From: Chris Taylor
Sent: 09 June 2008 11:05
To: 'newsletter@cs.man.ac'
Subject: CS_Newsletter_2008-06-09.doc
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MANCHESTER

           1824

School of Computer Science

Weekly Newsletter

9 June 2008

Contents

News from HoS

This Week

School Events

External Events

Funding Opps

Prize & Award Opps

Research Awards

Staff News

Vacancies

 

Links

News Submissions

Newsletter Archive

School Strategy

School Intranet

School Seminars

ESNW Seminars

NaCTeM Seminars

 

News from Head of School

School Away Days

First, this is a reminder that most members of academic staff should have the School Away Days, in Buxton on the 7th– 8th July, firmly in their diaries.  It is also timely to give you an update on the programme.  Although we plan to spend most of the time on research, we will also devote time to discussing how we should respond to the recommendations of the University Review of UG Education – a major initiative that will set the context for our own teaching and learning activities over the next few years.  As background you should read the Interim Report that was consider by Senate at its meeting on the 6th February 2008, and the Minutes of that meeting.  This means that some teaching-only/mainly staff who might otherwise not have attended should come to that part of the proceedings.  More detail will follow as soon as possible.

Graduation Ceremonies – Another Reminder

Once again I’d like to ask staff to sign up to join the platform party for the graduation ceremonies in July.  I am sure you are all aware how much our graduands and their parents appreciate staff making the effort to help celebrate this special event, and I would like to encourage all academic staff to consider making the time to get involved. You don’t need to have any special connection with the cohort of graduating students, all are welcome.  I’d particularly like to encourage ex-SOI staff to consider signing up for both the ceremonies at which their former students will be graduating.  The CS ceremony (including some former Informatics students) is at 1430, Thursday 17th July, with a reception in the School pencilled in for 1200 (to be confirmed asap).  The MBS ceremony (including some former Informatics students) is at 1230, Friday 18th July, followed by a reception (details to follow).  Each ceremony is likely to last about an hour.  If you are able to help, please contact Kath Mullins as soon as possible and ideally by no later than 17th June.  For free hire of academic dress, you will need to provide your highest degree title, the University where it was obtained and, for PhDs, the awarding Faculty.  You will also need to provide your height and hat size.

 

Events this Week                                                              top

Theory and Practice of Computer Graphics                                       9-11 Jun 08

Presented by the UK Chapter of the Eurographics Association (EGUK)

The 26th Conference organised by the UK chapter of the Eurographics Association will be the sixth Theory and Practice of Computer Graphics 2008 Conference (TP.CG.08). All accepted papers will be published by Eurographics and held on the Digital Library, and will be available at the conference.

Venue: Alan Turing Building

More Information

Arts meets Science, Science meets Art                                                   10 Jun 08

A series of free Roberts funded summer seminars for postgraduate research students.  These seminars have been organised by the Graduate Education Team and Jodrell bank and are open to research students from the University of Manchester. The series of seminars will explore collaborations across the Arts, Humanities and Sciences. Students are also invited to provide posters about their own cross-disciplinary work. Further events in the series are planned for 15th July and 23rd September.

More information

NaCTeM Seminar New                                                                                   11 Jun 08

Porting a Lexicalized-Grammar Parser to the Biomedical Domain

Dr Stephen Clark, Oxford University Computing Laboratory

1400, LG.010 in the MIB building

More information

VEs – Illusion and Presence New                                                               11 Jun 08

With views from Mary Whitton, University of North Carolina; Roger Hubbold, University of Manchester; Anthony Steed, UCL and others.

Part of the SIGGRAPH series

1400, 1.10 Kilburn

More information

NaCTeM seminar New                                                                                   12 Jun 08

Information Retrieval: from focused to aggregated answers

Professor Mounia Lalmas, Queen Mary, University of London

1400, LG.010 in the MIB building

More information

Pathways – Career Options for PhDs and Research Staff        13 & 16 Jun 08

Following the success of last year's inaugural University of Manchester PhD careers event, we are once again collaborating this year across the University to run a two day event to support all PhDs and research staff in their career choices.  The event will provide access both to recruitment experts and to individuals who have moved on from University research posts in the past 10 years.  There will also be workshops providing practical advice on finding and winning the right job (academic and non-academic). Details and online registration are now available, and places are limited. 

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                                                       top

School BBQ                                                                                                        4 Jul 08

We have special reason to celebrate this year at the School BBQ because 2008  is the 60th anniversary of the building of the world’s first programmable computer.  Details to follow.

School Away Days                                                                                     7 & 8 Jul 08

The event will take place at The Palace Hotel, Buxton and will run from approximately 0930 on 7th to 1700 on 8th July, with a reception, dinner and accommodation provided on the first evening.  The main focus will be on research, but we will also spend time considering how we should respond to the recommendations of the University Review of UG Education.

UG & PG Graduation Ceremony                                                                  17 Jul 08

The graduation ceremony for undergraduate and postgraduate students will take place on Thursday 17th July at 2.30pm. A light lunch and drinks will be served from 1215 and prize-giving will be at 1300.  Any members of staff who have been involved in teaching the former Informatics programmes are also invited to attend the MBS ceremony and reception which will take place on 18th July.  Their ceremony is at 1230pm followed by a drinks reception from 1400-1530.  Please contact Katherine Lloyd for further details.

