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School of CS newsletter
Published: Tuesday, 09 October 2018Weekly newsletter for the School of CS
[ top ]News and announcements
Our Future workshops - tell us your Big Ideas
Our Future workshops – tell us your Big Ideas
All University staff are being invited to help shape the University’s new strategic plan, by thinking big. What opportunities and challenges will be faced by the HE sector and our own University, beyond 2030? Local workshops will take colleagues through a session to develop their Big Ideas for the future, to feed into the University’s new Strategic Plan.
Two engagement sessions ran by members of the SLT will run in the School on:
- Wednesday 17 October from 11am-12pm in 2.15
- Wednesday 24 October from 12pm-1pm in 2.15
These are open to all staff (academic/research and PS) and we’d encourage you to attend one of the sessions, if possible. There is no need to book, just turn up on the day. There are also University-wide events that you can alternatively attend, or you can feedback your ideas individually via the Our Future webpages.
Stay mindful of personal data
Stay mindful of personal data
It’s easily done, but leaving personal data (attendance registers, meeting papers with sensitive information, contact lists of personal phone numbers, etc) in open meeting and teaching spaces – some of which may at times be occupied by external parties – can cause a serious data breach under GDPR.
Any data breach has the potential for severe ramifications for our School, our Research and the University as a whole; so please remain mindful of what is being taken in to (and out of) shared spaces. For those of you that teach/host events, it is also worth reminding your class/delegates to take everything with them at the end and not leave any of their own notes or handouts behind.
For more information on GDPR, see: www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/gdpr
[ top ]Events
FSE Seminar on Spinout companies - 09/11/18
Academic and Research Staff in the Faculty of Science and Engineering are invited to a 1 hour lunch time seminar on "Spinout Companies and Exploitation of Research - Personal Experience and Procedures" to be given by Professor Philip Martin and Dr. Rick Watson (UMIP).
Date: Friday 9 November
Time: 1230-1330
Venue: Room 2.220 University Place
A sandwich lunch will be provided from 1200-1230.
Please register and confirm you attendance by emailing Caroline Lalley with the following information by 20 October:
· Name, title (Prof. Dr. Mr. Mrs etc), School
· Position (job title)
· Contact details (email, phone)
· Reason to attend (one sentence)
CIO Malcolm Whitehouse presenting at this week's Research IT Club
CIO Malcolm Whitehouse presenting at this week's Research IT Club
2pm, 11th October
4.3 Roscoe Building
Registration and full details here:
https://researchitnews.org/2018/09/04/research-it-club-is-back/
Agenda:
* Updates from Research IT
* Using Android devices for accelerated, interactive simulation in engineering - Adrian Harwood, Lecturer in Virtual Engineering, MACE
* The Digital University - Malcolm Whitehouse, CIO and Director of IT Services
SpiNNaker 1,000,000
Fri 2 November 2018 14:00 – 17:00 in Kilburn Lecture Theatre 1.1
You are invited to SpiNNaker 1,000,000 hosted by Professor Steve Furber, CBE, FRS, FREng
We will celebrate delivering the full 1 million processor SpiNNaker machine.
20 years in conception, over 10 years in construction.
£15 million of core RCUK and EU funding = A revolutionary research platform for neuromorphic technology, neuroscientific simulations, and an exemplar of low-energy computing.
Come and see the big "switch-on" event when all 1 million cores will be active. The event includes:
- lectures on the past, present and future of the platform
- Tours to see the machine
The lectures will take place in Kilburn 1.1 lecture theatre
To register:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/spinnaker-1000000-tickets-51072717874?aff=ebdshpsearchautocomplete
FSE Inaugural Lecture Series - Professor Angelo Cangelosi - now booking
Wed 12 December 2018 17:30 – 19:00 in Kilburn Lecture theatre 1.1
Title: Developmental Robotics: An Interdisciplinary Journey from Psychology to AI and Cognitive Robotics
Developmental Robotics (Cangelosi & Schlesinger 2015) is the interdisciplinary field that aims to design sensorimotor and cognitive capabilities in robots, by taking direct inspiration from child psychology experiments. This relies on the combination of cognitive- and neural-inspired AI and machine learning methods. Such a highly interdisciplinary approach nicely fits Cangelosi’s own journey and epistemological approach which started with a background in humanities and experimental psychology, and then led to research in AI and cognitive robotics. During the talk we will present several examples of developmental robotics models of language learning and grounding. This will include studies with the iCub robot on early word and grammar learning, on embodied number learning. and a neurorobotics model combining the iCub and SpiNNaker. The implications and use of these models for human-robot interaction applications, such as robot companions for older people, will also be discussed.
