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Department of CS newsletter
Published: Wednesday, 16 December 2020Weekly newsletter for the Department of CS
Department Newsletter - Contents
[ top ]News from Head of Department
Festive Messsage
This is the last Newsletter before what I sincerely hope will be a proper, restful break: it definitely is a well earned one!
This message may not look particularly festive, but I think the Department, in its typical way, has pulled together and achieved amazing things in peculiar circumstances. People have been working flat-out since March. It's been a strange and difficult year: we shifted from on-campus teaching to on-line teaching and then to a new, blended approach, continued our research and had a new, very large intake of students.
Our students have also had to work hard, shifting to a new style of learning, often after a difficult summer and in sub-optimal environments. Similarly, our PGR and PDRA researchers and academic as well as PS staff have mostly been working at home, sometimes alone and often again in difficult environment.
All in all it's been a tough year and it isn't yet over - but there is light at the end of the tunnel and it is truly impressive what we've all achieved.
The official closure of the University is from 18 December to 4 January. I know many will have to continue working, but I do hope that we'll all be able to take a decent break and wish you all the best for the new year: I am very much looking forward to seeing you in Kilburn again, perhaps in the Summer, and catching up with you.
Robert.
Radina Ivanova
Department Festive gathering and Gather.town
We had a festive gathering in Gather.town last Thursday afternoon: it was fun. Joe Razavi set up a virtual representation of the Kilburn First Floor area in Gather.town where people can move around, talk in groups, find routes to people etc. A highlight was Uli Sattler using the "follow" function to organise a virtual conga.
The Gather.town virtual KB is still there and the licence arrangements mean that 25 people can continue to use it whenever; so do go ahead and play with it. Follow the link
https://gather.town/app/kX1ewNFqmzicKSk8/kilburn_testto have a go. Thanks to Joe, Ruth, and Uli for organising the bash.
Robert.
Advertising for a Fixed term teaching focused position
We are currently advertising for one more in our series of three year teaching Focused positions. see for said advert.
https://www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/internal/displayjob.aspx?jobid=19314
We have already recruited four of these posts and in the next newsletter there will be news of who they are etc.
Robert
Information Security and Data Protection training
Dear All
Many of you will have recieved requests to do the Information Security and Data Protection training. it is mandatory that all employees of the UoM do this, irrespective of whether or not they've done the previous training in the last two years. The link whence you can start the training is
https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/igo/training-and-support/
it is not too painful. It has to be completed by 31 december 2020. if it's like previous rounds of such training, failure to do so wil result in lots of emails chasing for it to be completed and eventually discontinuation of access to IT Services facilities (email, services in the Dept and beyond in the UoM, etc etc).
Robert.
[ top ]News and announcements
Thank you from CS Operations team
Dear colleagues,
It has certainly been a very challenging year, on behalf of the Computer Science School Operations team, we would like to thank you for your continued patience and support with some of the long processes that we currently have in place.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year and enjoy the break.
We hope to see you in person at some point next year.
Please remember that our new email address is CSOps@manchester.ac.uk.
Michelle Fox
Deputy School Operations Manager
Senate Report
The Senate typically runs once every quarter (so 4 times a year), but with COVID 19 we've been having meetings pretty much every month; the latest being last Friday the 04th December. Of a nine point agenda we managed to get through 2 points in 2 hours and so there will be another meeting at the start of January. So what were the main points?
- Our financial position is better than expected and we now expect to break even and even have a surplus for the 20/21 financial year.
- Our 5 year projections are less good in that we may have problems wrt exposure on pensions and the fact that costs are increasing but fees are not following suit.
- Students in our accommodation have been given a 30% refund, and have been told they can break their contracts and then come back again if they like (with no additional fees).
- January starts with a 5 week staged return of students and they can arrive at anytime and there will be a place for them in accommodation.
- Many students in the Fallowfield Halls have had a number of parties from between 100--1000 people and these have also been abusive to ResLife staff and Security/Porters. A number of communal spaces in these halls have been damaged down to ripping plasterboard from the walls.
- GMP are now patrolling the University Residential Estate as behaviour has been so bad in some cases and there have been an increased number of complaints from Fallowfield residents. The Registrar has engaged in walking the Fallowfield Estate along with Police on the last two Saturday's 22:00-02:00. He confirms that he has experienced such large (100 person) parties, the damage to property, and complaints from students who feel unsafe in their own Hall.
