Masters News 2024-2025

I hope that your project is going smoothly, and is on course to be completed by the deadline.  Software Updates in 2.25B Please note that the operating system on machines in 2.25B will start to be updated on 1st August 2024, in prep...

I hope that your project is going smoothly, and is on course to be completed by the deadline. 



Software Updates in 2.25B
=========================

Please note that the operating system on machines in 2.25B will start to be updated on 1st August 2024, in preparation for the new academic year.  Thus if you want to use university lab machines, please use those in 2.25A, which will not be updated until after the project submission deadline.  If you are using these machines for your project and have an extended deadline, please let me know by 1st August.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

We are entering the last week of the Semester 2 exam period; I hope the exams are going smoothly.As soon as the exams are out of the way, please get stuck back into your project.

We are entering the last week of the Semester 2 exam period; I hope the exams are going smoothly. As soon as the exams are out of the way, please get stuck back into your project.  From the end of the exams to project submission is just 13 weeks, which can seem to fly by!  Semester 2 assessment results are expected to be released during the week commencing 15th July 2024.

This is the last of the regular issues of Masters News, as there tends to be less regular news in the summer.  However, I will periodically produce an edition when there seems to be worthwhile news to pass on. 

Norman Paton, PGT Director

STUDENT WELLBEING SUPPORT IN CS.

It is important that you let the Department know of any issues that have an impact on your exams. You can speak to your Advisor or a member of the Student Support and Wellbeing team, Maria Sloan and Ben Herbert, who can offer support if you need to submit a mitigating circumstances application. You can contact Maria and Ben by email.

MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCE DEADLINE - THIS FRIDAY.

If you are intending to apply for mitigating circumstances then it is recommended that you apply as soon as possible. Applying well before the deadline allows the wellbeing team time to review your application and get in touch with you if they have any questions that may help your application be accepted. The mitigating circumstances form closes at 4pm THIS FRIDAY (7th June). This is the deadline for both application forms and for submission of evidence. If you have any questions about mitigation then please contact soe.wellbeing@mancehster.ac.uk.

PILOT MEETING OF OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE CLUB.

Interested in contributing to open source code bases, to boost your CV and showcase your software development skills to employers?  With the Innovation Factory, staff in the Department of Computer Science are piloting a new Open Source Software Club that aims to partner students at the University with academics with research-based open source code bases, to help kick start a thriving contributor community.  In the session, we'll guide you through the process of becoming an open source contributor, starting with the basics and giving you the chance to ask questions and correct mistakes as you go.  The code base owner will be present to answer queries and to give reassurance about the kinds of contributions that are needed.

The pilot session will take place on Tuesday, 25th June 2024 from 11.00am-1.00pm.  All university staff and students are welcome to attend, though places are limited.  More information can be found here, along with a form to register for a place at the pilot session.

DATA SCIENCE SOCIETY.

Our partner Peak AI is hosting their Annual Peak Hackathon. Join us on 07/06/2024 from 12pm to 6pm at the Peak office for a hands-on data science experience! Tackle a real-world data science project in Python, guided by industry experts. You'll complete a project to showcase on GitHub and your CV. The hackathon will cover data analysis/preprocessing, modelling, and Git best practices. You can sign up individually or as a team of 3 to 5 members. Fill out the form to sign up and know more about the event. Contact the MUDS committee with any questions on Discord. Don't miss this chance to level up your data science skills!

WOMEN IN KILBURN EVENT.

Join us at our next monthly networking event dedicated to empowering and raising the visibility of women, non-binary individuals, and underrepresented groups within Computer Science. Come grab a bite and network with academics, senior students, and fellow classmates within Computer Science.

• When: Wednesday, 5th June, 2024

• Time: 11AM- 12PM

• Where: Turing Lounge, Kilburn Building, 1st floor, directly opposite the first-floor entrance, close to the disabled access lift.

 

 

It?s the 2nd week of the semester 2 exam period.I hope your revision and exams are going well. Please note that next Monday (27th May) is a bank holiday (national holiday in the UK), so the Kilburn building will be closed.

It’s the 2nd week of the semester 2 exam period. I hope your revision and exams are going well. Please note that next Monday (27th May) is a bank holiday (national holiday in the UK), so the Kilburn building will be closed.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

STUDENT WELLBEING SUPPORT IN CS.

It is important that you let the Department know of any issues that have an impact on your exams. You can speak to your Advisor or a member of the Student Support and Wellbeing team, Maria Sloan and Ben Herbert, who can offer support if you need to submit a mitigating circumstances application. You can contact Maria and Ben by email.

MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCE DEADLINE - FRIDAY 7TH JUNE.

If you are intending to apply for mitigating circumstances then it is recommended that you apply as soon as possible. Applying well before the deadline allows the wellbeing team time to review your application and get in touch with you if they have any questions that may help your application be accepted. The mitigating circumstances form closes at 4pm on Friday the 7th June. This is the deadline for both application forms and for submission of evidence. Applications received after the deadline will be automatically rejected. Applications with no evidence received before the deadline will also be rejected. Unfortunately the wellbeing team are unable to facilitate requests to submit mitigation applications or evidence at a later date. If you have any questions about mitigation then please contact soe.wellbeing@mancehster.ac.uk.

STAFF APPRECIATION AWARDS.

Voting for the Department of Computer Science Teaching Awards closes TODAY! You can now vote here for a chance to have a say in which teaching staff you think deserves an award the most. There are 8 categories and 8 possible winners, so please vote in all categories. Voting will close TODAY (Monday 20th May) at 4pm, so get your votes in now!

FREE EXAM BREAKFASTS.

Free exam breakfasts will be available to all School of Engineering students over the exam period, from May 13th until June 5th. Swing by the Engineering A event space every weekday morning from 8:30-10 am. Courtesy of the Information, Advice and Guidance team, we've got your breakfast covered. Make sure you bring your student card along! 

INAUGURAL SEMINAR. 

Prof. Alex Creswell will present an inaugural seminar, “The reality versus the theory – how AI will impact cyber security in the next 12 months”, on Wednesday 22nd May, 14:00-15:00, in Kilburn Lecture Theatre 1.3. Abstract: The theory of expanding attack surface suggests that agentic AI will reshape the cyber threat landscape over the next 12 months, opening up new attack vectors for threat actors to exploit. AI personal assistants will become targets due to their access to sensitive data. Accelerated corporate adoption of AI is already overwhelming security teams and could lead to malicious exploitation. In reality, cyber criminals (as opposed to state actors) are struggling to leverage AI for automating attacks. AI is enhancing phishing campaigns but there is no evidence that criminals have used AI to generate effective intrusion sets. AI advantage is currently favouring defenders. In future, AI will enable a new generation of unsophisticated criminals to launch attacks, lowering the barrier to entry into this area of crime. Private sector organisations should adopt active defence tools and monitor criminal adoption of smaller, specialised LLMs which require less compute.

 

As you are likely aware, it?s the 1st week of the Semester 2 exam period.

As you are likely aware, it’s the 1st week of the Semester 2 exam period. Please make sure you are familiar with your exam timetable, and that you know when and where your exams are taking place. If you are slightly late for an exam, then you may be allowed to sit it, but you will not get any additional time. However, if you are too late, then you will not be able to sit the exam, in this case you should contact the student hub immediately. If you are unable to attend your exam due to mitigating circumstances (such as an illness), please make sure you complete a mitigating circumstances application before the deadline (see below) and speak to a member of the Student Support and Wellbeing team.

I hope your exams go smoothly.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

FREE EXAM BREAKFASTS.

Free exam breakfasts will be available to all School of Engineering students over the exam period, from May 13th until June 5th. Swing by the Engineering A event space every weekday morning from 8:30-10 am. Courtesy of the Information, Advice and Guidance team, we've got your breakfast covered. Make sure you bring your student card along!

ENGINEERING BUILDING A EXTENDED OPENING HOURS.

Engineering Building A opening hours will be extended during the exam period, between Tuesday 7 May – Wednesday 5 June. The building will be open from 8am to 10pm each day, with FSE students given the swipe card access required to enter after 8pm Mon-Fri and all day Saturday and Sunday. The Kilburn Building opening hours will remain unchanged during this period, at 8am - 6pm, Monday and Friday, with access from 6 - 9pm (weekday) being available when holding a valid extended working hours pass.

COMPUTER CLUSTERS DURING THE EXAM PERIOD.

Please be aware that some computer clusters across the campus will be unavailable for students to use during the exam period. In the Kilburn Building, the large cluster on the first floor (1.8/1.10) will not be available to students throughout the exam period. All other labs and teaching spaces in the Kilburn building will be available for use.

 

 

Already it is the last week of the semester 2 teaching period; hopefully you are feeling under control with the coursework for this period, and you have at least a draft of your Project Overview and Plan which is due on Friday.

Already it is the last week of the semester 2 teaching period; hopefully you are feeling under control with the coursework for this period, and you have at least a draft of your Project Overview and Plan which is due on Friday.

There will be some work on student spaces in the Kilburn Building over the next 18 months. It would be much appreciated if you could let me know: (i) What labs / teaching / social spaces you have liked in Kilburn or other university buildings, and why; (ii) What you would like to see changed about the student spaces in Kilburn; and (iii) What would help to make Kilburn seem like a good base for Masters students.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

COMPUTER CLUSTERS DURING THE EXAM PERIOD.

Please be aware that some computer clusters across the campus will be unavailable for students to use during the exam period. In the Kilburn Building, the large cluster on the first floor (1.8/1.10) will not be available to students throughout the exam period. All other labs and teaching spaces in the Kilburn building will be available for students to use.  

INAUGURAL LECTURE. 

Professor Chenghua Lin will present an inaugural lecture: “The “BERT moment” for Music - MERT: Large-Scale Self-supervised Training for Acoustic Music Understanding”, on Wednesday 15th May, 14:00-15:00 in Kilburn Lecture Theatre 1.3.

Abstract: Whilst NLP has been my main research focus, I also love music, a universal language that we all understand. In this talk, I will share my work on computational music processing as part of my research agenda of developing large language models (LLMs) for Multimodal Generative AI. I will first introduce MERT, an acoustic music understanding model based on large-scale self-supervised training and is akin to the “BERT moment” in NLP, but for Music. We have successfully trained a family of MERT models (with model sizes including 95M, 330M, and 1B parameters), which demonstrated excellent performance on 14 Music Information Retrieval (MIR) tasks. Since releasing on HuggingFace in March 2023,  MERT has received over 500K downloads. To address the significant absence of a universal and community-driven benchmark for music understanding, we further developed MARBLE,  a universal MIR benchmark. MARBLE facilitates the benchmarking of pre-trained music models for 18 tasks (with more being added) on 12 publicly available datasets, offering an easy-to-use, extendable, and reproducible evaluation suite for this burgeoning community. 

For those who are unable to join us in person, please join by Zoom, Meeting ID: 989 2292 8099, Passcode: 043842.  

MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES DEADLINE.

The deadline for reporting any mitigating circumstances that have impacted you in semester 2 (coursework or exams) is Friday 7th June 2024 at 4:00pm. This is a strict deadline and no applications will be considered after this date. You can find information on the mitigating circumstances process in the postgraduate handbook (in CS-PGT-COMMUNITY on Blackboard). If you are experiencing any problems then you can speak to your advisor, or you can speak to a member of the Student Support and Wellbeing Team, Maria Sloan and Ben Herbert. 

REPORT AND SUPPORT.

The University’s Report and Support Service is available to students. If you or someone you know has experienced or witnessed any form of bullying, harassment, discrimination, gender-based violence, hate or micro-aggressions, or have a safeguarding concern, you can report it anonymously or get support from a trained advisor through Report and Support. To report an incident and speak to a caseworker, you can either fill out the online form or someone can do it on your behalf. You, or the person reporting can make special requests for a certain type of advisor. The last page of the form will ask for details of who they should speak to about this report. The team will seek to understand your situation and aim to give you information, advice and support tailored to your individual circumstances. You can access this service here. Please be mindful that whilst you can send anonymous reports, the team are unable to contact you to offer support unless you provide your name and contact details.

 

It is week 11, and thus the penultimate week of the semester 2 teaching period.

It is week 11, and thus the penultimate week of the semester 2 teaching period. Timetabled activities will stop at the end of this week for most course units, but please check your personal timetable to see if any activities are taking place in week 12 (for example to support lab submission). Next Monday (6th May) is May Bank Holiday, which is a public holiday in the UK, so there will be no scheduled teaching activities. 

Norman Paton, PGT Director

EXAM NERVES SURVIVAL GUIDE.

This from Ben Herbert, Student Support and Wellbeing: I have found a very good resource, Student Space from Student Minds, which provides some excellent advice on student wellbeing - I highly recommend you have a look. I’ve taken some of the advice from the website to help produce this piece. Anxiety is a natural response and vital for our survival. In the context of exams, we should not be looking to “cure” anxiety but to overcome it, and also understand that motivational nerves are normal, and even a good thing. Overcoming anxiety is possible with simple steps to reduce stress and enhance performance.

It’s Science, Stupid.

Fear and anxiety are innate defence mechanisms, triggered by the part of your brain called the amygdala. Its job is to identify potential threats and automatically initiate the fight-flight-freeze response, flooding our bodies with adrenaline and impairing rational thinking. Anxiety arises from perceiving exams as threats. This can hinder memory recall and trigger worst-case scenario thinking. Distinguishing between anxiety and motivational nerves is crucial. While both may share symptoms, motivational nerves (e.g. butterflies in the stomach and increase heart rate before your exam) can enhance focus and performance. So let’s overcome anxiety and harness our motivational nerves.

Getting ready

1. Prepare Adequately: Accept anxious feelings as indicators of the exam's importance. Establish a study schedule to regain control and ensure balanced preparation.

2. Prioritise Self-Care: Adequate sleep, good nutrition, hydration, social interactions, and regular exercise are fundamental for managing anxiety and alleviating stress. You may think less time revising and more time exercising is counter-productive, but it really does help.

3. Practical Preparations: Organise exam essentials beforehand, including stationery and knowing where to find the exam venue, to minimise last-minute stressors.

4. Connect with Others: Spending time with friends provides emotional support and helps alleviate stress. However, balance socialising with study commitments.

5. Maintain routines and healthy habits. Avoid last-minute cramming as it disrupts sleep and confuses the brain. Prioritise relaxation and sufficient sleep for optimal performance.

6. Revise in groups to share knowledge - Take advantage of any revision session your tutors arrange, or organise your own revision sessions.

On the Day

Ensure ample time for preparation, travel, finding the room, the frequent toilet trips, and have a nutritious breakfast. Spending time outdoors and listening to calming music can help manage pre-exam nerves. Choose whether to spend time alone or with friends based on personal preference.

During the Exam

Acknowledge normal nerves and employ relaxation techniques like 7/11 breathing (in for count for 7, out for a count of 11). Start with the parts you are confident with, plan your time wisely, and take breaks if needed. Focus on completing answers to the best of your ability. If you get stuck, move on.

After the Exam

Reflect on your achievements and areas for improvement. Spend time with friends or alone as needed, and reward yourself for your efforts. By understanding and implementing these strategies, you can effectively manage exam anxiety and optimise your performance.

