Our inaugural & research seminar series continues on Wednesday February 21st at 1230 in LT1.3 where Emily Collins will be presenting "Building Trustworthy Robotics for Better, Safer Industry". Then, on Wednesday February 28th at 1400 in LT1.3, Bijan Parsia will be presenting his inaugural Professorial seminar on "Prosthetic Autonomy". As per usual, these talks will be followed by tea and cake etc. in the common room.  Department Seminar Series (sharepoint.com)

Goodbye to Rigina, Nhung, and Ahmed - but hello to Philip and David
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the leaving cards and collections for Rigina, Nhung, and Ahmed. We’re sad to see them go but wish them all the best for the next stages of their careers. Joining us over the next few weeks are Guodong (Philip) Zhao as Senior Lecturer in the Machine Learning and Robotics group, and David Petrescu as T&S Lecturer. Philip is going to start off in Kilburn 2.74, while David will be in Kilburn 2.80.

APT Grant Awards
Many congratulations to several members of the APT group on three recent grant successes. The projects all fall under the Twinning programme, which is funded by the European Union to enhance networking activities between research institutions of the widening countries and top-class leading counterparts, encompassing joint research, knowledge transfer and exchange of best practices. The TAICHIP project (Davide, Jim) aims at a breakthrough R&D framework for reliable and resource-efficient custom intelligence (AI) chips based on open hardware architectures, open EDA tools, methodologies and implementation technologies satisfying the requirements of modern AI applications. The TWIN-RELECT project (Davide, Mikel) aims at boosting the European scientific and innovation capacity in the design of reliable electronic systems through an end-to-end design-for-reliability framework spanning from devices to systems through circuits and architectures. The AIDA4Edge project (Davide, Oliver) aims at endowing resource-constrained edge computing devices with intelligence by combining the best of both artificial and spiking neural networks toward an adaptive acquisition and processing pipeline for decentralized near-sensor data processing. Congratulations to Davide, Jim, Mikel, and Oliver.

Happy Lunar New Year
Finally, for those of you who have been celebrating Spring Festival - Gong hei fat choy / gong xi fa cai!

Andrew

We are currently looking for bright students studying a computer related degree to join our close-knit technical team. This diverse role will give you a hands on taster into several different areas of the tech industry.  Ideally the candidate would have a keen interest in two or more of the below areas:

• SQL Server Database Administration

• Cyber Security & Networks

• Computer Hardware – Personal and Enterprise

• Windows & Server Administration

You will be encouraged to actively participate in the designing, maintaining and upgrading of services that are critical to the NHS and many healthcare organisations around the world.

If you enjoy solving technical problems, have an interest in technology and thrive in a fast-paced environment then this role is for you.

You will get a salary of £30,000 and will receive a range of benefits. To apply, please visit https://tpp-careers.com/roles/technical-engineer-placement-year/

 

Dear colleagues,

The Control Systems and Robotics group is running the attached event on Thursday 21^st March 2024 in Manchester with four eminent international speakers. The event will be of interest to colleagues with research interests in Control Engineering or Robotics. If you’d like to attend, please register asap as tickets are running out. Registration / attendance is free via Eventbrite link . Everyone is welcome.

Best wishes,

Alexander

Prof A Lanzon PhD, FIMA, FInstMC, FIET, CEng | Chair in Control Engineering

The UKRI AI Center for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Decision Making for Complex Systems is a joint CDT between the University of Manchester and the University of Cambridge. At Manchester, the CDT is led by the Department of Computer Science. The CDT provides funding for four years of advanced studies towards a PhD. The first year is a taught program that will cover the fundamentals of Machine Learning with courses on AI for uncertainty modelling. This taught year is followed by three years of research at Manchester and/or Cambridge.

The Admissions to the PhD programme will be done on a project-by-project basis.

We want to invite prospective applicants to contact supervisors who are proposing projects for the first cohort starting September 2024.

You can find the list of supervisors and projects here."

UKRI has updated its Horizon Europe Guarantee guidance with the following information:

 

• New funding routes opening on Je-S for 2023 MSCA Citizens and Postdoctoral Fellowships.
• The 2022 ERC Consolidator and 2022 MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships will close on Je-S on 1 March 2024.
• Q38 – Clarification on the foreign exchange rate in the IFS cost conversion tool
• Q65 – Clarification on Global Talent Visa documentation
• Q75 – Guidance provided on the Transfer Expenditure Statement for Horizon grants transferred to the UK
• Q90, Q91, Q95 – Clarifications on the eligibility of equipment, T&S and visa costs on ERC grants funded by the Guarantee
• Q92  – Clarification on sabbaticals on ERC grants funded by the Guarantee
• Q93, Q94 – Guidance on joining the Association of ERC Grantees (AERG) and on branding for ERC grants funded by the Guarantee
• Q105, 106 –  Clarifications on long-term leave allowance on MSCA projects funded by the Guarantee
• Q111 – Clarifications on timesheets on MSCA projects funded by the Guarantee
• Q112 – Clarifications on the eligibility of visa costs on MSCA projects funded by the Guarantee
• Q125 – Guidance on terminating MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships funded by the Guarantee
• Q127 – Clarification on project-wide costs on MSCA projects funded by the Guarantee
• Q132, 137 – Clarifications of UK transfers for MSCA Doctoral Networks and MSCA Staff Exchanges
• Q133, 134 – Clarifications on obligations related to students participating in MSCA Doctoral Networks funded by the Guarantee
• Q138 – Clarification on secondments involving organisations based in Third Countries
• Q139 – Clarification on the eligibility of doctoral candidates for secondment on MSCA Staff Exchanges funded by the Guarantee

