it included the request that it should be passed on to RAs and RFs who are
independent researchers, potentially returnable in RAE 2008. If you
fall in that category, and have not yet received the details, please email
Lynn, who will supply them directly.
School Best Thesis
Prize
Nominations are invited for the School Best PhD
Thesis Prize. This competition will also be used to shortlist
nominations for the CPHC/BCS Distinguished Dissertation prize.
Please check the rules for the School competition, which can be found at
http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/researchs/prizes.php,
and send the necessary documentation to Janet Boyd in the PG office by 2nd March
2006.
Computer Vision for 3D Studio Production
New
22 Feb 06
Professor Adrian Hilton. University of Surrey
1415 – 1515, Lecture Theatre 1.5,
Kilburn
Building
More
Information
“Red Fields” (Mathematical Logic)
New
24 Feb 06
On work with Baudisch and
Martin-Pizarro which applies the Hrushovski-Fraisse amalgamation procedure
to obtain a theory of fields, of prime characteristic of Morley rank 2,
equipped with a definable additive subgroup of rank
1.
Martin Ziegler, University of Freiburg
1600 – 1700, Newman Building G.16
More
Information
Biomedical Resources for Text
Mining
23 Feb 06
Dr Olivier Bodenreider, NIH, National Library of
Medicine
1300 – 1400, H11 lecture theatre, Renold Building
More
Information
Storage Request Broker (SRB)
New
24 Feb 06
Dr Tom Jackson,
Department of Computer Science, University of York
1200 – 1300, Atlas 1, Kilburn Building, School of Computer Science
More
Information
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
Dancing the
Molecules
20 Feb 06
Bringing Molecular Biology to
Life and Systems Biology to Practice
Inaugural Lecture of Professor Hans Westerhoff
1700
Reception, 1800 Lecture, Renold Building, Lecture Room C9
More
Information and Register to
Attend
On-line Education New
21 Feb 06
Developing and Implementing a
School Strategy for On-line Education
Andy Hall & Rod Cullen, Teaching Research and
Development Network
1200 – 1345 (lunch provided), Committee Room A,
Whitworth Corridor
Please email trdn@manchester.ac.uk
to register.
Natural Step Framework of Sustainability
New
22 Feb 06
Learn
how to teach the principles of sustainability to your students using the
Natural Step framework http://www.naturalstep.org.uk
Joanne
Tippett, School of Environment and Development
A Centre for
Excellence in Enquiry Based Learning event
1300 – 1700 (lunch provided), C24
Sackville Street Building
Please email adele.aubrey@manchester.ac.uk
to register.
Industrial Funding for
Research
23 Feb 06
Barriers and Incentives to
Working in the UK
The University is hosting the first of
a number of national events sponsored by the Royal Academy of Engineering
to debate the climate for industrial research funding in the UK, with the aim of influencing
future Government policy. The event will be led by Mr John
Baxter FREng, Chief Engineer with BP, with a series of talks from leading
industrialists, ranging from multinationals (eg AstraZeneca) to university
spinouts.
0930 – 1600, Manchester Conference
Centre
More
Information
BBSRC Workshops on Research Funding
New
1 Mar 06
The BBSRC Head of Grants and Awards and his team
are visiting the University and will present a series of workshops for
Administrators and researchers covering the following
areas:
·
fEC and the
peer review process / committee structure;
·
post award
management of grants - good practice tips;
·
pre-award
and grant application issues, JeS and cross-council
harmonization.
To register for one or all of the above sessions
please send an email stating the session(s) you wish to attend to: edsmail@manchester.ac.uk
BBSRC Regional Roadshow New
2 Mar 06
Manchester Conference Centre
More
Information
North
West Grid
Workshop: Bioinformatics and the Grid
20 Mar 06
E-Science North West (ESNW)
& NW Institute for Bio-Health Informatics (NIBHI)
0930 – 1615,
Atlas 1&2.
Email name and
organisation to castreos@manchester.ac.uk to
register
More
Information
Enabling a Business Process
Revolution
21 Mar 06
Irving Wladawsky-Berger, IBM Vice
President, Technical Strategy and Innovation.
A digital revolution, led
by continuing advances in IT, and an Internet revolution, born of open
standards, are begetting a business process revolution. It, in turn, is
creating conditions for a “perfect storm” of collaborative innovation with
the potential to restructure individual enterprises and entire industries,
perhaps even entire economies.
To find out
more and to register to attend the lecture please visit
Website
Grantsmanship Training sessions
New
6 & 7 April 06
Grantsmanship courses are organised by Faculty,
but run by EPSRC. The last set of these were attended by some of our staff
who found them very useful - especially the mock panel sessions. The
courses are also very popular, so if you would like to attend I would
suggest you put your name forward asap to avoid disappointment. They
are aimed at new staff (young as well as recent appointments who are new
to the UK) and established members of
staff who have not had any recent interaction with the EPSRC, either as
applicants, grant holders or referees/panel members.
Email louise.rogers@manchester.ac.uk
if you wish to attend
EPSRC Public Engagement
Workshops
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
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 Conference
Grants
01 Mar 06
The Conference grants scheme supports UK based scientists to either
present their own paper/poster or chair a session at an overseas
conference.
Subjects covered:Conferences related to all sciences, ie
the disciplines in which the Society will elect researchers to the
Fellowship of the Royal Society (for further details see the sectional
committee information on RS website).
More
Information
Fellowships at the Life Sciences/Physical Sciences
Interface
3 Mar 06
In recognition of the importance of
cross-disciplinary approaches across the Life Sciences, our Faculty has
established 3 new (5 year) fellowships at the Life Sciences/Physical
Sciences Interface. We wish to appoint exceptional researchers with a
proven background in mathematics, computer science, chemistry, physics, or
engineering, who have successfully applied these skills to address a
biological problem. Each fellowship will cover the salary of the fellow
for 5 years, and will allow them to attract external funding during the
tenure of the fellowship to establish their independent
laboratory.
More
Information
Royal Society Research
Grants
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
Royal
Society Wolfson Research Merit
Awards
27 April 06
Jointly funded by the Wolfson Foundation and the
Office of Science and Technology, this scheme aims to give universities
additional support to attract key researchers, with great potential or
outstanding achievement, to this country or to retain those who might seek
to gain higher salaries elsewhere. The focus of the award is 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 theUK research and funding
environment.
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.
BCS Distinguished Dissertations
New
10 April 06
The Conference of Professors and Heads of
Computing (CPHC), in conjunction with the British Computer Society (BCS),
annually selects for publication the best British PhD/DPhil dissertations
in computer science. The scheme aims to make more visible the
significant contribution made by Britain – in particular by
post-graduate students – to computer science.
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 200,000 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
None this week
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.
Academic Staff
None
Research Staff
None
Administrative Staff
None |