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School of CS newsletter
Published: Tuesday, 06 December 2016Weekly newsletter for the School of CS
[ top ]News from Head of School
BCS Accreditation
The BCS made their accreditation visit to the School on Thursday 1 December. The outcome was success; there are a few extra pieces of documentation to provide and the School's courses will all gain their BCS accreditation for the next five years. Compared to the last accreditation this time was a much less cumbersome process. This is due to Steve Pettifer's campaign, with others from the Russell Group's CS departments, to make the BCS accreditation process easier.
Many thanks should also go to Iain Hart and Jennie Ball-Foster for helping it all happen. Thanks also go to Toby Howard, Norman Paton and teams for their input on the UG and PGT information, along with all the course unit leaders that provided information to Steve.
Robert Stevens
Changes to out of hours access
Please see below an important reminder from Tony McDonald regarding changes to out of hours access:
Dear Colleagues,
Can I please remind you that from 6.30am Monday 5th December, staffing of the Kilburn Building Porters Lodge will be reduced from two people, down to one person. This means that, occasionally, there will be no porter stationed at the lodge for example when checks of the building are being carried out. As the building is open access during normal opening hours (8am – 6pm), this change will result in minimal impact during the day, however, outside this period, the procedure for entering the building will change.
So what have we done about this?
There is now a swipe reader by the loading bay doors. Authorisation has been added to the University ID cards of all members of staff and PhD students within the School to enable them to gain swipe entry access to the building during out of hours.
All taught students in receipt of a valid out of hours pass have similarly had their student ID cards updated to allow out of hours entry via the swipe reader. Taught students wishing to remain in the building after 6pm and during weekends must continue to carry their paper Out of Hours Pass to prove entitlement to be in the building as spot-checks will be carried out.
Should you find yourself unable to enter the building, for example if your card is damaged, and the duty porter is not present, there will be a telephone number at the lodge to ring in order to contact him/her.
It will be imperative that you bring with you your University ID card should you wish to enter this building outside normal opening hours.
If you have any concerns during out of hours, for example you see someone ‘tailgating’ into the building or notice any unusual behaviour please inform the Duty Porter or contact Security on 69966. This contact number is also on the back of your ID card
Should this cause any issues please do not hesitate to contact me.
Best wishes,
Tony McDonald
Tony.Mcdonald@manchester.ac.uk
[ top ]News and announcements
More on 10,000 Actions
Environmental sustainability is extremely important to The University of Manchester, as part of our strategic goal of social responsibility, and has recently launched the environmental sustainability initiative ‘10,000 Actions’.
I had a look into this - and it’s a web-based progress tracking tool that allows you to formulate goals (like “I want to recycle more” or “I want to travel to work in a more environmentally friendly way”) and track your progress towards these goals. The associate vice president for social responsibility, James Thompson, encourages you all to find around an hour of your time to take part in 10,000 Actions and make your personal action plan. Please feel free to ask Uli Sattler if you have any questions about this.
To access this exciting programme visit www.manchester.ac.uk/10000actions
Karen Corless
Research Support Manager role
Tom Wise, who has done an excellent job providing RSM cover for Sarah Chatwin during her maternity leave, will be leaving the School at Christmas to join the Royal Northern College of Music. Tom will start his new role as their Research Manager at the beginning of January 2017. Sarah Chatwin will start to resume her RSM role via Keeping In Touch (KIT) days during January before returning fully from maternity leave on 30th January 2017. I am sure you will join us in thanking Tom for all his hard work and wish him success in his new role.
During this brief transition period, if you plan to submit any funding applications please allow as much time as possible, bearing in mind that the University will be closed from 23rd December to 2nd January (inclusive). If you have any questions please contact me.
Liz Caine
[ top ]Funding Opportunities
EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in “Materials for Demanding Environments”
Deadline for applications: 20th January 2016
The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in “Materials for Demanding Environments” is now inviting proposals for research projects; the closing date for this call is 20th January 2016. However, early submission of proposals is encouraged as it is always a challenge to recruit good students in sufficient numbers.
Each project requires industrial support, both in terms of a financial contribution (£15,000 p.a. minimum, 4 year commitment) and also R&D input (i.e. an industrial supervisor, student placements). Students will join the CDT in October 2017.
The first year of the CDT mainly involves an MSc level academic programme, with the PhD projects commencing later in the year.
For more information and for application documents please contact Kirk Malone (kirk.malone@manchester.ac.uk) or Rob Lindsay (robert.lindsay@manchester.ac.uk), and to learn more go to www.m4de.manchester.ac.uk.
Thomas Wise
[ top ]Prize and award Opportunities
L'Oreal-UNESCO For Women In Science Awards 2017
The 2017 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science UK & Ireland Fellowships Awards Programme is now open for applications. Awards consisting of a £15,000 bursary will be made to five outstanding female early-career scientists working in the fields of life and physical sciences, engineering, mathematics and computer sciences.
This unique award is designed to provide practical help to aid female post-doctoral scientists in continuing their cutting-edge research. The fellowship can be spent as the fellow wishes; it could buy a piece of scientific equipment, help to cover child care costs or be used to fund conference travel.
Details of eligibility and how to apply can be found at: https://www.womeninscience.co.uk/apply and the deadline for applications is 25th January 2017.
5th Heidelberg Laureate Forum, September 24 - 29, 2017
The Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) annually connects promising young researchers in mathematics and computer science with the top scientists in their fields. For one week in late summer, the Heidelberg Laureate Forum Foundation (HLFF) invites the recipients of the Abel Prize, the ACM A.M. Turing Award, the ACM Prize in Computing, the Fields Medal, and the Nevanlinna Prize to join 200 carefully selected young researchers. The HLF’s focus is to provide an informal atmosphere where the most accomplished minds of mathematics and computer science thoroughly interact with the brightest minds of the next generation.
The application round for the 5th HLF, September 24 – 29, 2017, is scheduled from November 14, 2016, to February 14, 2017
For further information see: http://www.heidelberg-laureate-forum.org/
