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NEWSLETTER #5, 1/2022
A Word from our Head of Department
New Research Group at CS
As previously announced, we have established a new research group titled “Data, Knowledge & Web Engineering”. The new group is formed with members from the current DW group and will initially include the following members: Katja Hose (Research leader), Gabriela Montoya (Coordinator), Peter Dolog, Johannes Bjerva, Matteo Lissandrini, Daniele Dell’Aglio, Tomer Sagi, and the postdocs and Ph.D. students in their respective projects.
A primary objective is to expand and sharpen the department's research profile within a number of application domains like biology, health, environmental impact assessments, etc. - domains that are becoming increasingly important to address from a data-oriented research perspective. The forming of the new group is also motivated by a desire to streamline the organizational setup and reduce some of the complexities that may arise from a group the size of the current DW group.
What the 10 Percent Reduction and Relocation Plan Means for CS
I hope that most of you had the opportunity to watch Rector’s online presentation of the 10% reduction/relocation of educations at the university. It was later detailed in the Dean’s online meeting. At the time of the meeting, the university’s response to the ministry was already sent, and the purpose was to inform us all about the response and open for questions and answers.
The information detailed which educations the university suggests closing to cut back 10%, but it did not detail reductions in intake of students on the remaining educations. That awaits further negotiations with the ministry as well as long-term adjustments after 2026.
For the TECH Faculty, the ramifications are severe for some educations at AAU Copenhagen, e.g., Techno-Anthropology, while other educations are not affected at all. None of our 12 educations (5 bachelor's and 6 master’s) in the department are being closed.
We will still be growing in Computer Science Copenhagen as new cohorts start on the Software education and from next year also the master’s in Software - as originally planned.
The Copenhagen Campus will more narrowly focus the educations on IT and sustainability.
What we are hoping for is that the 10%-limit will be lowered to 5%, or that sufficiently many of the 150 members of parliament behind the agreement will be convinced that it does not lead to the desired goal of regional developments.
Peter
New AAU Occupational Health and Safety Policy
The "AAU Occupational Health and Safety Policy" has been updated. In a newly published two-page document, you will find a description of the overall framework for all activities at AAU that aim to create a safe and healthy working environment as a foundation for an attractive workplace.
Ph.D. defence: Tianyi Li
On Wednesday, 19 January 2022, Tianyi Li defended her Ph.D. thesis “Aspects of Spatial Trajectory Data Management– Compression and Clustering”.
Members of the assessment committee were Associate Professor Gabriela Montoya (Chairman), Aalborg University, Associate Professor Zhifeng Bao, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia, and Associate Professor Kyriakos Mouratidis, Singapore Management University, Singapore. Professor Christian S. Jensen has been Tianyi’s supervisor. Professor Torben Bach Pedersen and Professor Lu Chen have been Tianyi’s co-supervisors. The moderator was Associate Professor Gabriela Montoya.
A quote from the assessment committee statement:
“The quality of the thesis is very good. It makes significant research contributions, and it is technically deep. The thesis clearly shows the relevance of the candidate’s contributions to her research area.”
Congrats to Tianyi Li🙂
DON'T FORGET TO USE YOUR NEW STAFF PHOTO
Our "house photographer", Lars Horn, took a bunch of really good staff photos - so why not start using them?😉 On your SoMe profiles, on your VBN profile, and anywhere else your portrait photo could do with an update - there are no license restrictions as to the use of your new photo.
You can download your photo from this OneDrive-folder (Choose “Alle dokumenter” -> “Felter” / “All documents” -> ”Tiles” to get a preview of the photos)
Here is how you update your VBN profile with the new photo:
- Go to pds.aau.dk (Persondatasystemet for Aalborg Universitet)
- Sign in to view your AAU profile
- Choose “Fotos”
- Choose “Tilføj foto” (add photo)
- Fill in your name in “Titel” (and “Beskrivelse” i.e. description)
- Choose “Vælg fil” (select file) and upload your photo
- Check “Accepter samtykke til offentliggørelse” (consent to publication)
- Choose ”Tilknyt” (add to profile)
- Choose ”Gem” (save) – green button way down on your screen!
- Choose “Fotos” (again!)
- Check the box next to “Profil foto” to set the new staff photo as your new profile photo
The change in your profile in PDS will be reflected in VBN after a nightly batch process
MEET YOUR NEW COLLEAGUES
We have welcomed other new colleagues that have not yet been featured here. They will, as soon as we get their profile input😉
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW POSITION
Plusbus Coming to a University Near You
The work on the bus-only lane for the new BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) service Plusbus on the university campus is kicked off in 2022. When finished, it will offer a fast way of getting from the city centre to the campus (and back!) with public transport. In addition, a so-called "super bike lane" will be established to ensure a safer and quicker ride for cyclists.
Planned Plusbus stops on campus:
- Pendlerpladsen
- Gigantium
- Pontoppidanstræde
- Universitetet
- Campus Forum
- Selma Lagerløfs Vej
- Servicebyen
- Nyt Aalborg Universitetshospital
The work on the new bus-only lane, which is planned for the period March 2022 through December 2022, will mean that bus lines on Bertil Ohlins Vej will be diverted to alternative routes. Other consequences:
- Periodic power, water, and heating outages
- Dust and noise
- Vibrations
- Blocked access ways to some buildings (AAU Facility Support will put up notices)
Check out the Plusbus website for more info (in Danish).
That's a wrap on this edition of CS Connect! Thanks for reading. We appreciate feedback and inputs - so please, tell us what you want to read more of... and less of.
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Department of Computer Science
Aalborg University
Selma Lagerlöfs Vej 300 9220 Aalborg East
Fredrik Bajers Vej 7K 9220 Aalborg Ø
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