[ie-announce] ECSS 2012 – Last weeks to register!

[Cristina Pereira]

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*/8th European Computer Science Summit - ECSS 2012/* 
<http://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/ecss-2012.html>*//*

*/What makes a good PhD in Informatics?/*

20-21 November 2012, Barcelona, Spain

With Pre-Summit Workshops on 19 November 2012

FINAL PROGRAM ONLINE 
<http://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/ecss-2012/conference-program-2012.html>

REGISTER HERE 
<http://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/ecss-2012/registration-2012.html>

Preparations to the ECSS 2012 are successfully approaching its final 
stage. Less than two weeks until the conference, the  final program of 
the summit is online 
(http://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/ecss-2012/conference-program-2012.html) 
and we expect an extremely interesting and exciting meeting this year!

We count with your participation to enrich the debate and boost the 
success of the summit. As part of the conference the Annual General 
Assembly of Informatics Europe will be convened. This is an excellent 
opportunity to meet the Board and other members’ representatives, as 
well as to learn more about the activities and working of the association.

As for the previous Summits, the program consists of special invited 
talks, workshops, panels and other interactive sessions devoted to 
common issues, problems and proposals in the area of Informatics 
(Computer Science/Computing/ICT). Special features of the 2012 Summit 
are as follows:

  * Special focus on "What makes a good PhD in Informatics?"
  * Pre-summit Workshop for Deans, Department Chairs and Research
    Directors on November 19, 2012 (see details below)
  * Pre-summit Workshop on Experimentation in Computer Science: Scope,
    Method and Relevance on November 19, 2012 (see details below)
  * Invited talks from key players in the field (see details below)
  * Submitted talks by colleagues from all over Europe and beyond

The Summit is devoted to important and timely strategic issues and 
trends regarding all aspects of informatics: education, research, 
funding, entrepreneurship, management, career development, and policies. 
The speakers are an impressive group of world-class computer scientists 
who will present their latest advances and debate the future of the field.

*Manfred Nagl*‘s talk "*Doctoral Dissertations in Informatics in Europe 
- Some Facts and Figures*" and *K.M. (Kees) van Hee*’s talk 
"*Engineering Doctorates: the Bridge between Science an Industry*" open 
the conference in the special session addressing the main conference 
theme. The session includes also the panel "*What Makes a Good PhD in 
Informatics?*" joining in the table key players from academy and 
industry to discuss current aspects and issues regarding PhD thesis in 
Informatics.

Research funding is the focus of another important session of the 
conference. The talks of *Danny Dolev*, European Research Council, "*The 
Promise in Computer Science Research Activities*" and *Farnam Jahanian*, 
US National Science Foundation, "*Pillars of Societal Innovation: 
Research and Education in Computer Science and Informatics*" bring the 
perspectives of both Europe and USA on a topic of key relevance to all 
researchers in the field.

*Diomidis Spinellis*, Athens University of Economics and Business, with 
his talk "*Theory Meets Reality: Managing IT Systems at the Greek 
Ministry of Finance*" bring his unique insider’s perspective of the 
information technology systems at the Greek Ministry of Finance and its 
role in one of the gravest crisis Europe ever faced.

*Walter Gander* addresses in his talk “*Informatics in Schools? - 
Urgently Needed*!” one of the currently most important and worldwide 
debated topic of Informatics education. The talk will discuss the 
preliminary results and future plans of the working group established in 
the topic by a joint action of Informatics Europe and ACM Europe.

*Natalia Juristo’s* keynote "*Applying the Experimental Paradigm to 
Software Engineering*" opens a special session of the conference on the 
topic “Experiments in Computer Science”. Her talk will be followed by 
the discussion panel "*Experiments in Computer Science: Are Traditional 
Experimental Principles Enough*?". The topic is also the central focus 
of a Pre-Summit workshop on November 19 (see details below).

Beyond this exciting group of speakers and discussions, the conference 
includes also a session with presentations selected from contributed 
papers (to submit your contribution see the call for submissions bellow) 
and the Award Ceremony of the 2012 Informatics Europe Curriculum Award.

Informatics Europe Members are specially invited to participate in the 
Informatics Europe General Assembly and Informatics Europe Initiatives 
Session (on November 20, afternoon) where important aspects of the 
association activities and administration will be presented and 
discussed, as well as plans for future activities and development.

*
_Registrations_*

Registrations to the conference are open. For details on the fees and 
current offers visit the conference website:

http://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/ecss-2012/registration-2012.html

To register follow the instructions in the registration page 
<https://intranet.pacifico-meetings.com/GesCoForm/inicio.jsf?cfg=148>.

*
_Venue _*

The ECSS 2012 will be held at the Facultat d'Informatica de Barcelona 
(Barcelona School of Informatics), Universitat Politècnica de 
Catalunya-BarcelonaTech (UPC) located at the "Campus Nord", Carrer de 
Jordi Girona, 1, 08034, Barcelona, Spain.

Barcelona is an exciting city, filled with culture, art, and innovation. 
Capital of Catalonia, a region with its own language, character and 
history, and one of Spain's most cosmopolitan cities, Barcelona has been 
breaking ground in art, architecture and style since the late 19th 
century. The city exhibits marvels of the Arquitectura Modernista, 
defining its distinctive urban style, in which the flamboyant creations 
of Antoni Gaudi stand out uniquely, and hosts some of the finest art 
exhibitions in the world (Picasso, Miro, Tàpies, Catalan National Art 
Museum).

