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TUCS Newsletter 13.2.2015


Content of the newsletter

TUCS activities

New courses

Announcements

Latest publications at TUCS

TUCS activities

TUCS Research Programme activities

TITLE: Short messages and local knowledge in a distributed system

ABSTRACT: We study the model where  n nodes communicate in synchronous rounds by writing  O(log n)-bit messages on a whiteboard, which is visible to all of them (this is the broadcast version of the congested clique model) The joint input to the nodes is an undirected n-node graph G, with node v receiving the list of its neighbors in G. At the end of the protocol the whiteboard must contain enough information to answer a question of the form ``Does the input graph G belong to the graph class C?". In this talk we give positive and negative results about graph classes that can be solved in one round.

TUCS Distinguished Lecture Series

TUCS Distinguished Lecture on 23.1. at 13.15: Prof. Arto Salomaa, University of Turku and Turku Centre for Computer Science: “A personal voyage through the last half a century of computer science” now on TUCS Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU1GuJsHkCw&feature=youtu.be

TUCS Study Report round 1.2.-28.2.2015

The annual TUCS Study Report round takes place 1.2-28.2.2015. TUCS doctoral students have the obligation to report the progress of their studies once a year. This duty concerns all students with TUCS status (part-time as well as full-time students, students getting a salary/grant from TUCS, a department or a project, as well as students who do not get any financing from TUCS or the departments).

The study report is done electronically at: https://www.tucs.fi/studyreport/ . The system has opened 1 February 2015. Please note that the system closes late on 28th of February after which it is not possible to fill in the report anymore. The reporting period is 1.1.2014-31.12.2014.

TUCS GP Doctoral Defences

On Friday, February 13th, M.Sc. Toni Ernvall presents his Doctoral thesis “On Distributed Storage Codes" for public critisism. The opponent of M.Sc. Ernvall is Professor Joachim Rosenthal, University of Zurich, Switzerland. Docent Jyrki Lahtonen will act as a custos at this public defence.

Time: 12 noon

Place: Quantum Auditorium

On Wednesday, January 28th, TUCS GP Student Syed Mohammad Asad Hassan Jafri presented his Doctoral Thesis "Virtual Runtime Application Partitions for Resource Management in Massively Parallel Architectures” for public critisism. The opponent of M.Sc. Jafri was Professor Jari Nurmi from Tampere University of Technology. Associate Professor Juha Plosila acted as the custos for this public defence.

Time:12 noon

Place: Auditorium Beta, ICT Building

New courses

New course: Logic for High School Mathematics

Special course in Computer Science

Special course in Mathematics

Lectures: Wednesdays 14 - 16.

Excercises: Wednesdays 13 - 14.

Course duration: April 1 - May 27

Place: ICT House, room B3040  (Cobol)

Lecturer: Ralph-Johan Back

The course starts on April 1, at 14, in Cobol . More information about the course is given on the course web page: http://users.abo.fi/backrj/HighSchoolLogic/ 

The course is intended for M.Sc and Ph.D. students in Mathematics, Computer Science and Computer Engineering. Lectures are in English,  but assignments can be done in Finnish, Swedish or English.

Course description: Mathematics is based on logic. But logic is not really used in practice in high school mathematics.  A course on logic may be offered in the curriculum, but it is usually taught as a separate course, focusing on the foundations of mathematics, rather than seeing logic as a  tool  that can be used in all mathematics throughout high school. Our aim in this course is to show how logic can be used as a highly practical tool for solving mathematical problems in high school and first year university courses. We base our approach on structured derivations,  a new format for presenting mathematical calculations, proofs and general derivations. We show how  the use of logic in combination with structured derivations allows us to present clear and easily understandable solutions to rather complicated mathematical problems. We will present the basics of  propositional calculus and predicate calculus in this course, and show how these reasoning tools can be used in typical high school problem solving.  Our aim is also to present a simple general reasoning framework that we hope will clear up much of the conceptual mess that many students experience when trying to understand the underlying logic behind informal mathematical argumentations.  The last part of the course treats some more advanced topics, like induction proofs and the epsilon-delta method.

