During three beautiful days the historical city of Prague hosted deans, department chairs, research directors, senior faculty and researches from academic and industrial institutions from all over Europe and beyond, united to participate in the 6th edition of the European Computer Science Summit. ECSS is annually organized by Informatics Europe and a member institution; this year the co-organizing partner was the Faculty of Information Technology at the CTU in Prague. More than 115 participants joined the Informatics Europe community contributing to a memorable event.

On October 11 around 50 participants gathered for two pre-summit workshops that addressed topics of central importance to the community: Research Leadership and Quality Assurance in Informatics Education. On a hands-on fashion the participants had the opportunity to share their experiences, exchange best practices and build relationships among different European Informatics research and education institutions.

Pictures by Frauke Muth and Cristina Pereira

The main Summit opened on October 12 with the brilliant and provocative, keynote talk of Moshe Vardi, Editor in Chief of the Communications of the ACM, who brought to the audience a critical description of the evolution, actual status and peculiarities of the scientific communications and publishing culture in the field of Computer Sciences. Supporting his line of thought with intriguing metaphoric-philosophical parallels, Moshe Vardi not only entertained the audience, but also started a warm and fruitful debate on a topic of central importance to the scientific community.

The second keynote of the day, by Jan Sedivy, presented an insider's perspective on the rapidly evolving area of speech recognition, with historical aspects, its latest developments and applications in the area of mobile devices. The presentation also included practical demonstrations where the audience could observe a recently developed application for speech recognition in smart phones and benefit from the speaker's broad experience.

The following keynote speaker, Sabine Kruspig, director of the computer section of the European Patent Office, included in her presentation a brief historical perspective of computer-implemented inventions and an overview on the organization of the European patent system and patent grant procedure. The presentation also highlighted the most important aspects involved in patent granting and intellectual protection rights of computer-implemented inventions.

The morning session also included a discussion panel with Moshe Vardi and Sabine Kruspig, which provided an excellent opportunity to extend and deepen the stimulating debate raised by both previous presentations.

Closing the morning session, three short presentations featured new projects and initiatives currently under development by Informatics Europe. Overviews and recent developments in the Department Evaluation and Research & Education Portal projects were reported together with the first announcement of the newest initiative of your association: the Informatics Europe Best Curriculum Practice Award, which fosters the improvement of computer science education.

The afternoon session was dedicated to the special session "European research funding: understanding it, obtaining it, and applying it". The session opened with the inspiring and highly informative keynote talk of Carlo Ghezzi from the Politecnico de Milano, sharing his personal successful experience in obtaining an Advanced Researcher Grant in the first call for contributions of the European Research Council. The session included also three stimulating short presentations by Luciano Baresi (Politecnico di Milano, Italy), Patrick Furrer (Euresearch, Switzerland) and Jan Gruntorad (CESNET, Czech Republic) who brought their perspectives and experiences, providing the participants with a clear picture of European funding mechanisms, practical advices for submitting successful grant applications and examples of national diversities and realities when dealing with EU funding. Patrick Furrer brought the special experience of a National Contact Point for ICT.

Tuesday evening the participants gathered in the unique ancient Restaurant Vikárka (in the core of the Prague Castle region) for the conference banquet and enjoyed the very special meal and atmosphere.

The last day of the conference started with the Annual General Meeting of Informatics Europe which gathered the association's members present in the conference for the annual report on finances, the year's activities, organizational developments and future plans. Many non-members also attended the meeting. Members voted for the only formal decision subject to a vote: the launch of the Department Evaluation initiative, approved unanimously.

The first keynote speaker of the day, Alfred Spector, vice president of Research and Special Initiatives of Google, highlighted in his presentation the current developments, challenges, newest projects and societal impact of one the most influential companies of the world.

Following, Andrey Terekhov from St. Petersburg State University presented an excellent overview and historical developments of the software industry and research in Russia over the past decades. He emphasized the special nature of Russian software outsourcing, focused on quality, and described its origins in the difficult years of the early nineties when Russia was in a deep economic crisis and the creation of software companies literally allowed software experts to avoid going hungry.