BIG SISTERS IN STEM PODCAST.

A recent Big Sisters in STEM podcast featured our very own Zahra Montazeri talking about ‘Role models, unlocking creativity and shedding stereotypes’. From Star Wars to Avatar... you can find pieces of Zahra and her work throughout some of your favourite films. Today she explains not only how she employs science to create such magical results, but how important it is to believe in your abilities on your journey. From Iran to Turkey, and from California to the UK – Zahra knows talent, hard work, and self-belief can take you anywhere and everywhere. Make sure you have a listen - it’s Episode 4 (April 17th) - listen on Spotify, or YouTube. Follow @bigsistersinstem on Instagram!

COURSE UNIT SURVEYS.

The semester 2 course unit surveys are now open and will run until the 5th May 2024. Please complete the surveys for your course units and provide us with feedback on how they have gone. Any feedback provided by you is anonymous. We find feedback, particularly comments, extremely useful to understand what you feel about our teaching and we do listen to it and make changes as a result. Please provide us with written comments to explain why you rated course units as you did. Without these comments it’s difficult to make informed decisions on how to change and improve how we teach. Please be detailed with your feedback - if your comments are general, such as `I would like to see more examples', or `I found some of the material confusing', you're not telling us where exactly we should aim to make improvements. You can only complete the surveys via personal links sent to you by email. If you haven’t received an email, or are having problems completing the surveys then please contact teachingandlearningsurveys@manchester.ac.uk.

GET MICROSOFT CERTIFIED ON FUNDAMENTALS.

Get Microsoft Certified this summer (for free!) on Azure, Cloud, AI, Data, Security, CRM, ERP and 365 this summer. The Department of Computer Science are working with the Flexible Learning Program to pilot the introduction of Microsoft Fundamentals for students at the University of Manchester. These certifications, which would normally cost $99 each, enhance your CV and LinkedIn by validating your existing knowledge and skills in Computer Science. There are eight free qualifications to choose from, each of which require around 20 hours of study between now and the in person exam in Manchester during July. You can register for one (or more than one) exam, and find out more and register by this Friday (3rd May 2024) at https://www.cdyf.me/achieving#microsoft.

PAID TEACHING OPPORTUNITY.

Would you be interested in some work teaching 12-14 year olds that are interested in Science and Technology in June and July? MCS Projects are looking for students to assist leading activities and answer questions about University at some of our Challenge Days. Each event is a regional competition designed to raise enthusiasm for STEM subjects and encourage more young people to consider a career in them. Events run from 8.30-3.15, with activities including E-FIT forensics, medical diagnostics and electric cars. For more information please go to mcsprojectsltd.co.uk. Successful applicants would be added to a mailing list so they can sign up to any events that they’re available for in the North West. The pay is £84 plus travel expenses per event. A training session would be provided beforehand. To apply, send your CV to John Waterworth by Monday 6th May.

STUDENT WELLBEING SUPPORT IN COMPUTER SCIENCE...

STUDENT WELLBEING SUPPORT IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

As we approach the end of the semester, when deadlines mount and the pressure of completing work and starting revising for exams reaches its peak, it is worth remembering that we have a dedicated Student Support and Wellbeing team, Maria Sloan and Ben Herbert. Maria and Ben can also provide guidance with respect to submitting mitigating circumstances. If you are affected by any issues impacting your learning then Maria and Ben will be happy to speak to you. You can contact Maria and Ben by email, or drop into the student hub in Engineering Building A to have a chat.

COURSE UNIT SURVEYS

The semester 2 course unit surveys are open and will run until the 5th May 2024. Please complete the surveys for your course units and provide us with feedback on how they have gone. Any feedback provided by you is anonymous. We find feedback, particularly written comments, extremely useful to understand what you feel about our teaching and we do listen to it and make changes as a result. Without these comments it’s difficult to make informed decisions on how to change and improve how we teach. Please be detailed with your feedback - if your comments are general, such as `I would like to see more examples', or `I found some of the material confusing', you're not telling us where exactly we should aim to make improvements. You can only complete the surveys via personal links sent to you by email. If you haven’t received an email, or are having problems completing the surveys then please contact teachingandlearningsurveys@manchester.ac.uk.

CENTRE FOR DIGITAL TRUST AND SECURITY EVENT

Centre for Digital Trust and Society Seed Corn Showcase | 16th May (14:30 - 17:00) | Drinks reception available. The Centre for Digital Trust and Society (CDTS) Seed Corn Funding awards funding to cutting-edge proposals that further our research and understanding of digital trust and society. Come along and see how you can get involved with this initiative and explore the successes and learnings of our previously funded projects. Register here. Featured projects include:

• Demanding justice in the Cloud: An analysis of punitive attitudes in social media for traditional and cyber-enabled crime | Dr Nicholas Trajtenberg Pareja & Mr Pablo Ezquerra Silva

• Rebuilding Democratic Discourse: Online Harms and Trust | Dr Mihaela Popa-Wyatt, Dr Justina Berskyte, Prof Graham Stevens

• Defining the acceptability of ‘safe’ data linkage to identify women at risk of postnatal complication in Greater Manchester | Dr Victoria Palin, Prof Niels Peek, Prof Jenny Myers, Dr Anthony Wilson, Mr Bradley Quinn

• Modern slavery and digitisation in ‘fast-fashion’ supply networks | Dr Jonathan Davies, Prof Rose Broad, Dr Amy Benstead 

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.

INAUGURAL LECTURE. 

Professor Sami Kaski will present an inaugural lecture titled “Collaborative Machine Learning for Research” on 23rd April 2024, 1-2pm, Engineering Building A, Lecture Theatre B. Sami Kaski is Professor of Artificial Intelligence in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester and at Aalto University, Helsinki. In Manchester he is the Research Director of the Christabel Pankhurst Institute for Health Technology Research and Innovation, and in Helsinki leads the Finnish Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research FCAI and ELLIS Unit Helsinki. He is also an ELLIS Fellow and Turing Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute.

Abstract: I will bring together two traditionally separate lines of research: (i) probabilistic machine learning, in which we combine flexible learning from multiple sources of data with prior knowledge in the form of simulators, and (ii) user interaction, starting from interactive intent modelling in information retrieval and extending to collaborative AI. This combination enables developing new kinds of tools for research tasks, including AI-assisted design tools for design-build-test-learn cycles. When R&D processes are formulated as virtual simulation-based laboratories, the tools can be applied across fields from experimental sciences to engineering design and medicine, and further to humanities and social sciences. The university is now building significant capacity in this field with the launch of the Centre for AI Fundamentals, AI-FUN, with research groups focusing on developing machine learning principles and seeking to do that in collaboration with other fields. 

To find our more, please contact ai-fun@manchester.ac.uk or ellis@manchester.ac.uk. Click here to register for the event. For catering purposes please register if you intend to attend.

COURSE UNIT SURVEYS.The semester 2 course unit surveys are now open and will run until the 5th May 2024.Please complete the surveys for your course units and provide us with feedback on how they have gone.

COURSE UNIT SURVEYS.

The semester 2 course unit surveys are now open and will run until the 5th May 2024. Please complete the surveys for your course units and provide us with feedback on how they have gone. Any feedback provided by you is anonymous. We find feedback, particularly comments, extremely useful to understand what you feel about our teaching and we do listen to it; we do make changes as a result. Please provide us with written comments to explain why you rated course units as you did. Without these comments it’s difficult to make informed decisions on how to change and improve how we teach. Please be detailed with your feedback - if your comments are general, such as 'I would like to see more examples', or 'I found some of the material confusing', you're not telling us where exactly we should aim to make improvements. You can only complete the surveys via personal, links sent to you by email - there is no link through Blackboard. If you haven’t received an email, or are having problems completing the surveys then please contact teachingandlearningsurveys@manchester.ac.uk.

EXAM TIMETABLE. 

The exam timetable has now been published. Individual timetables should be published in My Manchester this week. Please note that all examinations take place under invigilated conditions and on-campus (there may be one or two exceptions to this), so you must be in Manchester during the examination period. Make sure you know when and where your exams take place. If you have any questions, please contact the student support hub.

MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY DATA SCIENCE SOCIETY.

Our FINAL workshop this year is on GNNs, a type of neural network specialised for tricky unordered data. 

* Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) 

* Wednesday 17th 2-4pm 

• Simon 2.60

Join us for an interactive tutorial on:

1. Finding out how GNNs work

2. Learn how graphs are represented in Machine Learning

3. Use PyTorch Geometric for node and graph classification on various datasets

You can expect to use this wherever you have data that can't be split neatly into a grid, such as social media and consumer data. See you there! 

STAFF-STUDENT PROGRAMMING COMPETITION 2024. 

Ian Pratt-Hartmann writes: Staff and students in the School of Computer Science are cordially invited to take part in the Staff-Student programming competition.

• Date: Wednesday, 1st May, 2024

• Time: 14:00–17:00 (Results and explanation 17:00–18:00)

• Location: Kilburn Building Lower First Floor: Tootill 0 and 1 

• Registration deadline: Wednesday, 14:00, 24th April, 2024

The competition is open to all staff and students (incl. undergraduate) in Computer Science. Teams will consist of an integral number of persons between 1 and 3 inclusive, exactly one of whom will be designated the team captain. All teams are classified as either Staff teams or Student teams. Staff teams must have at least one member of staff (including RAs, but excluding PhD students) and must otherwise consist entirely of staff (including RAs) and PhD students. Student teams must consist entirely of students (graduate or undergraduate). No person may be in more than one team.

The Contest will be hosted on the Kattis system, and will feature a mix of problems of different difficulties. Newcomers to competitive programming are particularly welcome: you can get an idea of what the problems are like by logging on to Kattis and trying some. I suggest you cut your teeth on the "easy" (i.e. completely trivial) problems first: that will help you sort out reading input and writing output. Then you can try something more ambitious.

To participate, visit here  and return the completed form by 14:00 on 24th April, 2024. You must make sure all team members have obtained a Kattis account by this deadline.  (Go to https://open.kattis.com/register if you do not have a Kattis account.) You will receive an invitation to join the contest on (or about) 25th April 2024. You should accept this invitation as soon as possible, and certainly before the contest begins. Problems will be visible at the start of the competition. Teams will try to solve as many as they can. Contestants may use any of the supported languages, see the Kattis website for a full list.

One desktop machine (with ordinary University logins) will be available for each team.  Each team may additionally bring any number of laptop computers with the desired compiler(s)/IDEs installed. It is allowed to bring any printed materials into the competition room; however the use of stored electronic files or of the internet to access any sites other than the competition site is forbidden. Space is limited, and teams will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis, subject to a reasonable balance of staff and students. If you have queries, please contact me.

CENTRE FOR DIGITAL TRUST AND SECURITY EVENT.

Centre for Digital Trust and Society Seed Corn Showcase | 16th May (14:30 - 17:00) | Drinks reception available. The Centre for Digital Trust and Society (CDTS) Seed Corn Funding awards funding to cutting-edge proposals that further our research and understanding of digital trust and society. Come along and see how you can get involved with this initiative and explore the successes and learnings of our previously funded projects. Register here. Featured projects include:

• Demanding justice in the Cloud: An analysis of punitive attitudes in social media for traditional and cyber-enabled crime | Dr Nicholas Trajtenberg Pareja & Mr Pablo Ezquerra Silva

• Rebuilding Democratic Discourse: Online Harms and Trust | Dr Mihaela Popa-Wyatt, Dr Justina Berskyte, Prof Graham Stevens

• Defining the acceptability of ‘safe’ data linkage to identify women at risk of postnatal complication in Greater Manchester | Dr Victoria Palin, Prof Niels Peek, Prof Jenny Myers, Dr Anthony Wilson, Mr Bradley Quinn

• Modern slavery and digitisation in ‘fast-fashion’ supply networks | Dr Jonathan Davies, Prof Rose Broad, Dr Amy Benstead 

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.

INAUGURAL SEMINAR. 

Dr. Mauricio Alvarez will present an inaugural seminar titled “Multi-task Learning and Physics-informed Probabilistic Modelling using Gaussian Processes” on Wednesday 17th April 2024, 2-3pm, in Kilburn building Lecture Theatre 1.4. Please use the link below to join the seminar on Zoom if you are unable to join us in-person, Meeting ID: 958 0188 2712, Passcode: 120653.

Abstract: Gaussian processes are Bayesian non-parametric models for non-linear regression. They are suitable in several data-driven problems where data is scarce and uncertainty calibration is required, such as Bayesian inverse problems and Bayesian optimisation. In this talk, I will introduce the audience to Gaussian processes and to two strands of research I’ve worked on in the last years: how to use Gaussian processes for transfer or multi-task learning and how to couple Gaussian processes with differential equations to build physics-inspired Gaussian process models.

ATLAS TALK. 

Dr. Anastasia Mavridou will present a talk titled “Let’s speak FRETish” on Thursday 18th April, 13:00 - 15:00 in Kilburn building Lecture Theatre 1.5. For those who are unable to join us in person, you can join us via Zoom. Anastasia Mavridou is a member of the Robust Software Engineering (RSE) Group at NASA Ames Research Center, employed by KBR Inc, where she leads the work on the NASA Ames' Formal Requirements Elicitation Tool (FRET). Before joining RSE, she worked as a postdoc at the Institute for Software Integrated Systems, Vanderbilt University, USA. She received her PhD in 2016 from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. She has authored more than 30 publications spanning the broad areas of formal methods and software engineering, with a focus on system design and formal analysis techniques. 

Abstract: FRET is a framework for the elicitation, formalization and analysis of requirements. FRET allows its user to enter requirements in a structured natural language called FRETish. Requirements written in FRETish are assigned unambiguous semantics. FRET supports its users in understanding this semantics and repairing requirements if applicable, by utilizing a variety of forms for each requirement: natural language description, formal mathematical logics, diagrams, and interactive simulation. FRET exports requirements into forms that can be used by a variety of analysis tools, including  state-of-the-art model checkers and runtime monitoring tools. The talk will cover some of the theory behind the framework, present case studies from the aerospace and robotics domains,  as well as current work on extending FRET for specifying requirements for software that learns.

INAUGURAL LECTURE. 

Professor Sami Kaski will present an inaugural lecture titled “Collaborative Machine Learning for Research” on 23rd April 2024, 1-2pm, Engineering Building A, Lecture Theatre B. Sami Kaski is Professor of Artificial Intelligence in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester and at Aalto University, Helsinki. In Manchester he is the Research Director of the Christabel Pankhurst Institute for Health Technology Research and Innovation, and in Helsinki leads the Finnish Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research FCAI and ELLIS Unit Helsinki. He is also an ELLIS Fellow and Turing Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute.

Abstract: I will bring together two traditionally separate lines of research: (i) probabilistic machine learning, in which we combine flexible learning from multiple sources of data with prior knowledge in the form of simulators, and (ii) user interaction, starting from interactive intent modelling in information retrieval and extending to collaborative AI. This combination enables developing new kinds of tools for research tasks, including AI-assisted design tools for design-build-test-learn cycles. When R&D processes are formulated as virtual simulation-based laboratories, the tools can be applied across fields from experimental sciences to engineering design and medicine, and further to humanities and social sciences. The university is now building significant capacity in this field with the launch of the Centre for AI Fundamentals, AI-FUN, with research groups focusing on developing machine learning principles and seeking to do that in collaboration with other fields. 

