Call for Submissions

Informatics Europe is the association of (PhD granting-) Computer Science and Informatics departments of universities and of top research laboratories in IT, public and private, in the European region and neighbouring areas.

The 2008 Summit will be devoted to the many strategic issues in the development of research and teaching in Computer Science/Informatics at the European level. The theme of the 2008 Summit is:

Informatics Matters - Image, Impact, Innovation

The Summit will consist of invited talks by prominent academics and professionals, panels, and contributed talks. The Summit is the unique yearly meeting place of heads of CS departments, faculties, academic and national research institutes, and leaders of industry in the European software and IT domain.

Submit your proposed contributed presentation

Informatics Europe invites position papers for presentation with views, insights, theories, challenges and best practices. Contributions are sought on all issues relevant to Computer Science/Informatics in Europe and ECSS 2008 in particular.

Possible topics include e.g.:

- Image of Informatics: in society, in industry, trust in IT, trends in research, attractiveness of curricula, Informatics in high school across EU, public perception of the field, Informatics as a discipline, theory versus practice, role in innovation

- Impact of IT trends in business and industry: role of universities, consequences for research and training in Computer Science, need for renewing educational programs, experience with new approaches.

- Innovation with Informatics: expectations in industry versus academia, relationships and experiences, impact of research collaboration, impact on research strategies

- Teaching CS: curriculum innovations, life after Bologna, qualification level of the bachelor degree, graduate programs (from MSc to PhD), didactic approaches in Informatics, algorithmic and computational thinking, careers in IT.

- Curricula in CS: best practices throughout EU, accreditation standards, joint degrees, internationalization, European Qualification Framework, attracting students, competition on the world-wide market for higher
education in Computer Science

- Research in CS: Strategic directions in Europe, national focus programs, research agendas, research infrastructures, interdisciplinary research, research evaluation standards, philosophy of Informatics

- Leadership in Informatics: responsibilities, being a department head, leading professionals in Informatics, setting strategies, how to achieve top rankings.

How to submit

To contribute to the Informatics Europe 2008 Summit program, submit an abstract of your position paper by August 15th 2008. Submissions will be evaluated and selected by the ECSS 2008 program committee on the basis
of relevance to (and capacity of) the program. Proposals may aim at a 20 minute presentation or demonstration, and should consist of an abstract containing:

- A header with a clear title of your contribution, your name, position, and affiliation
- A clear text/summary describing your contribution
- A total size not exceeding two A4 pages

Submit your proposed contribution to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Accepted position papers will be included in the web record of ECSS 2008.

Program committee of ECSS 2008

Giorgio Ausiello (Rome, Italy))
Frederic Benhamou (Nantes France))
Janos Csirik (Szeged, Hungary)
Josep Diaz (Barcelona, Spain)
Gregor Engels (Paderborn, Germany))
Hans-Ulrich Heiss (Berlin, Germany)
Jeff Magee (London, UK)
Andrew McGettrick (Glasgow, Scotland)
Roumen Nikolov (Sofia, Bulgaria)
George A. Papadopoulos (Nicosia, Cyprus)
Antoine Petit (Paris, France)
Marc Shapiro (Paris, France)
Oded Shmueli (Haifa, Israel)
Paul Spirakis (Patras, Greece)
Jørgen Staunstrup (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Letizia Tanca (Milano, Italy)
Esko Ukkonen (Helsinki, Finland)
Jan van Leeuwen (Utrecht, The Netherlands, chairman)
Pierre Verbaeten (Leuven, Belgium)
Jiri Wiedermann (Prague, Czech Republic)

Important dates

- Abstract Submission: August 15th, 2008
- Notifications: September 10th, 2008
- Pre-Summit workshop for chairs and research leaders: October 8th, 2008
- ECSS 2008 Conference: October 9-10, 2008

Participation

ECSS 2008 is open to all heads (deans, chairs, directors, etc.) and deputy heads of departments, institutes, laboratories, or comparable units in Computer Science (Informatics, Information Technology etc.) from PhD granting universities or research organizations in the European region. In addition, the conference is open to authors of accepted abstracts. If you do not fit these categories but would like to attend as an observer, please contact the organizers of ECSS 2008. Examples of observers include representatives from industry, government, university administration, and representatives from other organizations with related aims in Europe and other regions.

We look forward to seeing you at the Informatics Europe ECSS 2008 Summit!