Wendy Hall, from the University of Southampton, representing ACM, highlighted in her presentation the current and future roles of the scientific societies featuring the examples of the UK Royal Society, ACM and the British Computer Society. The central place taken by the web in driving the modern scientific societies as well as the constant need of sound and attractive services to its communities were important aspects mentioned by Wendy in her lively presentation.

The program followed with three parallel sessions that included presentations, selected from the submitted contributions, on topics of wide interest to the informatics community: Curriculum Design, Research Evaluation, and ICT Research Issues.

The afternoon session of the last day of the summit started with the keynote of Leslie Lamport, one of the world's most renowned computer scientists, from Microsoft Research. Leslie Lamport brought to the audience a rigorous lecture on the mathematical foundations and the very essence of computation.

The 6th ECSS closed with the special session "The Future of European Scientific Societies in Informatics". The keynote talk of Franco Accordino, from the European Commission, addressing the topic "Digital Science and Its Impact on Scientific Societies" opened the session that included also an extensive discussion panel gathering the representatives of major European associations in Informatics: Vasile Baltac (CEPIS), Brian Bigalke (Create-Net), Keith Jeffery (ERCIM), Jens Knoop (EAPLS/EASST), Bertrand Meyer (Informatics Europe), Burkhard Monien (EATCS) and Franco Accordino, representing the European Commission. The panel was moderated by Jan van Leeuwen, who played a brilliant role in mediating a complex issue with profound implications for the future of all stakeholders in Informatics. The panel concluded with a concrete agreement to meet again in a few weeks in Brussels with a view to joining forces.

Informatics Europe thanks the organizing committee in Prague (Profs. Pavel Tvrdik and Josef Hlavac and Ing. Jindra Vojikova) for a flawless, professional event organization, Google for the very generous sponsorship, and the participants and speakers for making this a memorable ECSS.

The slides of all presentations are available on the conference program page.

Diplomat Hotel

St. Vitus' Cathedral

Vltava river

Brevnov monastery

Hvezda summer palace

Sarka recreational area

The European Computer Science Summit 2010 will take place in Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, in the Diplomat Hotel.

Diplomat Hotel

The 4-star Diplomat Hotel Prague is one of the largest hotels in Prague. It is renowned for its excellent conference and event facilities. Surrounded mainly by diplomatic residences and its location close to Prague castle, to the historical city centre and to the international airport, the hotel constitutes the perfect place for business as well as individual city travellers.

For more information, please follow this link to the hotel website.

Surroundings

Prague is the capital city of the Czech Republic. Prague is famous for its many historical monuments. Some of them are within walking distance from the hotel, whilst others are easily accessible using Prague's transportation system (metro, tram, bus). However there is not only a historical attraction to Prague, it is also a bustling city for the young and energetic, offers parks and recreational areas for those who want to escape from the busy city centre and plenty of cultural events all year round.

Prague Castle

The most important site within walking distance is the Prague Castle. Nowadays it consists of three courtyards, many important buildings and several gardens. The Prague castle was the seat of the Czech princes and kings from the 9th century. The last king who had his seat in Prague was Rudolf II. who died in 1612. You can visit the St. Vitus' Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, the Basilica of St. George amongst others.

City center

Diplomat Hotel is very close to the historical city centre. You can reach Wenceslas Square within 7 minutes. It is probably the most convenient starting point for the city centre tour: from Wenceslas Square to Old Town Square, Charles bridge and the Prague Castle.

Strahov and Břevnov Monastery

Břevnov Monastery is now used as a library for precious and valuable historical books. You can also visit a Curiosity Cabinet. Brevnov Monastery is very convenient for afternoon walks in the beautiful gardens and you can also attend a church service. You can visit the baroque basilica of St. Marketa, Romanesque crypt from 11th century and the baroque seat of the prelate.

Hvězda Summer Palace

Hvězda Summer Palace was built in 1555 for Ferdinand I. of Tyrol. The horizontal projection of this building is a six-pointed star (hexagram). Hvezda Summer Palace was decorated by Italian Maria Aostalli and Giovanni Lucchese. The underground symbolizes earth, ground floor water, first floor air and second floor fire. You can also enjoy a walk in the gardens.

