As some of you may already know, this will be my last day as Head of Post Graduate Research for Computer Science. It's been great to work with such a committed bunch of PGRs! I've had a really great time over the past years but it's time to change and so I'll be moving over to GTA Lead and Oliver Rhodes will be taking over from me next week.

I hope to see you at the socials in the future!

There has been a poor response to the recent call for the PGR Symposium. The symposium is a mandatory requirement of the PGR process. The PGR academic team would appreciate it if you sign up as soon as possible, and they expect you to attend and actively contribute. Your supervisors will be in contact to outline what you need to do too.

Programming is hard, or at least it used to be. AI code generators like Amazon’s CodeWhisperer, DeepMind’s AlphaCode, GitHub’s CoPilot and many others now make programming easier for some people. What opportunities and challenges do these new tools present for educators? Join us on Zoom to discuss an award winning paper by Brett Becker, Paul Denny, James Finnie-Ansley, Andrew Luxton-Reilly, James Prather and Eddie Antonio Santos at University College Dublin, the University of Auckland and Abilene Christian University on this very topic. [1] We’ll be joined by two of the co-authors who will present a lightning talk to kick-off our discussion, for our monthly ACM journal club meetup. Here’s the abstract of his paper:

The introductory programming sequence has been the focus of much research in computing education. The recent advent of several viable and freely-available AI-driven code generation tools present several immediate opportunities and challenges in this domain. In this position paper we argue that the community needs to act quickly in deciding what possible opportunities can and should be leveraged and how, while also working on overcoming otherwise mitigating the possible challenges. Assuming that the effectiveness and proliferation of these tools will continue to progress rapidly, without quick, deliberate, and concerted efforts, educators will lose advantage in helping shape what opportunities come to be, and what challenges will endure. With this paper we aim to seed this discussion within the computing education community.

All welcome, as usual we’ll be meeting on Zoom at 2pm BST (UTC+1), details at sigcse.cs.manchester.ac.uk/join-us. Thanks to Sue Sentance at the University of Cambridge for nominating this months paper for discussion.

References

1. Brett A. Becker, Paul Denny, James Finnie-Ansley, Andrew Luxton-Reilly, James Prather, Eddie Antonio Santos (2023) Programming Is Hard – Or at Least It Used to Be: Educational Opportunities and Challenges of AI Code Generation in Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education: SIGCSE 2023, pages 500–506, DOI: 10.1145/3545945.3569759

OpenAI webcomic via reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/

As I’m sure you’re aware, heating has been an increasing problem over the last weeks. We have now learnt that this is due to the main “boiler” possibly being broken, which would explain the almost universal lack of heating, including the radiators on the ground floor. This is being further investigated: heating will be totally turned off for inspection and possible repair on Thursday, March 30th.

If you still had some central (vents or radiator) heating in your office in the last weeks, this will mean it will cool down and you may want to consider working from home or asking CSOps for an oil-filled radiator. I hope this will get fixed soon and will keep you posted.

As you may be aware, last year, the Office for Open Research  co-ordinated the Open Research Accelerator Fund which provided £19,000 to nine separate projects designed to further the development of open research practice across The University of Manchester. There were a range of applications across the faculties highlighting the diversity of the open research movement at the University. Further details of the successful applications from last year’s fund can be found on the Office for Open Research website.​

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This year, we are pleased to announce that £100,000 has been allocated over the next two financial years (2023/24 and 2024/25) to fund open research projects as part of the Accelerator Fund. ​

Applications are now open and will close on Wednesday, 31 May 2023.​

The Accelerator Fund is open to PGRs and staff at The University of Manchester. ​

There will be two distinct funding levels: ​

• awards up to £2,000 ​
• awards up to £20,000. ​

The successful projects must show how they align with the University’s open research principles and how they will contribute to a sustainable culture change. For further information about the application process and evaluation criteria, please refer to the Office for Open Research website and download the application form.​

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If potential applicants would like their application to be reviewed prior to final submission, please contact the Office for Open Research with a completed application form no later than Friday, 26 May 2023.​

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For all enquiries relating to the Accelerator Fund, email: openresearch@manchester.ac.uk.​

We look forward to hearing from you and your colleagues.​

NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence in Riga, Latvia have recently announced an open vacancy for the Principal Scientist (Data Expert) at the Centre.

Following the rapid development of technology, we are looking for a Principal Scientist who would monitor the development of data science and social media and would be able to advise and educate the personnel of the COE on developments in the field. The successful candidate is expected to have expertise in the ways that new developments in data science and social media create or enhance social, political, and security vulnerabilities.

The full vacancy description is available on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/3510998292) and COE’s website (stratcomcoe.org).

NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence works to deliver up-to-date and in-depth analysis of methodologies applied by malicious actors across the information space. Our work focuses on but is not limited to the digital environment analysis, with particular focus on emerging technologies and AI, to provide comprehensive and practical knowledge base to those working in the field of strategic communications. We also aim to build knowledge base of complex communications processes and narratives’ formation processes for NATO and its nations to operate effectively. Expertise in strategic communications allows the COE to contribute to the development of NATO doctrines and form research-based framework for Alliance’s operations. The COE’s expertise has formed by combining knowledge from private, public and academic sectors and successfully applying research in recognizing and managing emerging threats in the information environment.

Welcome to the updated handbook!

It's all very well getting an AI to write code for you but reading code and writing code is not the same as understanding code. So what is going on in novices brains when they learn to actually understand the code they are reading and writing? Join us on Monday 6th March at 2pm GMT to discuss a paper by Quintin Cutts and Maria Kallia from the University of Glasgow on this very topic [1], from the abstract:

An approach to code comprehension in an introductory programming class is presented, drawing on the Text Surface, Functional and Machine aspects of Schulte’s Block Model, and emphasising programming as a modelling activity involving problem and machine domains. To visually connect the domains and a program, a key diagram conceptualising the three aspects lies at the approach’s heart, alongside instructional exposition and exercises, which are all presented. Students find the approach challenging initially, but most recognise its value later, and identify, unexpectedly, the value of the approach for problem decomposition, planning and coding.

We’ll be joined by one of the co-authors (Quintin Cutts), who’ll give us a lightning talk summary of the paper to kick-off our journal club discussion. [1] All welcome, as usual we’ll be meeting on zoom, details at sigcse.cs.manchester.ac.uk/join-us

References

1. Quintin Cutts and Maria Kallia (2023) Introducing Modelling and Code Comprehension from the First Days of an Introductory Programming Class in CEP ’23: Proceedings of 7th Conference on Computing Education Practice Pages 21–24 DOI:10.1145/3573260.3573266

CC-licensed puzzle image by flaticon.com

More and more software development tools are available in the cloud, with tools like Replit, CodingRooms, GitHub Codespaces, Amazon Web Services Cloud9, JetBrains and Eclipse all offering online tools for developers to code collaboratively in the cloud. Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) which have traditionally been available as “fatter” clients are increasingly available as “thinner” web-based clients running in a browser. These tools can lower some of the barriers to installation and maintenance for their users. What are the strengths and weaknesses of these new tools for teaching introductory programming courses? Join us on Monday 6th February at 2pm GMT to discuss a paper by Phil Hackett and his colleagues at the Open University on this very topic [1], from the abstract:
 

This paper discusses a pilot research project, which investigated the use of online collaborative IDEs (Integrated development environments) during a first-year computing degree course. The IDEs used can be described as virtual computing labs because they replicate some of the actions possible in physical computing labs. Students were supported by a tutor with real-time help and feedback provided, whilst they were programming, without being collocated. The use of two different platforms is considered with the benefits and drawbacks discussed. Students and tutors indicated that they would like to use a virtual computing lab approach in the future.

We’ll be joined by the lead author of the paper Phil Hackett, who’ll give us a lightning talk summary of the paper to kick-off our journal club discussion. The paper was presented at Computing Education Practice (CEP) in Durham earlier this month. [1]

All welcome, as usual we’ll be meeting on zoom, details at sigcse.cs.manchester.ac.uk/join-us. 

References

1. Phil Hackett, Michel Wermelinger, Karen Kear and Chris Douce (2023) Using a Virtual Computing Lab to Teach Programming at a Distance in CEP ’23: Proceedings of 7th Conference on Computing Education Practice Pages 5–8 DOI:10.1145/3573260.3573262

(Creative Commons cloud image via flaticon.com)

Following the exhaustion of the University Open Access Fund last November, we are pleased to confirm that the Library has secured additional funds to support unfunded researchers publishing in fully Open Access journals. Based on our projections, these additional funds should ensure that all eligible requests submitted before August 2023 can be approved, however authors are encouraged to request funding prior to submission via the Open Access enquiry form so that funds can be protected. For more information on the funding available and how to request it, please visit our Open Access Funding page.

In addition to the University Open Access Fund, the University of Manchester Library has signed up to transformative agreements with a number of publishers including Elsevier, Wiley, Springer, and SAGE. Unfunded authors can also benefit from these deals and publish their work Open Access free of charge.

Please visit our Transformative Agreement page for a list of our current agreements with publishers and details of which journals are covered. If you’re not sure if the journal you're submitting to is included in a transformative agreement, you can contact the Library’s Open Access Team using our Open Access Enquiry Form.

