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1824 |
School
of Computer Science |
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Weekly Newsletter |
23 Sep 2013 |
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Contents |
News from the Head of Schoolit.worksThe School’s new IT
infrastructure for teaching, developed over the summer by the CSIS team,
staff from the Faculty IS team and staff from the School is up and running!
This has been a huge task, spread over 12 months, with many people working
intensively throughout the summer. The change should mean that CSIS can
manage the system more easily in future, which will enable them to spend more
time on other essential support for the School. Thanks to everyone involved in
making this happen. Rogues Gallery has become TACTUSYou might have noticed that the yellowing photos of staff in their prime have vanished. They have been replaced by a touchscreen system (TACTUS) that is located in the Lower First floor of Kilburn. TACTUS contains more than just realistic staff photos – there are many other delights for you to find. TACTUS is the work of two vacation students, Miso Zmiric (supervised by Gavin Brown) who did most of the work for the touchscreens, and Nancy Fitzgerald (supervised by Allan Ramsay) who hunted down staff over the summer to take their photos. There will eventually be six TACTUS systems distributed around the building. If you had a photo on the wall and you would like to keep it (or ensure that it is destroyed), you can collect yours from ACSO. If you would like to make use of the space on the walls where the photos used to be, please contact Tony McDonald or Allan Ramsay. TACTUS is a platform for students to develop apps and there will be a hackathon later in the term to help make that happen. Learning Enrichment FundThe touchscreens for TACTUS were part funded by the Learning Enrichment Fund, an annual University fund for projects that enhance the student experience. If you can think of anything that could be funded that would improve things for students, please take a look at the fund (details here) and have a go. Raspberry Pi 1st year labs
New secondary school curriculumThe final version of the statutory computing curriculum for schools
in England has been published. If the transformation of IT into CS
in secondary education succeeds it
will mean that all secondary school students will have some understanding of
what Computer Science is, and if it is taught well it should increase the
numbers that want to study CS at university. In time it may enable us to make
A-level CS a requirement for joining our degree programmes. If you would like
to help the School support this change in secondary schools please contact
David Ryderheard for more information. Arcade is 20Arcade has been in use in the School for 20 years. Although it has
evolved a lot since its first incarnation, the fact that we are still using
it is a testament to how far in advance it was at the time that it was created.
has been launched! 667 schools registered for Animation 13 and we received 1,120 entries
from 154 schools. Animation 14 is expected to be
even more successful. If you haven’t been involved in Animation before but
would like to experience the buzz of school students realising that CS can be
exciting, and even fun, contact Toby Howard. App wins 2013 Care Integration Award!
Funding opportunitiesAmongst a host of other opportunities, details of the Faculty
Strategic Fund and the 2014 Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship scheme
(deadline 30th September) are included below. Retirements coming upBarry Cheetham will be retiring on 30th
September and Alasdair Rawsthorne will be retiring on 30th October. AnnouncementsEgencia and travel notice to all staff The University preferred supplier for all travel and accommodation
booking is Egencia. We are bound by
the University to always use Egencia unless there are circumstances where we
cannot. Due to these constraints, we
will still book travel through the system even if we receive quotes from
other travel websites. Fortunately the
Procurement office agreed with Egencia that prices must be matched if they
are found on another site but there are strict rules regarding price matching.
Please be aware that there are often
hidden fees for credit card payments etc on other sites, for example Opodo. How to get the best price and efficient
(quick) booking Once you know what you need please email travel@cs.man.ac.uk
to advise us. Try to do this at least three
weeks before your travel date. We will send you an email which allows you to upload your profile to
Egencia which includes your passport details, full name etc. Please be prompt and provide the information we ask for in our emails
to ensure we can book your requests as quickly as possible. Once you have a profile you can go into the Egencia system and find
flights or accommodation yourself, then email us to advise what you have
found. Reason for travel …not because we are nosey! This information is a requirement by the University. In the event that the account is audited
all expenditure must be accounted for.
Please provide the name of conference etc, rather than ‘Attending an
international conference’. Thank you all for your help. We need your up-to-date research project descriptions! For research
academics…Get the right PhD students for your research by making sure
that prospective research students know about the projects that you have to
offer. We need a full set of up-to-date project descriptions for FindAPhD.com
and our own website. Please contact Matthew Harrison in
External Affairs with your current project descriptions at your earliest
convenience. UMIP contact Our Computer Science UMIP contact is now Dan Syder. If you have any intellectual property (IP) questions or ideas on commercialising your research, UMIP can help. Support and funding is available to help with the exploitation of research, e.g. licensing software. UMIP work with academics to:
EventsLMS "Computer Science Day" on Mathematics Research Beyond the Blackboard 29 Oct 13 The London Mathematical Society annual "Computer Science Day" is on the topic of “Mathematics Research Beyond the Blackboard”. The colloquium will take place at the London Mathematical Society on Tuesday 29 October, and all interested mathematicians and computer scientists are welcome to come. Some funds are available to help with travel costs of PhD students.