Šárka recreational area

You can escape from the busy city day in the Šárka recreational area. In Sarka you can find wildlife, Džbán lake, swimming pool or cycle-ways and is just 10 minutes from the hotel by car or tram. In Sarka, there is also a Golf Club and green with 17 driving range, chipping, putting, refreshments and a Golf shop.

Prague, Pankrác quarter

The European Computer Science Summit 2010 will take place in Prague, in the Diplomat Hotel. See the Accommodation section for registration details. This page gives advice on how to get to the hotel once you arrive in Prague.

By air

You will land at the Ruzyne international airport (PRG).

To get to the hotel, you can use the Prague public transport system. It is very reasonably priced, runs reliably and covers the entire Prague very well. The bus line 119 will take you from the airport to the Dejvická station (the terminal station), which is located less than 90m from the entrance to the hotel. The public transport company has information stands (that also sell tickets) at both airport terminals.

You can also take a taxi but please be careful – Prague taxi drivers are infamous for charging exorbitant amounts, especially to foreigners, so agree on the price before you get on. A fair fare from the airport to the Diplomat Hotel should be well under 500 CZK (20 EUR).

By train

International trains stop either at Praha Hlavní nádraží or Praha Holešovice stations. The metro system runs through both of these stations. You need to get to the Dejvická station of line A. Follow the signs to get to the correct exit; the hotel is just about 100m away.

Before you enter the metro area, you need to get your tickets. A ticket costs 26 CZK and is valid for one hour; you may need an additional 13 CZK ticket if you carry a large piece of baggage. If you plan to do lots of sightseeing, consider getting a 24-hour, 3-day or 5-day pass priced at 100 CZK, 330 CZK and 500 CZK respectively – one large piece of baggage is included in the price. Remember to validate the ticket(s) by stamping them in the yellow machine.

By car

Use your favorite route planner site, navigation device, or the Google map below. The hotel's street address is Evropská 15. The hotel offers garage parking (for an extra charge).

Prague, Wenceslas Square

The European Computer Science Summit 2010 has the theme “Informatics: The Changing Landscape”. Possible topics for submitted papers include (non-exhaustive list):

• Major trends in informatics research and education.
• Relationship of informatics researchers and educators with governments.
• Research funding: issues, experience reports, policy.
• Image of the discipline, student enrollment.
• Infrastructure to support informatics research and education
• Issues in research and education policy.
• Experience reports on educational techniques for informatics.
• Research organization for informatics.
• Research careers in informatics, researcher evaluation.
• Country-specific issues.

In connection with the conference location, papers emphasizing issues and solutions of particular relevance to Central and Eastern Europe are particularly welcome.

How to submit your contribution

Papers can be submitted as either:

• Extended abstracts (up to 3 pages)
• Full papers (up to 12 pages)

Each submission should state to which of these categories it belongs. It should be single-spaced, one-column, with minimum 11-pt font.

All submissions should be provided in PDF format on the conference submission site.

Prague rooftops

The European Computer Science Summit 2010, the sixth ECSS, has the theme

Informatics: The Changing Landscape

and is now soliciting contributions on themes of interest to the ECSS audience: deans, research laboratory directors, professors and other opinion leaders in informatics (computer science, IT etc.) throughout Europe.

Like its predecessors, ECSS is the meeting place for anyone interested in issues of research, education and policy in informatics. For the first time, ECSS moves to the Eastern half of the continent, in Prague, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, filled with cultural, artistic and historical references.

Invited speakers include some of the most prestigious names in the field from Europe, the US and elsewhere. The program will also include presentations of papers submitted in response to the present Call.

Themes

Possible topics for submitted papers include (non-exhaustive list):

• Major trends in informatics research and education.
• Relationship of informatics researchers and educators with governments.
• Research funding: issues, experience reports, policy.
• Image of the discipline, student enrollment.
• Infrastructure to support informatics research and education.
• Issues in research and education policy.
• Experience reports on educational techniques for informatics.
• Research organization for informatics.
• Research careers in informatics, researcher evaluation.
• Country-specific issues.

