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Department of CS newsletter
Published: Wednesday, 16 September 2020Weekly newsletter for the Department of CS
Department Newsletter - Contents
[ top ]News from Head of Department
Welcome to a New Academic year
As I wrote last time, the academic year doesn't actually seem to have stopped and re-started. Work has been, I'm afraid, relentless. We have a lot of students arriving to engage with our splendid new blended learning delivery. As you'll have read, there are plans for On Campus, face to face teaching. For some this means even more work in developing and delivering teaching materials.
I also see all the work happening, whether or not it is on campus; we've been off campus for many, many months and I see papers published, grants going in, grants being awarded and all the usual work of the department continuing with PS staff, academics, RA and PGR folk just carrying on.
As i've said before, I know we an rely on each other; this Department is a good place to work with good people in it. Do stay in contact with each other and offer support and help where you can.
Robert.
Radina Ivanova
New Department Forum Chair
Congratulations to Giles Reger who has been elected as chair of the Department Forum. Do come along to the Dept Fora, they will continue on-line via Zoom and I'm sure Giles and co will make them a splendid occasion. Also, thanks to both Giles and Tingting for putting themselves up for election and to all that voted.
Robert.
New member of Staff
I'm delighted to welcome Anas Elhag to the department. Anas joins us as a fixed term Teaching Focused lecturer to cover Suzanne Embury's fab RAEng Industrial Fellowship with ARM. Anas joins us and is straight into teaching second year software engineering. I'm sure we'll all welcome him to the fold. Anas writes about himself thusly:
"I am glad and excited to be joining the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester. I did my PhD at the School of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham, and then worked as a Senior Research Associate at the School of Management at Lancaster University for a couple of years. I then switched to industry where I worked for a few years in software engineering and data science roles. My research interests revolve around the area of automated intelligent decision support systems. Whenever I find some spare time, I enjoy playing amateur chess online and watching mystery movies and TV series. I also need a very good reason to miss an Arsenal game! I look forward to meeting you in person when the conditions allow for that to happen."
Robert.
Appreciation Week 2020 is coming!
The idea of Postdoc Appreciation Week (21st - 25th September, 2020) is to acknowledge, recognise, and celebrate all the hard work that postdocs and researchers dedicate to research, teaching, mentoring, outreach, and so much more. All these people undertake a vast proportion of the research in the department and wider university.
There is a week full of events including Celebrating Diversity of Researchers, Prosper Project launch in the University of Manchester, Preparing for Change: A Careers, Training and Support day for Researchers, "What is a Postdoc?" Virtual Pub Quiz, Showcase of researchers, Drop in coffee morning (during which Robert will lead the thanks on behalf of our Department) and many more.
Please check the website and register to the various events and participate actively in the week, in which, we celebrate and appreciate the great work of our researchers.
http://www.researcher-development.manchester.ac.uk/events/internationalpostdocappreciationweek/
Robert.
To mark Post-Doc Appreciation Week, Sarah Mulholland (Head of School Operations) and I would like to invite you, to join us for an informal chat and a cuppa on Tuesday 22nd September at 11am via zoom - https://zoom.us/j/95126614730. All Post-Docs are welcome to attend even if you can’t stay for the full hour. Just remember to put the kettle on before you join us!
Alice Larking
[ top ]News and announcements
Contributions to Computer Science Newsletter
Contribute to our newsletters: in case you’d like to share any good or interesting news with colleagues and/or students, please use Newsagent’s “Tell Us!” form (also reachable via 'Staffnett' 'Newsagent', then check the top left corner). It is super convenient, adds your message into a queue, and takes care of your message being published via the appropriate channels.
Export Control
Even without travelling, we need to be aware of export control, both when communicating with research colleagues and when teaching. More information on what you need to do can be found here, including some background information, an FAQ, the standard operating procedure, and a video on how to use the Goods Checker Tool. If you have any questions, please email the University's Export Control Team.
[ top ]Events
Hydrogen and the NetZero Challenge
This Ideas Forum event will bring together academics from across the Faculty of Science and Engineering with interests in hydrogen as an energy source for achieving NetZero emissions by 2050.
We encourage anyone with interests in production, storage, distribution and utilisation of hydrogen to attend to hear about current and planned research activities across the Faculty and wider university and to meet academics with complementary research interests.
Themes
Storage & distribution (incl sub-surface) chaired by Sophie Nixon, NERC Research Fellow, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Production (nuclear and renewable) chaired by Francis Livens, Professor of Radiochemistry, Department of Chemistry
Removing barriers to utilisation (transport, and industrial and domestic use) chaired by Judith Apsley, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
We hope to foster collaboration through discussion sessions, where attendees are encouraged to present flash presentations of their research interests and discuss future opportunities and priorities in this area.
Please find the link for the event registration here.