To find our more, please contact ai-fun@manchester.ac.uk or ellis@manchester.ac.uk. Click here to register for the event. For catering purposes please register if you intend to attend.

Welcome back from the Easter break; I hope you had some time to relax, while also making some progress with your project and doing some revision in anticipation of forthcoming exams.

Welcome back from the Easter break; I hope you had some time to relax, while also making some progress with your project and doing some revision in anticipation of forthcoming exams.

The minutes of the most recent Staff-Student Liaison Committee meeting are now available in CS-PGT-COMMUNITY.  If you have any additional comments in the light of these, please let me know.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

PhD SCHOLARSHIP

Scholarship for a Dual-Award PhD from both the University of Manchester (UK) and the University of Melbourne (Australia) on the topic of Automatic Algorithm Configuration / Hyper-parameter Optimization / AutoML within the context of mathematical optimization. 

The University of Manchester and the University of Melbourne offer a fully-funded scholarship to their dual-award PhD programme that provides a unique experience for PhD candidates wishing to include study abroad as part of their research. 

This project aims to extend the capabilities of automatic configuration tools to handle multiple conflicting criteria and adapt to such changes in the problem characteristics. For this purpose, the teams at Manchester and Melbourne will join their expertise in automatic configuration of algorithms and instance space analysis. The result of this project will be more powerful tools for tuning and deploying the critical algorithms that our modern world relies on so that they can better adapt to changes in the problems being solved and let users decide the most appropriate trade-off among conflicting criteria. 

What you get: 

• Two PhD degrees from top universities, The University of Manchester (top 10 in Europe, top 50 in the World) and The University of Melbourne (1st in Australia, top 30 in the World). 

• All University fees paid by the project. 

• Competitive stipend of at least 18,622 GBP / year (tax-free) with yearly increments for the duration of the project (four years). 

• 3 years at the University of Manchester and one-year at the University of Melbourne. 

The candidate will be enrolled in the PhD program at the Alliance Manchester Business School at the University of Manchester and in the PhD program at the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Melbourne. Receiving a dual-award allows you to benefit from two world-leading institutions. 

More information: https://lopez-ibanez.eu/dual-award-2024 ;

For questions about the topic, please contact Dr Manuel López-Ibáñez (manuel.lopez-ibanez@manchester.ac.uk) with an up-to-date CV including any publication profile.

EXAM AND ASSESSMENT SUPPORT FROM THE LIBRARY.

The Library is here to support you to prepare and revise throughout the exam and assessment period. You can find more details on our Exam & Assessment Support page. You can:

• access workshops and online resources for revision, exam and assessment support

* speak to one of our Library experts via our Library drop-in support

* get wellbeing support by accessing helpful resources and workshops via the Counselling and Student Service

Listen out for announcements in Main Library and AGLC for drop-in support and wellbeing events in conjunction with Manchester Museum! There are a number of upcoming workshops that you can search and book online. 

• Assessment support: revision and preparation (on campus): A workshop focused on practical revision tips and advice ensuring you maximise your efficiency and focus on the build up to assessments. 

• Thu 25 Apr 2024, 13:00 - 14:00 

• Thu 2 May 2024, 12:00 - 13:00

• Assessment support - applying your knowledge (on campus): A workshop focused on taking your revision to the next level by focusing on the connections and links between your course areas. 

• Fri 26 Apr 2024, 12:00 - 13:00 

• Thu 9 May 2024, 12:00 - 13:00 

•  Mindfulness workshops (on campus): If you are finding it hard to concentrate, have racing thoughts or often feel anxious or overwhelmed then this workshop, run by The University of Manchester Counselling and Mental Health Service, will introduce you to simple techniques to learn about the nature of the mind and what we can do to alleviate stress.

• Tue 9 Apr 2024, 16:15 - 17:00 

• Tue 23 Apr 2024, 16:15 - 17:00   

• Tue 7 May 2024, 16:15 - 17:00 

UNICS STAFF AWARDS.

For the first time ever, the Department of Computer Science is holding the Staff Teaching Awards, hosted by UniCS! Is there a lecturer or teaching staff that you think has been supportive of your learning, or simply has been amazing and deserves recognition? Share your story by nominating them for an award to thank them for everything that they have done. It is uncommon for lecturers and teaching staff to receive appreciation and positive feedback from students. Help us change this by thanking those who make a difference. You can nominate them through this form here. You can nominate as many staff as you would like!

UNICS BLACKPOOL TRIP. 

UniCS is holding our very first trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach Resort on Saturday 20th of April! Come along for a fun day with friends at the beach and exhilarating rides at the theme park, including the UK’s current tallest roller coaster and the Horror House! Don’t miss out on our heavily price reduced tickets costing only £9.99, tickets will go on sale at 15th April 12pm on our SU page. The tickets will cover travel and free lunch as well. There are a limited number of spaces so be quick!

STAFF-STUDENT PROGRAMMING COMPETITION 2024. 

Ian Pratt-Hartmann writes: Staff and students in the School of Computer Science are cordially invited to take part in the Staff-Student programming competition.

• Date: Wednesday, 1st May, 2024

• Time: 14:00–17:00 (Results and explanation 17:00–18:00)

• Location: Kilburn Building Lower First Floor: Tootill 0 and 1 

• Registration deadline: Wednesday, 14:00, 24th April, 2024

The competition is open to all staff and students (incl. undergraduate) in Computer Science. Teams will consist of an integral number of persons between 1 and 3 inclusive, exactly one of whom will be designated the team captain. All teams are classified as either Staff teams or Student teams. Staff teams must have at least one member of staff (including RAs, but excluding PhD students) and must otherwise consist entirely of staff (including RAs) and PhD students. Student teams must consist entirely of students (graduate or undergraduate). No person may be in more than one team.

The Contest will be hosted on the Kattis system, and will feature a mix of problems of different difficulties. Newcomers to competitive programming are particularly welcome: you can get an idea of what the problems are like by logging on to Kattis and trying some. I suggest you cut your teeth on the "easy" (i.e. completely trivial) problems first: that will help you sort out reading input and writing output. Then you can try something more ambitious.

To participate, visit here  and return the completed form by 14:00 on 24th April, 2024. You must make sure all teams members have obtained a Kattis account by this deadline.  (Go to https://open.kattis.com/register if you do not have a Kattis account.) You will receive an invitation to join the contest on (or about) 25th April 2024. You should accept this invitation as soon as possible, and certainly before the contest begins. Problems will be visible at the start of the competition. Teams will try to solve as many as they can. Contestants may use any of the supported languages, see the Kattis website for a full list.

One desktop machine (with ordinary University logins) will be available for each team.  Each team may additionally bring any number of laptop computers with the desired compiler(s)/IDEs installed. It is allowed to bring any printed materials into the competition room; however the use of stored electronic files or of the internet to access any sites other than the competition site is forbidden. Space is limited, and teams will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis, subject to a reasonable balance of staff and students. If you have queries, please contact me.

APPLE TALK ON FORMAL HARDWARE VERIFICATION.

Apple are visiting us on the 17th April, Engineering Building Lecture Theatre A, 3pm, to talk about formal verification. It’s mostly aimed at CS/EEE students (from Bachelors to PhD) who are interested in working for Apple, but may also interest academics working in formal verification. This talk will aim to introduce the topic of formal hardware verification to students of EEE / Computer Science. During the talk, you will learn about Apple Hardware, highlighting the evolution of the SOC (System-On-Chip) and underlining the critical role of Verification. We will explore various verification methods such as Simulation and Formal Verification, discussing their advantages and potential drawbacks. We will also delve into different types of Formal Methods, elucidating how a hardware verification problem at Register Transfer Level (RTL) described in standard Hardware Description Languages (HDLs) like Verilog, can be converted to Boolean Functions or propositional logic, alongside techniques for robust bug detection and proving design correctness. The presentation further provides insights into the execution of Formal Verification, precisely control flow applications through small examples. Finally, we will conclude the talk with statements of FV success and the fantastic opportunities at Apple to tackle the hardest verification problems in the industry. Find more information and register here.

CENTRE FOR DIGITAL TRUST AND SECURITY EVENT.

The Centre for Digital Trust and Society Forum returns for a third year! 

• 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. 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.

INAUGURAL SEMINAR. 

Dr Emily Collins will present an inaugural lecture titled “Building Trustworthy Robotics for Better, Safer Industry” on Tuesday 9th April 1-2pm, in Kilburn building Lecture Theatre 1.3. Note: this is a rearranged seminar. Abstract: My current research, as a DKO Fellow, aims to make robots work as effectively as possible for humans and society. In my inaugural seminar, I will describe how my career path led me here, where I am focussed on addressing the issue of how to build trustworthy robotics for society. Currently, it is relatively easy to build (remote-controlled) robotic systems and it is possible, though complex, to ensure their functions are reliable. However, despite messaging to the contrary, fully autonomous systems are still far away, and human interaction and direct control remain vital. No matter how reliable or effective the hardware or Artificial Intelligence is, the control of these systems is fundamentally dependent on how human operators use them; how much confidence and trust operators have in the systems; and how much easier these systems make the operators' working lives. In recent years, I have spearheaded a new interdisciplinary approach to this problem that aims to resolve the issues that occur between design, development, and eventual deployment. Focussed on the mediating variables contributing to an HRI study as the result of the relationships surrounding the interaction at the scenario’s core.

Please use the link below to join the seminar on Zoom if you are unable to join us in-person: Meeting ID: 918 2986 8190, Passcode: 737960.

INAUGURAL SEMINAR. 

Dr. Louise Dennis will present an inaugural seminar titled “Verifiable Autonomous Systems” on Wednesday 10th April, 2-3pm in Kilburn building Lecture Theatre 1.3. Abstract: How can we provide guarantees of behaviour for autonomous systems? In this talk I will explain how autonomous systems can be programmed in ways that make them amenable to formal verification. I will discuss how cognitive agent programming can be used to provide a transparent and verifiable decision-making core and show how properties of the system can then be checked – including properties related to ethical behaviour.

Please use the link below to join the seminar on Zoom if you are unable to join us in-person: Meeting ID: 921 1912 1061, Passcode: 023687.

INAUGURAL LECTURE. 

Professor Sami Kaski will present an inaugural lecture titled “Collaborative Machine Learning for Research” on 23rd April 2024, 1-2pm, Engineering Building A, Lecture Theatre B. Sami Kaski is Professor of Artificial Intelligence in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester and at Aalto University, Helsinki. In Manchester he is the Research Director of the Christabel Pankhurst Institute for Health Technology Research and Innovation, and in Helsinki leads the Finnish Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research FCAI and ELLIS Unit Helsinki. He is also an ELLIS Fellow and Turing Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute. Abstract: I will bring together two traditionally separate lines of research: (i) probabilistic machine learning, in which we combine flexible learning from multiple sources of data with prior knowledge in the form of simulators, and (ii) user interaction, starting from interactive intent modelling in information retrieval and extending to collaborative AI. This combination enables developing new kinds of tools for research tasks, including AI-assisted design tools for design-build-test-learn cycles. When R&D processes are formulated as virtual simulation-based laboratories, the tools can be applied across fields from experimental sciences to engineering design and medicine, and further to humanities and social sciences. The university is now building significant capacity in this field with the launch of the Centre for AI Fundamentals, AI-FUN, with research groups focusing on developing machine learning principles and seeking to do that in collaboration with other fields.

To find our more, please contact ai-fun@manchester.ac.uk or ellis@manchester.ac.uk. Click here to register for the event. For catering purposes please register if you intend to attend.

It is now Week 7, and we finish on Friday for a three-week Easter break, with teaching resuming on Monday 8th April 2024.  Masters News will also take a break, and will return on w/c 8th April.

While you should try to take some time off, this is also a good chance to make sure you are on top of lab work and making progress with your project.  It's also not that long until the 2nd Semester exams, so it may be useful to make a start on some revision.  

Norman Paton, PGT Director

EASTER OPENING HOURS.

The Kilburn Building will be open as normal during the Easter vacation, 09:00 - 18:00 Monday to Friday, apart from the period Friday 29th March (Good Friday) and Monday 1st April (Easter Monday), when the Kilburn building will be closed and there will be no access for students. For students holding an extended working hours pass, access is still available when the Kilburn building is open.

SPRING CAREERS FAIR 2024.

We are delighted to be welcoming over 50 recruiters to campus with graduate jobs, placements, and internships. For students of all years, the careers fair offers an ideal opportunity for you to speak directly, and in-person, with local and national organisations from a range of business and industry sectors and find out more about their opportunities. The careers takes place:

• Tuesday 12th March, 11am – 4pm.

• The Academy - Building 78 on Campus Map.

• More information available via CareerConnect and the Careers Service website.

CLOCKS MOVE FORWARD.

Please note that on Sunday 31st March (during the Easter break) the clocks go forward by 1 hour at 2 am, when we move into British Summer Time (Greenwich Mean Time +1 hour).

UNICS STUDENT HACK.

UniCS is organising one of our flagship events for the April 13th weekend: StudentHack 2024. A 24 hour hackathon for Manchester's brightest and most creative students to combine their ideas and make an awesome project! We have a prominent history of running hackathons over the last decade, with GreatUniHack last October. We received approval to use the Engineering Building (MECD), marking the first time our hackathons have run on familiar territory :) Follow us on our Instagram, @unics_hackathons, for more information on how to take part! (free food, prizes, fun activities and more!)

MAY BALL.

UniCS is excited to announce that we are running our annual May Ball on the 3rd of May 2024 at Midland Hotel! Come along dressed to impress for our James Bond themed ball. Join us for music, dancing and an amazing three-course meal that you wouldn’t want to miss out on! If you missed the early bird tickets, do not worry because general tickets will be releasing on the 6th of March at 4pm on our product page so look out for those.

FORTHCOMING ONLINE PROGRAMMING COMPETITION.

This from Ian Pratt-Hartmann: We would like to announce the “UKIEPC 2024: Spring Practice” programming contest which will be held online at 12:00-14:30 pm, 23 March. Our main goal is to promote programming for everyone in the UK and Ireland. This contest is targeted at novices and amateurs - we expect the problems to be of Div. 3 - Div.2 level in the terms of the site codeforces.com. Programmers with a rating higher than 1900 are encouraged to join our team of problem setters (look at the bottom). The date is 23rd of March. The start time is 12:00. The duration is 2:30. The contest is in teams of two people and each team can use two computers. The contest will be held on codeforces.com, so, everyone should be registered there to participate. The link to our group is here. 

INAUGURAL SEMINAR. 

Dr. Mingfei Sun will present an inaugural lecture titled “Deep Reinforcement Learning for Complex Decision Making” on Wednesday 13th March, 13:00 - 14:00 in Kilburn Lecture Theatre 1.3. Abstract: Deep reinforcement learning proves to be an effective optimization method for resolving numerous complex decision-making problems. In this seminar talk, I will begin by providing a brief overview of deep reinforcement learning and the underlying model, Markov Decision Processes (MDP). Subsequently, I will delve into the challenges that make MDP hard to solve, addressing key issues such as the extremely vast state/action space, the reward alignment problem, and the policy generalization challenge. Furthermore, I will showcase examples of employing deep reinforcement learning to tackle challenging problems in video games, multiagent systems, and simulated robot controls. Towards the conclusion of the talk, I will introduce the ongoing challenges we are currently addressing, with a specific emphasis on combinatorial decision-making on graphs and efficient optimization methods for large models.