In connection with the conference location, papers emphasizing issues and solutions of particular relevance to Central and Eastern Europe are particularly welcome.

Special Sessions

"European research funding: understanding it, obtaining it and applying it"

Good research requires good funding. European researchers have access, in principle, to a variety of sources, national and transnational. In practice they often find difficult to take advantage of these schemes: they are bewildered by their complexity, lack information, and feel they miss the necessary insider knowledge.

This ECSS session will feature reports from actors on all sides of the research funding scene: funded researchers, research managers, representatives of granting agencies. It will provide participants with both a clear picture of European funding mechanisms and practical advice for submitting successful grant applications. The slogan "think globally, act locally" might have been conceived with research funding in mind: while many funding mechanisms are designed at a transnational level, for example through EU policies, their application often varies with each national context. The session will highlight the opportunities and state of practice in different countries, and analyze the consequences of funding policies on research results. In particular, it will compare the situation in countries that heavily rely on European funding and those which are largely self-sustained through national schemes.

Some of the themes include:

• Basic characteristics of European research funding
• Review of the most important funding sources for informatics
• National specificities: some examples
• Success in attracting funding: strategies that work
• Experience reports from successfully funded researchers

The session will follow the ECSS keynote by Prof. Carlo Ghezzi of the Politecnico di Milano, who will share his experience in obtaining an Advanced Researcher Grant in the first ever call for contributions of the European Research Council. Planned for this session are three short invited presentations, followed by a panel. The featured speakers are:

• Luciano Baresi, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
• Patrick Furrer, Euresearch, Switzerland
• Jan Gruntorad, CESNET, Czech Republic

Position papers on the session's topics (see details below) bringing the point of view and experience of research groups in Europe are welcome.

The session will be co-chaired by Luciano Baresi and Elisabetta Di Nitto.

"Future of European scientific societies in informatics"

Many scientific societies exist in informatics and more generally ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) in Europe, often with prestigious histories. Some are country-based, others cover all of Europe with a focus on a certain community or sub-discipline. The situation is quickly evolving, and there is a widespread realization that the ICT community needs to join forces at the European level.

As a step towards this goal, the ECSS 2010 will include a special session gathering presidents of major existing societies, as well as representatives from EU and other governmental bodies. The purpose is both to assess the current situation of scientific societies, with their strengths and weaknesses, and to examine future evolution.

Contributions to the topic are most welcome, to submit your paper please see guidelines below.

The session will be co-chaired by Christine Choppy and Jan van Leeuwen.

How to submit

Papers can be submitted as either:

• Extended abstracts (up to 3 pages)
• Full papers (up to 12 pages)

Each submission should state to which of these categories it belongs. It should be single-spaced, one-column, with minimum 11-pt font.

All submissions should be provided in PDF format on the conference submission site:

(submissions no longer possible)

Deadline: 31 of July 2010, 19:00 CET (firm)
Notification to authors: 25 of August 2010

Early submission is encouraged.

All accepted papers will be made available to the conference attendees and on the Informatics Europe site (http://www.informatics-europe.org).

.

Chairs and Committees

Read more

Diplomat Hotel

The European Computer Science Summit 2010 will take place in Prague, in the Diplomat Hotel. We suggest to stay in the same hotel, which is located just across the road from the Dejvice university area, near the famous diplomatic and residential quarter, and at the very edge of the historical city center – the Prague Castle is within walking distance. The hotel offers 398 rooms and suites, three restaurants, garage parking, Internet access, and numerous other services and amenities.

We have negotiated a special rate for ECSS 2010 participants and their companions. However, since this is a very busy period for hotels in Prague, you need to reserve your room very early to get advantage of the special pricing, that is, before 31^st August 2010.

.

.

Prague, St. Apollinare church

The organizational process requires you to register for ECSS 2010 and the pre-summit Workshops. The registration fee of the Summit covers:

• Participation in all activities of the Summit
• Coffee breaks and lunches, and the conference dinner on Thursday evening
• Conference materials

For those attending one of the Pre-Summit Workshops, an additional registration is required, covering the activities, materials, lunch, coffee and tea breaks. Please note that the workshops run in parallel, hence one person can fully participate in one workshop only.