- Last Saturday he was accompanied by two (shall we say none-partisan) Senate members who report similar and confirm the Registrar's interpretation.
- It was also suggested that these are a small number of abusive students and that we have had similar experiences (but less in magnitude and extent) growing year on year in the last 5 years.
- New disciplinary rules are in discussion to allow spot fines for inappropriate behaviour - it seems we are one of the most lenient Universities in disciplining bad COVID--19 behaviour and rule breaking.
- We will need to find equitable ways of supporting Students and Staff through Semester 2.
- Fallowfield Residences Fence Report suggest
Part-Time Positions with Imago
Applications Open for Part-Time Positions with Imago, the University of Manchester's Student Software Company
We have 18 part-time positions open for undergraduate students in the Department of Computer Science. The positions are for 7 hours per week, and run from January to March 2021. Payment will be at the University's standard rate for vacation students (approximately £10 per hour). The work will be flexible, on a zero hours basis, and can be done at evenings and weekends, although some team meetings will take place during the working week.
You will work as part of a team of 6 part-time students, supervised either by a member of staff from the Department of Computer Science or a professional software engineer from a local company.
We have three clients for the spring period, covering projects involving social media and education, plus a chance to join an existing open source team developing a lightweight track and trace application.
The posts will give experience of working in an agile team, delivering software for real clients. We will need a range of skills including business analysis, user experience, web and backend coding, plus testing and delivery engineering. The ability to work independently and within a team, to find creative and pragmatic solutions to problems, and a focus on delivering value for the client are also required. We are looking to create mixed teams, with a range of experience levels. We are particularly keen to receive applications from second year students who were not able to undertake an industrial placement this year, due to COVID-19. Applications from talented 1st year students are also welcome.
To apply, send a CV and covering letter describing your suitability for the posts to Suzanne Embury (suzanne.m.embury@manchester.ac.uk).
The closing date for receipt of applications is: 12.00pm on Sunday, 19th December 2020.
More information about Imago and our recent projects can be found at: imago.cs.manchester.ac.uk
[ top ]Events
CS School Operations “Drop In session”
Do you need help or advice with something – maybe a finance query, a casual employee issue, a conference registration enquiry – or any general enquiry. We thought a chance to speak to someone face to face may help resolve queries quickly and avoid extra email traffic. If this proves beneficial then we will run it as a regular thing
Time: Jan 7, 2021 02:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/91317300563
Meeting ID: 913 1730 0563
[ top ]PGR News
PGR FAQs have been updated / UKRI Stage 2 Updated
The direct link to the Phase 2 Extension FAQ is: https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/coronavirus/faqs/pgr/#fundedextensionbeyondmarch2021.
The UKRI extension application form and process have been made available from that page and it is now live.
PGR Services will circulate this information to eligible UKRI funded students and to supervisors tomorrow.
Thanks and Happy Christmas
On behalf of all the PGR Team, I just want to thank all supervisors and protective supervisors for all the work that have done this year and particularly related to supporting your PGRs through the COVID 19 pandemic!
Thank you very much, have a great break - we know you need it - please take the time to rest and have 2 or 3 real meeting free weeks!
So Thanks Again and Happy Christmas and New Year!
[ top ]Research Funding Opportunities
US Army Engagement – research funding opportunity
US Army Engagement – research funding opportunity – deadline 4th Jan 2021 Bringing together interested academics and army subject specialists.
Areas include: Computing Science, Information Sciences, Human Sciences, Advanced Computing & Big Data, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Cognitive & Behavioral Sciences etc.
Please find attached the presentation of the webinar and below is the link to access the recorded session, which can be freely shared within the university community.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yejqxq4hpmtn6sg/Working%20with%20the%20US%20Army.mp4?dl=0
For the next engagement format, the following has been agreed with the US army.
- If you are interested, please provide a project title with a short summary (approx. half of a A4 page).
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- As we are close to Christmas recess, an internal UoM deadline of 4th Jan 2021 is proposed: please send to either Dr Lujia (Tony) Chen (Lecturer in High Voltage Engineering, Power & Energy Division, Business Engagement Theme Lead in Transport, Faculty of Science & Engineering lujia.chen@manchester.ac.uk , or Adam Parry (Business Engagement Officer adam.parry@manchester.ac.uk). Projects will be grouped into different themes / subjects and forwarded to the US army.