*
_Accommodation_*

In the conference website 
(http://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/ecss-2012/accommodation-2012.html) 
we provide a list, and respective contacts, of a number of hotels 
recommended by the International Relations Office of the Universitat 
Politècnica de Catalunya.

To benefit from the discounted prices negotiated by the Universitat 
Politècnica de Catalunya, reserve your room using the form at the 
UPC'sInternational Relations Office website 
<http://www.upc.edu/sri/congressos/congress/service-we-offer/accomodation-upc-barcelonatech/hotels_in_barcelona?set_language=en>.**


*_Pre-Summit Workshops_*

On November 19, two special workshops will be organized at the ECSS 2012:

*1.**Workshop for Deans, Department Chairs and Research Directors*

*/Faculty Promotion Policies and Procedure: tenure, tenure track, or?/*

Workshop chair: Prof. Mehdi Jazayeri, Faculty of Informatics, University 
of Lugano

Technical and societal changes are all around us and universities in 
Europe are undergoing fundamental changes. Department chairs at 
informatics groups face ever-increasing challenges. The goal of the 
workshop is to provide a networking opportunity for department chairs, 
old and new, to share experiences, common challenges, and best 
practices. It provides a forum for strengthening your leadership and 
management competencies by exchanging best practices and by building 
relationships among department heads at European Informatics research 
institutions. This year's meeting focuses on an issue that is changing 
across Europe: faculty promotions. The US tenure-track system is 
well-known and almost treated as a standard. But there are many systems 
used across Europe and they are undergoing major changes.

The workshop will be a mixture of discussions/knowledge sharing in 
smaller groups. Please bring the issues you are facing and approaches 
you have found to work. The workshop focuses on current procedures and 
practices for faculty promotion. Both new and experienced department 
heads are invited for an exchange of best practices, new ideas and 
common challenges. Benefits for participants include:

  * Learning best practices from heads of European Informatics
    departments and research labs
  * Offering a networking platform for heads of European Informatics
    departments and research labs
  * Inspiration for improving department processes


Speakers:

  * Anthony Finkelstein, University College London, UK
  * Mehdi Jazayeri, University of Lugano, Switzerland
  * Axel van Lamsweerde, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
  * Leszek Pacholski, Wroclaw University, Poland


To see the detailed program and register, please visit the workshop page 
at the ECSS 2012 website 
<http://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/ecss-2012/pre-summit-workshops-2012/workshop-for-deans,-department-chairs-and-research-directors.html>.

2.*Workshop on Experimentation in Computer Science: Scope, Method and 
Relevance*

Workshop coordinator: Viola Schiaffonati, Politecnico di Milano

Workshop Chairs: Jan Van Leeuwen (University of Utrecht) and Fabio A. 
Schreiber, Francesco Bruschi, Letizia Tanca (Politecnico di Milano)

A trend has recently emerged toward making the experimental scientific 
method take center stage in computer science and engineering. 
Unfortunately, computer scientists do not seem to agree on how 
experimental methods are supposed to impact their theory and practice. 
This workshop is intended to give a home to interests in, and concerns 
about, the role and relevance of experimentation in informatics.

Among the questions that will be discussed are the following:

- Does it make sense to 'import' traditional experimental principles 
(such ad comparison, reproducibility, repeatability, justification, 
explanation) from traditional scientific disciplines into computer 
science and engineering? On the one side, the application of these 
principles allows for a more rigorous approach to experiments within 
computer science and engineering; on the other side, these principles 
are valid for disciplines (such as physics and biology) that aim at 
understanding and explaining natural phenomena, whereas computer science 
and engineering realize artifacts.

- Computer science and engineering are composed of very heterogeneous 
subfields: is it possible to single out some common features 
characterizing "good experiments" across these subfields?

- What does it mean to make experiments in computer science and 
engineering? Is it possible to ask this question in general terms or 
does it need to be specifically declined for each subfield?

- Stimulating a deeper discussion on experiments in computer science and 
engineering can help promote a more scientific approach to the 
discipline: is this a possible way to look at the current debate on the 
relationship between computing and science?**

*Speakers **:***

  * *Carlos Andujar, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya*
  * **K.M. (Kees) van Hee, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) -
    The Netherlands**
  * Viola Schiaffonati, Politecnico di Milano**
  * Matti Tedre, Stockholm University, DSV - Sweden**

To see the detailed program and register, please visit the workshop page 
at the ECSS 2012 website 
<http://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/ecss-2012/pre-summit-workshops-2012/workshop-experimentation-in-informatics.html>.
**

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***Award Ceremony2012 Curriculum Award *

The Informatics Europe Curriculum Award 
<http://www.informatics-europe.org/services/curriculum-award.html>, 
recognizing excellence in informatics education, this year with a 
special focus on embedded and mobile computing, will be presented at the 
ECSS in Barcelona, November 20-21. The Award consists of a EUR 30,000 
prize and recognizes successful and influential curriculum efforts 
having made a difference in the teaching of embedded systems and mobile 
computing.**

The winners were selected by a committee composed of top international 
experts and chaired by Prof. Friedemann Mattern from ETH Zurich. They 
will be publicly announced at the Award Ceremony, to be held as part of 
ECSS on November 21, and present the results of their curriculum projects.

We invite all Informatics Europe members to attend the ceremony and 
learn more about the outstanding contributions of these colleagues to 
Informatics higher education in Europe.


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