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TUCS Newsletter 27.2.2012

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TUCS graduate programme: new call for applications opens 1.3.2012

The next application round to TUCS Graduate Programme will be hosted in the period 1-31.3.2012. The application form will be available at http://tucs.fi/ after March 1st.

 

First NMS iICT certificates awarded

TUCS awarded the first three NMS iICT certificates. The certificates were awarded to Niklas Bornstein and Olivier Varin, from the Computer Science and Engineering Master`s Programme in DTU Informatics, Technical University of Denmark and to Gang Liu from Master’s Degree Programme in Embedded Computing in Department of IT, Åbo Akademi University. http://tucs.fi/news/article/20120221.NMSiICTcertificates.php

 

ICT ShowRoom 2012

ICT ShowRoom is an exhibition and a competition, in which
students of the ICT House present their project work done during the past year
research groups present their project work done during the past year

The event takes place on 8 March 2012, 11.00-15.00 at the ICT Building.
https://xprog28.cs.abo.fi/register.nsf/

 

Courses on transferable skills at University of Turku

Continuous seminars & courses

Life after PhD - Seminars in the Spring 2012 - nb! updated programme
Time & Place : 30.1., 5.3., 2.4. and 7.5.2012 (for details, see the programme)
Target group: PhD students, supervisors, other researchers and those interested in the topic
Further information: eeva.sievi(at)utu.fi
Organizer: UTUGS
eRegistration for the seminar on March 5, 2012 (registration deadline Feb 27, 2012)
eRegistration for the seminar on April 2, 2012 (registration deadline March 23, 2012)
eRegistration for the seminar on May 7, 2012 (registration deadline April 27, 2012)
http://www.utu.fi/tutkimus/tutkijakoulu/LifeAfterPhD_S2012www.pdf

Frontiers of Science Seminars
Time: on Thursdays at 12.00
Place: Mauno Koivisto Centre auditorium, BioCity (Tykistökatu 6, Turku)
Organizers: Biomaterials Research, Centre for Reproductive and Developmental Medicine, Diagnostic Technologies and Applications, Receptor Program, Systems Biology Program, Program for Infection Biology and Infectious Diseases, Doctoral Programmes participating in Turku BioNet
http://www.biocity.turku.fi/index.php?id=2042

MARCH

Philosophy of Science (3 ECTS)
Time:Tuesdays at 16.15-17.45 starting on 13.3.2012 (no lecture on 1.5.)
Place: lecture hall Pub4 (Assistentinkatu 7)
Registration: by March 6, 2012 via eRegistration
Responsible Lecturers: Marko Ahteensuu & Timo Kajamies
Organizer: UTUGS
http://www.utu.fi/tutkimus/tutkijakoulu/Philosophy2012.pdf

Patent databases and market information sources
Time: Two identical training sessions at 8:30 – 11:30: in Finnish 15th of March and in English 28th of March 2012
Place: DC-Åbo Gripens pc-klass (Åbo Akademi, Gripen, Hämeenkatu 13 B, 1 stair up)
Registration: via e-mail to anne.backlund-at-utu.fi or tel. 333 6628 not later than two days before the training session
Organizers: University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University / TULI-program
http://www.utu.fi/tutkimus/tutkijakoulu/PatentDatabases2012.pdf

Designing experimental and field experimental research (2 ECTS)
Time & Place: Tue 20.3. in Edu2 and Wed 21.3. in Pub 431 and Educarium Data Class 454, University of Turku
Registration: before 27.2.2012 to Tarja-Riitta Hurme (trhurme-at-utu.fi)
Organizers: Doctoral programme for multidisciplinary research on learning environments (OPMON) and the Doctoral programme for Psychology (DOPSY)
http://www.edu.utu.fi/tutkijakoulut/opmon/news/Courses_2012.html

 

New TUCS course: Implementation of multimedia algorithms (J. Lilius)

Modern multimedia systems are becoming increasingly multiprocessor and heterogenous to match the high performance and low power demands placed on them by the large number of applications. The concurrent execution of these applications causes interference and unpredictability in the performance of the systems.

