8th EUROPEAN COMPUTER SCIENCE SUMMIT

- ECSS 2012 -

What makes a good PhD in Informatics?

20-21 November 2012, Barcelona, Spain

 *Deadline for Submissions: September 1st, 2012*

*Author's Notification: September 20, 2012

*Deadline for Early Registration: September 25, 2012*

The 8th European Computer Science Summit, ECSS 2012, with the theme "What makes a good PhD in Informatics?", is soliciting contributions on topics of interest to the ECSS audience throughout Europe: heads (or deans, chairs, etc.) of informatics/computer science/IT departments (schools, faculties); research directors and managers of research centers and laboratories in industry or in public institutions; as well as senior faculty and senior researchers from both academia and industry.

Like its predecessors, the 8th European Computer Science Summit, is a unique opportunity to meet some of the leading decision makers in informatics research and education, and discuss the critical issues of the discipline. The conference will be held in Barcelona, Spain, one of the most exciting cities in the world, filled with culture, art, and innovation.

The Summit is devoted to important and timely strategic issues and trends regarding all aspects of informatics: education, research, funding, entrepreneurship, management, career development, and policies. The speakers are an impressive group of world-class researchers who will present their latest advances and debate the future of the field. Our select list includes:

• Danny Dolev, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and The European Research Council
• Walter Gander, ETH Zurich and ICT-Switzerland
• K.M. (Kees) van Hee,  Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e)
• Farnam Jahanian, NSF Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate
• Natalia Juristo, Professor at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
• Manfred Nagl, RWTH Aachen University and Informatics Europe
• Diomidis Spinellis, Athens University of Economics and Business

In addition to the general topics of interest, every Summit has a particular theme, and the particular theme of ECSS 2012 is "What makes a good PhD in Informatics?" Thus, ECSS 2012 will enable educators, researchers, managers and other experts in the field to assess and discuss issues such as the best ways of designing and running PhD programs in our field, what the focus of such programs should be, what both academia and industry expect nowadays from a recent PhD graduate, career paths, PhD program evaluation, and any other related issues with a focus on how PhD education in Europe can help informatics make its best possible contribution to the progress of society.

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Topics for Contributions

ECSS 2012 is soliciting contributions on all topics of interest to its intended audience, including (but not limited to) the following:

• 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.
• Role and relevance of experimentation in informatics.
• Research organization for informatics.
• Research careers in informatics, researcher evaluation.
• Issues in informatics-related publishing practices.

Contributions are encouraged in the focus theme of ECSS 2012: "What makes a good PhD in Informatics?." In particular, submissions related to proposals, experiences, best practices, etc. related to the organization, focus, objectives, etc. of PhD programs in the field of informatics.

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Submitting Contributions

To contribute to the Informatics Europe 2012 Summit program, please submit an extended abstract of your position paper by September 1, 2012. Submissions will be evaluated and selected by the ECSS 2012 program committee on the basis of relevance to (and capacity of) the program. Proposals may aim at a 20 minutes presentation or demonstration, and should consist of an abstract containing:

• A header with the title of your contribution, your name, position, and affiliation.
• A clear description of your contribution.

The abstract should contain at least, but is not restricted to, one A4 page.

Format guidelines: A4 format, 11-pt Arial font type, single-space, one-column and 2 cm margins. Pages should not be numbered.

Authors of accepted abstracts will be given the opportunity to submit longer position papers.

All contributions should be submitted in PDF format at the Easy Chair ECSS 2012 conference submission site:

https://www.easychair.org/account/signin.cgi?conf=ecss2012

• Deadline for submissions: September 1, 2012.
• Author's Notification: September 20, 2012.

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

 Come join this exciting and important event in the field of Informatics and participate by submitting your contribution!

To enroll in the ECSS 2012 and in the Pre-Summit Workshops you need to register.

Your registration will be completed after two quick steps:

1) To fill in your data in the "Registration Form"

2) To proceed with credit card payment for the events you want to attend

Please follow this link to complete your registration!

The registration fee of the ECSS 2012 (main conference, 20-21 November) covers:

• Participation in all activities of the Summit
• Coffee breaks, lunches
• Conference Gala Dinner and visit to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya on Tuesday, November 20*
• Conference materials

 The registration fee of either of the two parallel Pre-Summit Workshops (19 November) covers:

• Participation in all activities of the given Workshop
• Coffee breaks, lunches
• Workshop materials
• Welcome Party on Monday, November 19, evening.