New INFORTE courses

 

Research and Practice in Software Quality Analysis and Clone Detection

February 16th – 18th

Oulu

Speakers:

Professor Stefan Wagner, University of Stuttgart (Germany)

Organizer:

Professor Burak Turhan, University of Oulu, Finland

 

Registration closing date: February 9th 

Registration and more information:http://inforte.jyu.fi/events/RPSQACD

 

 

Data-Infused Digital Goods and Services

March 11th – 12th

Helsinki

Speakers:

Professor Chee-Wee Tan, Copenhagen Business School (Denmark)

Organizer:

Professor Virpi Tuunainen, Aalto University, Finland

 

Registration closing date: March 3rd 

Registration and more information:http://inforte.jyu.fi/events/data_infused_digital_goods_and_services

 

Please, see all detailed programs in INFORTE.fi

 

Organising of INFORTE.fi courses

Inforte.fi program started operating originally in 2001.During this wholeperiod, the Inforte.fi program has however maintained its standing as a stat- wide program for ICT professionals. It is designed to offer networking and education events to PhD students and professionals working in Finnish companies, polytechnics and public administration. Invited speakers are some of the top international researchers or industry representatives in their field. Inforte.fi’s member university departments will annually organize about 12 workshops and seminars on diverse areas of ICT. The main areas of focus are:

These intensive events can be used as tools for professional education, or as parts of doctoral education. Inforte.fi program delivers certificates of participation, and participants negotiate how these achievements can be included in their studies with their home universities. Inforte.fi events are a way to connect you with other ICT professionals and academics in your field, and build important social networks. Inforte.fi events allow you to update your knowledge and keep on track with the latest scientific and practical knowledge in the ICT field.

HOW TO COME ALONG?

Anyone within the member departments can suggest an event. We hope that the event is in line with our main areas of focus. If you have something in mind, contact the Inforte.fi staff and let’s start planning the event!

Inforte.fi’s member university departments are:

ABOUT ORGANIZING INFORTE.FI EVENTS

The organizer’s payment for organizing an one-day event is 250 € and for a two-day event 500 €. The organizer has to send the Inforte.fi staff his or hers separate tax card or otherwise the Finnish tax authorities will take off 60 % taxes from the payment. Inforte.fi staff will send the organizer a travelling expenses claim form and a bank and personal information form. The travelling expenses claim form needs to be filled only if needed, but the bank and personal information form needs to be filled always. The Inforte.fi office will organize morning coffee with something small to bite to the events, but lunch and afternoon coffee can be bought at participant’s own expense. The organizer can however buy his/her and the speaker’s lunch and afternoon coffee and reimburse those expenses from the Inforte.fi office with the travelling expense claim. Also one feasible dinner with the speaker is allowed to reimburse with the travelling expense claim. However when using the travelling expenses claim, the organizer needs to send all of the original documents and receipts to Inforte.fi office (the address is at the bottom of this document).

The speaker’s payment Inforte.fi pays 120 € / lecturing hour and 60 € / group work hour at most. Lecturing fee is considered salary by Finnish tax office. Because the work is done in Finland, the Finnish tax authorities will automatically take off approximately 35 % taxes. In addition, it is mandatory to take off around 4 % other social security and pension contribution payments from the fee. This will happen automatically - no fee can be paid without these deductions.In addition to travel expenses and accommodation Inforte.fi will pay the speaker daily allowance. Daily allowance is 39 euros or 18 euros per travelling day. Inforte.fi will calculate the daily allowances. Inforte.fi does not cover meal expenses according to receipts. The fee and travel expenses will be paid separately and it may take approximately a month until the payment is on the speaker’s bank account.

The speaker’s travelling and accommodation

Inforte.fi pays for the speakers travelling and accommodation expenses and helps with the arrangements regarding these. If the Inforte.fi event will be merged with other activities in Finland (e.g. seminars) or during the trip, Inforte.fi will pay only a part of the expenses. If the speaker decides to book the trip independently, he/she needs to be in contact with the Inforte.fi staff because only travelling in Economy class will be accepted as expenses. Inforte.fi will book the hotel for the speaker.