The course covers the following topics:
- Challenges in multimedia systems
- Application description and scheduling using dataflow models
- Modelling and analysis of application interactions using probabilistic models
- Resurce management approaches
- Multiple use case system design

By the end of the course the student will
- Know how to model multiple applications and use cases
- Analyze the interference between multiple use cases
- Optimize multimedia algorithm implementations for QoS
- Measure and analyze the performance of multimedia algorithm implementations

The course starts Wed 14th of March, 16-18 in Fortran. The course material will be available on moodle at: https://moodle2.vasa.abo.fi/course/view.php?id=1248

 

New TUCS course: Local networks (L. Petre)

Local (area) networks (LANs) serve many purposes. They are not only the “gates” towards Internet communication, but also the means of sharing data, hardware, and software in any business, the suitable choice for some industrial processing and productions, as well as the fast backbone connecting slower networks in some organizations. We employ LANs in a continuously increasing number of domains, from education and commerce to hospitals and banks, stock exchanges, warehouses, and industry. The aim of this course is to provide the students with the fundamentals of local area networks.

Detailed information can be found at http://www.users.abo.fi/lpetre/localnet12/. The course is intended as a graduate course. It consists of thoroughly reviewing fundamentals of local networks, followed by a number of research papers on the topic. The course includes 14 lectures and 4 exercise sessions and it ends with a final exam. The lecturing takes place on Wed and Fri, during 10:15-12, in Catbert (B3028), ICT-house. The course lasts from 14.3 to 25.5 (weeks 11-21, 2012). There are no lectures on 6.4 and on 25.4.

 

New TUCS course: Reliable distributed systems (M. Waldén)

Distributed computing systems have emerged to play a serious role in industry and society. Therefore, reliability of distributed systems has become an important issue. This course aims at giving an overview of reliable distributed systems and their components with a focus on cloud computing. We will look at possible failures in distributed systems and how to avoid them. Examples of applications of reliability techniques will be given.

Contents:
Basics in distributed computing
Cloud computing
Client and Network perspectives
Different techniques for overcoming failures in distributed systes
Consistency in Distributed Systems
Reliability in Complex Systems

The course consists of about 28h of lectues and 6h of exercises. There will be an exam at the end of the course.

Time and place: Tuesdays 13-15 in A3058 (Fortran), Wednesdays 13-15 in B3040 (Cobol) The course lasts during the weeks 12-21 in 2012. Course start on Wednesday 21.3.2012!

Course webpage: http://www.users.abo.fi/mwalden/RelDS12.html

 

Seminar in Applied Mathematics: Semidefinite Optimization and Applications

The course Seminar in Applied Mathematics (5sp) aims at introducing the notions of semidefinite programming (SDP) and semidefinite optimization.

Prerequisites are basics of linear algebra or matrix theory and basic understanding of multivariable calculus and linear programming

The seminar starts on Thursday, March 1, and ends on Friday, May 18. We meet twice a week: Thursdays 15–17, Fridays 10–12. The class rooms vary slightly because of other reservations.

First meeting is on Thursday, March 1, at 3 p.m. in Vektorrumet ASA B 311, which is in the Åbo Akademi University Mathematics Department, ASA Building, B entrance, 3rd floor (take the B entrance elevator).

The seminar is led by Dr Ray Pörn, Professor Göran Högnäs and doctoral student Anders Skjäl. The teachers are available by e-mail between the classes.

 

New course on Systems Biology at University of Turku

Tuesday 14.2., at 13-17, B2035
Martti Tolvanen: Introduction to Systems Biology. Biological databases, sequence analysis and promoter analysis.

Tuesday 21.2., at 10-17, A2065
Ari-Matti Saren (CSC): Sequence analysis with Embster.

Tuesday 28.2., at 10-16, A2065
Eija Korpelainen and Massimiliano Gentile (CSC): Next generation sequence analysis with Chipster.

Tuesday 6.3., at 13:15-16:30, B2035
Laura Elo (CBT): Biological network analysis (13:15-14:45).
Ion Petre (Åbo Akademi): Control mechanisms in the heat shock response. (15:00-16:30).

Tuesday 13.3., at 10-17, A2065
Sanna Kreula (CBT): Network analysis with Cytoscape.

Tuesday 20.3., at 13:15-16:30, B2034
Anni Kauko (Åbo Akademi): Membrane protein structural bioinformatics. (13:15-14:45).
Matthias Nees (VTT): Bioinfo & Image analysis tools for high content- and high throughput screening. (15:00-16:30)

Tuesday 27.3., at 13:15-16:30, B2034
Jari Björne (TUCS): Complex event extraction at PubMed scale (13:15-14:45).
Sebastian Okser (TUCS): Identifying biological pathways from genetic association studies (15:00-16:30).