Date change: Prof. Simon Harper Inaugural Lecture 2019
Professor Simon Harper's Inaugural Lecture will be on Wednesday 27th February 2019
Further details to follow
[ top ]Research Funding Opportunities
UMIP’s Next Big Thing Competition 2018 - deadline 31/10/18
UMIP are looking for innovations from entrepreneurial academics, staff and post-doctoral researchers from across the University to create new spin-out businesses.
There are three prizes of £10,000 to win!
Your innovation could be based on existing research, an idea outside of this agenda or one based on multi/interdisciplinary research.
You can enter as an individual or a team, especially if your idea involves different research skills. UMIP willalso help you to pitch for further investment.
Runners-up are also supported.
Entering is easy. Just describe your innovation and its potential as a business in a two-minute video pitch and send to extbigthing@umip.com
Applications close Wednesday, 31 October 2018.
Visit UMIP’s Next Big Thing Competition for further details and tips on how to communicate your innovation including a short video interview with one of last year’s winners.
UKRI Global Impact Accelerator (GIAA) grant - deadline 19/11/18
UKRI has awarded the University a £192,000 Global Impact Accelerator (GIAA) grant for 2018/19 to support knowledge exchange, commercialisation and capacity building to enable innovation and impact in an international development context. Applications are requested for activities aimed at enhancing impact from existing research activities in the global South. Funds can be used to accelerate the ODA impact from:
(a) previous funded research (either ODA or non-ODA) or
(b) GCRF funded research (by , Academies or other delivery partners)
Examples of the type of activity that will be funded include consultation, demonstration, training provision, secondment and staff exchange, dissemination, and policy design.
UKRI are particularly keen for GIAA funds to be used to support:- Business innovation
- Policy and Practice innovation
- Capacity building to support innovation in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) Universities and Research Organisations
Impacts within lowest income countries are particularly encouraged. Applications should state the desired outcomes and identify measures of success from the outset.
Budget, Dates and Duration
Applications of up to £40,000 (fEC) are sought; applications at or near the maximum amount will only be funded exceptionally. For this activity both Directly Allocated (DA) and Directly Incurred (DI) costs will be eligible for funding at 80% fEC. Proposals should be up to three months in duration and funds should be expended by 31 March 2019.
All proposals must be costed by the relevant RSS Hub and must comply with all the usual approval processes.
Proposal Requirements
Applications should include a case for support of up to 3 sides of A4, accompanied by a max one-page ODA compliance statement and a fEC budget. An end of grant report will be requested following completion of the project.
Applications to all schemes should be submitted to james.evans@manchester.ac.uk no later than 19th November 2018.Internal call for global development proposals - deadline 19/11/18
Internationalisation is an important enabling strategy to ensure that the University of Manchester engages with talent worldwide, from attracting the brightest students, through research partnerships and industry engagement, to global social responsibility. The Newton Fund and the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) provide the funding to develop our global reach.
Following the submission of a three year strategy, Research England has awarded the University £2.3 million per year, as part of our QR allocation, to support projects seeking to address sustainable development goals in developing countries. Researchers at the University of Manchester are invited to apply for funding to tackle complex global problems associated with the three challenge areas identified by UKRI:- Equitable Access to Sustainable Development
- Sustainable Economies and Societies
- Human Rights, Good Governance and Social Justice
This call seeks applications for funding under three schemes:
Research Partner Development and Pump-Priming Fund
Postdoctoral Visiting Fellowships
All proposals must be costed by the relevant RSS Hub and must comply with all the usual approval processes. An end of grant report will be requested following completion of the project.
Applications to all schemes should be submitted to james.evans@manchester.ac.uk no later than 19th November 2018.
[ top ]Tech Support News
MS Onedrive vs Dropbox Business for PGRs
At the recent School Board, I said I would clarify with IT Services their position with respect to cloud storage for PGR students. The situation is:
- PGRs can continue to apply for access to the UoM Dropbox Business account. It should be used for external collaborations.
- Microsoft Onedrive is being introduced (as part of Office 365), and IT see it as a likely replacement for the current, local P: Drive space.
Outlook Web Application
From 23 October 2018, you will need 2FA to access Outlook Web app (i.e. outlook.manchester.ac.uk through a web browser). Please see http://staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/news/display/?id=20799 for details.