 

Your questions and feedback

Any questions related to the Guarantee should be directed to UKRI at eugrantsfunding@ukri.org  - UKRI will continue to ensure feedback and suggestions are fed into relevant work streams.

In CS we have a lot of experience with these (including with some of the points listed above) so please feel free to contact sarah.chatwin@manchester.ac.uk with questions

[as emailed on 13-Feb-24]

For researchers interested in applying (or partnering in applications) to: 

https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/a-networkplus-to-strengthen-the-cyber-security-research-ecosystem/

Deadline: 16-Apr-24

This call is limited to one application per department (leading or partnering on a proposal).

As such, please contact sarah.chatwin@manchester.ac.uk and klaudia.januszewska@manchester.ac.uk asap if you are at all interested in applying to this scheme.

If there's interest from different parties, we will look to undertake a sift process (tbd).

Deadline: 06-Mar-24

CyberASAP is open to single applicants and collaborations. 

To join the programme, you must:

• be based in a UK academic institution
• have an idea related to cyber security
• be interested in commercialising the idea
• have the support of your academic institution’s technology transfer office, or equivalent

This is phase 1 of a 2-phase competition. Your project’s total costs must be up to £32,000 with £16,000 allocated to stage 1 and £16,000 to stage 2.

Phase 1 will last up to four months, split into two stages:

1. An initial two months for value proposition development activities, followed by a presentation to an independent judging panel who will select teams to go to stage 2.
2. A further two months for market validation activities.

EoI: contact sarah.chatwin@manchester.ac.uk and klaudia.januszewska@manchester.ac.uk asap
RS deadline: 20-Mar-24

https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/grants/royal-society-wolfson-visiting-fellowship/

The Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellowships (up to £125k) provide an opportunity for talented international research leaders to undertake a flexible 12 month period ((with a minimum stay of three months) or flexibly over two years) of sabbatical leave in a UK university or research institution, to foster international collaborative links and enriching scientific research in the host organisation as well as the wider UK science base.

​​​​​​​We are able to submit more than one bid but they need to be from Strategically Distinct areas.

Applicants can be of any nationality and those requiring a visa are eligible to apply for a Global Talent Visa under the fast-track process of endorsement.

To be eligible to apply you must be currently based overseas and have received a firm offer from a UK university or research institution to take effect from the start of the appointment.

Nominations will not be accepted for researchers wishing to move between UK institutions.

A message for those who work in or use laboratory and technical spaces.

Dear Colleagues,

We hope you had a fantastic winter break and a great start to 2024!

If you work in or regularly use our laboratory spaces you may be aware of LEAF (Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework) - a higher education sector-wide framework that offers guidance and criteria to improve the sustainability and efficiency of research and teaching laboratory spaces. 

The University has set up a goal to have all our labs LEAF Bronze accredited by 2025 and we would like to work with you to achieve this.

Our Environmental Sustainability Team are working to provide as much support to the lab teams as possible.

HOW ARE WE SUPPORTING YOU TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL:

• LEAF Support Hub contains the information that you might need: from key facts about the framework, the benefits of the scheme – to the steps the labs need to follow to drive sustainability and the LEAF submission process. To access the page you will need to request to be added to the Environmental Sustainability Network Team by clicking on the link provided.

• Environmental Sustainability Network – a community of laboratory colleagues from across the Faculty who are already in the scheme and can offer peer support and share experiences of various areas - from waste to sample management to water savings to responsible procurement.
• Updated process for Bronze submissions – We are hoping to make the Bronze submission process even easier for the labs, and we are working with the Safety Team towards aligning the LEAF Bronze accreditation process with existing lab inspections.

 

HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED

• LEAF Network Breakfast Meeting – join our next on Campus event on 15 February 2024 at 09:30-10:30 (MECD, Engineering B, 2B.026M&T)

During this event we will:

• Share and discuss the refreshed LEAF Support Hub page.
• Share practice from LEAF Network Members.
• Share the proposed new process for Bronze inspections.
• Explore the areas where labs might require more support to meet the LEAF goals.

Please use this form to register for the event.

The network is open to all members of staff and post graduate researches so please cascade this message to individuals who would like to get involved.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Due to Green Together taking place on 22-24 February 2024, the team may take a little longer to reply to any emails sent. Please understand and take the opportunity to support the event at Manchester’s Central Library.

Kind Regards,

The FSE Social Responsibility Team