 

INFORTE courses

INFORTE.fi is starting on next month. Check out and register for the upcoming seminars (http://inforte.jyu.fi/events) :

19.3 Case Studies (topic can change)
Speaker: Sarker Suprateek.
Location: Helsinki

27.-28.3 Model-Based Testing
Speakers: Antti Jääskeläinen, Teemu Kanstrén, Antti Kervinen, Szilárd Széll, Dragos Truscan.
Location: Tampere

23.-24.4 Re-thinking Research: From Discovery to Destiny
Speaker: Michel Avital.
Location: Helsinki

25.-26.4, LTE Self-Organising Networks (SON): Network Management Automation for Operational Efficiency
Speaker: Seppo Hämäläinen
Location: Helsinki

The seminars are free-of-charge for INFORTE.fi member organization`s staff and PhD-students (http://inforte.jyu.fi/participate). All TUCS PhD students (including those with status only) can attend free-of-charge. For others participation fee is 700 €/two days seminar and 500 €/one day seminar.

Check out from our website www.inforte.fi more information.

 

ICCES Erasmus Intensive Programme 30.1.-18.2.2012

TUCS participated in the ERASMUS Intensive Programme (ICCES - Innovation and Creativity for Complex Engineering Systems) along with seven European universities. The overall objective of this ERASMUS IP was to upgrade the industry relevance of European Ph.D. education in engineering and technology, in order to produce Ph.D. graduates who are better equipped to participate in all aspects of innovation and product development in industry. The main objective was to train Ph.D. students on how to tackle problems of high complexity in an innovative and research-oriented perspective within industrial contexts.

During a three week period in Porto, Portugal the Ph.D. students were confronted with real (and complex) engineering problems owned by an industrial partner. The students, organised in multi-disciplinary teams, proposed a research plan that tackles a given problem, with both a scientific perspective and a business/market one. From TUCS, Simon Holmbacka attended the programme.

 

Open positions: Three Post-doctoral Researcher positions at UTU

University of Turku, Turku School of Economics opens three post-doctoral researcher positions in Information Systems Science (ISS) for a five-year period (1.8.2012 – 31.7.2017).
ISS is part of the Department of Management, and chaired by three professors. Regional co-operation takes places in Turku Information Systems Research Alliance (TISRA) and Turku Centre for Computer Science (TUCS). Research is oriented towards practical problems with theoretical insight, international and based on close co-operation with companies and public organizations, funded by research consortia in projects. Teaching is built on research, educating BScs, MScs and PhDs for Business Administration and Philosophy degrees. Teaching is both in Finnish and English, because ISS has two English Masters Programmes (Global Information Technology Management and International Master in Management of IT) as well as an international Ph.D. programme.

A person selected for the post of post-doctoral researcher is required to have a doctoral degree and the ability to do independent scholarly work as well as having the necessary teaching skills.

A good applicant has a proven record of high quality scientific research and publication, preferably in one of the ISS focus areas. In addition to scientific merits, we will also emphasize applicant’s teaching capabilities. In teaching, we value high quality teaching in English and/or in Finnish. Familiarity with the use of web technologies and social media in teaching is an advantage. Depending on prior experience, work assignments of a post-doctoral researcher can include administration, coordination of international co-operation, successful raising of research funding, coordination and leadership of research projects, and/or supervision of MSc and PhD theses. Applicants’ prior experience in these tasks will be considered when selecting post-doctoral researchers.

The applicants must send in a certified CV and academic portfolio (academic/teaching portfolio). In addition, we require the applicant to show in free format how her/his career and plans fit the above mentioned focus areas and how her/his strengths support our activities in the future.

The salary is based on the salary system of Finnish universities, and it consists of a task-specific salary component and personal performance salary component. The task-specific salary component of a post-doctoral researcher is at level 4–6 which is 2359,25–3183,06 €/month. The component based on personal performance adds a maximum of 46 % to this salary.

A trial period of 4 months will be applied.

For further information, please contact professor Jukka Heikkilä by e-mail: jups(at)utu.fi or by tel. +358 50 5818361.
http://www.utu.fi/ajankohtaista/avoimet/helmikuun_2012_haku.html

 

Open positions at Department of IT, Åbo Akademi University.

