Department of CS newsletter

Make a note in your diary:

Wednesday 27th April 14:00  

and 

Tuesday 17 May 10:00

We’ve varied the day and time in the hope that most staff can attend at least one or both of them. Do pop along and if the sun shines we can even make use of the courtyard again.

The President and Vice-Chancellor have convened a pan-university working group, under the Institute of Data Science and AI (IDSAI), to develop major University initiatives in AI. It is chaired by Professor Sami Kaski, and supported by Digital Futures. The scope of activity spans basic AI methodology, social and ethical implications, business and public sector applications, translation into practice, and engaging with the local economy. There are currently three streams of activity:

• Preparing to submit a competitive bid for a UKRI AI Centre of Excellence (AI CoE)
• Establishing, within IDSAI, a Centre for AI Fundamentals
• Developing a business case for a Turing Innovation Hub

The working group would welcome your input to any of these initiatives via this web form.

AI Centre of Excellence. We are expecting a UKRI call for proposals to establish large-scale AI CoEs. As a partner in the Turing, with over 1000 members in our data science and AI community we should aspire to become one. We do not know yet what form the call will take, but we need to ensure our efforts are coordinated. The working group is identifying areas of strength and gathering supporting evidence, but may have missed something. Let us know via the web form if you have ambitions to lead a bid or a theme within an integrated bid.

Centre for AI Fundamentals. To increase the attractiveness of Manchester for AI researchers, and build critical mass, we are establishing, within IDSAI, a Centre that brings together colleagues from across the University who work on developing AI algorithms and methodologies, complementing the broader mission of IDSAI. Let us know via the web form if you would like to be part of this community.

Turing Innovation Hub. We have been working with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, ID Manchester, the Turing Institute, and other stakeholders to develop a business case for a major investment in an Innovation Hub that will engage with the local economy to accelerate the translation of AI and Digital Trust technologies into practice. We are about to launch a major campaign to engage with businesses. Please use the web form to suggest companies we should target.

Congratulations to Turing Fellow Prof. Jack Dongarra, who has won the ACM Turing Award. The Award is often referred to as “The Nobel Prize of Computer Science,” and comes with a $1 million cash prize, funded by Google. Jack’s collaborations with Manchester colleagues include work on batched computations, mixed precision arithmetic algorithms, and the PLASMA software.

In collaboration with the ESRC SafePod Network, the University has now launched a SafePod on campus in the Main Library.
 
The SafePod Network (SPN) is a major research innovation to provide and manage a network of standardised safe settings (SafePods) across the UK for data that requires secure access for research.
 

Advances in Data Science and AI Seminar: Augusto dos Santos Pereira

26 April 2022 | 14:00 – 15:00

Dr. Augusto dos Santos Pereira is a Brazilian Geographer at the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (Brazilian census bureau).

Given that the recent wave of data-intensive technologies spawned new sets of techniques for problem-solving in many fields, the talk aims to present the current demands, opportunities, and bottlenecks for the application of such data-centric tools to urban and regional planning in developing countries. Thus, attendants will be presented with contemporary conditions of territorial planning in Brazil and the challenges for the application of Big Data and Data Science tools in the workflow of real projects.

Register here

Event: 06-Apr-2022
Deadline: 25-May-2022

This year’s Appointments Call recruiting to BBSRC’s Pool of Experts and the Follow-on-Fund Committee is now live on the BBSRC website. The closing date is 25 May 2022.

BBSRC will also be hosting a webinar for potential applicants on Wednesday 6th April 14:00 – 15:00. Anyone interested can learn about the roles and hear from a panel of experienced members of the Pool of Experts and Follow-on-Fund. The webinar will be recorded and the recording will be made available on the website shortly after for those unable to attend.

If you require any further information or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Appointments Board secretariat: research.committees@bbsrc.ukri.org

Deadline: 13-Apr-2022
https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/innovate-uk-smart-grants-jan-2022/

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £25m for game-changing and commercially viable research and development (R&D) innovation that can significantly impact the UK economy that:

• intends to commercially exploit the project results from the UK
• involve at least one SME

Projects of 6-18 months must have total eligible project costs between £100k and £500k and can be single or collaborative. Projects of 19-36 months must have total eligible project costs between £100k and £2m and must be collaborative.

