Informatics Europe Bulletin - September 2018

Dear Members,

We are happy to send you the latest Informatics Europe bulletin, our bi-monthly newsletter for members.

In this issue:

ECSS Program and Registration

Time for the European Computer Science Summit (ECSS 2018, Gothenburg 8-10 October) is approaching fast! Have you already registered?

Leaders and decision makers in Informatics research and education in Europe will gather to debate strategic themes and trends related to research, education and policies in Informatics. An outstanding set of keynote speakers have been lined up for the conference. Speakers from academia, industry and the European Commission will be bringing to the stage cutting edge topics like Molecular Programming, Digital Education, Ethics of Robotics and AI and its societal impact, Quantum Computing, Autonomous Systems, Human-Computer Partnerships, Machine Learning, Open Science Cloud, Computational Creativity.

Jointly with the ECSS main Summit, Informatics Europe organises its traditional Workshop for Deans and Heads of Informatics Departments on October 8. The aim is to address specific challenges, best practices, new approaches and strategies in Informatics education & research. The workshop, this year with the main theme Personal Development, is a unique networking forum for leaders of Informatics institutions, and focuses on concrete issues and practical solutions.

Like in previous years, the Minerva and Best Practices in Education Award will be presented in a joint ceremony together with the ERCIM Cor Baayen Young Researcher Award. A special session presenting Informatics Europe projects and outcomes, as well as the members Annual General Assembly round up an exciting and valuable program.

Following members and participants request for more opportunities for interaction and discussion we will organize this year three parallel Working Sessions after the closure of the main program. They will be dedicated to National Informatics Associations; Women in Informatics Research and Education and The Wide Role of Informatics at Universities.

ECSS 2018 quick links:

• Registration
• Pre-Summit Workshop Program (8 October)
• ECSS Program (9-10 October)
• Working Sessions (10 October)
• Speakers
• Venue

ECSS provides a unique opportunity to connect with other Informatics Europe member representatives, academics, researchers, as well as the Board and staff of the organization.

We count on your participation, to make the event a great success!

Petition for an increased EU budget for Research and Innovation

Informatics Europe has recently endorsed the petition launched by the Initiative for Science in Europe (organization in which Informatics Europe is an active member) and EuroScience to increase the European Commission budget for Research and Innovation: ‘We, the undersigned, scientists, concerned citizens, innovators in or from Europe, welcome the proposal for Horizon Europe. But we urge the European Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament in light of growing geopolitical challenges as well as very high levels of competition to create a step change in budgetary commitment for Research and Innovation, by moving from the current 100 billion € target proposed for the next 7-year Financial Framework period to at least 160 billion € ‘.

The petition has been signed by a number of Nobel Prize and Fields Medal winners as well as by the Presidents of most scientific organizations and learned societies in Europe. We encourage our members to sign and share the petition across their department and beyond.

Member survey: your opinion matters

What do you think about Informatics Europe? Which areas or services to our members could be improved? Do you know the scope of our activities and benefits? Take 10 minutes of your time to complete our online survey. We have extended the participation until the 25th of September. The outcome will be shared during the Annual General Assembly, to be held on October 9 in Gothenburg.

Association News

2018 Annual General Assembly

The Annual General Assembly of our association will be held, this year in Gothenburg, Sweden on October 9, 2018.

The official invitation with detailed agenda and documentation was sent to all members on September 7. The agenda includes financial reporting and planning, elections and presentation and discussion of our strategic activities and planning for future development and growth.

Your participation, vote and opinion about the future of the organization are very important! We hope your institution will be represented this year.

Save the date & place: Tuesday 9 October, 2018, 17:15-18:45

New Members

We are proud to welcome The Alan Turing Institute from London on board! It rounds up to 10 the number of UK members and raises our growing membership to 129 institutions (note that we reported wrongly the total number of members in the previous bulletin). For more details check out our member’s list.

Board Meetings 

The Informatics Europe Board met by teleconference on 27 July and 31 August. Items on the agenda included among others: ECSS 2018 organisation updates, progress reports of current working groups and high level activities, budget 2019 and financial planning.
 
Next Board Meetings:

• Friday, September 28, 16:00-17:00, Skype
• Sunday, October 7, 14:30-17:30 @ECSS 2018, Gothenburg
• Friday, November 30, 16:00-17:00, Skype

As a member representative, you are welcome to submit agenda items and to participate as an observer in Board meetings. Please send an email to administration@informatics-europe.org if you would like to attend the meeting in Gothenburg.

Members News

• Two free online programming MOOCs this autumn - UCL Professor Peter Van Roy is launching ‘Paradigms of Computer Programming – Fundamentals’, two massive online courses hosted on edX.  Programming MOOCs Louv1.1x and Louv1.2x (respectively on Sept. 24 and Nov. 5) cover functional, object-oriented and declarative dataflow programming, with practical code fragments and a simple semantics. Both courses are aimed to beginner students with basic knowledge of programming, however the unconventional approach has also proved insightful to seasoned professionals. Check the edX webpage and enrol!

New Jobs @ Informatics Europe Job Platform

• PhD student in program analysis & machine learning (INSIGHT project) - IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Deadline: 24 September 2018. 
• ERCIM Fellowship Programme - The next round is open! – Several European locations. Deadline: 30 September 2018.
• PhD position on Concurrency, Logic, and Type Systems - Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, Groningen, Netherlands. Deadline: 1 October 2018.
• 1 or 2 post-doctoral positions in Programming Languages, Software Engineering, and Machine Learning - IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Deadline: 1 October 2018.
• 2 post-doctoral Research Associates at the Quantum group - School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, UK. Deadline: 11 October 2018.
• Engineer Position in Formal Methods for Software Engineering – ProofInUse joint laboratory, INRIA, France. Deadline: 29 October, 2018.

We look forward to seeing you in Gothenburg at ECSS 2018. 

Our Bulletin will be back in November with more news and updates about our activities and services.