This opportunity is open to PhD students that:

•           have been funded for their PhD by the EPSRC in the form of fees and/or stipend
•           will be submitting their thesis not earlier than 31^st March 2023 and not later than 31^st July 2024

Key dates

• Application deadline: Friday 18 August 2023 (Interviews: September 202)
• Project start date: October 1 2023 – January 31 2024 and April 1 2024 - July 31 2024

The University is committed to supporting the development of open and transparent research practices as part of an Open and Responsible Research Environment in our research strategy and through our recently established Office for Open Research.

You may already be aware that the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) is running a national survey on open and transparent research practices, which is being led by The University of Manchester.

With that in mind, we would really value the input of our research community, across all disciplines and all career stages - from PhD candidates to professorial grades. We want to hear from everyone: those already practising open research, those who plan to and those who are opposed to this way of working or simply do not find it useful for their research.

Please could you complete a short survey (which will take around 15 minutes) to help us improve resources to support your research. Open research is becoming more common and a growing number of research funding bodies require evidence of such practices.

The deadline for completion is January 27^th. The survey can be completed by clicking here.

We really value your input and thank you in advance for taking the time to participate in this survey.

Dear colleagues

Following on from the announcement in last weeks newsletter...

Join us this Thursday 15th December for our end of year celebration from 3:30pm in the 1st Floor Common Room. It's our first winter get together since 2019. As well as celebrating 2022 drawing to a close with drinks, food and good company, we're also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Kilburn building. [1] Built in 1972, our building has served as the home of our community for half a century. To mark the occasion, we've put together a quiz for your entertainment. Just like Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol [2] we've heard from:

• The Ghost of Kilburn Past
• The Ghost of Kilburn Present
• The Ghost of Kilburn Yet to Come

The ghosts have spoken and compiled three rounds of Kilburn trivia for your amusement:

1. The Kilburn round: how well do you know the Kilburn building and Tom Kilburn?
2. The Head of Department round, from Tom Kilburn to Andrew Stewart via Dai Edwards, John Gurd, Howard Barringer, Brian Warboys, Steve Furber, Chris Taylor, Norman Paton, Jim Miles and Robert Stevens. How well do you know your HoDs? [3]
3. The Music round with hits from five decades of music from 1972 to 2022: seventies, eighties, nineties and now

So, don't be a selfish miserly scrooge, redeem yourself by joining us for some festive Kilburn fun.

Form your own team or join one on the day, we look forward to seeing you there either way.

Ho ho ho

Seasons Greetings from

Father Quizmas and his Merry Quizmas elves

(Sean Bechhofer, Erika Buznik-Wallis, Clare Dixon, Toby Howard, Duncan Hull and Ruth Maddocks)

References

1. Brian Pullan and Michele Abendstern (2000) A history of the University of Manchester, 1951-73, Manchester University Press man.ac.uk/esc1QM
2. Charles Dickens (1843) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol
3. David Anderson (2014) Tom Kilburn: A Tale of Five Computers Communications of the ACM, Vol. 57 No. 5, Pages 35-38
   DOI: 10.1145/2594290

The Centre for Intelligent Sensing from Queen Mary University of London would like to invite you to attend an online Explainable AI Sensing Winter School, which is open to PhD and MSc students, Postdocs and Researchers. You don’t need to be an expert in Explainable AI, however a good understanding of AI is necessary.   

This event consists of 4 tutorials, 8 specialized talks and an opportunity to show your work in 5-10 minutes presentation on the last day of the school. Topics include the application of explainable AI methods, or critical overviews on explainable AI on specific domains related to sensing. If you are interested in presenting, please send a talk title, plus a 2-3 sentence description of the content of your talk to cis-web@eecs.qmul.ac.uk by the 12th December.  

The event is FREE but registration is mandatory.  

Link to the registration page: https://bit.ly/2022-intelligent-sensing-winter-school-tickets   

Link to the event: http://cis.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/school2022.html   

You'll be experiencing a slowdown over Christmas with all things PGR. If you have anything that needs submitting, decisions from us, extensions and interruptions and the like please do contact us now.

Due to the UCU strike we have re-scheduled this to the following day/time. Please also note the new location.

Date: Friday 2nd December 10-12
Location: Kilburn Lecture Theatre 1.4

Apologies if this doesn’t work as well for you.

We have 2 AI Faculty positions available here in Waterloo. AI robotics is relevant, but the advert is quite broad and invites people interested in a variety of AI approaches (not only deep learning!). We target applications for tenure-track Assistant Professors, but could also consider other positions. If you know of people who might like to move to Waterloo in Canada (not in Belgium), could you send them the link below? It's a great place to work and live.

You can find more information about the University, the two posts and how to apply here:

https://uwaterloo.ca/engineering/faculty-openings-artificial-intelligence

Attached is the programme for Counselling and Mental Health Service workshops and groups for January to March 2023. You can find further information at the Counselling and Mental Health Service website.