CENTRE FOR DIGITAL TRUST AND SOCIETY SEED CORN SHOWCASE.

Join us to celebrate the groundbreaking achievements of the four research projects funded in our 2022-2023 Seed Corn Funding on 16th May, 14:30 - 17:00. Find out how the Seed Corn program helps nurture promising ideas, fostering the next generation of digital trust research, and learn ways you can get involved! What to expect at the Showcase:

• Dive into the learnings and successes of the four funded projects.

• Discover the exciting advancements made by these innovative researchers.

• Learn how you can get involved in shaping the future of digital trust research.

Projects:

• Demanding justice in the Cloud: An analysis of punitive attitudes in social media for traditional and cyber-enabled crime | Dr Nicholas Trajtenberg Pareja (PI) and Mr Pablo Ezquerra Silva.

• Rebuilding Democratic Discourse: Online Harms and Trust | Dr Mihaela Popa-Wyatt (PI), Dr Justina Berskyte, Prof Graham Stevens

• Defining the acceptability of ‘safe’ data linkage to identify women at risk of postnatal complication in Greater Manchester | Dr Victoria Palin (PI), Prof Niels Peek, Prof Jenny Myers, Dr Anthony Wilson, Mr Bradley Quinn

• Modern slavery and digitisation in ‘fast-fashion’ supply networks | Dr Jonathan Davies (PI), Prof Rose Broad, Dr Amy Benstead 

CENTRE FOR DIGITAL TRUST AND SECURITY EVENT.

Feeling lost in the maze of privacy discussions? Then join us for a thought-provoking discussion led by Kieron O'Hara, author of the acclaimed "The Seven Veils of Privacy". Date & time: 20th March | 12:30 - 14:30. Location: Engineering Building A - Room 3A.071. Kieron O'Hara will unveil a clear and comprehensive framework to navigate the seemingly endless arguments around privacy and your rights. Discover why the clashing perspectives on social norms, human rights, personal preferences, and data processing often lead to frustration and confusion. Gain clarity and engage in meaningful dialogue as we dissect the different facets of privacy and work towards a path forward. Don't miss this chance to break through the ambiguity and shape your own understanding of privacy in today's complex world! There are limited seats available, so register now! The Centre for Digital Trust and Society leads and delivers activity for the Digital Trust and Security theme within The University’s Digital FuturesResearch Platform, including the Digital Trust and Security Seminar Series. These events are designed to highlight key insights into developments, challenges and identify areas for growth within Digital Trust & Security. Digital Futures is a highly interdisciplinary network that operates across the whole range of The University’s digital research.

STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH DAY EVENT.

The Social Prescribing team are holding a free event to celebrate Student Mental Health and Social Prescribing day! Join us for an afternoon of wellbeing activities in the University's beautiful botanical garden. You can take some time to do some mindful gardening, enjoy some arts and crafts or simply relax in nature.

• When: Thursday 14th March, 1-3pm

• Where: The Firs Botanical Ground, Fallowfield Campus

Pop in at any time during the event, everyone is welcome.

PRIMARY ROBOTICS WORKSHOPS.

IntoUniversity are looking for volunteers for Y5/6 (primary school age group) coding workshops. They will pay you £35 to develop a session, plus £35 for each one you deliver (and they will arrange transport for you to get to their centre). You can find further information here. Please contact abbie.mountford@manchester.ac.uk for further information. The University will be able to provide kit to support these activities.

Semester 1 exam results should be released this week. If you have any questions / concerns relating to your results, please speak with your Academic Advisor.

Semester 1 exam results should be released this week.  If you have any questions / concerns relating to your results, please speak with your Academic Advisor.  Please note that the PGT Handbook (available in CS-PGT-COMMUNITY in Blackboard) provides details on pass marks, how to meet the requirements for a degree, etc.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

UNICS MAY BALL.

UniCS is excited to announce that we are running our annual May Ball on the 3rd of May 2024 at Midland Hotel! Come along dressed to impress for our James Bond themed ball. Join us for music, dancing and an amazing three-course meal that you wouldn’t want to miss out on! If you missed the early bird tickets, do not worry because general tickets will be releasing on the 6th of March at 4pm on our product page so look out for those.

UNICS GENERAL MEETING.

UniCS will be holding a General Meeting on Wednesday 6th March at 3:30pm in Kilburn Collab 1+2 to discuss amendments to the constitution:

• First Amendment: All sponsors should be voted on by the UniCS committee

• Second Amendment: All hackathons sponsors should be voted on by the executive committee

• Third Amendment: Companies that manufacture or distribute weapons cannot sponsor UniCS

We hope you come along for this society wide vote, as we believe UniCS should be taking a step towards good ethicality in light of recent events.

UNICS QRT EVENT.

UniCS has invited QRT for a talk on Wednesday 6th of March from 3-4pm in Kilburn_TH 1.4. This is the perfect chance for you to learn more about what opportunities they have there and speak to their recruiters if you haven’t already found a placement so make sure to come if that is you!

DATA SCIENCE SOCIETY.

Applied Data Science: Build Your Own Churn Model,  Wednesday 6th March 2-4pm, Simon 2.60. MUDS host global AI company Peak with a special edition data science workshop! Suitable for all interested, this workshop will use Python and Google Colab. We will learn:

* An overview of the Data Science project life cycle

* Setting up a working environment and loading a dataset

* Working with Git

* EDA and data transformation

* Technical overview of the Churn Model

* Hyperparameter tuning

This is an excellent opportunity for hands-on data science experience and a chance to network with established professionals from the Peak offices. See you all there!

WOMEN+ IN COMPUTER SCIENCE SOCIAL.

Are you a woman or member of an under-represented group in computer science? Do you want to meet more people like you? Come join us as we celebrate International Women’s Day with cake, snacks and friendly chat. All students and staff are welcome at the Turing Lounge, 11 am on Wednesday 6th March.

VOLUNTEER FOR BRITISH SCIENCE WEEK 2024.

Manchester Museum are looking for volunteers to help more than 1000 high school students navigate their British Science Week event on 11th and 12th March. Contact mattie.davies@manchester.ac.uk directly to apply. If you are not available on the 11th and 12th but would still like to volunteer to help with museum work you can find out more information on their website.

REPORT AND SUPPORT.

The University’s Report and Support Service is available to students. If you or someone you know has experienced or witnessed any form of bullying, harassment, discrimination, gender-based violence, hate or micro-aggressions, or have a safeguarding concern, you can report it anonymously or get support from a trained advisor through Report and Support. To report an incident and speak to a caseworker, you can either fill out the online form or someone can do it on your behalf. The team will seek to understand your situation and aim to give you information, advice and support tailored to your individual circumstances. You can access this service here. Please be mindful that whilst you can send anonymous reports, the team is unable to contact you to offer support unless you provide your name and contact details.

UNICS LASER TAG EVENT.Join us for the ultimate Leap Day event at the Trafford Centre for a round of laser tag with lots of pizza and ice cream.

UNICS LASER TAG EVENT.

Join us for the ultimate Leap Day event at the Trafford Centre for a round of laser tag with lots of pizza and ice cream. We'll meet at the Byte Cafe in Kilburn at 5:45pm on 29th February and head to Trafford Centre together for an evening filled with lots of action and fun. Don't miss out on our limited tickets for only £5.99! Tickets will be available here [University of Manchester Students' Union (manchesterstudentsunion.com)]! 

UNICS GENERAL MEETING.

UniCS will be holding a General Meeting on Wednesday 6th March at 3:30pm in Kilburn Collab 1+2 to discuss amendments to the constitution:

• First Amendment: All sponsors should be voted on by the UniCS committee

• Second Amendment: All hackathons sponsors should be voted on by the executive committee

• Third Amendment: Companies that manufacture or distribute weapons cannot sponsor UniCS

We hope you come along for this society wide vote, as we believe UniCS should be taking a step towards good ethicality in light of recent events.

GITLAB DOWNTIME WARNING.

On Wednesday 28th February the Department of Computer Science GitLab system will be taken offline to perform essential maintenance and upgrades. Work on the system will start at 14:00 and may take until 17:00, although we will attempt to minimise the time that GitLab is unavailable. A notice banner is currently shown on GitLab pages as a reminder for this work, and it will be removed when the work on the server is completed and tests indicate GitLab is operating normally. While GitLab is offline you will be able to continue to work locally in any currently cloned git repositories, including adding commits. However, attempts to interact with the GitLab server (via `git push`, `git pull`, `git fetch` and so on) will fail.

GOOGLE DEVELOPER STUDENT CLUBS.

Navigating the nebula of cloud technology just got easier! Join us for an enlightening session on cloud deployment. From the ABCs of VPS to the latest in serverless, we've got you covered! Save the date: 28th Feb '24m 16:00-17:00, Kilburn 1.1.

HCRI PUBLIC TALK.

The Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) is holding a public talk - Humanitarian Extractivism: The Digital Transformation of Aid, in the Samuel Alexander Building, Room SG.16 + Zoom. Our guest speaker is Prof Kristin Bergtora Sandvik of the Peace Research Institute, Oslo. 

• Info & Register via: https://digital-humanitarianism.eventbrite.co.uk/

• 7th March 2024, 4:00- 5:30 pm.

Join us to discuss how ‘data extraction' shifts power towards states, the private sector, and humanitarians. The talk will explore new practices and spaces, such as 'humanitarian drones', wearable innovation challenges, and ethics in global disaster innovation labs.

DIGITAL TRUST AND SECURITY SEMINAR SERIES. 

Kieron O’Hara - The Seven Veils of Privacy

• Date & time: 20th March | 12:30 - 14:30

• Location: Christabel Pankhurst Building, Manchester

Kieron O’Hara, from the University of Southampton, will unveil a rigorous and comprehensive framework from his groundbreaking book "The Seven Veils of Privacy" to navigate the seemingly endless arguments around privacy and your rights. Join to discover why the clashing perspectives on social norms, human rights, personal preferences, and data processing often lead to frustration and confusion. Places are limited so we advise you to secure your spot now to avoid disappointment.

CS SEMINAR. 

Matthew Bradbury, Lecturer in Cyber Security at Lancaster University, will present a talk titled:  Quantifying and Mitigating Adversary Information Gain via Actions Taken in Cyber Physical Systems on Monday 26th February at 12pm in Kilburn Lecture Theatre 1.3 (Zoom link). Matthew Bradbury is a Lecturer in Cyber Security at Lancaster University. His research focuses on the security and privacy of resource-constrained and distributed systems, especially how to take into account the limited resources when designing security mechanisms. This has covered a wide variety of domains from wireless sensor networks, connected vehicles to space systems. His current interests are focused on how arbitrary cyber physical systems reveal information via the actions they take to an observing adversary. Funding for this work has been received from various sources including the PETRAS National Centre of Excellence for IoT Systems Cybersecurity and EPSRC. Abstract: Over the last few decades there has been significant work protecting the privacy of data. For cyber physical systems, protecting data privacy is important, however, their physicality means that they are also vulnerable to observations directly by an adversary. This means that the actions a system takes and the context in which those actions are taken can reveal information to an observing adversary. So, in addition to protecting content privacy (e.g., data in transit) it is important to use techniques to provide context privacy. Many domains have independently had context privacy preserving techniques developed for threats they face (e.g., onion routing, change in identity for vehicles, location privacy in sensor networks). Developing context privacy preserving techniques is a lengthy process and does not allow for rapid responses to novel context privacy threats. The aim therefore, is to be able to translate an arbitrary system to reduce the information revealed by the actions it takes. This talk will give some early results on modelling adversary belief, quantifying the information revealed via directed information, and attempted approaches in system transformation.

AI CENTRE FOR DOCTORAL TRAINING. ...

AI CENTRE FOR DOCTORAL TRAINING. 

Mauricio Alvarez writes: The UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Decision Making for Complex Systems is a joint CDT between the University of Manchester and the University of Cambridge. At Manchester, the CDT is led by the Department of Computer Science. The CDT provides funding for four years of advanced studies towards a PhD. The first year is a taught program that will cover the fundamentals of Machine Learning with courses on AI for uncertainty modelling. This taught year is followed by three years of research at Manchester and/or Cambridge. Admissions to the PhD programme will be handled on a project-by-project basis. We would like to invite prospective applicants to contact supervisors who are proposing projects for the first cohort starting September 2024. You can find the list of supervisors and projects here.

DATA SCIENCE SOCIETY.

Datern presents: Data analytics with Power BI, Simon 2.60, Wednesday 21st February, 2-4pm. MUDS are hosting a special workshop presented by Datern! Datern help companies meet their data challenges by finding, recruiting and training undergraduate students from top universities, ensuring they start their internship with them ‘workplace ready’.

1. Introduction to Datern and their internship/spring week opportunities

2. How companies use Power BI professionally and why they care

3. Importing datasets and making visualisations in your own Power BI report

4. Designing your report to be interactive and accessible

In terms of preparation, please download Power BI Desktop. Just a reminder that Power BI is a Windows only software. Here is a guide on how to download it.

DIGITAL TRUST AND SECURITY SEMINAR SERIES.

Uncover the secrets of online drug markets - How is the digitalisation of social interaction changing illegal markets? Join us for a captivating exploration of the hidden world of illegal drug markets on social media on 29th February, from 13:45 – 15:40. Led by expert Silje Anderdal Bakken from Oslo University, we'll delve into how online interactions are reshaping the underworld, from coded messages to the interplay between virtual and offline dynamics. Gain valuable insights and spark discussion on this timely and complex issue.

Register today to secure your place and avoid disappointment. This is a Digital Trust and Security Seminar, presented by The Centre for Digital Trust and Society, which leads and delivers activity for the Digital Trust and Security theme within UoM Digital Futures Research Platform.

DIGITAL TRUST AND SECURITY SEMINAR SERIES. 

Kieron O’Hara - The Seven Veils of Privacy 

• Date & time: 20th March | 12:30 - 14:30

• Location: Christabel Pankhurst Building, Manchester

Kieron O’Hara, from the University of Southampton, will unveil a rigorous and comprehensive framework from his groundbreaking book "The Seven Veils of Privacy" to navigate the seemingly endless arguments around privacy and your rights. Join to discover why the clashing perspectives on social norms, human rights, personal preferences, and data processing often lead to frustration and confusion. Places are limited so we advise you to secure your spot now to avoid disappointment.

INAUGURAL SEMINAR. 