Deadline: 01-Jun-2022

Fellowships must start between: 1st November 2022 to 31st March 2023

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) is the leading research funding agency in Japan, established by the Japanese Government for the purpose of contributing to the advancement of science. Our Pre/Postdoctoral Fellowship for Foreign Researchers (Short Term) provides the opportunity for short-term visits for UK, European, North American and Canadian researchers ordinarily based in the UK or Ireland to do cooperative research with leading research groups at Japanese Universities and Institutions. The programme is designed to provide researchers with first-hand experience of the research and living environment in Japan (for 1-12 months), whilst expanding academic exchange between Japan and the UK or Ireland. 

Eligible applicants also need to be either within 2 years of finishing their PhD at the time of applying to start their fellowship in Japan or have obtained their PhD at a university outside of Japan within the last 6 years (on or after 2nd April 2016).
 

UKRI webinar: 25-Apr-2022 10.30am
Internal deadline: 27-Apr-2022
EPSRC deadline: 07-Jun-2022

The EPSRC has issued a pre-announcement for “Manufacturing Research Hubs for a Sustainable Future”. Due to the range of potential interest from The University of Manchester community, the Sustainable Futures platform has been asked to manage this process and assist in aligning and enhancing emerging bids. This includes bids that would be led by UoM and those where UoM may be a partner.

Further details of the call, which will support two £12m Hubs, can be found here.

If you are interested in engaging with this call in emerging internal or external consortia please e-mail sustainablefutures@manchester.ac.uk, providing the following information, no later than 16:00 on 27 April 2022:

Proposed UoM researchers and their expertise and affiliations (if in UoM) and external partners (with an indication on lead institution).
If not yet finalised, indicate who is being considered and what stage the discussions are at.

Brief description of the proposal (c. 200 words).
What is the area of focus? Please note that UKRI seek to refresh and complement their existing manufacturing hubs portfolio, and so ambition and innovation are key drivers of selection. Avoiding duplication with an existing Hub is essential.

Depending on the level and diversity of interest, we will convene meetings or work with teams directly to help enhance proposals and secure support.

Please note that UoM cannot support bids – either ones we lead, or we support – that haven’t progressed through this managed process, so please do get in touch if interested.

We strongly encourage colleagues interested in this call to attend UKRI’s webinar about the call, scheduled for 10:30 on 25th April 2022.
 

Internal deadline: 12-Apr-2022
 
MRC have just announced their 2022 Mid-range Equipment Call for Biomedical Research (https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/purchase-mid-range-equipment-for-biomedical-research-mrc-equip/). A contribution of £100k-800k may be requested, up to 100% fEC.

Please contact your research support contact asap if you are interested in this scheme.
 
Demand is expected to be very high for this call, and MRC predict they may either have to i) reduce the scope of the call (e.g. to certain technologies) or ii) limit the number of applications per institution, following this initial Expression of Interest round.
 
The Expression of Interest form asks if the application has been through an internal sift process, so we would like to co-ordinate our applications to ensure they are to remit, and there is no overlap between requests, that they make full use of local strengths, and that we have sufficient resources to support applications proceeding to full stage.
 
If you are intending to submit an Expression of Interest, could you please prepare a short document detailing:
1.       the applicants/user base,
2.       the equipment sought, and its benefits (~200 words)
3.       the research that will be performed with the equipment (~200 words).
 
This is a similar format to the EoI, with a slightly relaxed word limit.
 
Please submit your document to bruce.humphrey@manchester.ac.uk cc-ing in sarah.chatwin@manchester.ac.uk by Tuesday 12th April. These will be considered by the FBMH Research Technology Development Group, with representation from FSE, and feedback given to applicants on Wednesday 20th April, ahead of the EoI deadline on the 28th.

Dr Jen O’Brien, Academic Lead of Sustainability Teaching and Learning, UoM

Talk title: Education for Sustainable Development in a Living Lab approach

Students at the University of Manchester alone, are a 40,000 strong force for change. Imagine the global potential. To harness that force, we are deploying Education for Sustainable Development in a Living Lab approach to partner across and beyond the University to affect sustainable change. Students are equipped and empowered with skills and confidence as they engage in interdisciplinary applied research set by external partners. Our University Living Lab was established as the first of its kind in 2013. Since then students have worked with a huge range of partner organisations, including international consultants, governments, health bodies, charities and local businesses.

Register here