Research

A PhD studentship, in collaboration with MSR (Cambridge)

Reasoning about Racy Programs under Relaxed Consistency

A PhD studentship, in collaboration with MSR (Cambridge)

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/collaboration/global/apply-europe.aspx>

Each Microsoft scholarship consists of an annual bursary up to a maximum of three years. The amount varies in different countries and may depend on specific arrangement with public research funding agencies. The bursary continues automatically the following years, provided the Scholar meets the requirements of the institution.

Payment is made to the institution. The amount of the scholarship is the maximum amount Microsoft Research pays to the institution. In addition, every Scholar receives a laptop allowance.

During the course of their PhD, Scholars are invited to Microsoft Research in Cambridge for a PhD Summer School that includes a series of talks of academic interest and posters sessions, which provides the Scholars the opportunity to present their work to Microsoft researchers and a number of Cambridge academics.

Some of the Scholars may also be offered—at the sole discretion of Microsoft Research—an internship in one of the Microsoft Research laboratories. Internships involve working on a project alongside and as part of a team of Microsoft researchers. Scholars are paid during their internship—in addition to their scholarship bursary. Interested Scholars can apply through the Microsoft Research internship website.

 

School Seminar Series: Matching in Practice: Junior Doctor Allocation and Kidney Exchange

Matching in Practice: Junior Doctor Allocation and Kidney Exchange by Dr. David Manlove

Abstract:
Matching problems typically involve assigning agents to commodities, possibly on the basis of ordinal preferences or other metrics. These problems have large-scale applications to centralised matching schemes in many countries and contexts. In this talk I will describe the matching problems featuring in two such schemes in the UK that have involved collaborations between the National Health Service and the University of Glasgow. One of these dealt with the allocation of junior doctors to Scottish hospitals (1999-2012), and the other is concerned with finding kidney exchanges among incompatible donor-patient pairs across the UK (2007-date). In each case I will describe the applications, present the underlying algorithmic problems, outline the computational methods for their solution and give an overview of results arising from real data connected with the matching schemes in recent years.

BIO:
David Manlove is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, where he has been since 1995. His research interests lie mainly in the field of algorithms and complexity, and include algorithms for matching problems involving preferences. These arise in applications such as the assignment of school leavers to universities, kidney patients to donors and junior doctors to hospitals. He and his colleagues have been involved in collaborations with the NHS in relation to the Scottish Foundation Allocation Scheme (for matching junior doctors to hospitals) and the National Living Donor Kidney Sharing Schemes (for enabling kidney “swaps” between incompatible donor-patient pairs) where optimal matching algorithms developed by him and colleagues have been deployed. He has over 50 publications in this area including his book “Algorithmics of Matching Under Preferences”, published in 2013.

Event details

  • When: 3rd February 2015 14:00 - 15:00
  • Where: Cole 1.33a
  • Series: School Seminar Series
  • Format: Talk

School Seminar Series: Statistically Consistent Estimation and Efficient Inference for Natural Language Parsing

Statistically Consistent Estimation and Efficient Inference for
Natural Language ParsingBy Shay Cohen, University of Edinburgh.

Abstract:
In the past few years, there has been an increased interest in the machinel earning community in spectral algorithms for estimating models with latent variables. Examples include algorithms for estimating mixture of Gaussians or for estimating the parameters of a hidden Markov model.

The EM algorithm has been the mainstay for estimation with latent variables, but because it is guaranteed to converge to a local maximum of the likelihood, it is not a consistent estimator. Spectral algorithms, on the other hand, are often shown to be consistent. They are often more computationally efficient than EM.

In this talk, I am interested in presenting two types for spectral algorithms for latent-variable PCFGs, a model widely used in the NLP community for parsing. One algorithm is for consistent estimation of L-PCFGs, and the other is for efficient inference with L-PCFGs (or PCFGs). Both algorithms are based on linear-algebraic formulation of L-PCFGs and PCFGs.

BIO:
Shay Cohen is a Chancellor’s fellow (assistant professor) at the University of Edinburgh (School of Informatics). Before that, he was a postdoctoral research scientist in the Department of Computer Science at Columbia University, and held an NSF/CRA Computing Innovation Fellowship. He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from Tel Aviv University in 2000 and 2004, and his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in 2011. His research interests span a range of topics in natural language processing and machine learning, with a focus on structured prediction. He is especially interested in developing efficient and scalable parsing algorithms as well as learning algorithms for probabilistic grammars.

Event details

  • When: 21st January 2015 14:00 - 15:00
  • Where: Cole 1.33a
  • Series: School Seminar Series
  • Format: Talk

Research Evaluation Framework 2014

The results of the UK Research Evaluation Framework 2014 were released publicly today. The School of Computer Science was rated 14th in the UK (and a close 2nd in Scotland) in terms of research outputs, which is a measure of how our research compares to the best in the world. Over 30% of our submitted papers received the highest 4* ranking, with a further 55% receiving the 3* ranking.

“We’re delighted with this result,” said Prof Steve Linton, the Head of School. “Coming alongside our top placement in the UK for teaching Computer Science, it shows that that we’ve managed to achieve a balance between our two core activities while maintaining the quality of each.  It’s a confirmation of our high standing in the subject and leaves us excited for future developments.”