Date and other important information about the event

The date of the event has to be agreed on in good time and the Inforte.fi staff has to be informed about it immediately after that. In addition to this the Inforte.fi staff will need the following information as soon as possible:

Remote access

The organizer has to agree with the speaker if participants can be included in the event with remote access. If both sides agree that it can be handled, the organizer has to find out that with what kind of system the speaker is used to and whether the remote access is possible to organize at the event location.

Inforte.fi staff’s contact information:

Annemari Soranto

Project Researcher

Email: office@inforte.fi

Phone: +358 400 247700

Nina Jakonen

Programme planner

Email:office@inforte.fi

Phone: +358 400 247700

Courses on transferable skills at University of Turku

http://www.utu.fi/fi/Tutkimus/tutkijakoulu/courses/Sivut/home.aspx

Announcements

Turku ICT Week 2015

Turku ICT week will be organized for the fourth time in 2.-6.3.2015.

Read more here: http://www.turkuictweek.fi/

EuroScientist Special Issue

The latest EuroScientist’s newsletter can be found at: http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=c352b9f258b8f1483083d4072&id=41bf0e7d9c&e=17bc4f4fb3

Health and Wellbeing Pre-call 2016 Workshop

 

26 February 2015 @ High Tech Campus 31, Eindhoven

 

The EIT ICT Labs Action Line Health and Wellbeing organises a Pre-Call 2016 workshop to support the expected launch of the EIT ICT Labs Call 2016 (mid-March). The aim of the workshop is to distil input and convert the goals as has been set in the Strategic Innovation Agenda (SIA) into well defined, feasible proposals.

The Pre-Call 2016 innovation workshop will take place on 26 February 2015 in the Co-location Centre Eindhoven, the Netherlands. It will be followed up by a post Partner Event workshop on Friday 17 April 2015 in Trento. Proposers are welcome to join, meet and match ideas, partners and activities leading to a balanced quantity of project proposals for the 2016-2017 timeframe. To increase the chance of success one must realise that the SIA is a leading principle in making plans for 2016.

REGISTER for the Pre-Call workshop of the Action Line Health and Wellbeing on 26 February: https://workspaces.ictlabs.eu/PROMISE/PRIVATE/FORMS/register_step1.aspx?guid=eacee30d-2f95-4abe-9b7d-ed82f9412de9

For logistic reasons you are requested to register before 16 February 2015.

 

Venue for the workshop:

EIT ICT Labs Co-location Centre Eindhoven

High Tech Campus 31

5656 AE Eindhoven

The Netherlands

Draft Agenda for the Pre-Call Workshop on 26 February:

09:30 Welcome and coffee

10:00 Short intro on EIT ICT Labs and the Action Line Health and Wellbeing by Jean Gelissen

10:15 Action Line Health and Wellbeing 2015 project portfolio overview

10:30 Action Line Health and Wellbeing Business Community: SME overview by Filip Coenen

11:00 ‘The floor is yours'… 10 minute presentations of your ideas with focus on one of (or both) priorities with maximum societal and economic impact (10’ slots)

12:30 Lunch

13:15 Continuation of the presentation of your ideas / split into multiple groups to discuss potential 2016 AL HWB activity ideas

15:30 Plenary feedback of the breakout groups

15:55 Partner event overview and post partner event workshop

16:00 Networking drinks & bites

17:00 End of meeting

More information on the Action Line Health and Wellbeing: https://www.eitictlabs.eu/innovation-areas/health-and-wellbeing/

Contact for this event: else.embregts@eitictlabs.eu

New start-ups at the Helsinki CLC          

 

                 

Lukoton creates safe and reliable mobile locking solutions for business to business clients and private homes. Lukoton's principal service areas are lockless solutions for hotels, estates and remote base stations. They offer disruptively cost effective and secure cloud access management with user friendly mobile accessibility. Their Big Idea is a world with fully ubiquitous "Internet of locks." Welcome to EIT ICT Labs Ari-Pekka Hietala, Jarkko Juntunen, Jouni Koljonen, Cagatay Ulusoy and Petri Pystynen.

