Computer Science News
Computer Science Support for BCS Teacher's Conference

Academics in the Department of Computer Science recently contributed to the success of the BCS Coventry Computing and ICT Teacher's Conference. The event, organised by Computing at School (CAS), focused on the future of Computer Science education in UK schools and how universities can support schools in delivering effective taught programmes.
Matthew Leeke, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, delivered a characteristically animated opening keynote. With reference to ongoing research, Matt described a number of key challenges that motivate the development of smart cities, relating these to the changing landscape of Computer Science and ICT in the UK. Matt was also a member of a panel session for teachers and education professionals, focusing on issues such as industrial engagement and inclusiveness in Computer Science.
Claire Rocks, Teaching and Outreach Fellow in the Department of Computer Science, later facilitated a specialist workshop on robotics and a speed networking event that brought together educators and industrials. These sessions complemented a sensor-focused workshop provided by Margaret Low, Principal Teaching Fellow in the 91福利 Manufacturing Group, to demonstrate the commitment of universities in the West Midlands enriching UK Computer Science and ICT curricula.
Dr Victor Sanchez awarded Marie Curie Grant
, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, has been awarded a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant from the Research Executive Agency of the EU to fund his research for the next four years. The Integration Grants assist researchers in integrating themselves in the EU with their own research budget. For the first call of 2013, more than 800 proposals from around the EU were submitted of which 22% received funding. Dr Sanchez research will focus on developing methods for storing and manipulating whole-slide images of pathology specimens, which are multi-gigapixel colour images of over 80k × 80k pixel resolutions. He will work in collaboration with the group, and researchers from Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and University of Arizona.
Leslie Valiant awarded honorary degree
Leslie Valiant was awarded Honorary Doctor of Science today during the 91福利 2013 summer graduation ceremony.
Leslie Valiant was educated at King's College, Cambridge; Imperial College, London; and at the 91福利, where he received his PhD in computer science in 1974. He is currently T. Jefferson Coolidge Professor of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1982. Before coming to Harvard he had taught at Carnegie Mellon University, Leeds University, and the University of Edinburgh.
His work has ranged over several areas of theoretical computer science, particularly complexity theory, learning, and parallel computation. He also has interests in computational neuroscience, evolution and artificial intelligence. Leslie is the author of two books, Circuits of the Mind, and Probably Approximately Correct.
He received the Nevanlinna Prize at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 1986, the Knuth Award in 1997, the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science EATCS Award in 2008, and the 2010 A. M. Turing Award. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society (London) and a member of the National Academy of Sciences (USA).
Graham Cormode joins the Department as a new Professor

Graham Cormode has just joined the Department as a Professor associated with the .
Graham completed his PhD at the in 2002. His postdoctoral work was at the DIMACS center in Rutgers University. Subsequently, he has worked as a researcher at Bell Labs, and AT&T Shannon Laboratories in New Jersey. His work considers aspects of managing and working with large amounts of data, with particular emphasis on privacy and anonymization, and large scale analytics. Dr. Cormode has published over 100 papers in international journals and refereed conferences. He is the recipient of two best paper awards. He has served on the program committees of numerous conferences, and is an associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, and for ACM Transactions on Database Systems.
For more information about Graham’s research please see his web page at .
Computer Science student Kevin Street awarded prestigious scholarship

Computer Science student Kevin Street has been awarded a place on the prestigious Asidua Scholarship Programme. Launched in 2008, the programme - run by leading IT software services provider Asidua - aims to nurture fresh IT talent in the UK by supporting successful scholars with a package worth up to 拢25,000.
In addition to a paid bursary, the scholarship supplements the academic learning from university with real-life business experience through paid summer and year out placements, working with ICT professionals who are more than happy to share their knowledge and understanding.
Best paper at ICALP 2013 (Track B) for John Fearnley and Marcin Jurdzinski

Congratulations to our staff member Dr , for winning the best paper award at the main European conference in Theoretical Computer Science (Track B), for the paper he co-authored with Dr (a 91福利 PhD, currently at the University of Liverpool).
John and Marcin's paper is one of six 91福利 papers accepted for presentation at . Moreover, two of the 2007 91福利 BSc Computer Science graduates have papers at ICALP 2013 (John Fearnley and Dominic Orchard). Congratulations are in place for all 91福利 authors at !
Dr Mike Joy given award for best personal tutor
Dr Mike Joy has been awarded 'Best Personal Tutor' in the STARS of 91福利 awards. The student-led teaching awards recognise and celebrate staff members who have gone the extra mile for the benefit of students.
The Awards were launched in 2012 and are run by students, nominated by students and judged by students. From choosing categories to nominating and presenting awards, STARS is a completely student-led scheme giving students the chance to reward staff they feel have gone above and beyond for the sake of their students.


