News from Head of
School
Distinguished Dissertation
Success
Many congratulations to Paolo Missier who has just
been announced as runner up in the highly competitive CPHC/BCS
Distinguished Dissertation competition. Following rigorous review,
with input from international experts, his thesis on Modelling and Computing the Quality of
Information in e-Science was judged to be one of three
outstanding postgraduate student contributions to computer science during
the past year. The award will be presented at a formal ceremony in
November, and the thesis will be published on the BCS website.
Congratulations also to Suzanne Embury who was Paolo’s main PhD
supervisor, and to Alvaro Fernandes who has worked hard to improve our
profile in the competition. More information.
Food for Thought
Last week I reported very positive news on student
admissions and, in the week that abstract numbers begin to turn into real
students, I would like to repeat my congratulations to all
concerned. Unfortunately, other student-related news this week has
not been so positive. First, following the results of resits, we now
know what proportion of UG students who started last autumn will progress
to their second year. The answer is a very disappointing 66% – a
result that we cannot begin to consider acceptable. Close on the
heels of this news, we received a summary of our results in the National
Student Survey. These showed a significant drop in Manchester CS
student satisfaction in almost every category, making our results amongst
the worst both in the Faculty and within the discipline nationally.
It does not require much imagination to see a potential causal link.
We need to react in a measured way, seeking to understand, in as much
detail as possible, what exactly has happened, and taking considered
action to improve our performance. I know how hard most of you work
to promote excellence in our teaching, and it is clear that it will be
possible, to some extent, to ‘explain away’ these outcomes, but it is
equally clear that we have a serious and deep-seated problem that we need
to address.
This week we will be ‘welcoming’ a new
cohort of students. As a start, I suggest that we all pay special
attention to making them actually feel welcome and valued – using
tutorials and other opportunities for contact to help create a caring and
supportive environment. It is easy to become cynical, but our
students are the lifeblood of the School and we neglect them at our
peril.
Chair of School Board
The School Board is in
need of a new Chair – as an honorary member of staff Mary McGee Wood is
still a member of the Board, but it would not be appropriate for her to
continue as Chair. Nominations/ offers/ enquiries to Mary, please – by
Monday 29 September, if possible, so we can elect/ approve/install the new
Chair at the meeting on 1 October.
Events this
Week
top
Arts meets Science, Science meets
Art
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
BCS International Academic Research
Conference
22-24 Sep 08
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
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 Board Dates
1 October - Budget Report
and Dean attending
26 November - UG Report
4 February - PG Report
25 March - External Affairs Report
6 May - Research Report
1
July - Resources Report
All meetings take place 1530-1700 in IT
407.
Future
External
Events
top
University's Foundation Day Lecture
New
8 Oct 08
Professor Joe Stiglitz, Chair, Brooks World
Poverty Institute.
As you may be aware, the University marks its
foundation each year with a Foundation Lecture given by someone of
renown. The President and Vice-Chancellor would like to invite as
many members of staff as possible from across the University to attend
this prestigious event. If you are interested in attending, please
request a ticket by emailing Lesley
Sisson
Funding
Opportunities
top
EPSRC
Postdoctoral Fellowships Call
2008
30 Sep 08
EPSRC are offering Postdoctoral Fellowships in
theoretical physics, theoretical computer sciences, mathematical sciences
and life sciences interface to enable the most talented new researchers to
establish an independent research career, shortly or immediately after
completing a PhD. The awards are for a period of up to three years
and primarily cover the salary costs of the Fellow, travel and
subsistence.
More
Information
RAEng - Leverhulme Trust Senior Research
Fellowships New 14 Nov 08
These Fellowships provide an opportunity for
mid-career academics based in UK universities to be relieved
of their administrative and teaching responsibilities, for between one
academic term and a year, in order to concentrate on full-time research in
any engineering discipline. The award provides a grant to cover the
cost of a replacement member of staff for the period of the Fellowship to
carry out the teaching and administrative responsibilities of the
researcher. A support fund of up to £2,500 is also available as part of
the Fellowship.
More
Information
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
SCweb2
Funding Body: The
Leverhulme Trust
PI: Simon Harper
Award Amount:
£112187
Machine Learning for Thread Level
Speculation on Multicore Architectures
Funding Body: EPSRC
PI: Gavin Brown & Mikel Lujan
Award Amount:
£421442
Theoretical Computer Science; modal/hybrid logic
and complexity theory
Funding Body: British
Council
PI: Thomas Schneider
Award Amount: £950
SemsorGrid4Env
Funding Body: EC
PI:
Carole Goble
Award Amount: £496471
Staff
News
top
Awards and Promotions
None this week
Academic Arrivals
Eva Navarro Lopez - Career Development RCUK Fellow
Academic Departures
None this week
Research Arrivals
None this week
Research & Technical
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. - continuing
John
Keane: Academic Year 2008/09
Len
Freeman: April to Sept 2009
John
Gurd: Academic Year
2009/10
Liping
Zhao: Sept 2008 to Mid Jan 09, and Mid
July 09 to mid Jan 10
Josh
Knowles: Feb 2009 for 6
months
Rizos
Sakellariou: Lent term 2008-09, Summer
term 2008-09, Michaelmas Term 2009-10 (2
semesters)
Xiao-Jun
Zeng: January 2009-April 2009
Ning
Zhang: January 2009 – June
2009
Vacancies
top
Academic Staff
None
Research & Technical Staff
None
Management & Professional Staff
None
Administrative Staff
None |