 

Enterlot info service guides invited people into their target real-estate. It also supports parking resulting in less parking spaces needed and thus creates savings for the real-estates. Welcome Kalle Toiskallio, Simo-Pekka Lahtinen, Olli Pitkänen and Félix Halcartegaray.

EIT ICT Labs: Growth and harvest

Innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) course for PhD students

http://www.eitictlabs.eu/news-events/events/article/growth-harvest-course-for-doctoral-students/#allView 

DATE:  23-27 March, 2015 and 13-17 April, 2015

VENUE: 1st week: Stockholm (EIT ICT Labs CLC in Kista), Sweden; 2nd week: Helsinki (EIT ICT Labs CLC in Otaniemi, Espoo), Finland

ORGANISER:  EIT ICT Labs, Helsinki, Finland.

After completing the Growth and Harvest course, the doctoral candidate has an understanding of the management, dealing with competition as well as financial issues of a growing business. The Growth and Harvest focuses on the approaches and solutions for companies with global growth potential and deals with high risk – high potential ventures.

Who can attend?

All doctoral students at the partnering universities of EIT ICT Labs. List of ICT Labs partners, please visit: http://www.eitictlabs.eu/about-us/partners-of-eit-ict-labs/ 

Pre-requirements?

Students are required to have completed the EIT ICT Labs I&E program's "Opportunity Recognition (OR)" and "Business Modeling & Development (BMD)" courses prior to the Growth & Harvest (GH) course.

Registration via web, Deadline 6 March 2015.

https://workspaces.ictlabs.eu/PROMISE/PRIVATE/FORMS/register_step1.aspx?guid=19493672-f153-41a5-a147-bcc501417310 

Registration is binding. If cancelled without a medical certificate later than 15.03.2015, a cancellation fee of 50 euros may be charged.

Travel and accommodation not included. For students accepted to the EIT ICT Labs doctoral program, their host DTC can take care of the travel and accommodation costs.

More information: Jussi.i.autere@aalto.fi

Learning outcomes:

* The ability to exploit the growth potential of own venture.

* The ability to lead a growing firm entrepreneurially and managerially and manage the value of a

company in the markets.

* The ability to understand the roles of entrepreneur/manager and differentiate the changing role

and activities of the entrepreneur/manager as the business grows.

* Learn how to effectively manage a research, development and innovation portfolio and maintain

innovativeness in a growing firm.

*  How to master different growth and harvesting strategies, ability to apply them and understand

their connections to firm functions and strategy.

*  How to master business valuation and different exit strategies.

* The ability to exploit the competition and networking knowledge in business.

* The ability to secure the finance in a growing company.

* How to master the basic of risk management in an organisation.

Postdoctoral position in machine learning for systems biology - Paris region

The institute of Systems and Synthetic Biology (iSSB) has an immediate opening for a postdoctoral position in the field of machine learning for systems biology.

We invite applications from researchers who hold (or are very close to completion) a PhD in machine learning, active learning, computational system biology or a related field.

The successful candidate will join an interdisciplinary team of computational and molecular biologists (http://www.issb.genopole.fr/Research/teams/mega), working on an exciting ICST European project: AdaLab (Adaptive Automated Scientific Laboratory:  http://www.chistera.eu/projects/adalab ) funded by CHIST-ERA.  She/He will be responsible for developing machine-learning algorithms for network inference and experimental design, and for building a knowledge base about the yeast diauxic shift to be used in the Robot Scientist platform (Prof. Ross King).

The successful candidate will be offered an initial contract for 24 months with possible extension for an additional 12 months depending on performance.

The iSSB is part of Genopole, the premier French BioPark of leading research academic and private laboratories in biotechnology, genomics, post-genomics and related sciences. It is located in Evry (Paris region).

