Department of CS newsletter

Welcome to Alyx Adams who has joined SSO as a Student Support Office Assistant. Alyx will work primarily on the Undergraduate side with Lisa and Cameron.

Event: Thursday 19 November 2020

You are invited to the University's 2020 online research staff conference. During the conference you will have the opportunity to engage in reflective discussion on the different career paths for researchers, discuss how ‘researching’ has changed during the pandemic, participate in interactive development sessions on topics such as pitching, leading and communicating and find out about the University’s ambitions and plans for the research environment.

Register via: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/research-staff-conference-2020-tickets-124411479083

Reminder - UoM Research Staff Conference

Don`t forget to register for the ‘Supporting Researchers through the Changing World of Research’ conference for Manchester research staff that will take place on Thursday, 19 November. Full details. Register via Eventbrite.

Join us to discuss peer instruction on Monday 7th December at 2pm

Peer instruction is a tried and tested technique for teaching popularised by the Harvard physicist Eric Mazur. Join us to discuss the use of peer instruction in introductory computing via a paper by Leo Porter and his collaborators, [1] which won an award from the ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium Top Ten Papers of All Time. Here is the abstract:

Peer Instruction (PI) is a student-centric pedagogy in which students move from the role of passive listeners to active participants in the classroom. Over the past five years, there have been a number of research articles regarding the value of PI in computer science. The present work adds to this body of knowledge by examining outcomes from seven introductory programming instructors: three novices to PI and four with a range of PI experience. Through common measurements of student perceptions, we provide evidence that introductory computing instructors can successfully implement PI in their classrooms. We find encouraging minimum (74%) and average (92%) levels of success as measured through student valuation of PI for their learning. This work also documents and hypothesizes reasons for comparatively poor survey results in one course, highlighting the importance of the choice of grading policy (participation vs. correctness) for new PI adopters.

We will be meeting on zoom, see sigcse.cs.manchester.ac.uk/join-us for details and meeting URLs.

References

1.  Porter, Leo; Bouvier, Dennis; Cutts, Quintin; Grissom, Scott; Lee, Cynthia; McCartney, Robert; Zingaro, Daniel; Simon, Beth (2016). "A Multi-institutional Study of Peer Instruction in Introductory Computing": SIGCSE '16: Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education 358–363. DOI:10.1145/2839509.2844642.

Deadline: 12 noon 03-Feb-21
 
*Please note projects awarded under the ICF Call 1 deadline with a duration of 12months or longer, must start as soon as possible as the ICF funding needs to be spent by 31st March 2022*

https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/rbe/beke/knowledge-exchange/iaa/
 

The Industry Collaboration Fund (ICF) is a combination of grants awarded to The University of Manchester through the EPSRC Impact Accelerator Account (IAA), BBSRC IAA, and MRC Proximity to Discovery (P2D). Academics have the opportunity to apply for funding from one of the research council ICF’s or a joint research council ICF, subject to the project meeting the conditions set out on the guidance documents.
 
The Knowledge Exchange Team is pleased to announce the ICF Call 1 for Proposals under the following mechanisms:
 

• Proof of Concept Scheme providing support for the very early stage of transforming research outputs into commercial opportunities (max IAA grant contribution £25k)
• Secondment Scheme providing flexible support for secondments between The University of Manchester and businesses and other organisations (max IAA grant contribution £50k)

 
Eligibility
Applications for the EPSRC and/or BBSRC IAA funding are only permitted for projects focused on the exploitation/application of knowledge or technology generated through EPSRC or BBSRC funded research. EPSRC and BBSRC IAA projects must also link to one or more of the EPSRC Themes or BBSRC Responsive Mode Priorities, respectively. For MRC P2D funding, projects do not have to link back to previous MRC research, but they must meet and address at least one of the MRC science areas and/or cross-cutting themes.
 
Eligible collaborators are UK-based businesses (including UK sites of international businesses), UK charities, and UK public sector organisations such as the NHS. Non-UK based businesses may be eligible where there is demonstrable evidence of the intention for inward investment during or beyond the lifetime of the project (e.g. establishing a UK site, job creation). If you have any queries regarding user organisation eligibility, please contact the Knowledge Exchange Team.
 
Do you have a potential project?
The Knowledge Exchange Team provide active support for the development of ICF submissions. Prior to applying, academics are strongly advised to contact a member of the KE Team for support, and ideally at least 1 month before the call closing date of 3rd February 2021. Initial contact should be made via ke@manchester.ac.uk.
 

The University can only put forward a limited number of NERC Standard Research and New Investigator grants so we must follow an internal sift process. Please contact your named RSO/RSM if you wish to apply.

Exceptions - Please note, the University Panel is not required to review applications where the PI is non lead, Manchester’s costs will be under £65k and there is no UoM JeS.

Timeline:

• Friday 27th November 2020 (12.00): Complete proposals to be submitted to sarah.chatwin@manchester.ac.uk for internal review deadline for full proposals that will go to University NERC Demand Management Panel
• Mon 30th Nov 2020: Proposals sent to University NERC Demand Management Panel
• Tue 1st Dec-Fri 11th Dec: University panel meets
• Friday 11th December: Decisions to applicants
• Tuesday 12th January 2021 (16:00): NERC SG and NI external deadline

Submission Requirements: 

1. Cover sheet (contact sarah.chatwin@manchester.ac.uk for the required template)
2. CV in standard NERC format
3. Case for Support
4. Complete Justification of Resources
5. Details of any partnerships - if a letter of support is expected please provide indicative details of the partnership and support expected, the letter itself is not required for the internal review stage.
6. If application is a resubmission, include NERC comments where possible.