Professor Bijan Parsia will present an inaugural seminar titled “Prosthetic Autonomy” on Wednesday 28th February, 2-3pm in Lecture Theatre 1.3. Abstract: Physical prosthetics generally enhance a person’s autonomy. By replacing a missing body part, they restore capabilities inhibited by that loss. They may even allow their wearer to exceed most human performance at some tasks. This seems straightforward. But, we have increasing capable systems for enhancing or replacing various mental functions including general decision making. Here things are not so straightforward as many concepts of autonomy require independence of thought. In this talk I work through part of the conceptual landscape of prosthetic autonomy covering human-technical systems that either are pervasive (e.g., turn-by-turn navigation) or are easily made so with current technology and involve “prostheses” that are outside the head and not at human level. These sorts of prostheses are likely to be ever larger parts of our everyday lives for a considerable part of the near future. Thinking about how such systems enhance, alter, or inhibit our autonomy should be central to our design processes. If you are planning on attending the seminar, please complete this form.

SUPPORT SERVICE SPOTLIGHT:

My Learning Essentials. My Learning Essentials is the Library’s award winning programme of skills support, including both online resources and face-to-face workshops which will aid you in your personal and professional development. The workshops offer a relaxed group environment where you can try out new strategies for yourself while learning from and with peers whilst the online resources help you develop skills and interests which are relevant to you, at times and using the methods that suit you best. My Learning Essentials is a great way to get the most out of your time at Manchester; helping you to make the best use of all of the specialist resources and support the University has to offer.

DASS SUPPORT DEADLINE.

There is a deadline coming up for exam support through DASS (Disability Advice Support Service). DASS offers support to all students who have a condition which has an adverse and long-term effect on their ability to carry-out normal day-to-day activities. This includes Cognitive Developmental Delay, Physical Health and Mental Health issues. A DASS advisor is always happy to talk with you if you are unsure if you can register with them. You can find out more information about DASS and how to contact them here: who-do-we-support. The University has a deadline for putting exam support in place for each of the main exam periods. The next deadline is Thursday 14th March 2024 at 4pm, you’ll need to register and have met with an adviser to agree your exam support by then. For more details, see the exam support page.

HOW DO I CHECK IF I’VE SUBMITTED MY WORK IN BLACKBOARD? We often get asked by students how to check that they have submitted work successfully, and it’s quite easy to do.

In Blackboard, you can check under the “My Grades” link on the left on each course unit Blackboard page (under “Submitted” or “Marked”).

PRAYER ROOMS.

Whatever your faith, there are several prayer rooms in university buildings, or around the university campus. The closest to the Kilburn Building is in Engineering Building A. You can find all university prayer spaces by searching for “prayer space” in the University interactive map, or see the list at multifaithchaplaincy.org. 

HARDWARE LIBRARY.

Did you know we have a hardware library in the Department that contains a wide range of hardware components that are completely free to borrow? You can use these to support your 3rd year project, generally just to have a play with, or support a Hackathon. There are all sorts of items available, from Raspberry Pi components to drones, a wide range of microcontroller boards to gesture devices, basic electronic components to robots … even VR headsets. We also have computer items, such as keyboards, mice, and tablets - there’s a wide range of items available. To see what is available for you to borrow (for free!) have a look at the library catalogue. If you want to borrow an item then all you have to do is reserve it online. You will then be contacted by Steve Rhodes who will tell you when you can pick the item up from Tootill 0 on the lower first floor of Kilburn. Please note that items should not be taken away from Manchester and it is your responsibility to replace any damaged/lost items you borrow. You can also propose new items for the library, which we will consider. However, please note, we do have a limited budget to purchase new items, so we can’t fund all requests.

Hopefully you are now settling in to your 2nd semester theme, and starting on your project, at least in terms of background reading. You should be meeting your supervisor this week or next, so please take the initiative to contact your supervisor if you are not already in touch.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

 

DIGITAL SKILLS FESTIVAL 2024 - TALENT DAY.

Talent Day is the largest digital and tech careers fair in the North and a must-attend event for those looking to start work in the industry and takes place this Wednesday, 7th Feb, at the Bridgewater Hall, 10am to 4pm. 

Talent Day is back and bigger than ever! This year, we’re taking over Manchester’s iconic Bridgewater Hall for a day packed with opportunities to connect with tech employers across the region. Talent Day is the largest and longest-running specialist careers fair in the North. Each year over 1,800 graduates and job seekers attend to find out more about the latest tech and digital careers on offer at some of Greater Manchester’s most exciting and innovative tech companies. There are up to 60 different businesses to talk to, with a huge amount of jobs and other opportunities on offer. This event is great for students and graduates looking for exciting roles (summer internships, placements and graduate roles) in the digital and tech industry. To help us manage capacity and ensure that everybody has a good experience, tickets will be allocated across three 2 hour time slots. Please book the time slot that suits you, and ensure you stick to that time on the day. If you would prefer to visit when the event is less busy, we would advise booking for the final time slot of the day (2pm - 4pm). Exhibitors this year include: AJ Bell, Autotrader, Awaze, BAE Systems, Basecamp skills, Co-op, CDL Software, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), GlobalLogic, Interact software, IMS insurance and mobility solutions, Manchester Airports Group, Naimuri, Nexer Digital, North West Cyber Resilience Centre, Robiquity, Starling Bank, Tracsis, West Yorkshire Pension Fund.

Talent day is partnered with all three Manchester Universities: the University of Salford, the Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Manchester. Find out more and register here.

DATA SCIENCE SOCIETY.

Setting Up Your Python Project, Wednesday 7th February 2:00-3:30pm, Simon Building 2.60. We present the first MUDS workshop of the year! This is a practical session on how to set up your Python project like a professional. We'll be covering the effective use of GitHub, Docker containers, Python debugging and linting among other tips and tactics to start your project off smoothly and write great, publication quality code.

GOOGLE DEVELOPER STUDENT CLUBS.

Ready to connect with the future? Join us on February 7th at 4pm in Kilburn 1.1 as we decode the magic behind the Internet of Things (IoT) at the University of Manchester. Unleash the power of smart technology and witness a live demo that will change the way you see your world, along with some free swag and snacks!

UNICS PUB CRAWL.

After the success of our first pub crawl in our first semester, we are getting ready for another pub crawl. This time, we are starting at the Turing Tap at 7pm and heading towards the city centre. Fill out this form if you're interested in joining! Can't wait to see you all there!

DASS SUPPORT DEADLINE.

There is a deadline coming up for exam support through DASS (Disability Advice Support Service). DASS offers support to all students who have a condition which has an adverse and long-term effect on their ability to carry-out normal day-to-day activities. This includes Cognitive Developmental Delay, Physical Health and Mental Health issues. A DASS advisor is always happy to talk with you if you are unsure if you can register with them. You can find out more information about DASS and how to contact them here: who-do-we-support. The University has a deadline for putting exam support in place for each of the main exam periods. The next deadline is Thursday 14th March 2024 at 4pm, you’ll need to register and have met with an adviser to agree your exam support by then. For more details, see the exam support page.

LEARNING TIPS - SUBMITTING YOUR OWN WORK.

Computer Science is a practical subject and, as such, it is natural to work together. In fact, in the outside world you will invariably be working as part of a team, whether it is developing software, or designing hardware. This is why a number of our course units offer you the opportunity to work as a member of a team. However, when it comes to individual assessments, this changes. What you submit as assessments reflect your learning and are a key part of measuring your academic progress. To ensure that work you submit is your own, we often look out for signs of academic malpractice, where someone is looking to gain an unfair advantage by submitting work that is not (entirely) their own.

There are generally two forms of academic malpractice: plagiarism, which is the copying of someone else’s work, including output from AI tools such as ChatGPT, without acknowledgement; and collusion: working closely with someone else to produce the same, or very similar, piece of work. In Computer Science, we find that collusion is the most common form of academic malpractice, and we use powerful software tools to identify similarities in code, even when changes such as renaming variables or restructuring code have been made to try and make code look different.

If you are found guilty of academic malpractice then this can have a dramatic impact on your progress/marks. Penalties range from the zeroing of marks for the assessment where academic malpractice has been identified as taking place, through to failing and having to resit a course unit. In the past, we have had students being excluded from their studies as a result of engaging with academic malpractice. It’s natural for you to work with fellow students to understand problems and the taught material, however, make sure the work you submit is your own. Overall, it’s just not worth the risk. For more information, see the University student guidance on plagiarism and other forms of academic malpractice. You can also view the full Academic Malpractice Procedure. 

I hope you have recovered from the exams, and are all set for your second semester units and project. We expect to release the semester 1 results in the week commencing 4th March 2024.

I hope you have recovered from the exams, and are all set for your second semester units and project.  We expect to release the semester 1 results in the week commencing 4th March 2024.

In relation to teaching, if you want to change second semester units / theme, please decide this week, as the short format makes it difficult to catch up if more than one week is missed.

In relation to your projects, you should be meeting with your supervisor in weeks 2/3 and weeks 4/5; thus please email your supervisor early in week 2 to ask for a meeting time if your supervisor has not got in touch by then.  If there is any difficulty establishing contact with your supervisor, please email Tom Thomson <thomas.thomson@manchester.ac.uk>.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

 

INAUGURAL SEMINAR: 

Prof. Davide Bertozzi will present an inaugural lecture titled “Systems Innovation By Leveraging the Enabling Properties of Communication Architectures and Technologies” on Wednesday 31st January, 14:00 - 15:00, in Kilburn lecture theatre 1.3. Abstract: Computing, as used in practice, is hierarchical, heterogenous, and distributed. This emerging paradigm is underpinned by computing architecture innovations encompassing biological inspiration, domain customization, multi-tenancy and data-intensive processing. In all cases, there is a converging trend toward shifting the fundamental bottleneck from computation to communication. By leveraging a strong drive toward cross-layer design and optimization, this talk will propose novel chip-scale communication architectures (for event-driven communication and/or for time-space partitioning) and technologies (silicon nanophotonic networks) playing a pivotal role in fulfilling the functional and non-functional requirements of macroscopic system-level design, especially tight power budgets and secure-grade isolation.

INAUGURAL SEMINAR: 

Dr. Jiaoyan Chen and Dr. Ramon Fraga Pereira will present inaugural lectures on Wednesday, 7 February 2024, 13:00 – 14:00 in Kilburn lecture theatre 1.3. The titles and abstract for the presentations are: Dr. Jiaoyan Chen, “Neural-symbolic Knowledge Representation with Ontology and Knowledge Graph Embeddings”. Abstract: Ontologies and Knowledge Graphs are becoming increasingly popular for knowledge representation and reasoning, with a fundamental role in AI and Information Systems. Their embeddings are to represent entities in a vector space with their formal and informal semantics (such as logical relationships and textual meta information) concerned. In this talk, I will first briefly introduce the definitions of ontology, knowledge graph and their embeddings, then introduce some embedding methods, including those using geometric modelling and (large) language models, and finally discuss the role of Knowledge Graph, Ontology and their embeddings in semantic reasoning such as knowledge completion, and in addressing Machine Learning challenges such as sample shortage and augmenting large language models. Dr. Ramon Fraga Pereira, “Goal Recognition and Deceptive Planning: Two (Different) Sides of the Same Coin”. Abstract: Goal Recognition is the task of discerning the intended goal that an observed agent aims to achieve by observing a sequence of its actions in an environment. In contrast, Deceptive Planning can be described as an inversion of the Goal Recognition task, where the aim is to generate a sequence of actions (i.e., a plan) such that an observer is unable to determine the intended final goal. Goal Recognition has various applications across different domains due to its ability to infer and understand the goals of observed agents, such as Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Assistive Technologies (e.g., Alexa, Siri, etc.), Security and Surveillance, Education and Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Healthcare, Fraud Detection, etc. Deceptive Planning also has several applications in several domains, such as Security and Real-Time Strategies (e.g., misdirection and decoys), Competitive e-Sports (deceptive moves and feints), Security and Anti-fraud Measures (e.g., deceptive signage and camouflage), etc. In this talk, I will present my research on Symbolic AI (Artificial Intelligence) techniques for the tasks of Goal Recognition and Deceptive Planning and their applications in real-world problems, as well as possible future directions in these fields of study.

VENTURE FURTHER AWARDS 2024.

Do you have the next best technology startup business? Turn your ideas into reality and win up to £15,000 in the 2024 Venture Further Awards, the annual start-up competition for all current students and recent graduates at The University of Manchester. Applications for the Venture Further Awards 2024 Competition are now open! Turn your ideas into reality and win significant early-stage funding to start your own business. The competition will introduce you to a world of support programmes, workshops, mentors and networks to grow your ideas. If you have a viable business proposal then get involved. Your entry needs to be a viable and credible business proposal that has the potential to succeed. If your entry is successful, you will be asked to pitch your business proposal to a panel of expert judges for a chance to win one of the cash prizes. Deadline for applications: MIDDAY on 22nd February 2024. On Thursday 1st February, competition organiser Tillie Page and Jess Lewis will be offering a VFA24 Drop in service in AMBS Reception Area, where you can ask any questions about the competition, or go through your application for this years’ competition. Bootcamps will be running on Saturday 3rd and Monday 5th February to help you create your Venture Further application. You can find further information here. 

NEW SUPPORT ZONE AT THE MAIN LIBRARY.

The Library has a new Support Zone for students on the Blue Ground Floor of the Main Library. The Support Zone is a space where our friendly Library staff can help you with a range of digital services and teaching and learning queries, including: 

* Accessing WiFi 

* Printing  

* Using MS365 

* Developing skills in academic writing 

* Accessing business data 

Consultations are on a one-to-one basis, so you get personalised support as you need it. Using the Support Zone is currently on a 'drop-in' basis. All you need to do is approach the Customer Services desk in Main Library and let them know what kind of support you need, then they’ll refer you to a member of staff who can chat with you in the Support Zone.

I hope your exams are going well .... only one more week to go!Teaching resumes next week with the start of semester 2, so your personal timetable will change to show learning activities for your semester 2 course units.

I hope your exams are going well .... only one more week to go! Teaching resumes next week with the start of semester 2, so your personal timetable will change to show learning activities for your semester 2 course units. If you have yet to finalise your course units, then it’s important you do so by the deadline (see below) as changes cannot be made after this date. The deadline to submit mitigating circumstances for semester 1 is this coming Sunday, so please make sure you submit any by then.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

COURSE UNIT CHOICES.

Course unit selection for semester 2 is now open. The deadline for choosing/changing your Semester 2 course units on the University system is 3pm Friday 9th February. Please do this urgently because the size of a course unit cohort has implications on room bookings and we need to finalise the timetable ASAP. This year we have a new course unit selection system. See our student support website for further information and guidance on using the system, along with contact information if you have any questions or issues.

BLACKBOARD DOWNTIME.

As part of a planned upgrade of the Blackboard interface, there will be some disruption to this service. Blackboard may be unavailable for a 30-minute period at some point between 8am and 2pm on Saturday, 27th January 2024. During this time, anyone using Blackboard may see some graphical changes as the upgrade takes effect. The upgrade will provide improvements to the Blackboard homepage design and several new features.

MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES DEADLINE.

The deadline for submitting mitigating circumstances for semester 1 is 4pm, Sunday 28th January 2024. University regulations do not allow us to accept applications after this date. You can submit mitigating circumstances by filling out this form.

INAUGURAL SEMINAR.