Applicants should send a full CV, the contact details of three referees, and a cover letter to Dr. Mohamed Elati (http://www.issb.genopole.fr/~elati/) at mohamed.elati@issb.genopole.fr

Call for Papers -- DLT 2015

19th International Conference on Developments in Language Theory

University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

July 27-30, 2015

http://dlt2015.csc.liv.ac.uk/

Deadline for submissions: 12 March, 2015

The 19th International Conference on Developments in Language Theory (DLT 2015) will take place in Liverpool, UK on July 27-30, 2015  under the auspices of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS).  The conference will be hosted by the Liverpool University Department of Computer Science.

The purpose of this conference is to bring together members of the academic,research, and industrial community who have an interest in formal languages, automata theory, and related areas.

TOPICS

Typical topics include, but are not limited to, grammars, acceptors and transducers for words, trees and graphs, algebraic theories of automata; algorithmic, combinatorial and algebraic properties of words and languages; variable length codes; symbolic dynamics; cellular automata; polyominoes and multidimensional patterns; decidability questions; image manipulation and compression; efficient text algorithms; relationships to cryptography, concurrency, complexity theory and logic; bio-inspired computing; quantum

computing.

IMPORTANT DATES

Deadline for submissions: 12 March, 2015

Notification to authors: 27th April, 2015

Final Version : 11th May , 2015

DLT 2015 : July 27-30, 2015

SUBMISSIONS

Authors are invited to submit papers presenting original and unpublished research. The proceedings will be published in the Springer-Verlag Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) Series. Simultaneous submission to journals or other conferences with published proceedings is not allowed. Submitted papers should not exceed 12 pages and should follow the LNCS-style LaTeX2e (available at http://www.springer.de/comp/lncs/authors.html). All proofs omitted due to space constraints should be given in an appendix or made accessible through a reliable link to a freely available electronic preprint. Papers should be submitted electronically in PDF through the

EasyChair system:

https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=dlt2015

INVITED SPEAKERS

To be announced

PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Srecko Brlek (Montreal, Canada)

Manfred Droste (Leipzig, Germany)

Artur Jez (Wroclaw, Poland)

Natasha Jonoska (Tampa, USA)

Rusins Freivalds (Riga Latvia)

Mika Hirvensalo (Turku, Finland)

Markus Holzer (Giessen, Germany)

Juraj Hromkovic (Zurich, Switzerland)

Juhani Karhumaki (Turku, Finland)

Gregory Kucherov (Marne-la-Vallee, France)

Pierre McKenzie (Montreal, Canada)

Igor Potapov (Liverpool, UK)

Daniel Reidenbach (Loughborough, UK)

Marinella Sciortino (Palermo, Italy)

Jean-Éric Pin (Paris, France)

Michael Riley (Google, USA)

Rick Thomas (Leicester, UK)

Mikhail V. Volkov (Ekaterinburg, Russia)

Hsu-Chun Yen (Taipei, Taiwan)

FURTHER INFORMATION AND CONTACTS

Web: http://dlt2015.csc.liv.ac.uk/

E-mail: potapov@liverpool.ac.uk

Ulla Tuominen Foundation grants for the year 2015

Ulla Tuominen foundation provides grants for electrical engineering and areas such as electronics, software and telecommunications research, education and promotion of innovation. A research idea which requires pushing has special priority.

The application form is available: https://elomake.samk.fi/lomakkeet/2166/lomake.html?rinnakkaislomake=GrantApplication

Required attachments (max. 5 appendices):

• Curriculum Vitae

• research plan and budget

• allowance of research institute

• referee statements

After printing the application please, save, sign and send it with appendices to the Foundation.

The application due date is 27th of February 2015.

Granting of scholarships shall be informed to the grant recipients before July 2015. The names of grant recipients will be published at the Foundation's website.

Net Futures Information Day on H2020 ICT-2015

The Directorate "Net Futures" organises this Information Day presenting the topics in the area of Future Internet in the second ICT call H2020-ICT-2015 published in October 2014. The deadline for submission of proposals is 14 April 2015.