Speakers include: John Harrison (Intel Corporation) “Computer proofs, where we are and where we are going“ Nick Trefethen (University of Oxford) “Numerical computation with functions instead of numbers” Professor Ursula Martin CBE (Queen Mary, University of London) “Mathematical practice, crowdsourcing, and social machines” Steve Linton (University of St Andrews)”Experiment and Exploration in Algebra and Combinatorics” EPS Investment Showcase 12 Nov 13 12-15:00, Innovation Centre on Grafton Street. Find out more about what Proof of Principle funding may do for you at the EPS Investment Showcase, which brings together spin out entrepreneurs from early stage projects to AIM listed companies to discuss their experiences. Speakers include John McArthur, CEO, Tracsis Plc, the spin-out from Leeds School of Computing that developed the software package (TrainTRACS), which is now used by 14 out of the 20 train operating companies to plan work schedules for their crews and drivers. Funding OpportunitiesResearch Support Office Please contact us through researchsupportcsm@manchester.ac.uk. There is information about support for grant writing and submission at
http://staffnet.cs.manchester.ac.uk/reso/ and the EPS
blog The Word contains features News, Events and comment
relevant to Postgraduate Researchers, Research Staff and Supervisors or PIs. SAVE THE DATE - Space Applications Themed
Call for KTPs - PreCall Awareness Event 18
Sept 13 The Technology Strategy Board are holding an information event aimed
at KTP Offices and academics on Wednesday 18th September at the
Satellite Applications Catapult at Harwell to raise awareness of a
forthcoming Space Applications themed call for KTPs, which we hope will open
later this autumn. The event agenda will cover information about the background to the
proposed call and proposed scope, an introduction to KTP and will also
include the opportunity to find out more about the Satellite Applications
Catapult and what it does. For more information contact Caroline Stanton in the Knowledge Exchange office. Sustainable Society Network+ research
placements call 25 Sep
13 Applicants are invited to apply for funding for research placements
from the RCUK Digital Economy Theme (DE) Sustainable Society Network+ (SSN+)
in 2 areas: ·
Metrics
for Smart, Sustainable Cities Duration: 3 months at GSMA, London This placement would allow privileged access to an excellent source of
data for scholars trying to develop a research agenda in evolving metrics associated with the creation of smart, sustainable
cities using mobile technologies. ·
City
Operations Centre Duration: 1.5 months at Ericsson, Stockholm. This placement would allow privileged access to an excellent source of
data for those trying to develop a research agenda in understanding the silos associated with the development of a smart
city operations centre. Placements are targeted at researchers eligible for funding under the
RCUK scheme and can take place in commercial or government entities in the UK
or overseas (e.g. industry, academia, research centres, public bodies, NGOs). Assessment panels for both schemes are due early Oct 2013 and start
dates are negotiable for both schemes. Please note different placement
durations and locations. Microsoft 2014 Fellowships 30
September 13 Microsoft Research is inviting nominations for its 2014 Faculty Fellowship
program, starting on August 28, 2013. This program recognizes and supports
exceptional early-career faculty engaged in innovative computing research.
The objective is to stimulate and support the research of promising
individuals who have the potential to make a profound impact on the
state-of-the-art in their research disciplines and to become future thought
leaders. Each fellowship award
includes a cash gift that is intended to help fund research activities for up
to two years. The winners of the 2014 faculty fellowship awards will be announced at
the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit in Redmond in July 2014. Note that only
one (1) application will be accepted per research institution (e.g. one from Manchester
University, all departments included).
The potential Fellows for the Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship
program must be nominated by their research institution, and their
nominations must be confirmed by a letter from the head of the institution
(e.g., office of the Provost, Chancellor, Pro-Vice Chancellor, President,
Rector, Vice-Rector, and so on). Direct applications from new faculty members
are not accepted. Please pay particular attention to the eligibility
criteria. Nominations and application deadline: September 30, 2013. Nominations are to be submitted online at: https://cmt.research.microsoft.com/MSRFacultyFellowship.
For eligibility criteria and instructions please visit: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/collaboration/awards/msrff.aspx NRI PhD Studentships 8
Oct 13 ·
Closing date: midnight 8 Oct 2013 The Neuroscience Research Institute (NRI) has funding for two 3 year
PhD studentships, commencing in September 2014. The studentships must cover a
NRI research theme (details in attached), which include computational neuroscience and neuroimaging. The proposed timetable is to advertise 4-6 projects
in November and interviews will take place in early January. UMRI Pump Priming Programme 18
Oct 13 The University of Manchester Research Institute (UMRI) has funding
available to support activities that lead to an increase in successful
interdisciplinary research (not preliminary data work). Applications should
be £10k - £50k and should aim to support and pump-prime new interdisciplinary
research programmes which seek to release synergies between existing clusters
of excellence. £50k awards are unusual. Proposals should be up to 6 months in duration and completed by 31
July 2014. Applications (2 page outline) should be submitted by email to james.evans@manchester.ac.uk by 18 October 2013 with:
2013 EPS Faculty Strategic Fund - Colin Bailey 18 Oct 13 In line with the Faculty’s long-term strategic plan we continue to
develop, and maintain, a small strategic fund to further support research and
teaching activities across the Faculty.
