School of CS newsletter

Progress on redeveloping the courtyard has been delayed due to the discovery of significant leaks in the roof. The whole membrane that prevents leaks needs to be replaced. A contract has been issued to do this work and I am told that work will start soon and the work on the courtyard itself is due to be completed by the end of the summer. This means that this year's graduation party on 14th July will be held outside of the Kilburn building (in the marquee next to the Learning Commons).

You will have seen the work on replacing windows on the outside of the Kilburn building has finally begun. The start of this work has been delayed significantly, but I have been told that it should still be completed by the end of the summer. I know that the replacing of these windows will cause disruption, with people having to move offices for considerable lengths of time. Significant efforts are being made by Tony McDonald and James Fields to minimise disruption and identify alternative office space and they are working closely with Estates to support the programme. Once complete the new windows, increased ventilation, and other changes to the heating and ventilation system (associated with the refurbishment on the ground floor) should improve our working environment.

 

Many thanks to everyone who completed the University’s Staff Satisfaction Survey 2017. The response rate for the School was 61%. I received the results last week and am currently working my way through the data with the aim of sharing headlines with the School soon. The results of the survey will be discussed at Staff Development Committee in more detail with the aim of producing an action plan to address any areas of concern or where there is room for improvement

The Computer Science team of staff, students and schoolteachers is leaving for Malawi this weekend (10th June) for three weeks to train teachers, deliver classes in schools, run computing clubs and visit local universities.

You can follow this pioneering scheme and send us your support on the Project Malawi blog:

http://www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk/project-malawi/

Twitter: @cas_manchester

David Rydeheard

The University requires all staff to declare anything that might result in a potential conflict of interest and requires the School to keep a Register of Interests. While you should report any relevant interests as they arise, the School is required to review its register on an annual basis. All staff of Grade 6 and above (and staff on other grades with possible conflicts of interest) are required to complete an annual declaration. Even if staff have no interests to declare they should submit a ‘nil return’.

Until recently the Register of Interests has been a paper based system and to make this process more efficient the University is introducing an online Register. The School of Computer Science is now moving to the online system. If you are at Grade 6 or above, in the next few days you should receive an email advising you how to complete your online register of interests form (if you are at Grade 5 or below and may have a possible conflict of interest, please contact me).

Further information:
• Handy Guide to the Register of Interests: http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=24418
• How to complete the Register: http://www.finance.manchester.ac.uk/compliance/roi/

If you are unsure what to declare as an interest after consulting the above guidance please contact me. If you need any assistance with the Register of Interests form please contact either Lynn or myself or the Finance Helpdesk (ext. 62535 or finance.helpdesk@manchester.ac.uk).

Head of School's Coffee Morning and Charity Bake Sale 
Thursday 15th June at 10am in Kilburn Staff Common room

Come and eat cake! What could be better on a Thursday morning to come, buy some delicious cake while making a donation to charity, and have a chat with colleagues. Bring your own brew. 

The charity we are supporting this time is Animals Asia/Nowzad. Karon Mee is raising money for her trek up Mount Snowdon on 17th September 2017. 

From Pacemakers to Codebreakers: Risk, Privacy, Security & Trust in the World of Today (and Tomorrow)

Date & Time:  Wednesday 5^th July 2017

Venue: MANDEC, 3rd Floor, University Dental Hospital, Higher Cambridge Street, Manchester, M15 6FH

Time: 12:00 - 16:00

The University is rallying its research talents to tackle the global challenges of managing risks and maintaining privacy, security and trust in today’s digital world.

The complex, cross-disciplinary nature of these challenges means your discipline may well be able to propose improved and new ways of tackling them and there are significant opportunities for research with £1.9 bn of government funding over 5 years earmarked for addressing these very broad issues (often lumped together as 'cyber security'). The University has prioritised this area as a focus for engagement with the city in response to strong interest from Manchester city-region government, industry, academia and GCHQ in exploring cross-sector collaboration.

Our vision is to bring researchers and academics from across disciplines in a community building event on Wednesday 5th July 2017 to explore the University’s relevant strengths - from more traditional security research, including privacy and confidentiality, to applications in business health, law, economics and beyond.

Many disciplines have contributions to make, for example:

• Behavioural psychology is designing systems that treat people as respected contributors not the biggest threat.
• Social scientists are studying covert social networks and investigating the confidentiality and privacy issues that arise from the collection, dissemination and analysis of data
• New laws and regulations are being crafted that re-evaluate classical boundaries.
• Physics is driving the next generation of encryption.
• Engineering is making it work in practice in “smart factories,” where cyber-physical systems monitor the physical processes of the factory and make decentralized decisions
• Immunology is providing analogies that help information systems and their carrier networks look after themselves.
• Computer science and mathematics are fundamental disciplines
• Criminology, forensic science, economics and many more

At the workshop we hope that you will find that, although you will have your own focus, this is something where your discipline almost certainly has skills, mindsets, and ways of doing things that can address the challenges.

To register to attend the event, please click here. Alternatively, if you are unable to attend but would like to be kept informed about future events, please click here.

For further information about the event, please feel free to direct any queries you may have to matthew.thomas@manchester.ac.uk

 

In case you missed the recent update in Beeline on 2-factor authentication, please read on:

IT Services is introducing new and improved practices through its Cyber Security Programme to keep our information and data secure. One of the first changes you’ll see is the launch of 2-factor authentication.  This involves adding an extra layer of IT security when you log in and will make it much more difficult for someone else to access protected services even if your password is stolen or guessed. During the week commencing Monday 12 June you’ll receive an email asking you to register with a company called Duo which is providing our 2-factor authentication service.

Further information can be found from: http://www.itservices.manchester.ac.uk/cybersecurity/programme/