More information and registration here: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/net-futures-information-day-h2020-ict-2015

More information (in Finnish) here: http://wfeo.creamailer.fi/email/54bd0188706c1

Call for Papers - ECBS-EERC 2015

4th Eastern European Regional Conference on the Engineering of Computer Based Systems (ECBS-EERC 2015) with the technical co-sponsorship of the IEEE Computer Society

http://www.ecbs-eerc.org/2015/

August 27-28, 2015

Brno, The Czech Republic, Europe

ECBS-EERC was established at 15th IEEE International Conference on Engineering of Computer-Based Systems (ECBS 2008) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to bring the spirit of ECBS into Eastern Europe by providing convenient conference opportunities in this region. Conference proceedings are published on a CD and submitted to the IEEE CS Digital Library. A selection of outstanding papers presented at the conference may be invited for publication in an internationally recognized journal (subject to additional reviewing).

ECBS-EERC 2015 is the 4th formal meeting dedicated to formulating and advancing methods, techniques and tools for the engineering of computer-based systems. The conference is devoted to the design, development, deployment, and analysis of complex systems whose behavior is largely determined or controlled by computers. Such systems are characterized by functional, performance, and reliability requirements that mandate the tight integration of information processing and physical processes.

ECBS integrates software, hardware, and communication perspective of system engineering through its many facets that include system modelling, requirements specification, simulation, architectures, safety, security, reliability, human computer interaction, system integration, verification and validation, and project management. The conference provides a bridge between industry and academia blending academic research and industrial development.

Papers are sought which reflect this intent in fundamental ECBS technologies and application domains including, but not limited to the following topics:

Architectures

Autonomic Systems

Cloud-based Applications

Co-Design

Component-Based System Design

Cyber-Physical Systems

ECBS Infrastructure (Tools and Environments)

Education & Training

Embedded Real-Time Software Systems

Internet of Things

Lifecycle Processes & Process Evolution

Model-Based System Development

Modelling and Analysis of Complex Systems

Parallel & Distributed Systems

Reengineering & Reuse

Reliability, Safety, Dependability, and Security

Software Engineering

System Assessment, Testing, and Metrics

Verification and Validation

Industrial reports of practical solutions, trends, and new system characteristics for ECBS, taking an integrated systems approach, may include application domains such as: Aerospace Systems, Command and Control, Continuous and Discrete Manufacturing, Environmental Systems, Instrumentation and Control Applications, Internet Technology and Applications, Intelligent Highway-Vehicle Systems (IHVS), Medical Systems, and Telecommunications.

Poster Sessions

Posters and abstracts presenting work in progress are invited for a poster session. Accepted abstracts will be published in the proceedings. Graduate students are especially welcome to participate.

Industrial Track

The industrial track provides a forum for short papers on results of industrial research and development.

Submission of Papers

Full papers should not exceed 8 pages (at least 4 pages are expected). Industrial reports should not exceed 4 pages (at least 2 pages are expected). Poster abstracts should be on 2 full pages. All papers must be prepared in the IEEE Computer Society format (see the conference web site for further information). Papers should be original contributions not submitted or accepted for publication elsewhere. For an accepted paper to appear in the proceedings, at least one author must register and attend the conference. Papers must be submitted via EasyChair and are requested to be allocated to one of the defined ECBS tracks. For further information see the submission guidelines on the conference web site.

For Full Papers and Doctoral Symposium Papers, the Program Committee will select a best paper award.

Important Dates (Note: these dates are tentative)

Submission of titles and abstract: 15 March 2015

Submission of all papers: 12 April 2015

Notification of acceptance: 17 May 2015

Camera-ready material for publication: 14 Jun 2015

Registration deadline for authors: 14 Jun 2015

Early registration deadline for non-authors: 9 August 2015

Open jobs at University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University

Latest publications at TUCS

Edited proceedings (1):

Articles in journals (8):

Articles in proceedings (9):

Ph.D. thesis (1):

Technical reports (3):