*Companion invitations for the social events (Gala Dinner and Museum Visit) are available for purchase, they are not included in the registration fee.

Prices Registration Fees

EARLY REGISTRATION (Before September 25) 

• Informatics Europe Members
  • Pre-Summit Workshop for Deans and Department Chairs (19 November): EUR 145

  • Pre-Summit Workshop on Experimentation in Informatics (19 November): EUR 145

  • ECSS (20-21 November): EUR 290

   

• Non-Members
  • Pre-Summit Workshop for Deans and Department Chairs (19 November): EUR 195

  • Pre-Summit Workshop on Experimentation in Informatics (19 November): EUR 195

  • ECSS (20-21 November): EUR 390

NORMAL REGISTRATION (After September 25)

• Informatics Europe Members
  • Pre-Summit Workshop for Deans and Department Chairs (19 November): EUR 175

  • Pre-Summit Workshop on Experimentation in Informatics (19 November): EUR 175

  • ECSS (20-21 November): EUR 310

• Non-Members
  • Pre-Summit Workshop for Deans and Department Chairs (19 November): EUR 220

  • Pre-Summit Workshop on Experimentation in Informatics (19 November): EUR 220

  • ECSS (20-21 November): EUR 410

Discounted fees for early registration are valid only until September 25.

Register early to benefit from the discounts!

Special Offer for Prospective Members of Informatics Europe

Is your institution a member of Informatics Europe?

If your institution would like to join Informatics Europe as a regular member (Regular or Federated Academic Membership only) we have this year a special offer:

The value of your conference registration fee (ECSS 2012 and/or one of the Pre-Summit Workshop) will be discounted from the annual membership fee of your institution when joining Informatics Europe.

The offer grants the discount of up to TWO individual registration fees per institution. The membership with Informatics Europe extends to all members of your institution (department or research laboratory); members are institutions, rather than individuals, who participate through their institutions. For all details about the membership with Informatics Europe, please visit: https://www.informatics-europe.org/membership.html

For further information on how to benefit from the offer please contact our Secretary-General (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

The European Computer Science Summit 2012 has the theme “What makes a good PhD in Informatics?”. 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.
• Issues in informatics-related publishing practices.

Contributions are encouraged in the focus theme of ECSS 2012: "What makes a good PhD in Informatics?" In particular, submissions related to proposals, experiences, best practices, etc. related to the organization, focus, objectives, etc. of PhD programs in the field of informatics.

20–21 November 2012, Barcelona, Spain
With Pre-Summit Workshops on 19 November 2012

The ECSS 2012 was successfully held in Barcelona! See conference highlights and photos.

The slides of the talks, kindly shared by the speakers, are now available for download in the conference program page. Speakers from the two pre-summit workshops also gently shared their slides, to dowload them visit the pages of the two workshops (acess from righ menu box).

ECSS 2012 is the 8th Summit of deans, department chairs and senior faculty of leading European Computer Science and Informatics faculties, departments, research institutes and laboratories.

Like its previous editions, ECSS 2012 is the meeting place for anyone interested in issues of research, education, and policy in Informatics. It is a unique opportunity to meet some of the leading decision makers in informatics research and education, and discuss the critical issues of the discipline. The Summit is devoted to important and timely strategic issues and trends regarding all aspects of informatics: education, research, funding, entrepreneurship, management, career development, and policies.

Traditionally, ECSS conferences are organized by Informatics Europe --the association of computer science departments and research laboratories in Europe-- in collaboration with a host institution, active member of the association. The ECSS 2012 is hosted by the Facultat d'Informatica de Barcelona, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya and will be held in Barcelona, Spain, on November 19-21, 2012.

Barcelona is an exciting city, filled with culture, art, and innovation. Capital of Catalonia, a region with its own language, character and history, and one of Spain's most cosmopolitan cities, Barcelona has been breaking ground in art, architecture and style since the late 19th century. The city exhibits marvels of the Arquitectura Modernista, defining its distinctive urban style, in which the flamboyant creations of Antoni Gaudi stand out uniquely, and hosts some of the finest art exhibitions in the world (Picasso, Miro, Tàpies, Catalan National Art Museum).

