Workshop for Deans, Department Chairs and Research Directors

October 7, 2013 - CWI (room L016), Amsterdam, The Netherlans

Click here for a detailed program

Positioning of computer science within the university: hardcore or interdisciplinary: how to reach out?


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

With the expansion of informatics and its ever-growing pervasiveness in other disciplines and society in general, 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, practical strategies, 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 raised due to the amazing success of computer science: how to position computer science within the university, how to collaborate with other departments, how to identify interdisciplinary collaborations that benefit all parties, how to deal with the explosion of X-informatics and computational-X. There are many related issues: should computer science offer "service" courses or should we help other departments create their own courses? Is doing interdisciplinary research in conflict with doing hard-core computer science? Which disciplines are more amenable to collaboration with computer science? Should young researchers concentrate on computer science or collaboration with other disciplines?

The workshop will be a mixture of discussions/knowledge sharing/exchange of practical guidelines in smaller groups. Please bring the issues you are facing and approaches you have found to work. Both new and experienced department heads are invited for an exchange of best practices, new ideas and common challenges and practical strategies. 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:

IMG 1981

--------Detailed Program - Monday, October 7, 2013----------

Workshop will be at the CWI, Room L016


10:15-10:30  Coffee

10:30-11:30  Workshop Opening: Mehdi Jazayeri, University of Lugano

                   "Positioning of informatics within the university: collaboration and competition" [Slides]

 

11:30-12:30  Anthony Finkelstein, University College London

                   "Been there, done that, got the t-shirt!"


12:30-14:00  Lunch (at the hall outside the room)

 

14:00-15:00  Tommi Mikkonen, Department of Pervasive Computing, Tampere University of Technology

                    "Software - the new math" [Slides]

 

15:00-16:00 Wilhelm Schäfer, Paderborn University

                   "Informatics as the key driver of a university´s strategic development plan" [Slides]

 

16:00-16:30 Coffee Break

 

16:30-17:30  David Rosenblum, National University of Singapore

                    "The mother of all disciplines?" [Slides]

 

17:30-17:50  Discussion

17:50           Closing of the workshop

 

18:00-19:30  Welcome drink at  Restaurant Polder (across the street from CWI)