Department of CS newsletter

The Summer degree ceremony for Computer Science is on Thursday 21^st July at  2pm.  Do please sign up to attend - it's a good thing for graduating students and friends and family etc to see staff from their Departments making a good show and clapping a lot.

Please click on the following link

http://www.graduation.manchester.ac.uk/prepare-to-graduate/schedule-of-ceremonies-summer/

for details and signing up.

on 

https://www.enet.uk.net/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f

This will take you to the Ede and Ravenscroft site where you can order gowns etc.

Robert

There are two building projects beginning soon in Kilburn that may affect your everyday activities. Please note the details below:

LF8, 5 & 6 development

From the 9^th May the rooms will be cleared and hoarding erected at the entrance to LF8. There will be protection fitted to the flooring from the goods lift along the LF area to LF8 as this is the corridor for debris leaving the area and for materials to be brought in. The contractors have been made aware that teaching continues to 20^th May and that the exams period is 23^rd May to the 10^th June. There may be noisy works taking place when there is no teaching or exams – and this will affect the MLR corridor below with the academic offices.

Work is due to be completed on 18^th July

Lightwell repairs in the Courtyard

From 9^th May a perimeter of two metres from the glazed lightwell in the courtyard will be erected to enable repairs.  The courtyard will still be usable.  A motorised blind will be fitted and then the glazing will be replaced starting on the 1^st June. The works are due to be finished on the 9^th June.  

If you encounter any problems with these project works then please let Ruth Maddocks know asap.

Event: 20 and 21 June 2022

We have already confirmed a number of excellent international speakers from a range of Data Science and AI disciplines, covering topics including:

• Explainable AI
• Multi-Modal Data Integration
• Ethical and Responsible AI
• Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing

We are now inviting submissions on a broad range of Data Science and AI-related topics.

To be considered for a short oral presentation or poster, please go the Call for contributions page to submit via the Easychair link.

Welcome back to Kilburn!!

We will be hosting our first Friday social event on the 6th of May (yay, finally!! xD). Come join us in the Common Room at 5 pm for some drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and music. There will be pizza (hopefully😂🤞) being served from 6 pm in Atlas 1 with vegan and gluten-free options available.

We look forward to seeing you all 🤩🥳
Oh, and an early “Happy Eid!” wish to all who celebrate :)

The mentors (Kiana, Martina, Mollie, Ruba, Sara)

The Research Lifecycle Programme's (RLP) final workshops for our RLP2 engagement with the research community will soon come to an end.

There are three workshops left which are mainly targeted at researchers to get their input on what areas of research support and infrastructure need future investment over the next 5 years. Spaces are still available on the following workshops:

• Faculty of Science and Engineering workshop (Thursday 5 May, 10 – 11:30am)
• Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health workshop (Wednesday 11 May, 2 – 3:30pm)
• Faculty of Humanities workshop (Thursday 12 May, 10 – 11:30am)

The RLP team want to ensure that any future investment into a second RLP is purposeful, beneficial and guided by the research community. For this reason, they need a wide range of views and ideas to shape the future of research support and infrastructure.

Deadline: 07-Jun-2022

The Research Staff Strategy Group (RSSG) has introduced an award scheme to recognise and celebrate the achievements of research staff*.

*Research staff here is defined as someone who is either a research assistant, research associate, postdoc or research fellow (including Presidential Fellows) employed at the University on the date of the nomination being submitted. 

Categories:

• Research Staff of the Year (one award per Faculty)
• Best Outstanding Output by Research Staff (one award per Faculty)
• Best Outstanding Contribution to Research Impact by Research Staff (one award per Faculty) - individual or team
• Best Outstanding Contribution to the Research Staff Environment (one overall winner) - individual or team

Full information available via: https://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=58648

Deadline: 13th July 2022

The Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) is a combination of grants awarded to the University of Manchester by five research councils.  IAA funding supports the research and innovation ecosystem to develop wider impacts from research through fast and flexible funding for early-stage knowledge exchange activities.

This year for the first time, UKRI has harmonised the IAA, with a single point of application across the participating research councils.  IAA grants are available to The University of Manchester academics from AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, MRC and STFC.  IAA projects are no longer required to be directly related to previous funded research.

