Department of CS newsletter

I hope you all managed to have a bit of a break over the Easter period. Our internal research seminars continue with Mauricio Alvarez’s inaugural lecture on April 17th at 1400 in LT1.4 on the topic of Multi-task Learning and Physics-informed Probabilistic Modelling using Gaussian Processes. This will be followed by our regular social event in the common room.

Sami Kaski’s inaugural Professorial lecture will be held on April 23rd in Lecture Theatre B in MECD at 1300. For catering purposes, please can you register for Sami’s lecture here.

Our next departmental forum will be held on April 24th at 1400 and will be followed by a social event in the common room. Duncan will circulate the agenda nearer the time.

Have your say: The Student Experience Programme (SEP) evaluation survey is now live

In case you missed the announcement on eUpdate earlier this week, the SEP evaluation survey has just been launched - amongst other things, the survey allows you to provide feedback about your experience of the ‘people and structures’ element of SEP and its impact. Please do take a few minutes to complete it. The survey is open until May 17th and you can access it here

New Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) Funding Calls

The recently launched funding agency, ARIA, has just published a few funding calls related to the areas of Computer Engineering, Neuromorphic, AI, and Robotics. The deadlines are (purposely) tight, but these schemes are well worth applying to. I’ve copied below the information just published on their Substack.

• Last month marked a huge milestone at ARIA, as we launched our first funded programme — Scaling Compute: AI at 1/1000th the cost. Find everything you need to apply here. We’re accepting full proposals from 15th April-7th May.
• The second round of opportunity seed funding for Nature Computes Better is now open. We’re looking for bold ideas that align with or contradict our beliefs, and we’re offering up to £500k each. Submit a three-page proposal and expect a decision within ~3 weeks. Find out more and apply before 17th April.
• We’re launching the first of several funding calls for our next programme: Safeguarded AI. Read the thesis ahead of funding going live next week.
• Our latest programme thesis, Robotic Dexterity, is now live, and our thesis as part of the opportunity space Precisely interfacing with the human brain at scale is on the way.

You can sign up here for real-time updates from all of ARIA’s opportunity spaces.

Andrew

Dear Colleagues,

Please all be invited to join the Computer Science coffee morning, Thursday 25th April at 10:30-11:30, in the staff common room.

Please feel free to drop in for all or part of the hour, grab a coffee and some biscuits, and meet with colleagues.

Teams Voice Project- More Information

External Calling Project is delivering Microsoft Teams Voice, allowing colleagues at the University to make and receive external calls within Microsoft Teams. As part of the project You may have seen Teams Voice handsets being installed around the department. These were requested in large shared offices, labs, meeting rooms and other key locations. Handset Information. Academic staff should also get Teams calling on Teams. If you have not already got this then its in progress as CSOps have requested this for all CS academics, to be enabled with International capability.

 

Grand Prize Winners​ - MOJO Project, submitted by The Hut Group​

Andy Nisbet in the APT group writes:  As a result of the MOJO and Soteria work that is joint with THG under the DSbD initiative, we've won an (Grand Prize) award for demonstrating protection against buffer over/under-run.  This work ported the OpenJDK JVM and two common GCs to CheriBSD. By providing a memory secure JVM that can run existing Java applications with no or minimal code changes, this work greatly benefits the massive Java community.

The MOJO project is a collaboration between THG and The University of Manchester and through our work we’ve been able to demonstrate that on CHERI platforms the JVM can be protected against common memory corruption vulnerabilities (such as buffer overflows). If you’d like to learn more about MOJO or have any questions, please feel free to get in touch or visit our website: https://www.mojo-jvm.org

More Information on the awards More Information on the awards

Date & Time: Wednesday 3rd July 2024 (in-person) | 9:30 - 16:30

Venue: No.1 Circle Square, Oxford Road, Manchester M1 7FS

Book your place to hear from experts across digital trust and security, including Keynote Speaker Professor Genevieve Liveley, Turing Fellow, and Director of the Research Institute for Sociotechnical Cyber Security (RISCS), University of Bristol. There will be three dynamic panels bringing in expertise from across Academia, Government and Industry, on three themes:

• Panel 1 | Online Harms: Rebuilding Trust in Our Digital World
• Panel 2 | Power Dynamics in Digital Platforms
• Panel 3 | Generative AI & Security

Lunch will be provided, and participants are welcome to continue discussions over a drinks reception following the main event.

Places are limited by venue capacity, therefore please register now via Digital Futures: https://tinyurl.com/4mdrzkju If you have any questions, please contact Kitty Lo, at kitty.lo@manchester.ac.uk.

The Centre for Digital Trust and Society leads and delivers activity for the Digital Trust and Security theme within The University’s Digital Futures Research Platform.

 

FORGE is a Faculty of Humanities funded project that aims to support interdisciplinary research teams to apply for funding, while also learning how to improve the ways we facilitate interdisciplinary research. At a FORGE Workshop you’ll be supported to develop your plans - whether your project is currently just an idea, or if your team is already established. Workshop attendees will have access to a community of practice and bespoke grant development support. 

Planning an interdisciplinary research project? 

If you are planning a research project involving two or more disciplines, targeting funding opportunities such as the UKRI Cross Council Responsive Mode scheme (Round 2 anticipated Summer 2024), you may benefit from a FORGE Workshop. 

To express interest, please complete this simple form: https://www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_bydBB8vrc3EOsAK. Places are limited. 

