The SICSA Funding call for June is now open! The SICSA Directorate understand that plans need to change to reflect the current circumstances relative to COVID-19.  We realise that workshops, events, symposiums, visiting fellows and research exchanges cannot take place in person at this time and therefore this funding call will be open to all proposals to support online collaboration activities.  We have temporarily updated our funding guidelines to provide details and examples of funding requests; please note you are not restricted to these examples so do get in touch if you require clarification or have additional ideas to support virtual collaborative activities.

The Directors are confident that temporarily deviating from our usual funding guidelines we can still support the agreed outcomes of the SICSA Award:

• A Scottish informatics and computer science base that is internationally competitive and improving its international reputation and standing in the world;
• Value created for the Scottish economy and society;
• Access to excellent learning experience and support for students and early career researchers

Please visit the SICSA Funding page for more information on our funding opportunities and email admin@sicsa.ac.uk if you have any questions.

The SICSA directors recognise that the transition to remote working has likely created obstacles to the conduct of normal research collaboration activities, such as the hosting of in-person workshops and seminars.  To respond to this, SICSA invites applications for funding to support remote collaboration activities.

Funding can be used to support intra and inter-theme or pool research collaboration activities that require remote working and communication.   Examples include, but are not restricted to:

• Charged subscriptions to collaboration tools or services, such as instant messaging or software repositories.
• Software as a service costs to host collaboration software directly.
• Hosting online research and knowledge exchange seminars and events.

If you are interested in submitting a proposal please complete the very short form here and email it to admin@sicsa.ac.uk by one of the deadline dates below.  You will receive a decision within four working days of receipt of the proposal.

If you have any questions relative to this call please do get in touch at admin@sicsa.ac.uk 

A short update from SICSA……

Due to the current situation with the COVID-19 outbreak all forthcoming SICSA sponsored events have been postponed.  Event details continue to be displayed on our web-site and we will obviously update these as and when the circumstances change.   If you are thinking of organising an event or workshop for the future please do have a look at our funding page https://www.sicsa.ac.uk/funding/

Please do remember that our funding call is still open; more details can be found at https://www.sicsa.ac.uk/funding/.  The closing date for this funding call is 30 April 2020.

The closing date for applications for the role of Director of SICSA is 31 March; if you are interested in applying for the position but need additional time due to the changing circumstances then please do get in touch with us at admin@sicsa.ac.uk.   Please contact our current Director Professor Aaron Quigley if you would like to chat informally about the position.  Further information and details of the application process can be accessed at https://www.sicsa.ac.uk/news/applications-invited-for-the-role-of-director-of-sicsa/.

If you have any questions about SICSA activities at this time please email admin@sicsa.ac.uk.

Post-doctoral and Early Career Exchanges Bursary (PECE)

SICSA is able to provide bursaries of up to £7,500 for researchers in Informatics and Computing Sciences at SICSA institutions to take part in researcher visits to Europe, North America, China and India. PECE bursaries provide research training and development opportunities for the most able postdocs and early career researchers across SICSA. Change your surroundings and experience life as a researcher in another institution; develop your network, enjoy another environment and lay the foundations for future international collaborations. It is also hoped that these exchanges will provide opportunities to build experience of international collaboration with academia and/or industry.

More information can be found on the SICSA Funding Page

Peek at success stories and how early career researchers are benefitting from the bursary at https://www.sicsa.ac.uk/blog/.

Director of SICSA

Applications are invited from any suitable member of academic staff within a SICSA Institution for the role of Director of SICSA.

Job Purpose
SICSA is the Scottish Funding Council Research Pool in Informatics and Computer Science.  The goal of SICSA is to cohere the Scottish Informatics and Computer Science research communities to help increase critical mass and to enable cooperation in research, teaching and knowledge exchange.  The SICSA Director provides academic leadership for SICSA, working with the SICSA Directorate and the SICSA Executive.