Visit from Professor Nancy Rothwell                                                         24 Jul 08

Please make a note of this date in your diary.  The Deputy President will be visiting the School, and would welcome the opportunity to discuss with staff, in an open meeting, the University’s progress towards achieving its 2015 goals.

1315-1400, IT 407

School Board Dates

Wednesday 2nd July 2008 (Resources Report)

All meetings take place 1530-1700 in IT 407.

 

Future External Events                                                     top

Research to Enterprise Summit                                                                 17 Jun 08

Research to Enterprise is an exciting event, organised by MSEC (Manchester Science Enterprise Centre) and funded by EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council), designed to raise the profile of enterprise at the University of Manchester. Research to Enterprise will be an opportunity for researchers in all faculties, whether at postgraduate, postdoctoral or staff level to be inspired to become more enterprising in whatever their career holds for them in the future be it academia, industry or in starting their own business.  Alasdair Rawsthorne is one of the guest speakers.  To book, please contact Claire Gill.

Bike2Work Day                                                                                               18 Jun 08

If you are interested in cycling to work but perhaps don't know of a good route, or are nervous about cycling alone in traffic, you now have an opportunity to try it out.  Wednesday 18th June is Bike2Work Day and cyclists from the ‘HEP' institutions are organising a number of rides to work in the morning from around Manchester, arriving at the new Bridgeford Street Bike Park at around 8:30am.

More Information

Arts meets Science, Science meets Art                                      15 Jul, 23 Sep 08

A series of free Roberts funded summer seminars for postgraduate research students.  These seminars have been organised by the Graduate Education Team and Jodrell bank and are open to research students from the University of Manchester. The series of seminars will explore collaborations across the Arts, Humanities and Sciences. Students are also invited to provide posters about their own cross-disciplinary work.

More information

Manchester Parallel Programming Summer School Cancelled  11-22 Aug 08

Run by RCS, this annual summer school aims to teach you all you need to know to start writing your own parallel code in MPI or OpenMP. If you are new to scientific programming (Fortran or C) you can attend the Fortran course prior to the summer school.

More Information & registration

BCS International Academic Research Conference                      22-24 Sep 08

Visions of Computer Science - Preliminary Call for Papers and Participation

The British Computer Society is launching its first International Academic Conference. Full paper submissions are being solicited in all areas of research covering the broad field of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE). The conference will be organized in sessions and mini-tracks, each devoted to a theme or area, and will include a small number of invited presentations.  The topics included are deliberately broad to reflect the rich texture and intellectual vigor of CSE.  Venue: Imperial College London

More Information

 

Funding Opportunities                                                      top

Industrial Secondment Scheme                                                                        Open

The Industrial Secondment Scheme provides an invaluable opportunity for engineering teaching staff in Higher Education institutions 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 organization which gains a temporary but highly qualified member of staff, and to the university which has the opportunity of strengthening its links with industry.

More Information

UoM Knowledge Transfer Challenge                                                               Open

The KT Challenge offers small grants for concept studies and feasibility studies. If you are interested in developing ideas in collaboration with an industrial partner – developing new technology, or applying existing technology in an industrial setting – please contact Constantinos Astreos.

EPSRC Encouraging Postdoctoral Mobility Between Disciplines           Open

EPSRC would like to encourage the transfer of outputs of research between different research disciplines as well as aiding the career development of EPSRC funded PDRAs. In the first instance an extra year of support will be offered. Transfers between the engineering and physical science disciplines and the life sciences are encouraged.  There are no closing dates for proposals.

More Information

EPSRC ICT Platform Grants                                                                               Open

EPSRC invites outline proposals for its information and communication technology platform grants. Platform grants aim to provide world-leading UK groups with continuity of funding for strategic development, longer-term research and international networking.

More Information

Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chairs                                        Open

Full-time professorial appointments, in any engineering-related subject. The academy particularly welcomes proposals of a multidisciplinary nature. Funding is provided for 5 years.

More Information

RAEng Industrial Secondment Scheme                                                          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

EPSRC Engineering Visits                                                                                  Open

Support for salary costs and travel subsistence for scientists and engineers of acknowledged standing, either from within the UK or abroad, to visit the investigator's organisation.

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.

 

None currently open

 

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

Alasdair Rawsthorne: 80% secondment to Transitive Technologies
Oct 07 – Sep 08.

 

Steve Pettifer: Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre

Academic year 2007/2008

 

Robert Stevens: Web Intelligence Technologies Lab, Natural Language processing Group, Department of CS, University of Sheffield.

Semester two 2007/08

Plus short-term visits to: The text-mining group at the European bioinformatics Group & The bio-Technology Group at the Technical University of Dresden

 

Renate Schmidt: NICTA, Australian National University, Canberra

February – Mid-Sep 2008

 

Vacancies                                                                           top

Academic Staff

None

Research & Technical Staff

None

Management & Professional Staff

None

Administrative Staff

None