Around 120 deans, department heads, research directors and senior academics from 26 countries met in Gothenburg (Sweden), October 8-10 for the 14th edition of the European Computer Science Summit. With this year’s main theme ‘Informatics Transforms and Renews’, the summit was a platform of inspiring presentations and lively discussions dedicated to new opportunities and risks that Informatics transformation brings to our reality.
Leading Leaders
As always, the Summit was preceded by the popular one-day workshop for deans and department heads to exchange practical strategies on common challenges they face in managing their department and institutes. This year’s main theme was ‘Personal Development’. The inspiring morning session held by Geraldine Fitzgerald (Vienna University of Technology) raised questions like: What makes a good leader? How to improve the communication and motivate others inside the department? How should managers deal with success and with failure? How to handle the multiple demands/stress of being a leader? Around 70 participants from institutions both large and small had the opportunity to exchange their experiences on these topics in small groups and afterwards presented their ideas to all participants. The second part of the workshop was devoted to the discussion of different strategies and best practices of Informatics PhD education in Europe. At the end of the workshop, Michael E. Caspersen and Enrico Nardelli presented an Informatics4All initiative and explained why the widespread Informatics education is essential for Europe.
For those who could not attend the Workshop, the slides of the talks presented during the event are available for download on the Workshop web-page.
Informatics transforms and renews
The main Summit on October 9 and 10 explored challenges and opportunities that Informatics transformation and renewal brings to all areas of science, technology and society. Prominent speakers from academia, industry and the European Commission provided their perspectives and fueled panel discussions on lively debated topics like Machine Learning, Computational Creativity, Molecular Programming, Quantum Computing, Human-Computer Partnerships, Robots and Autonomous Systems, Open Science Cloud, Digital Education, Ethics of Robotics and AI and its societal impact. Sharing their expert views and insights at ECSS 2018 were Luca Cardelli, Mark Coeckelbergh, Per Delsing, Georgi Dimitrov, Amy Loutfi, Wendy Mackay, John Shawe-Taylor, May Britt Thorseth, Klaus Tochtermann and Hannu Toivonen. Slides of most talks are available on the ECSS 2018 program web-page.
A special attention at ECSS 2018 was given to the Informatics education – a topic of a panel discussion of leading Informatics educators, computer scientists and European Commission leaders. Panelists - Gianfranco Basti, Michael E.Caspersen, Georgi Dimitrov and Hilde G. Corneliussen - discussed different perspectives of the ‘Informatics for all’ initiative (Informatics for humanistic departments, women participation in Informatics research) and the near-term future of Informatics education in Europe.
To complement the ECSS program, chairs and members of Informatics Europe Working Groups on Ethics (James Larus), Research Evaluation (Hélène Kirchner) and Data Collection and Reporting (Svetlana Tikhonenko) presented the progress and important outcomes of their work – “When Computers Decide: Recommendations on Machine-Learned Automated Decision Making”, “Informatics Research Evaluation Report” and “Informatics Education in Europe: Institutions, Degrees, Students, Positions, Salaries. Key Data Report 2012-2017”.
Award Ceremony
Beyond discussion, presentations, and networking, there was also time for celebration. At a special Award Ceremony, Informatics Europe announced the project ‘Tinkering in Informatics as a Teaching Method’ submitted by Angelika Mader, Ansgar Fehnker and Alma Schaafstal from the the University of Twente (Netherlands) as the winner of the 2018 Best Practices in Education Award. The Faculty of Information Systems and Applied Computer Sciences, University of Bamberg (Germany) won the 3rd Minerva Informatics Equality Award for their contribution to the enrolment and retention of female students in Computer Science programs. ERCIM, the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics, presented the Cor Baayen young researcher award to Martina Lindorfer from Vienna University of Technology.
Next year, in addition to these three awards, Informatics Europe and ERCIM are going to grant for the first time a new joint ‘Societal Impact Award’ to highlight the societal impact of Informatics researchers.
Post-summit working sessions
Post-summit working sessions were another novetly of ECSS this year. Following members and participants request for more opportunities for interaction and discussion, Informatics Europe organized for the first time three parallel Working Sessions after the closure of the main ECSS program. These informal meetings were dedicated to National Informatics Associations; Women in Informatics Research and Education and The Wide Role of Informatics at Universities. More details about the meetings can be found on the Working Sessions web-page.
The next Summit, ECSS 2019, will be held in Rome, Italy, October 28-30, hosted by the IRAFS at the Pontifical Lateran University. It will be again a unique opportunity to join your European peers to debate the future of our field and contribute to a stronger European Informatics community.
Save the dates on your calendar! ECSS 2019, 28-30 October.
-
Geraldine Fitzpatrick (Vienna University of Technology) explains how to lead leaders at Deans Workshop
-
Small group discussions at Deans Workshop
-
Sharing best practices with colleagues at Deans Workshop
-
Round-table dialogues at Deans Workshop
-
Michel Chaudron (University of Gothenburg) presents best practices in educating PhD students
-
Small talks and networking at coffee breaks
-
Enrico Nardelli (Informatics Europe President) opens the ECSS 2018
-
John Shawe-Taylor (University College London)
-
Hannu Toivonen (University of Helsinki)
-
May Britt Thorseth (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)
-
Klaus Tochtermann (ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics)
-
Giving out the 2018 Best Practices in Education Award
-
Angelika Mader (Winner of 2018 Best Practices in Education Award) with Michael Kölling (Award Chair) and Enrico Nardelli (Informatics Europe President)
-
Giving out the 2018 Minerva Informatics Equality Award
-
Minerva Award Winners with Panagiota Fatourou (Award Chair), Beate List (Google) and Enrico Nardelli (Informatics Europe President)
-
Winner of the ERCIM Cor Baayen Award and Jos Baeten (ERCIM President)
-
Martina Lindorfer (Winner of the 2018 Cor Baayen Award)
-
Panel on Informatics Education
-
Georgi Dimitrov (European Commission, Directorate General Education and Culture)
-
Michael Caspersen (It-vest - networking universities) and Gianfranco Basti (Pontificia Università Lateranense) at Panel on Informatics Education
-
Gianfranco Basti (Pontificia Università Lateranense)
-
Hilde G. Corneliussen (Western Norway Research Institute) at Panel on Informatics Education
-
James Larus (EPFL) gives recommendations on Machine-Learned Automated Decision Making
-
Hélène Kirchner (INRIA) presents Informatics Research Evaluation Report
-
Wendy Mackay (INRIA)
-
Amy Loutfi (Örebro University)
-
Ivica Crnkovic and Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic (Chalmers University of Technology), Letizia Jaccheri (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) and Mark Coeckelbergh (University of Vienna)
-
Letizia Jaccheri, ECSS 2018 Program Chair (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)
-
Luca Cardelli (Oxford University)
-
Per Delsing (Chalmers University of Technology)
-
Pekka Orponen, ECSS 2018 Program Chair (Aalto University)
-
Mark Coeckelbergh (University of Vienna)
-
Ivica Crnkovic and Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic (Chalmers University of Technology)
-
Claude Kirchner (INRIA), Damien Magoni (SIF) and Steve Kremer (INRIA)
-
Ninni Carlsund (KTH), Björn Levin (SICS) and Zoltán Horváth (Eötvös Loránd University)
-
Erika Abraham (RWTH Aachen University) and Susan Eisenbach (Imperial College London)
-
Working Session 'Women in Informatics Research and Education'
-
Meeting of National Informatics Associations
-
Working Session 'The Wide Role of Informatics at Universities'
Netlogica