The ECSS 2012 is co-chaired by Carlo Ghezzi, President of Informatics Europe, and Núria Castell Ariño, Dean of the Facultat d'Informàtica de Barcelona and Board member of Informatics Europe. The program chair is Manuel Hermenegildo, director of the IMDEA Software Institute and professor at the Facultad de Informática, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

Confirmed Featured Speakers

• Danny Dolev, Professor at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and  Member of Scientific Council, The European Research Council - Israel
• Walter Gander, Emeritus Professor at ETH Zurich and President of the Education Committee of ICT-Switzerland - Switzerland
• K.M. (Kees) van Hee, Professor and Managing Director of Education Institute at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) - The Netherlands
• Farnam Jahanian, Head of the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate at the National Science Foundation - USA
• Natalia Juristo, Professor at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid - Spain
• Manfred Nagl, Emeritus Professor at RWTH Aachen University and Board Member of Informatics Europe - Germany
• Diomidis Spinellis, Professor at Athens University of Economics and Business and Director of the Information Systems Technology Laboratory (ISTLab) - Greece

Our Program

As for the previous Summits, the program consists of special invited talks, workshops, panels and other interactive sessions devoted to common issues, problems and proposals in the area of Informatics (Computer Science/Computing/ICT). Special features of the 2012 Summit are as follows:

• Special focus on "What makes a good PhD in Informatics?"
• Pre-summit Workshop for Deans, Department Chairs and Research Directors on November 19, 2012
• Pre-summit Workshop on Experimentation in Computer Science: Scope, Method and Relevance on November 19, 2012
• Invited talks from key players in the field
• Submitted talks by colleagues from all over Europe and beyond
• Award Ceremony of the 2012 Informatics Europe Curriculum Award

Pre-Summit Workshops

On November 19, two special workshops will be organized as part of the ECSS 2012 events:

•  Pre-summit Workshop for Deans, Department Chairs and Research Director

           Chair: Mehdi Jazayeri, founding dean of the Faculty of Informatics at the University of Lugano

This already traditional workshop provides a forum for best practices exchanges and is a unique opportunity to build relationships among department heads at European Informatics research institutions, strengthening their leadership and management competencies.

• Pre-summit Workshop on Experimentation in Computer Science: Scope, Method and Relevance

 The workshop will be coordinated by Viola Schiaffonati, Politecnico di Milano, and chaired by Fabio A. Schreiber,  Francesco Bruschi, Jan Van Leeuwen and Letizia Tanca

 Summit Theme

Every Summit has a focusing (but not exclusive) theme. The particular theme of ECSS 2012 is "What makes a good PhD in Informatics?" ECSS 2012 will enable educators, researchers, managers and other experts in the field to assess and discuss issues such as the best ways of designing and running PhD programs in our field, what the focus of such programs should be, what both academia and industry expect nowadays from a recent PhD graduate, career paths, PhD program evaluation, and any other related issues with a focus on how PhD education in Europe can help informatics make its best possible contribution to the progress of society.

Special Event - Award Ceremony Informatics Europe Curriculum 2012

A special feature of ECSS 2012 will be the Ceremony announcing the winners of the 2012 Informatics Europe Curriculum Award. The Curriculum Award recognizes outstanding educational initiatives that improve the quality of informatics teaching and the attractiveness of the discipline, and can be applied and extended beyond their institutions of origin. The 2012 Curriculum Award, carrying a prize of 30,000 Euros, will recognize educational initiatives in the area of Embedded and Mobile Computing. The winner or winners will be presented during the ceremony, receive the 30.000,00 EUR prize, and give a talk on their achievements.

Audience

The ECSS audience includes anyone with a stake in the future of Information and Communication Science and Technology in Europe. Traditionally, many department heads, directors of both industrial and academic labs, and other decision makers make up a substantial share of ECSS participants.

What is the purpose of the European Computer Science Summit?

• To expand the international network of deans, heads of departments, and research directors in Informatics.
• To provide a forum for discussion and the exchange of solutions and best practices on common issues.
• To examine ways in which deans, department heads, and research directors in Informatics can work together to improve teaching and research, implement the Bologna process, can influence the policies of their universities, governments and the EU, and take joint initiatives on many other issues.
• To provide opportunities for liaisons with other groups pursuing relevant interests.

Organization

Sponsors