RSMs must submit validated bids only. Please use the required cover sheet to confirm that department based peer review has taken place. If this confirmation has not been received, the proposal will not be reviewed by the University.

The University internal review panel will expect ‘submission ready’ proposals.  Incomplete proposals will not be reviewed by the panel.

Proposals submitted after the deadline will not be considered, applications received directly from academics will be returned to RSMs for validation.

(Previously emailed by Mustafa Mustafa)

FSE Research Dissemination Fund for Research Staff

The Research Dissemination Fund aims to provide support to research staff to disseminate and communicate their research findings and share their research knowledge and material beyond their immediate peers. The fund is an opportunity for research staff to develop their presentation and communication skills, engage with both academic and non-academic audiences and establish networks for potential future collaborations.
 
Examples of dissemination activities include but are not limited to conference presentations, public engagement workshops, publication costs, working with policy makers, adapting materials for different audiences, virtual networking events.
 
Applicants can apply for the cost of dissemination activities (max £500). Individual awards will be made on a first come first served basis, up to a maximum of £500 per applicant, until the allocated budget for the Faculty of £5,000 in total is exhausted. 
 
All applicants are advised to refer to the applications guidance notes. Applications must be made using the application form template:
•       FSE Research Dissemination Fund for Research Staff Guidance and Application Form 2020-21
Completed applications must be sent to:
•       fse-resdev@manchester.ac.uk
 
FSE Research Collaboration Fund for Research Staff
The Research Collaboration Fund supports research staff to establish a collaborative research project with a cross disciplinary partner. The fund (max £5000) is an opportunity for Research Staff to build their interdisciplinary research and develop a collaborative research grant or fellowship application. 
 
The funds can cover networking costs, workshops costs, staff and consumable costs for feasibility and pilot studies or preliminary research data collection in an interdisciplinary area which has the potential to lead to an external funding bid. Individual awards will be made on a first come first served basis, up to a maximum of £5,000 per applicant, until the allocated budget for the Faculty of £12,500 in total is exhausted. 
 
All applicants are advised to refer to the applications guidance notes. Applications must be made using the application form template:
•       FSE Research Collaboration Fund for Research Staff Guidance and Application Form 2020-21
Completed applications must be sent to:
•       fse-resdev@manchester.ac.uk
 
 
Assessment
Applications will be considered and approved by the FSE Research Dissemination Fund and Research Collaboration Fund Panel which will include a nominated academic member of staff.
Priority will be given to applicants who do not have access to a budget for their planned activity in their project grant codes or any other existing sponsor arrangement.
The judging panel may seek additional advice as necessary. The decision of the panel is final and there is no right of appeal.
There is no closing date for applications. Everything else being equal, awards will be made on a first come first served basis.
Applicants will be notified in due course and in writing about the outcome of their application.
 
Questions?
Please contact us on fse-resdev@manchester.ac.uk

This guidance should be read in conjunction with UKRI advice available at https://www.ukri.org/research/coronavirus/guidance-for-the-research-and-innovation-communities1/.
This guidance is designed to be utilised across all research grant and fellowship schemes (including EPSRC, BBSRC, ESRC, MRC etc.) .

• Accounting for the unknown impacts of COVID-19 in any new application UKRI acknowledges that it is a challenge for applicants to determine the future impacts of COVID-19 while the pandemic continues to evolve. Applications should be based on the information available at the point of submission and, if applicable, the known application specific impacts of COVID-19 should be accounted for. Where known impacts have occurred, these should be highlighted in the application, including the assumptions/information at the point of submission. There is no need to include contingency plans for the potential impacts of COVID-19. Requests for travel both domestically and internationally can be included in accordance to the relevant scheme guidelines, noting the above advice. Reviewers will receive instructions to assume that changes that arise from the COVID-19 pandemic, post-submission, will be resolved and complications related to COVID-19 should not affect their scores. Where an application is successful, any changes in circumstances that affect the proposal will be managed as a post-award issue.

• Mitigating against how COVID-19 has impacted applicants. Guidance managing the risk of projects needing to be abandoned for grants that were already awarded/ongoing before the COVID-19 pandemic. UKRI recognises that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities and are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career(s) such as breaks and delays, disruptive working patterns and conditions, the loss of on-going work, and role changes that may have been caused by the pandemic. Reviewers and panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts of the impact that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the track record and career development of those individuals included in the proposal and will be asked to consider the capability of the applicant and their wider team to deliver the research they are proposing. Where disruptions have occurred applicants can highlight this within their application, if they wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.

FYI, UKRI have also updated their terms and conditions for funding. Further information can be found at https://www.ukri.org/apply-for-funding/before-you-apply/your-responsibilities-if-you-get-funding/meeting-ukri-terms-and-conditions-for-funding/#contents-list  with changes detailed in Annex C.