Prof. Davide Bertozzi will present an inaugural lecture titled “Systems Innovation By Leveraging the Enabling Properties of Communication Architectures and Technologies” on Wednesday 31st January, 14:00 - 15:00, in Kilburn lecture theatre 1.3. Abstract: Computing, as used in practice, is hierarchical, heterogenous, and distributed. This emerging paradigm is underpinned by computing architecture innovations encompassing biological inspiration, domain customization, multi-tenancy and data-intensive processing. In all cases, there is a converging trend toward shifting the fundamental bottleneck from computation to communication. By leveraging a strong drive toward cross-layer design and optimization, this talk will propose novel chip-scale communication architectures (for event-driven communication and/or for time-space partitioning) and technologies (silicon nanophotonic networks) playing a pivotal role in fulfilling the functional and non-functional requirements of macroscopic system-level design, especially tight power budgets and secure-grade isolation.

FREE BREAKFASTS.

Weekly free breakfasts are available each Wednesday, excluding the Easter break (18th March - 5th April). The Library Team will be handing out vouchers in Alan Gilbert Learning Commons which can be exchanged for breakfast goodies, including a hot drink and pastry, at the Learning Commons Café. The giveaways run from 9am to 11am every Wednesday. Get your breakfast fix before stocks run out! Check out the University Cost of Living page for more initiatives, including information on our Cosy Campus spaces with hot water and microwaves, and free fresh food available in the community fridges.

KEEPING SAFE ON CAMPUS.

Darker mornings and evenings are here for a bit longer, hence it’s important you keep safe when on campus and travelling to/from the campus. Keep in mind the following:

• Stay alert: Keep your belongings safe and out of view when travelling to or from campus and whilst you’re on it. Avoid wearing noise cancelling headphones so you know what’s going on around you, and stick to well-lit roads and pavements as you travel around the city, avoiding underpasses where possible. Keep your phone out of sight!

• Download SafeZone: Our mobile app SafeZone can be used to quickly connect you with Campus Support and Security team if you feel unsafe, need immediate help or require first aid or wellbeing assistance. The app is free to download, easy to use, and operates across the Manchester campuses. You can find out more about SafeZone here.

• Report unacceptable behaviour: Manchester has a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, harassment, discrimination, gender-based violence, hate or micro-aggressions. If you have witnessed any forms of this behaviour, or have a safeguarding concern, you can report it anonymously or get support from a trained advisor.  Find out more about Report + Support.

Happy new year. I hope that you have managed some rest and relaxation over the festive season, and that the exams are not coming as too nasty a shock.Norman Paton, PGT Director MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES DEADLINE.

Happy new year.  I hope that you have managed some rest and relaxation over the festive season, and that the exams are not coming as too nasty a shock.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES DEADLINE.

The deadline for submitting mitigating circumstances for semester 1 is 4pm, Sunday 28th January 2024. University regulations do not allow us to accept applications after this date. You can submit mitigating circumstances by filling out this form. If you are unsure about how to fill in the form, whether what you have experienced qualifies for mitigation, or if you are experiencing problems with obtaining evidence, please speak to a member of the Wellbeing Team or your Academic Advisor.

EXAM BREAKFASTS.

Weekly free breakfasts are again available each Wednesday from the 17th January 2024, excluding the Easter break (18th March - 5th April). The Library Team will be handing out vouchers in Alan Gilbert Learning Commons which can be exchanged for breakfast goodies, including a hot drink and pastry, at the Learning Commons Café. The giveaways run from 9am to 11am every Wednesday. Get your breakfast fix before stocks run out! Check out the University Cost of Living page for more initiatives, including information on our Cosy Campus spaces with hot water and microwaves, and free fresh food available in the community fridges.

LEARNING TIPS: THE EXAM - ON THE DAY.

You’ve done all your preparation for the exam and you are (almost) confident you know all the material, then the day of the exam arrives. What do you do? Well, attend the exam of course, but what should you expect on the day? First, make sure you go to bed early the night before. It is important that you’ve had a good night's sleep before the exam, there’s nothing worse than sitting an exam feeling tired and being unable to concentrate. Whilst doing some revision the night before the exam is natural, resist the temptation to spend all night cramming for the exam - this is often counterproductive. It is usually beneficial to do something completely separate from revision before you go to bed: listen to music, play a game, watch a movie. That way your brain will get a chance to switch off, and doesn't keep you awake trying to solve more sample problems.

On the morning of the exam make sure you get up early and enjoy a good breakfast. You don’t want to be going into the exam on an empty stomach, with it growling and letting you know how hungry you are throughout. Avoid the temptation to cram for the exam beforehand. It’s okay to have a brief look at some material you feel unfamiliar with, but avoid cramming a load of revision in that morning as it won’t help. You should have already scoped out where the exam is taking place, so make sure you arrive plenty of time before the exam starts; at least 15 minutes before. Make sure you prepare your journey beforehand and are prepared for every eventuality, such as the bus not turning up, or the dog eating your bus pass etc. If you turn up late for an exam, you may not be allowed to enter. If you are late, you certainly won't be given any additional time. If you miss an exam, it’s important you contact the Student Hub immediately.

You will be allowed to enter the exam room just before it starts. The only items you can take into the exam are a pen/pencil/ruler etc and a calculator (if allowed), you will be told where to leave anything else you bring with you, such as your bag. You will need your University ID, so make sure you bring it along with you! If it’s an online exam, you will also need to know your university username and password. Take your assigned seat. Whatever the format of the exam, paper-based or online, the exam invigilators will instruct you what you need to do.

At the start of the exam, read the exam rubric (the instructions) so you are clear what is required for the exam, i.e. how many questions you should answer, how long the exam will last etc. Look through all the questions and identify any you feel confident answering and attempt these first. There’s no need to answer the questions in the order they are in the exam. Once you have answered the questions you are confident with, then attempt those that you find more difficult. Don’t spend too long answering a question - think about the number of marks available and the time for the exam. For example, if a question is only worth a few marks, then you shouldn’t be producing an essay for an answer! Whether your exam is online or paper based, make sure your answers are readable. You don’t want to be losing marks because the marker cannot read and understand your answers. Underline your answers to make them clear to the marker.

If you finish answering the questions early, resist the temptation to leave early. Make use of any remaining time to check your answers and make sure you’ve completed everything required for the exam. At the end , if it's a paper-based exam, the invigilators will collect your papers and they will instruct you on when and how to leave. If it’s an online exam you will need to log out of the computer before you leave. After the exam, resist the temptation to discuss with your friends how you answered the questions - this only leads to anxiety if you find people have answered questions differently. Take some time to relax, have a brief nap, watch a film, or have a nice cup of tea. Do not jump straight into revising for your next exam.

VISUALISING THE CITY: DIGITAL TWINS AND BEYOND.

Uncover the secrets of city visualisation at the upcoming free event organised by the Manchester Digital Strategy Research Network and Digital Futures. Engage with leading academics and public sector professionals as we delve into the latest advancements transforming city planning, design, resident engagement, and management through digital technologies. Date & time: 17 January | 12:30 – 14:30 pm. Register here.

SECURITY ON CAMPUS - BE CAREFUL OF THEFTS.

If you are using a University building during the examination period, maybe to find a quiet place to revise, then remember that there are fewer people around the University. As University buildings are publicly accessible during normal working hours, this means that there’s an increased possibility of thefts taking place. It is vitally important that you do not leave your belongings (bag, phone, laptop etc) lying around unattended when working. The LF area of the Kilburn building is a common target for thieves. If you need a bathroom break, or you need to pop out for a coffee, then ask a friend to look after your belongings. If there’s no one you can ask, then take your items with you. Please keep your belongings safe and do not leave them unattended! You can report any instances of theft to University security. You can find their number on the back of your University card.

This is the last Masters News of 2023. I hope the semester has gone well and you?re now looking forward to taking a well-earned break ... while remembering that there are exams before too long. The exam timetable has now been...

This is the last Masters News of 2023. I hope the semester has gone well and you’re now looking forward to taking a well-earned break ... while remembering that there are exams before too long. The exam timetable has now been released (see below), so please check when your exams are taking place and put them in your diary.

In the meantime, I hope you have an enjoyable festive season and a happy New Year.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

SEMESTER 1 EXAMS.

The Semester 1 exams take place over the period Monday 15th to Friday 26th January 2024 (see the University’s key dates webpage). Examinations take place under invigilated conditions and on-campus, so you must be present in Manchester during the examination period.  The timetabling of exams takes place centrally, the Department is not responsible for this. The timetable has now been published and your personal timetable should be updated soon. If you have any queries regarding your exam timetable then please contact the assessment team. Please note that exams for different course units could be timetabled close together, possibly on the same day, and that changes cannot be made to the timetable once it is published. You may find that you are timetabled for an exam in a different location to your friends, or others on the course unit. It’s very important you attend the location stated in your exam timetable. If you have any queries regarding your exam timetable then please contact the assessment team.

EXAMS WELFARE SUPPORT.

This from the Welfare Team: As you are aware, the exams are approaching in January. This can be a challenging time for some of you, so please make use of the Welfare Team. Just contact us by email if you need any help and support. The Counselling and Mental Health Service run regular workshops all year round to help you get ready for exams, manage your current coursework or tasks and they also provide general wellbeing tips. You can find information on workshops you can attend, as well as useful information about workload management, both for exams and throughout the year. We hope these resources help, we will provide further information and drop-ins throughout the year. 

UNIVERSITY CHRISTMAS CLOSURE.

The University will be closed from Friday, 22nd  December and will reopen on Tuesday, 2nd January 2024. During that period the Kilburn building will be closed as well, but it will be open as usual before and after for you to work in.

STUDENT HUB OPENING HOURS.

Email and phone support will be available as usual Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm up to and including Thursday, 21st December, after which our teams will break for Christmas, returning at 9am on Tuesday, 2nd January 2024. The Student Support Hub (Engineering Building A, First Floor, 1A.042) will be open and available for drop-ins and appointments up to and including Thursday, 21st December:

• Currently Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm (except Wednesdays, which are 10am-5pm). Note that the Hub is closed Monday, 11th December as it is the TLSE staff Christmas event that day. Students in crisis will be able to attend the School of Natural Sciences Hub in Alan Turing Building instead.

• Monday, 18th December – Thursday, 21st December 2023, 10am to 4pm

• Friday, 22nd December to Monday 1st January 2024 – closed

• Tuesday, 2nd January to Friday, 12th January, 10am to 4pm

• From Monday, 15th January, 9am – 5pm (except Wednesdays, which are 10am-5pm)

MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES DEADLINE.

The deadline for submitting mitigating circumstances for Semester 1 is 4pm, Sunday 28th January 2024. We are unable to accept applications after this date. You can submit mitigating circumstances by filling out this form.

COURSE UNIT SURVEYS.

Every semester the University runs surveys where we ask students to provide feedback on the course units they have taken. The semester one course unit surveys are open and will run until the 31st December. Any feedback provided by you is anonymous. We find feedback, particularly comments, extremely useful to understand what you feel about our teaching and we do listen to it and make changes as a result. Please provide us with written comments to explain why you rated course units as you did. Without these comments it’s difficult to make informed decisions on how to change and improve how we teach. Please be detailed with your feedback - if your comments are general, such as `I would like to see more examples', or `I found some of the material confusing', you're not telling us where exactly we should aim to make improvements.

BCS WOMEN LOVELACE COLLOQUIUM.

The 2024 British Computer Society Women Lovelace Colloquium will take place on April 4th, 2024 at the University of Liverpool. The event is open to all, although if you would like to attend you need to register. The poster contests are open to women and non-binary students studying computing (BSc, BA, BEng, MSc, MComp or MEng) in the UK. Students who want to take part in the poster contests will have to submit a 250 word abstract. We usually accept about 125 posters, based on these submitted abstracts. Our call for abstracts is now open! You can find out more information and register here.

As will have been clear from the recent weather, we are nearing the end of the year, with one more week of classes before the coursework completion week.

As will have been clear from the recent weather, we are nearing the end of the year, with one more week of classes before the coursework completion week. I hope you have been enjoying and learning useful things from your Period 2 units, and are on top of the coursework. If you are struggling, please consult your Academic Advisor or Student Welfare, who have an article below.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

STUDENT WELFARE SUPPORT IN CS.

Issues can impact students at any time, particularly at the end of the semester when there’s pressure to complete assessments and the pressure to prepare for the upcoming examinations kicks in. If you are affected by any issues, then it’s vitally important that you speak to someone and get the help and support you need. You can speak to your Academic Advisor, or you can speak to a member of our Student Wellbeing Team, Maria Sloan and Ben Herbert, or drop into the student hub in Engineering Building A and ask to speak to someone, in confidence, about anything that might be affecting you and your studies. Maria and Ben are also the Disability Coordinators for CS, so you can speak to them if you have any ongoing physical or mental health problems, or conditions such as ASD or ADHD, that affect your studies, even if you are not already registered with the DASS Team at the University. If you are registered with DASS and there are problems with your DASS plan you can speak with them about this too. You can contact Maria and Ben at soe.wellbeing@manchester.ac.uk.

ASSESSMENT AND EXAM SUPPORT FROM THE LIBRARY. As we get closer to the exam period, the Library is keen to support your revision and preparation. The University offers a range of workshops and online resources to support you with your productivity and wellbeing. Sessions include revising effectively, revision and preparation, dealing with procrastination, and managing exam stress.

• Drop-in sessions: Join a drop-in session to ask specific questions and get guidance from a library expert. Browse workshops and drop-in sessions

• MLE online resources: There are a wealth of online resources to support all aspects of your study, but the team have put together specific packages to support you at this time. Browse our Library Support for Assessment resource. Browse revision resources.

To find out more about how the Library can help, visit our exams and assessment support page  or chat online to library staff via the website. New additional support is also available from the new Ask Me@ The Library service. Remember you can also find wellbeing support by accessing helpful resources and workshops via the Counselling Service and Student Support website. 

COURSE UNIT SURVEYS.

Every semester the University runs surveys where we ask students to provide feedback on the course units they have taken. The semester one course unit surveys are due to open on the 4th December and to run until 31st December. Any feedback provided by you is anonymous. We find feedback, particularly comments, extremely useful to understand what you feel about our teaching, and we do take note of your suggestions and make changes as a result. You can find out more information on the University Have Your Say webpages. Please provide us with written comments to explain why you rated course units as you did, as without these comments it’s difficult to make informed decisions on how to change and improve how we teach. We are always looking for ways in which to improve what we do, but it can be difficult to judge what that should be. Your feedback helps us make those decisions.

DATA SCIENCE SOCIETY. Reinforcement Learning, Wednesday 6th December 2-4pm, Simon 2.39. The agenda is:

* Understand the framework of RL and when to use it

* Simple single-player algorithms

* Tabular Q-learning

• Extension into multi-agent settings!

Reinforcement learning (RL) has exploded in popularity in recent years, thanks to use in DeepMind's AlphaGo and ChatGPT among others. Applications are varied, with RL used to optimise drug discovery, reaching to 'Grandmaster' rank in the online multiplayer game Starcraft. In this workshop, we cover the basics of RL, including implementation of some classic settings. By the end of the session, students will be able to program a player in some simple games (bandit machine, gridworld). Prerequisites: Coding in Python. This workshop requires NO deep learning!

