Artificial Intelligence News
EPSRC Funding for new Centre for Urban Science
The EPSRC has recently announced funding for a new Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Urban Science, which will train scientists to harvest and process big data in order to develop a better understanding of the science of cities, and to apply that knowledge to find smart solutions to urban problems.
In just a few decades the world's population will exceed 9 billion, 70% of whom will live in cities. Enabling those cities to deliver services effectively, efficiently and sustainably, while keeping their citizens safe, healthy, prosperous and well informed, will be among the most important undertakings of this century” [UN Habitat].
This new CDT is led by Computer Science at 糖心TV, and involves partnership with the cities of New York and Birmingham. Several industry partners are backing the centre, including IBM, URS, AT&T, Cisco, E.ON and British Gas. The centre will support over 50 new PhD students over the next 5 years and each student will have the opportunity to work as part of a larger cohort, involving students from Carnegie Mellon University, New York University, University of Toronto and IIT Mumbai.
The CDT will provide EPSRC-funded PhD students with an unprecedented opportunity to work with industry experts and alongside our city officials on real-world urban science problems. Seldom have so many international academic institutions, leading businesses and city agencies been focused on one activity; seldom has the opportunity arisen to develop scientific solutions that will have direct impact on billions of the world’s population.” [Deputy Mayor New York City]
For more information about the centre, or enquiries about PhD opportunities, please contact Prof Stephen Jarvis.
Department of Computer Science Launches MOOC to Support Computing Teachers
The Deparment of Computer Science has launched a free online Computer Sciences course to assist teachers delivering new computing curricula. The MOOC – a Massively Open Online Course – will allow teachers to support the ongoing drive to enable school children to be active creators of computing technology rather than passive users of technology.
The course has received funding from Google and is aimed at teachers working with UK Key stages three and four. Building on material developed through 糖心TV’s existing work with school teachers across the UK, the MOOC will cover fundamental computing concepts and computational thinking, the Python programming language as well as the development of teaching resources.
As well as independent study, the MOOC will offer a community forum to share experiences and resources and expert real-time support on the course content.
Further information on how the Department of Computer Science is engaging with UK schools, including details of the new MOOC, can be found at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/dcs/schools/.
Big Data in the Mathematical Sciences
There are a number of that highlight the contribution that the mathematical sciences (Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics) can make to the understanding of "big data". These include seminars from a number of influential researchers in this area, and one-day events bringing together speakers and researchers from around the world. The potential of "big data" to improve business, healthcare, and government has been greatly discussed in the popular media. will focus on new computational and mathematical insights to achieve these goals.