Research pooling across Scotland is entering an exciting phase. Having recently released the review of pooling, the SFC are considering a number of recommendations which present opportunities for someone interested this role. You can lead and shape the foundations for the future of SICSA as we develop into a new programme for Scottish research. Anyone interesting in taking on this role should be willing to lead and work with other members of the directorate on developing a new direction for SICSA in light of a changing funding landscape

Main Responsibilities
The SICSA Director role is part-time, taking approximately 20% of the working week as follows:

• Working with Directors and SICSA Executive to deliver activities such as research themes, researcher mobility, SICSA Graduate Academy, Education, Knowledge Exchange and other events (10%)
• Directing and Chairing the SICSA Committee, SICSA Research Committee and SICSA Advisory Board, interacting with SICSA constituent Schools. (2%)
• Liaison with Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and other bodies relative to the strategic direction of SICSA.  Representing SICSA on various external boards. (2%)
• Developing overall SICSA strategy with the other SICSA Directors in the areas of research, teaching and knowledge exchange. (3%)
• Representing and presenting SICSA at events such as DemoFest, SICSA PhD Conference, and other external events. (2%)
• Participate in the annual Performance & Development process for the SICSA Executive Officer. (<1%)

For further information on the role and to apply please see our vacancies page

SICSA is saying farewell to its Director, Professor Aaron Quigley, University of St Andrews who has been appointed to the position of Head of School of Computing Science and Engineering at the University of New South Wales, Australia.

Aaron has been a huge supporter of the Scottish Informatics & Computing Science Alliance (SICSA) over the years and has been personally involved in the Pool since it commenced. He was one of SICSA’s original academic appointments and has served as the HCI Research Theme Leader, SICSA Deputy Director and Director of Knowledge Exchange and since July 2019 the SICSA Director.  Speaking of SICSA Aaron said “Working with colleagues from across Scotland in SICSA has been one of the highlights of my time here. Our research themes and national activities have afforded myself and my colleagues an exceptional research environment. Access to resources and expertise across SICSA has given me a new perspective on how computing and informatics is reshaping the reality of life and how we tackle problems.

I will be forever grateful for the support I received and the access to the world leading talent here”

Whilst in his role at Director of Knowledge Exchange he led the establishment of The Data Lab Innovation Centre.  Gillian Docherty OBE, CEO of The Data Lab said “Aaron has brought great energy to the role of SICSA Director to drive collaboration across the members and partner organisations.  His focus and drive have ensured SICSA are in a great position of leading into this next period of the Research Pool Strategy and Direction.

Aaron also made a significant personal and professional investment in the creation and ongoing support of The Data Lab, a huge advocate of the importance of data to Scotland’s strength and opportunity.  He is a great loss for SICSA and Scotland, but we wish him all the very best for his new role and Australia is not that far away”

Aaron will be a huge loss to SICSA and Scotland, but we warmly congratulate him on his new position of Head of School at the UNSW and wish him the very best of luck in this new venture.

We are very pleased to welcome Dr Mark Zarb, Robert Gordon University to SICSA as our new Director of Education, effective from 1 January 2020.

Mark will be a great addition to the SICSA Directorate.  He has had continuous engagement with SICSA through a number of avenues and has great vision for education within the research pool.  Mark joins us at an exciting time, following the positive outcome of the review of the SFC Research Pooling Initiative; his input to shaping the foundations for the future of SICSA will be fundamental and we look forward to working with him.

The SICSA Directors would like to pass on their sincere thanks to Dr Rachel Menzies, who served as the SICSA Education Director for the past two years.  During that time, she dedicated significant time, energy and enthusiasm to the post; thanks Rachel!

Applications are invited for any suitable member of academic staff within a SICSA Institution to co-lead the SICSA Cyber Physical Systems Research Theme.

Research pooling across Scotland is entering an exciting phase. Having recently released the review of pooling, the SFC are considering a number of recommendations which present opportunities for someone interested in this theme leadership role. As part of this, theme leaders are taking on increasingly public facing roles on behalf of SICSA. For example, our AI theme leaders are now part of the government strategy group developing a national AI strategy for Scotland. While one of the Data Science theme leaders is starting to co-chair a large conference with the DataLab here in Scotland on behalf of SICSA. Theme leaders are called upon to help shape and direct the theme but also to provide a face and national representation for their theme area.

SICSA is the Scottish Funding Council Research Pool in Informatics and Computer Science.  The goal of SICSA is to cohere the Scottish Informatics and Computer Science research communities to help increase critical mass and to enable cooperation in research, teaching and Knowledge Exchange.

Closing Date 1st December 2019

More details can be found on the CPS Research Theme Leader Job Description

To apply, please complete the CPS Research theme Leader Application Form and send to Aileen.Orr@glasgow.ac.uk by 1st December 2019