GOOGLE DEVELOPER STUDENT CLUBS CODE JAM SESSION. Dive into our Weekly Code Jams! Collaborate on the Solution Challenge, enhance your skills, and enjoy coding in a vibrant atmosphere. Bring your laptop and ideas to Kilburn Lecture Theatre 1.4! Set your calendar!

• Date: Tuesday, December 5th

• Time: 15:00 – 16:00

• Location: Kilburn Lecture Theatre 1.4

Snacks and refreshments provided. Sharpen your coding prowess and join the quest to build innovative solutions. #CodeTogether #SolutionChallenge. RSVP here.

PROJECT EXPERIMENT - APPLYING NUDGING TECHNIQUES TO FACILITATE CUSTOMISATION IN INTERACTIVE INFORMATION DASHBOARDS. 

Hatim Alsayahani (PhD student) writes: Join our interactive dashboard experiment! Contribute to cutting-edge research in human-computer interaction at the Interaction Analysis and Modelling Lab. Help us design user-friendly and efficient decision-making tools. Share your insights and shape the future of dashboard design. Where? Interaction Analysis and Modelling Lab, Kilburn Building (LF1) How long? Approximately 30 minutes Compensation? As a thank you, receive an Amazon voucher for your valuable input! To participate, simply send me an email.

MICE IN KILBURN.

Mice have been seen on the loose in the Kilburn building. Please can you make sure you put any unused food in a waste bin and do not leave food lying around to tempt them to take a nibble! The mice have been reported and pest control have attended.

 

We are rapidly approaching the end of the semester, when you are likely to have several deadlines and when it is likely necessary to start thinking about the impending examination period in January.

We are rapidly approaching the end of the semester, when you are likely to have several deadlines and when it is likely necessary to start thinking about the impending examination period in January. Please remember to speak to your Advisor if you are having problems keeping up. The semester one exams take place in January during the period from Monday 15th to Friday 26th January 2024, so now may be a good time to start thinking about your revision planning. The University usually releases the exam timetable in early December.  Exams are on campus and invigilated.

STUDENT SUPPORT VIDEO.

The Students’ Union and Campus Life have produce a two-minute video to highlight the extensive support available at the University, normalise seeking support and to help you with navigating student life. You can find the video on the University Student Support webpage, or on YouTube.

KEEPING SAFE ON CAMPUS.

Just like any large city, Manchester can have problems with crime. The University student support webpage offers a variety of resources that you can utilise to help keep safe. SafeZone is a mobile app that can also be used to quickly connect with the University Campus Support and Security team if you have an immediate concern, or require first aid or wellbeing assistance. The app is free to download, easy to use, and operates not just across our campus and accommodation areas, but also MMU and Salford campuses. Find out more about SafeZone here, along with additional Safety Apps that are available. There is also a Safe Taxi scheme, which is an exclusive partnership with Street Cars, to help get you home safely even if you can’t pay at that moment. Our Report and Support team are also available to contact should you experience or witness any safeguarding concern, and you would like to speak to a trained advisor.

UNICS ICE SKATING SOCIAL.

Indulge in the elegance of ice skating at Cathedral Gardens with UniCS! Secure your tickets at a highly favourable rate here, priced at less than half the standard cost! Join us for a fun and affordable ice-skating experience in this picturesque setting. We will be meeting outside the main entrance of Kilburn at 6pm and we hope to see you there!

UNICS CHRISTMAS DINNER.

UniCS cordially invites you to our joyous Christmas Dinner Social! Join us for a festive evening of delectable food, refreshing drinks, and merrymaking as we embrace the spirit of the holiday season. Indulge in an extensive buffet spread, savouring culinary delights while engaging in meaningful conversations with fellow students. This event presents a wonderful opportunity to take a well-deserved break from studies and foster lasting connections with your peers. Tickets will go on sale soon here, so watch out for it!

LIBRARY & STUDY SPACE OPENING HOURS.

After the Christmas break, from 2nd – 26th January 2024, there will be extended opening until 2am in the Main Library. During this period additional study space will also be made available at Prospect House, Booth Street East  (8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday) - which is behind the Kilburn building, next to the IT building. Bookable study space and group study rooms are available at Main Library and Alan Gilbert Learning Commons. You can find opening hours of all library sites on the Library website which will be kept updated over the assessment period.

DIGITAL TRUST AND SECURITY SEMINAR SERIES.

Join us for a special edition of the Digital Trust and Security Seminar Series where we will host two of the co-founders of CyBlack: Omotolani Olowosule and Iretioluwa Akerele,on Monday 4th December 2023, 14.00-16.00 (UK) at DiSH Manchester, Heron House, 47 Lloyd Street, Manchester M2 5LE. . CyBlack is a black community for Cyber security students in UK, which currently has over 500 students. In this seminar, our speakers will discuss the outcomes of their research. Omotolani's research focuses on Mindfulness in Cloud Security, whereas Iretioluwa's research looks at Information Security Controls Integration and Implementation. Sign up for the event for free via Eventbrite 

DEPARTMENT LINKEDIN PAGE.

Follow us on LinkedIn, where we've recently created a Linked page, where you can follow news and events from the department. You can also follow us on X (formerly know as twitter).

 

It is already the time of year for starting to think about project topics.The open house where staff will be available to discuss their offerings is in Simon 3.44A on 27 Nov from 15:00 - 17:00.

It is already the time of year for starting to think about project topics. The open house where staff will be available to discuss their offerings is in Simon 3.44A on 27 Nov from 15:00 - 17:00. This is a good chance to meet with potential supervisors you may not know, and to help narrow down your list of candidate projects.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

 

UNICS SPONSORED MOCK INTERVIEW EVENT

UniCS is excited to present a unique opportunity for our members: a mock interview event supported by our sponsors: bet365, Roku, Booking.com and BNY Mellon. Taking place on November 22nd from 3pm-5:30pm at the Alan Turing building room G.107, this event aims to enhance your professional skills essential for job and internship interviews. Join us for a valuable chance to practise and refine both your technical and social competencies in a simulated interview setting. It's an ideal platform to prepare for your internship and job applications this academic year. Your participation could be the key to unlocking your potential in the professional world. We encourage all students to seize this invaluable opportunity and come along! Register your interest for this event here!

DATA SCIENCE SOCIETY

Generative Adverserial Networks, Wed 22nd Nov 2-4pm; Simon 2.39. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) excel in creating realistic synthetic images, text, videos and sound. GANs are the precursor to popular generative AI such as ChatGPT, DALL-E and more. In this workshop we will:

1. Understand what generative models are

2. Intro to Autoregressive models

3. Autoencoders and Variational Autoencoders (VAEs) for Generative Deep Learning

Join us for your first look at this dynamic and relevant field of research! As always, we're there to support your learning, and all questions are welcome. Prerequisites: Intermediate level, as some mathematics is required to understand GANs.

UNICS CHRISTMAS MARKET EVENT

Come along on Friday 24th November and join us at Manchester’s Christmas Market for a fun night of exploring food stalls, getting toasty cups of hot chocolate, getting to know new people, and enjoying the festive spirit! We will meet at Kilburn Byte Cafe at 5:30pm and walk there together as a group. Register your interest for this event here, we hope to see you there!

CELEBRATING THE CAREER OF PROFESSOR STEVE FURBER.

After 33 years in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester, and more than 50 years in computing, we're celebrating the career of our colleague Steve Furber on Friday 12th January 2024, 9am - 4pm, with a Festschrift (“celebration publication”) to mark his retirement earlier this year.

Steve has led the Advance Processor Technologies (APT) research group in the Department since its inception in 1990, and before that designed the BBC Micro, as well as the original Arm processor. His most recent work has focused on the state of the art computation using spiking neural networks in the SpiNNaker powered Human Brain Project.  You can find out more about Steve here or through his University research profile.

Register for this event to join us for a day of talks from Steve’s colleagues and friends, acknowledging his profound influence and contributions over 4 decades in computing, spanning both academia and industry. Speakers include: Ian Phillips, Sophie Wilson, Ivan Sutherland, Marly Roncken, Jamie Urquhart, Doug Edwards, Alex Yakovlev, Andrew Brown, Erik Brunvand, Piotr Dudek, Roger Woods, Ran Ginosar, Peter Cheung, Wayne Luk, Christian Mayr and more.

LIBRARY & STUDY SPACE OPENING HOURS.

After the Christmas break, from 2nd – 26th January 2024, there will be extended opening until 2am in the Main Library. During this period additional study space will also be made available at Prospect House, Booth Street East  (8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday) - which is behind the Kilburn building, next to the IT building. Bookable study space and group study rooms are available at the Main Library and Alan Gilbert Learning Commons. You can find opening hours of all library sites on the Library website which will be kept updated over the assessment period.

 

If you are enjoying being a postgraduate student, might you consider moving into research to do a PhD? If so, the Faculty of Science and Engineering is running a Postgraduate Research Open Day On Wednesday 15th  November ? 12...

If you are enjoying being a postgraduate student, might you consider moving into research to do a PhD? If so, the Faculty of Science and Engineering is running a Postgraduate Research Open Day On Wednesday 15th November – 12 pm to 4.30 pm, in Engineering Building A, which is a chance to find out whether a PhD at Manchester may be right for you. Find out more and register your place.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

UNICS GAMDEV WORKSHOPS.

Hello everyone! Join us on November 15th from 3 - 4pm and participate in our 3rd Game Dev workshop! This workshop will cover the basics of Monogame Rendering and I/O. We will also explore more complex Object Oriented concepts like interfaces and structs. Follow my GitHub and star the repository below to keep track of and refer to things programmed during our live coding sessions (we will be using this repository for subsequent workshops). As always, these workshops are still beginner-friendly and aim to shed light on underlying concepts which apply to any engine! See you guys there :) Register your interest here! 

UNICS LEETCODE WORKSHOP. 

Join us this Wednesday, November 15th, in Collab 1 from 4 to 6 PM to learn about Competitive Programming, the interview process, and getting started with Leetcode! We'll guide you through the typical steps of a technical interview, share ideal timelines for starting your application process, discuss how to approach problems, and provide resources on essential data structures and problem-solving patterns to learn. Additionally, we'll walk through some example problems, dissecting them to show how to make incremental improvements. Register your interest here! 

UNICS INTERNSHIP NETWORKING EVENT.

Come along to Revolution Manchester (Oxford Road) from 7pm onwards on Friday November 17th for a casual networking event where you get to hear from our students that have gained internship experience from various companies, such as Amazon, ARM, Wise, and BNY Mellon! This is your chance to ask any burning questions you have about application processes and advice, or any general things you are curious about, all in a casual setting! Register your interest here! 

GRAPHENE HACKATHON.

Unleash your inner entrepreneur: Design, Prototype & Pitch a new graphene product idea over a weekend of hacking at the University of Manchester, 9-10th December 2023! Join us in an energetic environment for rapid development, failing & innovating! Work with entrepreneurs, industry experts, and academics. Win cash prizes and startup support! The Graphene Hackathon is open to everyone from all backgrounds. You can enter in ready-made teams (4-6 people) or we can group you together with other applicants.  Visit our website for more information & information on how to apply before the 18th November. Travel and accommodation costs for people outside of the University of Manchester will be covered. Email us with any questions: info@graphenehackathon.com.

STUDENT WELFARE SUPPORT IN CS.

Issues can impact students at any time, usually when you least expect it. If you are affected by any issues, and if they start to impact your studies, then it’s vitally important that you speak to someone and get the help and support you need. You can speak to your year tutor, or you can speak to a member of our Student Wellbeing Team, Maria Sloan and Ben Herbert, or drop into the student hub in Engineering Building A and ask to speak to someone, in confidence, about anything that might be affecting you and your studies. Maria and Ben are also the Disability Coordinators for CS, so you can speak to them if you have any ongoing physical or mental health problems, or conditions such as ASD or ADHD, that affect your studies, even if you are not already registered with the DASS Team at the University. If you are registered with DASS and there are problems with your DASS plan you can speak with them about this too. You can contact Maria and Ben at soe.wellbeing@manchester.ac.uk.

EXTENSION REQUESTS.

If you find you are falling behind due to circumstances beyond your control with an assessment then you can apply for a short extension to allow you to complete your work. You must apply for an extension BEFORE the deadline through the Department Mitigating Circumstances page. You should only be applying for an extension if you really need one, we will be monitoring applications to ensure the system is not being abused. 

Today is the start of Period 2, so new units get underway (including mine!).  Hopefully you completed the Period 1 units by submitting final courseworks that you are happy with. If your submissions were impacted by circumstances beyond your control, please submit a Mitigating Circumstances from.

This week we will have our first Staff Student Liaison Committee meeting, where we hope to hear from Class Representatives what is going well or less well in your experience of the programme and the university. The following are the representatives that we know are attending:

• Rahul Vijay Patil: rahulvijay.patil@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

• Sweta Jaiswal: sweta.jaiswal@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

• Shivani Bharambe: shivani.bharambe@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

• Reet Tuteja: reet.tuteja@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

• Aron Bencsik: aron.bencsik@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

Please let them know what issues you would like to have raised.

Norman Paton, PGT Programme Director

 

MY LEARNING ESSENTIALS.

My Learning Essentials is the Library’s award winning programme of skills support, including both online resources and face-to-face workshops which will aid you in your personal and professional development. The workshops offer a relaxed group environment where you can try out new strategies for yourself while learning from and with peers whilst the online resources help you develop skills and interests which are relevant to you, at times and using the methods that suit you best. My Learning Essentials is a great way to get the most out of your time at Manchester; helping you to make the best use of all of the specialist resources and support the University has to offer.

KEEPING SAFE ON CAMPUS.

Just like any large city, Manchester can have problems with crime. The University student support webpage offers a variety of resources that you can utilise to help keep safe. SafeZone is a mobile app that can also be used to quickly connect with the University Campus Support and Security team if you have an immediate concern, or require first aid or wellbeing assistance. The app is free to download, easy to use, and operates not just across our campus and accommodation areas, but also MMU and Salford campuses. Find out more about SafeZone here, along with additional Safety Apps that are available. There is also a Safe Taxi scheme, which is an exclusive partnership with Street Cars, to help get you home safely even if you can’t pay at that moment. Our Report and Support team are also available to contact should you experience or witness any safeguarding concern, and you would like to speak to a trained advisor.

EXAM SUPPORT.

Do you need support for a disability, a long term medical or mental health condition, or a learning disorder for your Exams? If you need extra time, rest breaks etc. due to any of these, please contact the Disability Advisory and Support Service (DASS) ASAP to register. Alternatively you can contact the Department Wellbeing Team to discuss a referral. Please note that you must have fully registered with DASS and have met with a Disability Adviser to discuss and agree any exam adjustments by 16th November 2023 in order to receive support in the January 2024 examinations.

DATA SCIENCE SOCIETY.

Introduction to Computer Vision, Wednesday 8th 2-4pm, Simon 2.39. Get ready for this week's workshop on Medical Image Analysis using Convolutional Neural Networks! Computer Vision tools for Medical Image Analysis are allowing radiologists to become faster, better, and more accurate in diagnosis. Content list:

• Understand how Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) work.

• Learn how to build a Computer Vision pipeline using PyTorch.

• Train a CNN to classify organs from CT scans.

Prerequisites: It would be useful to understand how basic neural networks work. 