• Companion invitations at the conference dinner on Thursday evening, 12^th October, are available for EUR 80.

The registration fees are as follows:

 Please register early to take advantage of the reduced fees.

Registration is now closed.

Special Sponsorship for Eastern European Participants

Informatics Europe is proud to announce the availability of a limited number of sponsorships for attendance at the ECSS 2010, made possible by a generous grant from Google encouraging the participation of universities from Eastern European countries.The sponsorships will cover approximately 40 participants and are available first-come, first-served. They include the full registration fee of ECSS (including proceedings, lunches, conference dinner and all other ECSS activities, except pre-conference workshops) as well as accommodation in the conference hotel for two nights. Eligible participants are faculty members from universities in Eastern European countries (the list of eligible countries appears below).

How to benefit from the special Eastern European Sponsorship:

• Register before July 31
• Check the box "Requesting Special Eastern European Sponsorship" on the registration form.  

You will be notified of acceptance by August 15. For any questions, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Important:

• note that if you intend to participate in one of the pre-summit workshops, you should proceed with the registration and payment for this event.

• you should book personally your acommodation at the Diplomat Hotel, where the Summit takes place. The sponsorship will refund the price of the two-night stay to the granted participants directly; however, we are not reponsible for booking the rooms and payment to the hotel.

List of eligible countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Republic of Macedonia, Russian Federation, Ukraine.

Informatics Europe and the organizing committee of ECSS 2010 would like to thank Google for this generous incentive and hope to count with a broad audience from Easter European countries.

Accomodation

As regards accommodation, participants should arrange their accommodation individually. Nevertheless, we have negotiated a special rate with the Diplomat Hotel, where the Summit takes place. Please see the Accommodation page for details.

Prague panorama

Deadline Paper Submissions: 31 July 2010

Notifications of Acceptance: 25 August 2010

Deadline Early Registration: 31 July 2010

Deadline Accommodation Discounted Prices: 31 August 2010

Workshops & Conference: 11–13 October 2010

Prague Old Town

The day before the actual Summit, October 11, two special workshops are organized: Workshop on Research Leadership for Department Chairs and Research Directors and EQANIE Workshop. Their program will be added incrementally, please check back later for more details.

Please note that the workshops run in parallel, one person can participate in one workshop only.

To register for the event, please go to the registration page.

Workshop on Research Leadership for Department Chairs and Research Directors

Workshop chair: Prof. Jørgen Staunstrup, IT University of Copenhagen

The goal of the workshop is to discuss and develop excellent research leadership; it provides a forum for strengthening your leadership and management competencies by exchanging best practices and by building relationships between department heads at European Informatics research institutions. The workshop will be a mixture of discussions/knowledge sharing in smaller groups and plenary sessions.

The workshop focuses on the role of the department chair and developing the quality of research applications. 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 heads of European Informatics departments and research labs
• Inspiration for developing PhD programs and improving applications for research funding

Program (11^th OCTOBER)

EQANIE Workshop on Quality Assurance in Informatics Education

Workshop chair: Prof. Hans-Ulrich Heiß, Technische Universität Berlin

Focus:
The workshop shows efforts in quality enhancement for informatics education at national and European level. It provides an introduction to the European Quality Assurance Network for Informatics Education (EQANIE). It highlights the benefits of the Euro-Inf Label for improving the quality of teaching and learning and gives an overview on the requirements and procedures for the award of the Euro-Inf Quality Label. A case study provides an interesting insight in an EQANIE auditing visit from the perspective of the applicant institution.

Benefits/Learning Outcomes:
After their participation in the workshop, representatives of higher education institutions offering informatics degree programmes are acquainted with ongoing efforts at European level to enhance the quality of informatics education. They are able to weigh the benefits of international accreditation as a complement to their own national or regional system, and they are able to assess if the degree programmes offered by their institution fulfill the requirements for the award of the Euro-Inf Quality Label.

Program (11^th OCTOBER)