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In this issue:
Informatics Higher Education Data Portal: New Data & ACM Publication
IE has recently updated its Informatics Higher Education Data Portal with the data of 2021/22 academic year. The Portal now covers statistics of 12 academic years for 23 countries on students enrolled and degrees awarded at Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD levels, including information on gender distribution. For selected countries, the Portal provides additional data, such as comparative analysis of key academic positions and related employment details, including estimations of academic salaries. The full downloadable dataset is exclusively available to faculty and researchers of IE members.
A related article, prepared by members of the IE working group on Data Analysis and Reporting, is also published in the November 2023 issue of the Communications of the ACM Journal. It describes the IE Higher Education Data Portal functionalities and offers - by way of case study research - a data-driven perspective over how informatics education can be studied and improved in a data-driven fashion.
We invite you to support us in the continuing creation and contribution of analytical outputs and reports, as well as the improvement of the IE Data Portal functionalities by joining our working group or reach out to svetlana.tikhonenko@informatics-europe.org. We can make the state of informatics education in your country better known at a European level. Thank you for your support!
ECSS 2023 Highlights Now Online
We are thrilled to share that ECSS 2023 in Edinburgh was a hit with a record turnout! You can now find all summit highlights, presentations and photos online. We hope everyone enjoyed our flagship summit, gaining fresh ideas on informatics education and research trends to share with colleagues and networks.
During ECSS, we encouraged community collaboration through our Working Groups, and shared updates of IE services such as the Department Evaluation Service, CV Repository and the yet-to-launch Early Career Researchers Working Group. Our service/activity posters can be found on our Members Spotlight webpage. Thanks for promoting them within your network. Contact us to join/learn more about these activities!
Next year ECSS will turn 20 and celebrate with a new name: European InformatiCs LeaderS Summit! Join us for this milestone event on October 28-30, 2024 in Malta - see you there!
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ECSS 2023 was co-organised with our UK’s member institute the School of Informatics of the University of Edinburgh, and sponsored by Huawei and Edinburgh Innovations, the University of Edinburgh’s commercialisation service. Interested in sponsoring or hosting a future ECSS? Drop us an email at administration@informatics-europe.org.
Best Dissertation Award & Minerva Informatics Equality Awards Winners 2023
The winners of IE’s annual awards were announced during the ECSS 2023 awards ceremony:
Launched this year and sponsored by Springer Nature, this year’s Best Dissertation Award goes to Pepa Atanasova, PhD graduate from University of Copenhagen (Denmark), with her winning dissertation “Accountable and Explainable Methods for Complex Reasoning over Text”. The dissertation has been praised by the Award Committee for its significant contributions to research in Machine Learning accountability and the societal impact of the achieved results. It introduces two novel methods for generating adversarial inputs and a diagnostic dataset for veracity prediction with insufficient evidence. These methods generate new scientific insights into the inner working of fact-checking models and reveal critical vulnerabilities that highlight the need for the development of appropriate complex reasoning models and defences against adversarial attacks.
The Award Committee also recognised four other outstanding dissertations as runners-up, listed in alphabetical order by last name:
- Salvatore Di Girolamo, ETH Zurich (Switzerland) with the dissertation "Application-driven network and storage optimizations";
- Sebastian Hofstätter, TU Wien (Austria) with the dissertation "Optimizing the cost-effectiveness tradeoff in neural ranking";
- Shiwei Liu, Eindhoven University of Technology (the Netherlands) with the dissertation "Sparse neural network training with in-time over-parameterization";
- Francesco Pierri, Politecnico di Milano (Italy) with the dissertation "Characterization and detection of disinformation spreading in online social networks".
- The Award carries a prize of EUR 3,000 for the winner, sponsored by Springer Nature as well as an invitation to publish the winning thesis in Springer’s Computer Science program.
Google sponsors IE’s Minerva Informatics Equality Award since 2016. This year the award goes to two winners: gender-equality and anti-harassment committee from LIS (Computer Science Lab), Aix Marseille University (France) and FemTech.dk research program at the Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen (Denmark). Both institutions were chosen for their excellent achievements in implementing initiatives that have had a measurable impact on the careers of women in all stages. The Award carries a prize of EUR 5,000 shared by both winners and an award plaque for each winner.
Learn more about the winning dissertations and projects from their presentations available under “Informatics Europe Awards Ceremony” here. Submissions of these and past winners are also available on the Best Dissertation Award website and Minerva Informatics Equality Award website respectively.
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Help us advance informatics education by becoming a sponsor for our Best Practices in Education Award for 2024 and beyond! Contact us or introduce us to potential sponsors at administration@informatics-europe.org.