Deadline: 12-Jun-2024 (10:00 – 12:00 UK time)

[from Liz Fay]

UKRO, in its capacity as UK NCP for the European Research Council (ERC), will hold a second webinar on the ERC 2024 Advanced Grant call.

The indicative opening date for the 2024 ERC Advanced Grant call is 29 May 2024.  Calls are published on the ERC Advanced Grant webpage, as well as the European Commission’s Funding and Tenders Portal.

Aim of the event

The webinar will provide participants with a detailed practical overview of the ERC Advanced Grant scheme. Viewers will gain a deeper understanding of the proposal format and the key issues to address in planning, writing and costing a proposal. The evaluation procedure and the new ‘lump sum’ approach to costing will also be explained.

 

Who should attend?

The sessions are aimed at researchers based in, or moving to, the UK who are planning to submit a proposal to the 2024 ERC Advanced Grant call, and the research support staff who will be supporting these applications. Applicants are expected to be active researchers and to have a track record of excellent research.

 

Programme outline

Session 2: Wednesday 12 June (10:00 – 12:00 UK time) – provides information on the submission process, how proposals are evaluated and other elements to consider, including the ‘lump sum’ approach.

 

Technical specifications

Attendance is free of charge, but registration is mandatory.

 

Please note that this webinar is part two of a two-part series of information webinars on the 2024 Advanced Grant call - part one will take place on 10 June 2024.

Register for part one here.

 

Deadline: 15-Apr-2024

Slide-set available from sarah.chatwin@manchester.ac.uk and klaudia.januszewska@manchester.ac.uk

The £1.2m North West Cyber Security Connect for Commercialisation (NW CyberCom) project is a collaborative effort between the universities of Lancaster, Manchester, Salford, Liverpool, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the University of Central Lancashire, which is aiming to unlock the cyber security potential of the North West.
As part of this, Plexal is co-leading delivery of the NW CyberCom: Commercialisation Sandpit alongside Lancaster University, with support from the partner universities – and we want academic experts to be a part of it.
We’re on the search for individuals from all backgrounds to bring their diverse ideas, approaches and research to the table to tackle some of the most important cyber security challenges facing the North West region and the UK at large.
We’ll provide a unique opportunity for academics be part of a high-profile programme that will provide coaching, up to £25,000 per project in funding and collaboration opportunities to evolve from idea to a product-in-the-making as your confidence and concept grows.
You’ll connect from leaders in industry to learn about real-world cyber challenges – and how your research can be part of the solution. And in return, you’ll be open to trying new things outside of your comfort zone, collaborating and testing ideas that can be commercialised with an entrepreneurial mindset.
Any questions? Contact the UoM Innovation Factory team on Duncan.Henderson@uominnovationfactory.com and cc-in nwcybercom@lancaster.ac.uk

https://www.ukri.org/publications/terms-and-conditions-for-research-grants/#updates

On 2nd April, UKRI updated some of their terms and conditions. If you would like the exact details of where changes have been made then please contact your RSMs sarah.chatwin@manchester.ac.uk and klaudia.januszewska@manchester.ac.uk

Internal deadline: noon 24-May-2024*
Blavatnik deadline: 29-May-2024

http://blavatnikawards.org/awards/united-kingdom-awards/

This award is for early career academics (academics born in or after 1983; holding a doctorate degree).

Nominations are allowed in one of three categories (Life Sciences; Chemistry; Physical Sciences and Engineering). One award in each category will be made for £100,000, and two for £30,000. Please also refer to the Blavatnik website for details of eligibility.

If you are considering applying, then please email sarah.chatwin@manchester.ac.uk AND klaudia.januszewska@manchester.ac.uk asap. 

The university is only able to put forward a single candidate for each category so an internal review will be required. For any potential Life Sciences nominees, this selection will be undertaken alongside the FBMH process which aligns with the timeline below:

• 9th April to 30th April - Outline applications prepared for internal panel review (nominee in conjunction with nominator)
• 30th April 2024 Internal deadline – documents to be emailed to sarah.chatwin@manchester.ac.uk AND klaudia.januszewska@manchester.ac.uk by 12noon to include:
  • Completed template (contact Sarah and Klaudia for the template)
  • CV (no page limit but please be efficient with content)
  • Publications (up to 4 full text publications)
• 30th April to 7th May 2024 Review of Applications
• 7th May 2024 Eligibility exception letters due (to be sent to Blavatnik)
• 7th May 2024 FSE nominees confirmed.
• 7th to 24th May 2024 FSE nominees finalise applications and email to sarah.chatwin@manchester.ac.uk AND klaudia.januszewska@manchester.ac.uk by noon on 24th May*
• 28th May 2024 Final application documentation to Laura Breen
• 28th to 29th May 2024 Laura to submit nominations on Blavatnik portal
• 29th May 2024: Nominations close for 2025 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK
• 12th June 2024: Letters of support due for 2025 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK

*the FSE internal sift information will soon be updated on our Sharepoint (see 'Internal triage' information) https://livemanchesterac.sharepoint.com/:u:/r/sites/UOM-FSE-RS/SitePages/Blavatnik-Awards-for-Young-Scientists.aspx?csf=1&web=1&e=foUK2H

Reminder: FSE Research Services Sharepoint Site – access information and resources to navigate research application and award processes. You can find contact details for the RS team and lots of other useful information.