NEED A PLACE TO WORK?

You are free to use any of our teaching rooms/labs in the Kilburn building when they are not being used for scheduled teaching activities. If you are interested in knowing when a lab is free to use, then you can find out on the University Timetable pages (you will need to be on campus). To look for a room in Kilburn, select “Location”, then in the form that opens select “Kilburn Building” for the building, select the lab/room you would like to use under “Select Location”, the default view is this week, or you can select a particular week. Selecting “View Timetable” will show what activities are taking place in the selected room for the week. Please note that for the labs 1.8 and 1.10 look at the 1.8+1.10 timetable. If a room is booked for teaching, then you should avoid using it.

UNIVERSITY CYBERHIVE.

Do you want to take part in simulated cyber incidents, make high-stakes decisions to thwart the attackers? Then this competition with a difference is for you! This is not about technology...there are no flags to capture! This is a competition about strategy and policy. We’re looking for students from all Faculties to join our CyberHive team for the UK Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge. We want to build a diverse team that brings together students from all academic disciplines and backgrounds (but do not work in cyber security or have held positions that would give them an advantage). The University of Manchester CyberHive team will aim for glory at the finals, set to take place at the BT Tower in London from 20th – 21st February 2024. Critical thinking and communication skills are essential! You can find out more information here, along with details on how to apply.

 

As we are broadly half way through the semester, this week is Reading Week, and thus the university seems quite quiet. Alas, it is not really a Reading Week for you, as likely you have lab work to complete.

As we are broadly half way through the semester, this week is Reading Week, and thus the university seems quite quiet.  Alas, it is not really a Reading Week for you, as likely you have lab work to complete.  Please also take the chance this week to see what material is in Blackboard for the units that start next week.

It will not have escaped your attention that Generative AI has the potential to impact on student assessment, and the university has updated its guidance on plagiarism with explicit reference to Generative AI.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

HARDWARE LIBRARY.

Did you know we have a hardware library in the Department that contains a wide range of hardware components that are completely free to borrow? You can use these to support your 3rd year project, generally just to have a play with, or support a Hackathon. There are all sorts of items available, from Raspberry Pi components to drones, a wide range of microcontroller boards to gesture devices, basic electronic components to robots … even VR headsets. We also have computer items, such as keyboards, mice, and tablets - there’s a wide range of items available. To see what is available for you to borrow (for free!) have a look at the library catalogue. If you want to borrow an item then all you have to do is reserve it online. You will then be contacted by Steve Rhodes who will tell you when you can pick the item up from Tootill 0 on the lower first floor of Kilburn. Please note that items should not be taken away from Manchester and it is your responsibility to replace any damaged/lost items you borrow. You can also propose new items for the library, which we will consider. However, please note, we do have a limited budget to purchase new items, so we can’t fund all requests.

3D PRINTER.

The Department has two 3D printers that are free for you to use (Original Prusa i3). The 3D printers can be found in Tootill 0. If you’d like to use one of the printers, then please speak to Steve Rhodes (corner of Tootill 0) first.

FREE BREAKFASTS.

Weekly free breakfasts are now available every Wednesday during term time. The Library Team will hand out vouchers in Alan Gilbert Learning Commons which can be exchanged for breakfast goodies, including a hot drink and pastry, at the Learning Commons Café. The giveaways start at 9am, every Wednesday. Get your breakfast fix before stocks run out! Check out our Cost of Living page for more initiatives, including information on our Cosy Campus spaces with hot water and microwaves, and free fresh food available in the community fridge.

MANCHESTER TECH FESTIVAL. 

Manchester’s biggest tech festival returns this week at the Victoria Baths from 1st to 2nd November. Former Computer Science student Anna Lackey (MEng 2023, now at https://www.roke.co.uk) will be talking about “AI for the completely baffled”, alongside many other talks from tech employers in Manchester. Discounted Student tickets are available. If you’d like to see a “dress rehearsal” of Anna’s talk, she’ll be doing it in Kilburn 2.19 on Wednesday 1st November at 1pm.

 

As it is the 5th week of teaching, we are nearing the end of the taught elements of most Period 1 units, ahead of a week for finalising coursework submissions on most units.

As it is the 5th week of teaching, we are nearing the end of the taught elements of most Period 1 units, ahead of a week for finalising coursework submissions on most units.  This means that likely fewer things are scheduled next week than this, but please still note that the clocks change on Sunday 29th October (at 02:00 am), going back by one hour so we move back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). So, 02:00 am becomes 01:00 am giving you an extra hour in bed on Sunday morning!  This may seem nice at the time, but the main effect I feel is that it becomes dark quite early in the evening, which is not so welcome.

Norman Paton, PGT Director

CAREERS FAIR.

A two day careers fair aimed at students from The University of Manchester looking for internships, placements and graduate jobs. We are delighted to be welcoming recruiters across the two days offering opportunities from Consultancy to Marketing, Business to Finance, HR to Project Management and much more. Taking place centrally on campus in the Whitworth Hall, this careers fair is an ideal opportunity to speak directly and in-person with organisations from a range of industry sectors and find out more about their opportunities. You can find out more information here.

EDIA TRAINING.

The Faculty has produced training on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDIA) based on feedback we have received from students directly in the Faculty. The eModule has been updated in consultation with the University of Manchester’s Students’ Union and student societies. This new eModule is more reflective of day-to-day experiences in the Faculty – particularly with our new Engineering A and Engineering B buildings. The training covers a variety of experiences including the challenges men face, misconceptions on disability, the experience of women and gender diverse people in STEM, and others. Please can you complete the test by the end of teaching week 7 (the week after reading week). The training takes roughly 45 minutes and you can access the eModule here. 

UNICS GAMEDEV WORKSHOP. 

Join us for our second Game Development workshop on the 25th of October from 3-4pm in University Place room 4.209. In this workshop, we will delve into Monogame and its inner workings. As a byproduct, we will also discuss the fundamentals of rendering and game architecture, which are essential for building any large-scale game project. This workshop is beginner-friendly, and snacks will be provided :) Register using this link. See you there!

GOOGLE DEVELOPER STUDENT CLUB (GDSC) - INTRO TO ML AND TENSORFLOW.

Join us for an Exciting Workshop: "Intro to ML and TensorFlow!"

• Date: Wednesday, October 25th

• Time: 15:00 - 16:30 BST

• Location: Engineering Building A, Lecture Theatre A

Calling all aspiring data scientists and computer science enthusiasts! Are you eager to dive into the world of Machine Learning and master TensorFlow? 

Here's what you can expect:

1. Understanding the fundamentals of Machine Learning.

2. Hands-on experience with TensorFlow.

3. Practical tips and tricks for building ML models.

4. Insight into how these concepts can elevate your Third Year CS Project!

Whether you're new to ML or looking to sharpen your skills, this workshop is tailored for you. 

HACKCHESTER.

This week at Hackchester, we'll be holding our third workshop of the year on Tuesday at 5pm in Atlas. Come along to play with Kali Linux and nmap this week. We're looking at network vulnerabilities and how to spot them. As always, this is a introductory workshop series, so we welcome anyone with any experience in ethical hacking (including none) and there's no requirement for you to have already attended any of our previous workshops. Additionally, we're looking for people to join our podcast team. Anyone who wants to be involved in PR, Audio Editing/Post Production, or Script and Content development should apply here by Tuesday 31st October.

DATA SCIENCE SOCIETY.

Introduction to Deep Learning, Simon 2.39, Wednesday 25th 2-4pm. Journey into deep learning and neural networks, taught by our very own president Saurav! Neural networks are the basis of many AI/ML models, and the starting point to more advanced topics. Deep neural networks are applied to an almost infinite range of problems, from financial forecasting to protein folding prediction. In this workshop you'll learn about the components of neural networks and will program your own for classifying objects. Prerequisites: This is the second of our introductory ML workshops. To make the most of this session you should understand basic Python concepts (see the first half of MUDS Week 4), and have preferably seen simple uses of NumPy. Join our discord server: 

NEW TABLE FOOTBALL TABLE.

As the old table in the Turing lounge got damaged, we have replaced it with a new table football table for you to enjoy. Have fun, and please try not to lose the balls!

UK IRELAND PROGRAMMING COMPETITION.

This from Ian Pratt-Hartmann: On Saturday, 21st October, the UK Ireland Programming Competition (UKIEPC) took place, in which teams of three attempted a series of programming challenges over a five hour period. Teams from universities across the British Isles competed at a number of sites, one of which was Manchester. Twenty teams from Manchester took part. Of these, the teams Beef Chew Mein, Duduienii, SYS, Solo Bolo, 404, Ctl+Alt+Defeat, MVJ, CoKoMan23 and GTS solved a creditable five problems. The final standings can be found here.  Congratulations to the top three Manchester teams:

• Beef Chew Mein: Yang Hu (Y3, CS4) , Thomas Jones (Y3, CS) and Shani De Silva (Y3, CS).

• Duduienii: Alexandru Stoica (Y3, CSwIE), Mihnea Popeanga (Y3, CSwIE) and Diana Constantin (Y3, CSwIE).

• SYS: Muhammad Hussain (Y2, CMwIE), Shay Boua (Y2, CMwIE), Stanley James (Y2, CM).

Well done to everyone who took part.

It is already the 4th week of teaching, so you are more than half way through your Period 1 units. I hope everything is under control!

It is already the 4th week of teaching, so you are more than half way through your Period 1 units.  I hope everything is under control!  You will now have been mixing with lots of people for a while, sharing bugs from all over the place. If you are feeling poorly, please consider staying away to minimise the spread of infection, and remember that we have Extension and Mitigating Circumstances mechanisms to reduce the impact of illness on assessments.

Thanks to those of you who volunteered to serve as Student Representatives.  The names and email addresses of this year's representatives are in CS-PGT-COMMUNITY.  We will be in contact with representatives before long to arrange a first Staff/Student Liaison meeting of the year.

Norman Paton, PGT Director



REPORT AND SUPPORT
==================

The University’s Report and Support Service is available to students. If you or someone you know has experienced or witnessed any form of bullying, harassment, discrimination, gender-based violence, hate or micro-aggressions, or have a safeguarding concern, you can report it anonymously or get support from a trained advisor through Report and Support. To report an incident and speak to a caseworker, you can either fill out the online form or someone can do it on your behalf. You, or the person reporting can make special requests for a certain type of advisor. The last page of the form will ask for details of who they should speak to about this report. The team will seek to understand your situation and aim to give you information, advice and support tailored to your individual circumstances. You can access this service here. Please be mindful that whilst you can send anonymous reports, the team are unable to contact you to offer support unless you provide your name and contact details.



Data Science Society.
=====================

Introduction to Python for Data Science, Simon 2.39, Wednesday 18th 2-4pm. Driven by popular demand! Based on your feedback, MUDS is delighted to offer an interactive and introductory Python bootcamp. Expect to learn basic Python with a data science twist! We'll cover basic syntax and popular data science libraries, followed by introductory OOP (essential for our machine learning workshops). Come along and tell your friends - this is an ideal opportunity for all STEM and non-STEM beginners. As usual, all our workshops are absolutely free ;-) Get ready to step into coding! Join our discord server.

 

Masters News provides regular items of potential interest to MSc students in the Department of Computer Science at the University off Manchester.

Welcome to the first Masters News of the academic year. Henceforth, this will be produced on a regular basis with an issue on most Mondays. It will include both masters-specific items when we have them, and other items that relate to the department or discipline. We will try not to overlap much with the content of the School Newsletter.

If there are things that you would like to have included in Masters News, please let me know.

In relation to MSc business, course unit selection is now closed, so you are now committed to the units and themes you have selected. I hope they are going well.

Norman Paton, PGT Director



STUDENT WELFARE SUPPORT IN CS.
==============================

Issues can impact students at any time, usually when you least expect it. If you are affected by any issues, and if they start to impact your studies, then it’s vitally important that you speak to someone and get the help and support you need. You can speak to your Academic Advisor, however, you can also speak to a member of our Student Wellbeing Team, Maria Sloan and Ben Herbert, or drop into the student hub in Engineering Building A and ask to speak to someone, in confidence, about anything that might be affecting you and your studies. Maria and Ben are also the Disability Coordinators for CS, so you can speak to them if you have any ongoing physical or mental health problems, or conditions such as ASD or ADHD, that affect your studies, even if you are not already registered with the DASS Team at the University. If you are registered with DASS and there are problems with your DASS plan you can speak with them about this too. You can contact Maria and Ben at soe.wellbeing@manchester.ac.uk.



HACKCHESTER.
============

This from the Hackchester team: Welcome back to a new year at Hackchester! This week we're holding our first workshop "Introduction to Hackchester" on Tuesday at 5pm in IT 407, Kilburn. We'll be covering an introduction to Ethical Hacking and Cyber Security. There's no experience or prior knowledge needed and it's completely free. Soon we'll be advertising for discord moderators and PR team staff, so if you want more responsibility in the society, look out for our links! As always, more info can be found on our Discord.



UNICS WORKSHOPS.
================

Join us on Wednesday, the 11th of October, for our weekly GameDev workshops! Our first meeting will tackle interpolation methods, the importance of interpolation in games, and a brief overview of the Monogame Framework. Feel free to join in and bring a friend, as anyone can attend these beginner-friendly workshops!! Register your interest now to receive more details soon about the time and location of the workshop.



HOW DO I CHECK IF I’VE SUBMITTED MY WORK?
=========================================

We often get asked by students how to check that they have submitted work successfully, and it’s quite easy to do. Most submissions will use Blackboard, in which you can check under the “My Grades” link on the left on each course unit Blackboard page (under “Submitted” or “Marked”). information.



EXTENSION REQUESTS.
===================

If you find you are falling behind due to circumstances beyond your control with an assessment then you can apply for a short extension to allow you to complete your work. You must apply for an extension BEFORE the deadline through the Department Mitigating Circumstances page. You should only be applying for an extension if you really need one, and applications are monitored to ensure the system is not being abused.



UKIEPC PROGRAMMING CONTEST - GET INVOLVED!
==========================================

This from Ian Pratt-Hartmann: The UK and Ireland Programming Contest (UKIEPC) will take place on Saturday, October 21st, 2023, 11:00–16:00. UKIEPC is an annual event in which teams of three participants try to crack a series of programming challenges. This year, as usual, Manchester will be one of the participating sites. Note that participation at Manchester is available ONLY to teams consisting entirely of students in the Department of Computer Science at Manchester. The contest itself will take place in the labs on the Lower First Floor of the Kilburn Building. Refreshments will be provided in the common area on the Lower First Floor for participants.

Details can be found here. You should register using the Competition website. (There is a "Take Part" button in the top right corner, which is surprisingly easy to miss.) Registration is now open. Completing the form should be easy. The best teams from Manchester will be able to compete in the North West Europe Regional Programming Competition (NWERC), which will be held at the Delft University of Technology from 24th to 26th November 2023. Realistically, we can expect to be able to enter two or three teams from Manchester. Note that we will enter a team to NWERC only if all of its members have competed in UKIEPC 2023. The detailed rules on eligibility are explained on the ICPC website. However, in practice, any UG or Master's student at Manchester, as well as some PhD students, are eligible. Have fun and good luck!