Education Research Working Group - Michael E. Caspersen winning the ACM SIGCSE Award
We are thrilled to share that Michael E. Caspersen, IE’s former Board Director and Co-chair of our permanent Education Research Working Group, has received another award for his outstanding contribution to informatics education.
Initiated in 1981, the ACM SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education annually recognises an individual or group for their significant contribution and impact to informatics education, encompassing areas such as curriculum design and innovating teaching methods. Michael is honoured with the 2024 Award for his extensive contributions in informatics education research including curriculum development and teacher education, his pioneering efforts in establishing computing curricula in Europe and globally, as well as high-level and impactful policy work on developing and expanding computing programs in schools. A notable recent achievement is the Informatics Reference Framework for School, a document aimed at providing a coherent vision and shared terminology for offering informatics education throughout Europe, as requested by the European Commission in its Digital Education Action Plan. This document is one of the main achievements of the Informatics4All, a coalition currently chaired by Michael, where Informatics Europe is one of the four members.
Many congratulations to Michael – we feel privileged to receive his continuous support and contributions, benefiting not only the working group but also other IE activities crucial for accomplishing our mission and goals.
Empower Your Leadership Journey with New Academic Leadership Courses
Take your institution to new heights by providing your team with the chance to master the art of cultivating a harmonious and thriving academic culture – we are thrilled to present two exciting options for you!
Academic Leadership Online Course (spring ’24 cohort): reflect on leadership practice, gain practical strategies and create a clear action plan for your role as a leader through an orientation session plus six further online sessions. Open to leaders at all levels from informatics institutions across Europe, the upcoming cohort will start in March. Register now to enjoy the early bird offer!
Bespoke Academic Leadership Course: a unique opportunity for institutes aiming to boost team cohesion and cultivate a shared thriving culture! Much like our online course, the Bespoke Course, led by Prof. Geraldine Fitzpatrick and Prof. Austen Rainer - both experienced leaders in informatics and leadership training - is rooted in science. This course also offers tailored solutions in any format that suits your institute’s needs. Interested to know more? Reach out to us for a free consultation meeting – we'll answer your questions and guide your institution toward success!
Association News
Board & Executive Committee Meetings
- 24 Nov (Fri), 16:00-17:00, Zoom
- 15 Dec (Fri), 09:00-16:30, Online (Executive Committee only)
- 26 Jan (Fri), 09:00-16:00, Zurich
Member representatives are welcome to submit agenda topics and participate as observers in board meetings. Let us know if you’d like to join us!
Get Rewarded for Becoming an Informatics Europe Ambassador
Informatics research and education in Europe can advance further with our share ambitions. Help us expand our community by bringing in new Informatics Europe members. Successful referrers will be rewarded with complimentary registration for the next ECSS event.
Check out our current members list which includes nearly 200 informatics institutions, national associations, companies and research centers from over 30 countries. Share the news and advantages of IE within your network: your endorsement can bring in new vitality to strengthen our European community in informatics education and research.
Don’t Miss These IE Activities & Benefits
We invite you to visit our Open Activities webpage frequently to discover how you can actively participate in and gain advantages from our activities. Here are a couple of noteworthy highlights for you:
- Complete the surveys on ethics & inclusion:
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CV Repository: our latest platform connecting the new generation of informatics talents to employers across Europe. Free registration/access are available for applicants or recruiters from IE members; free trial period/customized offer is also available to all other interested parties (Terms and conditions apply).
Events by Members
Members News
Politecnico di Milano – Inclusive AI: Maristella Matera and Salvatore Andolina Won The Google Award for Inclusion Research Program
The project “Conversational Patterns for Inclusive Prompt Engineering”, presented by Prof. Maristella Matera and Salvatore Andolina from the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, has been selected by Google as one of the winners of the Award for Inclusion Research Program. The Award recognizes and supports academic research in computing and technology that addresses the needs of historically marginalized groups globally. The winning project “Conversational Patterns for Inclusive Prompt Engineering” identifies the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly Large Language Models (LLMs), to enhance the inclusivity of information retrieval. However, it highlights how the current process of formulating requests for LLMs (prompt engineering) can be not equally accessible to all users. The research addresses this gap by proposing innovative paradigms to enhance interactions of individuals, especially the blind and visually impaired, with LLMs, emphasizing the need to ensure user trust, safety, and control, following the principles of Human-Centered AI.
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Would you like to share the latest updates about your institute to fellow IE members and professionals in informatics and related fields? Simply email the relevant news in brief to our Communication Specialist Kit Wan Chui to get featured in our Bulletin, LinkedIn and Twitter.
New Jobs @ Informatics Europe Job Platform
There are 38 new job ads on the Informatics Europe Job Platform.
As members, you can advertise and extend your search to attract the best candidates for your open positions on the IE job platform free of charge!
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