- The US army will have an internal panel to select the projects of interest for the follow-on engagement event where we will match army subject specialists with the relevant academics for focused, topical discussions (this will hopefully maximise attendance from subject specialists and funding decision makers). Provisionally, this event is envisaged to take place in late Jan / early Feb period.
- Based on the presented projects and engagement, projects of interest will be developed into full proposals. As pointed out in the webinar, the success rate is 85% by this stage (based on last year’s data). Depending on the success of this engagement, there may be opportunities for the next call of Multi-Universities Research Initiatives (MURI) which is a larger grant of $4-5m (1 UK university matched with 1 US university addressing a multitude of research challenges).
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Reminder: RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS EoI for the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology
First disseminated by Prof. Stevens via email 10-Dec-2020
EoI deadline: 14-Jan-2021
Virtual Fellows Symposium: 24 and 25 Feb-2021The Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) are seeking outstanding researchers who either hold, or wish to apply for, independent research fellowships, such as a EPSRC Open Fellowship, Royal Society University Research Fellowship, or Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellowship to join our vibrant research community pushing the boundaries of biotechnology research.
We welcome expression of interest in all areas of science, technology and engineering that complement and extend current MIB activities in biotechnology and engineering biology, including but not limited to: chemical biology; molecular microbiology; synthetic and systems biology; structural biology; environmental biology; translational medicine; bioanalytics and diagnostics; computational biology; automation and robotics.Applications will be reviewed for their strategic fit with the MIB and wider University strategy. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to give a seminar at a virtual Fellows Symposium, which will be held on 24 and 25 February 2021. There will also be an opportunity to engage with MIB PIs and Department representatives, to discuss your research ideas and plans for the future. If you are interested in applying for a research fellowship please email a two-page research proposal, a copy of your CV and arrange for three letters of recommendation to MIBFellows@manchester.ac.uk by Monday 14th January 2021. Informal enquiries may also be directed to the same address.
MRC Public health intervention development (PHIND)
Deadline: 21 January 2021
www.ukri.org/opportunity/public-health-intervention-development-phind-jan-2021/
Apply for funding to develop early-stage interventions for a UK or global public health issue (bi-annual call). Applicants can apply for up to £150k for a maximum of 18 months. Your proposal must focus on developing the intervention.
What we're looking for
Proposals can include qualitative and quantitative primary research and the development of theory and logic models; however, emphasis should be placed on developing the intervention. You can collaborate with industry partners; international co-investigators (where expertise not available in the UK).
Co-production with relevant stakeholders, including users, is strongly encouraged and applicants should consider the incorporation of systems thinking to address public health challenges. It is justifiable to focus on just one aspect of a system as long as the wider system’s context is recognised, for example in the framework for evaluation.
Population level interventions, with a focus on non-health care settings (such as transport, education, employment, leisure and the built environment), are encouraged. “Population” is defined as a group of individuals an intervention may take place within, for example, schools, prisons, or larger communities and regions. Examples of the focus of health related, population-level interventions include:- transport, education, employment, leisure and the built environment
- healthcare settings are not excluded, but projects should demonstrate potential for improvement
- health of general, high risk or vulnerable populations.
The following activities are not within the scope of this call:
NHS interventions
interventions treating clinical conditions or improving health services delivery
systematic reviews and meta-analyses
standalone feasibility studies and pilot studies
the wholesale transfer of a proven intervention to a new context, setting or target population.
You should contact the PHIND Secretariat if you are unsure whether your proposal is within the remit of the call: publichealth@mrc.ukri.org.EPSRC Fellowships change within Mathematical Sciences Theme
EPSRC Fellowships are changing. The new scheme is now open for applications. Key characteristics of the new funding opportunity will include:
1. Increased opportunities at early career stage onwards;
2. Opportunity for applicants to focus on discovery science, innovation, instrumentation/technique development or software engineering or to include non-technical elements to create positive change in the research community
3. Allows a high degree of freedom, flexibility and support for talented and ambitious researchers.
The new guidance document “EPSRC Post-doctoral and Open Fellowships Guidance” contains details of the assessment criteria and applications process. Fellowship can be up to three years long. This is prorated for part-time fellows, at a minimum of 50% FTE.
