A very warm welcome to Mara, Michele, and Omar. Mara has joined as a Lecturer in the Nano Engineering and Spintronic Technologies Group. She obtained her PhD in computational magnetism in 2021 at the University of York, before moving to a postdoctoral position at the University of Edinburgh, working on 2D magnetism. Mara then returned to York as a research software engineer funded by the national supercomputer service ARCHER2 via eCSE. In addition to interests in 2D magnetism, Mara also develops advanced models of magnetic materials for both fundamental studies (such as spin-lattice interactions, quantum effects) and technological applications (in data storage, biomedicine, machine learning etc).

Michele has joined as a Lecturer in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. He obtained his PhD in Statistics from Duke University 2022, and then worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Computer and Information Science of the University of Pennsylvania until 2024. Michele’s interests are in probabilistic machine learning, and in particular the use of imprecise probabilistic techniques to investigate the theory and methodology of uncertainty quantification in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Recently, he won the IJAR Young Researcher and the IMS New Researcher Awards, and was elected member of the London Mathematical Society.
 

Omar has joined as a Senior Lecturer in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. He obtained a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Alberta in 2012, and a PhD in Statistical Learning Theory from University College London in 2022. Before joining our department, Omar held positions at University College London and at DeepMind. Omar's top-level topics of interest are statistical learning theory, risk bounds, PAC-Bayes bounds, and probabilistic machine learning. He has a broad interest in artificial intelligence fundamentals (AI-Fun) in general. In the limit of tending to praxis, Omar works on designing strategies to train and certify machine learning models.
 

Mara is based in IT117, Michele in Kilburn 2.22, while Omar will shortly be moving into Kilburn 2.70.
 

Promotions News
Many congratulations to the following who were promoted in the most recent promotions cycle: Sean Bechhofer (promoted to Professor of Computer Science), Lucas Cordeiro (promoted to Professor of Computer Science), Christoforos Moutafis (promoted to Reader), Youcheng Sun (promoted to Senior Lecturer), Gareth Henshall (promoted to Senior Lecturer), and Duncan Hull (promoted to Senior Lecturer). Well done everyone!

Research Review Exercise and UG Admissions Vacancy
As you may recall from Gavin’s recent Wordsmithing session, we are about to commence a number of activities around preparation for the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2029, https://www.ref.ac.uk). One of these activities is our internal Research Review Exercise (RRE) which focuses on reviewing our research outputs. I am pleased to announce that Markel Vigo will lead the RRE in our department. This means that we have a vacancy in the UG Admissions lead role and are looking for someone to shadow Markel in UG Admissions during 24/25, with a view to fully taking on this role from 25/26. I will circulate the job description for the UG Admissions role in a separate email, and I encourage you to have a chat with your line manager and Markel if you are interested in taking on this role. In the context of our managed expansion plans, the UG Admissions lead role is of key operational and strategic importance.

Andrew

Staff will need to complete some training in order to run the recruitment of PDRAs. All the relevant information is here

You will need to complete the following training sessions:

Recruitment & Selection training:

TRS02 Recruiting at Manchester to Academic/Research post - here

Diversity in The Workplace - here

Unconscious Bias - here

Any queries then please drop Ruth a line

We are aware that the drilling and building work associated with the Loading Bay redevelopment can be very noisy at time.  If you are disrupted by this then the Kilburn coworking space is available as dropdown space -room 2.127 - there is a code on the door - please email CSOps if you would like to make use of it in the coming weeks.  We also have 2 smaller meeting rooms on the second floor - 2.41 & 2.43 - both available to book on Resource Booker.

We are also getting 2.19 and IT407 redecorated ahead of the new academic year - as this progresses both rooms will be out of action.

https://www.ukri.org/councils/epsrc/guidance-for-reviewers/peer-review-college/#contents-list

A reminder that the EPSRC peer review application process is always open. Get trained and benefit from understanding the process from a different angle by reviewing of EPSRC proposals, and panel attendance. You will be provided you with in-depth knowledge of our peer review processes and principles, helping you to further increase your knowledge of reviewing and proposal writing. You will be a part of the decision-making process and get a broad view of the novel ideas coming through the funding pipeline in your area. There is recognition for college members who make a significant contribution to the engineering and physical sciences (EPS) community peer review effort through letters to the member’s organisation and also on the EPSRC website.

 Find out how you can join the EPSRC Peer Review College.

Webinar: 26-Jun-2024, 2-3pm

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/g2tgatewaytotranslation/1270807

James Chapman (co-founder and product lead for Decently) talks about the challenges and pitfalls of developing a new digital health technology in collaboration with the NHS

With the conclusion of the SoE pilot and the new department structure in Engineering confirmed, RS have been revisiting resource across RSMs and RSOs.

A big thank you to Klaudia for all of her support of the AI-related groups. From July, Klaudia will be moving fully to Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Computer Science will continue to be supported by Sarah Chatwin, as the departmental RSM, with Natalia Stefanovic as the RSM contact specifically for Advanced Processor Technologies, Formal Methods and Nano-engineering and Spintronic Technologies.

RSOs supporting Computer Science:

• Chantel Murtagh
• Sarah Watson
• Liz Hulme
• Reece Farndale
• Erika Buzink-Wallis (of CSOps previously)
• Alex Matthew-John

RSOs also support other departments in FSE so we have a good spread of experience in the team. We will be in touch by email to confirm your direct RSO contact.

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