The UoM Knowledge Exchange Partnerships Team is pleased to announce the first Call for Proposals under the following mechanisms:

• Relationship Development Scheme (up to £10k, open call) Fostering new relationships between external partners and academic researchers, creating opportunities for collaboration and exchange of knowledge and skills
• Proof of Concept Scheme (up to £30k) Support for the very early stage of transforming research outputs into commercial and translational opportunities.
• Secondment Scheme (up to £60k) Flexible support for secondments between the University of Manchester and businesses and other organisations.
   

Do you have a potential project?  CS has historically done well with these - for full call derails contact sarah.chatwin@manchester.ac.uk. The Knowledge Exchange Partnerships Team provide active support for  the  development  of  IAA  submissions. You  are  strongly  advised  to  contact  us  for  support  at  least  1 month   before   the   call   closing   date on   the   13th July.   Initial   contact   should   be   made  via kepartnerships@manchester.ac.uk (cc-in your Research Support contact).

The Faculty would like to remind researchers that BBSRC run an annual call for midrange (£200k-£1M) bioscience equipment, usually announced in October with a short, four-week deadline. The full details of last year’s call are available here.

To build a compelling application, we would encourage applicants to start thinking about the opportunity now. This will allow sufficient time to:
• Compare different models available on the market to ensure an optimal fit to requirements
• Visit sites where the equipment is already operational, or loan a demonstration machine, to generate preliminary data supporting the case
• Assemble a broad userbase across the University (and possibly via external collaborators) to maximise impact
• Discuss with the core facilities, ensuring the equipment complements existing capabilities, and where appropriate, can benefit from their technical expertise and management systems
• Consider ongoing maintenance, and how service costs will be met – e.g. through access charges within the core facility system
• Cultivate a relationship with the manufacturer to obtain discounts, and discuss possibilities for future innovation (e.g. joint research, access to new reagents or technologies)

These national calls are highly subscribed and very competitive. Once the call is announced, we shall launch an internal triage panel to ensure our bids are as strong as possible and determine the amount of institutional commitment we can offer, based on the potential userbase and benefits across the University.

Equipment opportunities from other funders may arise at short notice, for which this work will be an invaluable head start, and also for calls later in the year from other UKRI councils.

If you have any questions, please contact bruce.humphrey@manchester.ac.uk

Deadline: 02-Jun-22
https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/grants/short-industry-fellowship/

The scheme provides the applicant’s and/or their postdoctoral researcher's basic salary while on secondment. The employing organisation continues to pay national insurance and pension contributions.

Research expenses may be claimed up to a value of £1,000.

Awards can be for a minimum of three months or up to six months full-time or pro rata, i.e. could be held at 50% part-time for up to 12 months enabling fellows to maintain links with their employing institution more easily.

Collaborations between academia and early-stage companies are particularly encouraged. It is anticipated that the personal and corporate links established by the researcher between the two sectors in the UK will seed longer-term collaborations and contribute to their long-term future development.

Deadline: 16 June 2022
https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/high-end-computing-consortia-research/

This funding opportunity is to fund a range of high end computing (HEC) consortia, spanning EPSRC’s remit.

This is for communities that currently gain significant benefit, or are seeing rapidly increasing benefit, from the use of high performance computers (HPC) for modelling and simulation.

There are two different funding streams:

• new or emerging consortia
• established consortia.

Deadline: 23-May-22

https://enterprisehub.raeng.org.uk/programmes/regional-talent-engines/

We are looking for aspiring entrepreneurs who have an engineering or technology idea that will help address some of today’s most pressing challenges. The programme will help participants refine their idea, make new connections, and learn the skills needed to launch a new startup. The 6 month programme (starting Sep-22) includes the following support:

• Equity-free funding of £20k towards living and business support costs 
• Expert mentoring 
• Training, roundtables, and events 
• 1-2-1 coaching 

For:

• Recent leavers from Further Education colleges (graduated since September 2016) who have a achieved a technical qualification (engineering or related subject) at levels 3-5
• Mid-or later-career engineers or technologists who have been working in skilled jobs and are seeking a career change as an entrepreneur

Contact: Lee.Gosling@raeng.org.uk for the North West of England 

Our next monthly wellbeing webinar is on 11 May.

This webinar will focus on positive psychology to support wellbeing. Join to find out more about what positive psychology is, and how it can support your wellbeing. 

• Book your place

More information:

• Supporting your mental health | Staff wellbeing