Proposals in the following areas, which align with the Faculty’s strategic
plan, are welcome. Proposals for Pump-Priming
Research. Proposals are sought for ‘pump-priming’ research projects of up to £10K that fit with the
strategic research priorities of the Faculty and Schools. The project, which needs to be completed by
the end of July 2014, must lead to the development of a full research
proposal which will be submitted to a relevant funding organisation. Proposals for
Teaching Equipment Proposals are sought for enhancing our teaching
equipment/demonstrations/props. The
maximum funding is for £20K. The proposal must clearly show how the
student experience will be enhanced. Proposals for
small-scale research equipment Proposals are sought for small-scale research equipment, up to £20K, which will enhance our research
capability in defined strategic areas.
The proposal must clearly show the added value of the equipment. Proposals for
enhancing our PhD education Proposals, of up to £10K,
are sought for initiatives to enhance our PhD education and student
experience across the Faculty. The
proposals should clearly highlight the benefit to a number of PhD students. Proposals for
enhancing the UG and PGT student experience Proposals, of up to £10K,
are sought for enhancing the UG and PGT student experience. The proposal must clearly show how the
student experience will be enhanced. Proposals to
enhance our international agenda Proposals, of up to £10K,
are sought for enhancing our international agenda across the Faculty. How to submit a
proposal All proposals must be submitted to Colin Bailey (colin.bailey@manchester.ac.uk) by 18th
October 2013. Proposals should be
limited to a maximum of 2 pages. The number of proposals approved will
depend on available funds and alignment to strategic plans. All
projects must be completed by the end of July 2014. Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) 23
Oct 13 ·
Closing date: noon 23 Oct 2013 EPSRC has awarded The
University of Manchester over £3.2M to deliver an Impact Acceleration Account
(IAA), which runs from 2012-15 for knowledge exchange based on EPSRC research
(following on from the Knowledge Transfer Account). ·
Relationship Incubation (up
to £10k available) Engaging with businesses and business communities to sow
the seeds of new collaboration and enhance strategic engagement ·
Concept Development and Feasibility
Studies (up to £30k available) Support for the very early
stages of transforming research outputs into commercial opportunities ·
Exploitation Secondments
(up to £60k available) Flexible support for secondments between The
University of Manchester and businesses and other organisations
Both Simon Harper and Sean Bechhofer have been
successful in previous calls. British Academy Skills Acquisition Awards 30
Oct 13 For Early Career
Academics… The British Academy is providing up to £10k support for early career scholars to spend time on specific
career-enhancing skills acquisition. The scheme enables researchers to spend
time with a mentor in a research group specialising in quantitative methods,
and will provide some funding to meet the cost of a mentor. In 2012, 20 out of 32 applicants were successful.
Leverhulme International Academic Fellowship 7 Nov 13 · Closing date: 16:00, 7 Nov 2013 Good for ‘discipline-hopping’…Through the Leverhulme Trust’s International Academic Fellowship, established researchers can spend a concentrated period (3-12 months) based in one or more research centres outside the UK to develop new knowledge, skills and ideas, in research and teaching (not just pure research). Up to £30k is available for reasonable replacement cover; travel to and within the overseas country or countries; a maintenance grant to meet the increased expense of living overseas; and essential research costs. Fellowships must commence between 1 June 2014 and 1 May 2015. Research Professional is a useful search engine for finding
other funding opportunities. Featured Research OutcomesResearch presented at Java Language Summit Chris Seaton (supervisors: Ian Watson and Mikel Lujan)
presented his research last month in Santa Clara at the Java Language Summit
with Christian Wimmer (Oracle). The research is the result of a six-month
internship with Oracle Lab's Virtual Machine Research Group in California,
which worked on implementing the Ruby programming language using the next
generation of JVM compiler technology. The research produced a system that is
not only significantly faster than any other implementation, but is also
significantly simpler and demonstrably as
complete as some other implementations. JVM slides ‘One VM to Rule Them
All’ and a video are available. Have we missed something? If you have some award news
that you would like us to know about please contact Sarah Chatwin. |
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An app developed by Steve Pettifer, in conjunction with Angel & Bowden and NHS
Trafford, has won the 2013 Care Integration Award in the Musculoskeletal
Care category. The iPad app was developed last year as part of the
Musculoskeletal care plan for patients with back/ neck pain, called