On the broader evaluation metrics that include research environment and non-academic impact, as well as research quality, the School was ranked 27th in the UK (4th in Scotland). “We submitted three impact case studies ranging from cloud computing to improving cultural engagement through virtual reality,” said Prof Simon Dobson, the School’s Director of Research. “These are all strategic areas that we’ll be keen to build on.”

Institutionally, the University of St Andrews was ranked 19th overall in the UK, and 2nd in Scotland.

FatFonts and a World Population Map

Looking for an unusual Christmas gift? Look no further, the first ever FatFonts World Population Map is now available in the Axis Maps store. All proceeds from the maps will fund more research and help us provide exciting internships for students.

fatFontPoster-01

Created by Miguel Nacenta and Uta Hinrichs, the map shows how the population of the world is distributed. It uses a typographic visualization technique – FatFonts which allows you to read the exact number of people living in a particular area with a precision within 100,000 people. View the gallery of lytro pictures for further images.

FatFonts are also available to download and use, or for the more inspired, try creating your own.

Although a quirky idea, FatFonts seem to have a bunch of usages… for example, they are convenient when you want to provide a table of numbers that is also a graphical representation. This allows the viewer (or the reader) to very quickly capture the overall distribution, but also to go in and read the specific number, which they can then use to compare to other numbers (in the FatFonts table or in their heads).

FatFonts are great in maps, and that is why Uta and I set out to create a poster that would give a picture of one of the most pressing issues of our time: world population. Thanks to SICSA (and our wonderful helpers Carson, Jed, and Michael), we got the time, money and support to develop the idea. The result is a poster that represents the population of the world using FatFonts. – Miguel Nacenta

Read more about the World Map and FatFonts on Miguel’s blog, the SACHI blog and at FatFonts.

Funded PhD Research Studentships: Closing Date 15th December

A reminder that the closing date for applications is near. The School has funding for students to undertake PhD research in any of the general research areas in the school.

Are you a highly motivated student with an interest in these exciting research areas. A list of specific potential projects may help you decide. The studentships cover the cost of fees and an annual tax-free maintenance stipend. Exceptionally well-qualified students may be awarded an enhanced stipend.

For further information on how to apply, see our postgraduate web pages . We will make decisions on studentship allocation by February 27th 2015. Informal enquiries can be directed to pg-admin-cs@st-andrews.ac.uk or to potential supervisors.

Thursday Seminar from Japan – Prof. Yoshifumi Kitamura – Interactive Content Design and 3D Interactions

Date: 2014-11-13
Time: 14:00 to 15:00
Location: Maths Lecture Theatre A, North Haugh, University of St Andrews.

Title: Interactive Content Design and 3D Interactions

Abstract: Good media content has the power to enrich our lives. We focus on non-traditional content other than movies, music and games, conducting comprehensive research on a variety of interactive content which creates new value through interactions with humans. In this talk I will introduce a series of my group’s recent research projects involving technologies for interactive content design and 3D interactions.
Web: http://www.icd.riec.tohoku.ac.jp/index-e.html

Bio: Yoshifumi Kitamura is a Professor at Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University. He received the B.Sc., M.Sc. and PhD. degrees in Engineering from Osaka University in 1985, 1987 and 1996, respectively. Prior to Tohoku University, he was an Associate Professor at Graduate School of Engineering and  Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University (1997-2010), and before that he was a researcher at ATR Communication Systems Research Laboratories (1992-1996) and Canon Inc. (1987-1992).

Event details

  • When: 13th November 2014 14:00 - 15:00
  • Where: Maths Theatre A
  • Format: Seminar, Symposium, Talk

Lectureship in Computer Science

We seek applications for a lectureship in Computer Science. We welcome applications from excellent researchers who are keen to cooperate with others within the School and in other Schools of the University. While exceptional individuals in all areas will be considered, we are especially interested in the broad area of data-intensive research, with emphasis on data science, machine learning, data management, data mining, open science, and sensing and sensor interpretation. Specifically, we are interested in appointing someone who would actively contribute to and collaborate widely within, the recently launched Institute for Data Intensive Research, developing and applying cutting edge Computer Science techniques for applications in a wide range of research areas.

You should have a PhD, a period of postdoctoral experience and an outstanding research record as demonstrated by publications and research funding. You must be willing to cooperate with other researchers across the School and University and to teach in any area of Computer Science. Teaching is important to us and you should be a committed teacher, with appropriate experience.

Candidates interested in this post are welcome to informally contact the Head of School (Steve Linton hos-cs@st-andrews.ac.uk) to discuss possible options. For informal discussion on IDIR, please contact Professor Simon Dobson simon.dobson@st-andrews.ac.uk. We would welcome interaction with any established groups wishing to move to St Andrews.

Information on how to apply.

Closing Date: 5 December 2014

School Seminar: Complex Networks and Complex Processes

Simon Dobson, School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews

Abstract:

Complex networks provide a way of modelling systems with lots of
dependent elements, such as traffic networks or social networks. By
running processes over these networks we can explore how the topology of
the network affects the way the process evolves, and potentially
identify factors that accelerate or impede it. This opens-up
possibilities both for study (science) and control (engineering).

This talk will briefly introduce the mechanics of complex networks and
the processes that run on them, review some recent results we have
obtained, and look to future research programme where we will combine
simulation with sensing to give us new ways of looking at the world.

Event details

  • When: 4th November 2014 14:00 - 15:00
  • Where: Cole 1.33
  • Series: School Seminar Series
  • Format: Talk