Department of IT at Åbo Akademi University has five open positions in computer science, computer engineering, and information systems.

https://www.abo.fi/personal/rekrytering

 

Open position: Postdoctoral position at the Embedded Systems Lab, TUCS

The AGENT BASED MANAGEMENT OF EMBEDDED DATA RESERVES (AMEBA) project is a joint project between the ESLab (http://tucs.fi/research/research-units/eslab/) and the ECES laboratory (http://tucs.fi/research/research-units/eces/) that is funded by the Academy of Finland. The AMEBA project aims to develop a three-dimensional (3D) data storage system with a distributed agent-based data management. The proposed system is based on embedded high-density solid-state devices (SSD) that are stacked on top of each other in multiple layers along with layers of processing nodes to form a single unified 3D system. The total memory capacity of such on-chip data storage can be of the order of 100 to 200 TB, which is humongous and thus needs to be managed efficiently for later retrieval in human readable form. Our proposed system will provide considerably faster access times, higher throughput and lower latencies when compared to the current distributed hard disk drive based approaches. This allows higher data densities, better utilization of data reserves and completely new possibilities for near future applications that require availability of large embedded data volumes. Application areas include health and well-being, bioinformatics, smart spaces, personal cloud computing, just to mention a few.

We are now looking for a postdoc to develop the agent based data management and retrieval methods. The selected postdoc will also be required to participate in teaching and supervision of Masters and Phd students.

The position is for one year, with a possible extension with one more year. The salary is determined based on experience and qualifications according to the salary system at Åbo Akademi University, and is between 3000-3400e/month.

Requirements:
Candidates must hold a PhD degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering and should be highly motivated. Candidates must have excellent analytical skills, and strong interpersonal and communication skills.

Informal enquiries may be made by email to Johan.Lilius@abo.fi.

The applications should submit a detailed CV including list of publications and 3 most significant research publications, contact information for at least 2 references, and a two page research statement in electronic format (PDF) by email to Johan.Lilius@abo.fi with the subject "AMEBA Postdoc Position".

The deadline for applications is Friday 30th of March 2012.

 

New features in the TUCS publication input interface

The TUCS Publication Input interface has been slightly redesigned to facilitate entering the departments of the authors, and to have more logical clarity. Affiliating a publication with departments is a feature annually important for the departments, when they are reporting their activities. The interface is now a four page form, where in the first page you should mark *all* the TUCS Departments of *all authors* of the publication.

On the second page, you are asked for the TUCS Research Units, as before. The question here is, to which TUCS Research Units the publication belongs. If there is no suitable research unit, you may choose the option “other”/”none”. However, you should agree on this with the TUCS director first.

All students should have a clear agreement with their supervisors on which research units their publications should go.

The publication type selection has been now given its own page, which is the third page on the form. The choice is now with radio buttons, instead of a drop down menu. We hope that this will help you with making the correct choice, as the whole range of options is now clearly visible on the page. Especially the difference between an “edited proceedings” and an “article in proceedings” has caused a lot of mistakes/misunderstandings. ”Technical report” is no longer an option for a new publication. New TUCS Technical Reports are entered in the database when the authors request a TR number and ISBN. Once the authors receive these numbers, they are asked to prepare the PDF form of their technical report and upload it through the publication update interface. At the same time they will also upload all other information such as the abstract. The same protocol applies to the other TUCS Publication Series publications as well.

The fourth page in the form is unchanged. It asks for the full editorial information for that type of publication. The obligatory fields are marked with a star (*). The field “Tags” is available for writing a free label to help identify your publication in a search query; for example, writing your project’s name as a tag for all publications of that project might help in reporting on the project.

As was pointed out by several, there are in rare occasions proceedings where the editor is not clearly indicated (often electronic publications). For articles in such proceedings, you should enter a hyphen (-) in the editors-field and explain the case in the comments-field.

Links:
http://tucs.fi/publications/ (The publication database.)
http://tucs.fi/publications/publishing-series/ (The instructions for publishing in the TUCS Publication series.)

 

Webpages for all TUCS GP PhD students

TUCS has already launched a system linking the info about TUCS GP PhD students, supervisors and alumni with info about publications and research units. In an effort to expand the info currently available within this system, we will be uploading this spring the information about the title and the abstract of the PhD project of each TUCS GP PhD student. The info will be extracted automatically from the study reports submitted by the students for this year’s evaluation.
Link: http://tucs.fi/education/phd/students/

 

Latest publications at TUCS

Edited proceedings:

Articles in journals:

Articles in proceedings:

Chapters in edited books:

Technical reports: