Newsletter for 11/08/2020

New Announcements

Announcements

*PLEASE NOTE THE UPCOMING UNIVERSITY DEADLINES*

Please note the following upcoming university deadlines, and ALWAYS check the Academic and Administrative Calendar for important dates and deadlines. Bookmark this year's Academic and Administrative Calendar and refer to it regularly.

Thursday, November 12th Late Add with Fee Deadline

The Add by Petition form requires the signatures of both the instructor and the department adviser and needs to be submitted to the Office of the Registrar.

Friday December 18th Leave of Absence for Fall Deadline
Deadline to petition for leave of absence (LOA) beginning the next quarter. LOA forms must be approved/signed by your faculty advisor and submitted to the BSOE Graduate Advising office by the posted deadline.  LOA application forms are available on the Graduate Division's website. 

Resources for Remote/Online Teaching - For Graduate Students

STEM Scholarship and Fellowship Deadlines | PathwaysToScience.org

Although it may seem early, fellowship deadlines are right around the corner – with many deadlines in October and early November for funding for the 2021/2022 academic year. Below are links to our database of STEM funding opportunities.

Graduate fellowships and tips on applying: https://pathwaystoscience.org/Grad.aspx                                                                    

Video tutorial on how to use our advanced search page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKsAGk8dAw&t=16s

If you have questions, I’d be happy to help. Please email me at ldetrick@ibparticipation.org

Tech Futures Card Game!

Oakes College CARA Program: Call for Summer 2021 Course Proposals

Applications due Thursday, November 12th at noon (PST) to oakscara@ucsc.edu

The Oakes College Community-based Action Research and Advocacy or CARA program builds on the mission of Oakes College to support students of color and to leverage university-based education for social and political change. Our courses support Oakes students to build connections with community-based organizations and to gain tangible skills they can leverage for social justice work in various contexts, from grassroots activism, working with nonprofits, public agencies, and beyond.

We strongly encourage applicants to propose courses that will support existing partnerships they bring with community-based organizations, and in which students collaborate as a class or work in teams on a concrete project. Alternatively, courses may be structured to support students to connect independently with community-based organizations in their home communities, given the possibility of continued remote learning. Courses may also focus on supporting students to develop specific skills-sets that are relevant to community-based organizing, activism, or nonprofit settings. 

Eligibility

1. Master's degree (or equivalent foreign degree) at the time of application; or a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent foreign degree) and completion of at least one year of a Ph.D. program at the time of application; or a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent foreign degree) and at least two years of teaching experience at the college level at the time of application.*
2. Experience with providing instruction in an educational environment (e.g., instructor of record, teaching assistant, etc.).
3. Experience in community activism, community organizing, nonprofits, or community-engaged partnerships, as relevant to the proposed course.

* Community members with relevant expertise are also considered and are encouraged to apply.

Salary

Lecturers are paid at the annual standard lecturer rate, unless otherwise justified based on expertise. For more details about payment rates from summer 2020 and pay dates, please visit the UCSC Summer Session website.

Teaching Dates

UCSC Summer Session courses are 5 weeks long. 5-unit courses meet 7 hours/week (two days, 3.5 hours each day) and 2-unit courses meet 3 hours/week. Instructors should be prepared to teach online and can utilize a combination of synchronous and asynchronous assignments.

Summer Session 1:                June 21, 2021 - July 23, 2021

Summer Session 2:                July 26, 2021 - August 27, 2021

CARA Courses

Applicants may propose a course that fits under the current CARA Program course offerings or propose a new course. Some potential new CARA courses may include:

●      Financial Literacy for Social Justice

●      Data Collection & Analysis for Community Organizing

●      Coding for Social Justice

●      Political Education for Community Organizing

●      Writing for Non-Profit Organizations

New courses are subject to approval per the Academic Senate's Committee on Educational Policy (CEP). Proposals for new courses should indicate whether or not they fulfill any General Education requirements.

Application Instructions

To apply, send the following documents by Thursday, November 12th at 12:00 PM PST to: oakscara@ucsc.edu

1. Cover letter
   1. Discuss your interest and qualifications
   2. Discuss your approach to teaching a course in 5 weeks, possibly in an online format
   3. Structure of course, including the proportion of class time/coursework dedicated to community-partnership (if applicable)
   4. Describe your existing relationship with proposed community partner (if applicable) or your plan for supporting students to develop relationships with community-partners in advance of the course start-date
   5. Identify which summer session -first, second, or both- you are available to teach
2. CV or Resume
3. Syllabus for proposed course. Please view the Summer Session's guidelines for syllabi development. You can also view sample syllabi on the Summer Session's website. We recommended you include:

1. Relevant learning outcomes
2. Structure of course and any community-engaged component (synchronous, asynchronous, combination)
3. Discussion topics by week with associated readings and learning activities
4. Summary of assignments

4. A brief email from your community partner (forwarded with the application or sent directly to oakscara@usc.edu) indicating their interest in collaborating with you as the Instructor for the course and their availability: first, second, or both sessions

Questions about courses we’d be interested in sponsoring? Or other questions? Contact the Oakes CARA Program Director and Community Liaison, Sheeva Sabati, Ph.D., at oakscara@ucsc.edu.

Slug Support Pantry Fall Hours

Graduate students will have access during all the open hours. The Basic Needs team has designated grad only pantry hours specifically on Tuesdays 3:45 - 6:00 pm. Grads should enter via the patio so that we can keep the front door of the coffee shop closed to avoid other students trickling in. 

Link to Flyer: 2020%20Fall%20Flyer%20Graduate%20Students%20%281%29%20%282%29.pdf
 

eBay's Machine Learning Competition for Students

For the second year, eBay is running a ML Challenge. The prize of the competition is an internship at eBay for the winning student or team.

The announcement attached describes the competition in more detail, but in a nutshell:

The question we invite you to address is how to identify two or more listings as being for the same product by putting them into the same group. We call this Purchase Level Equivalency (PLE). That is, if a buyer purchased two items from two different listings in a single group, they would assess that they had obtained two instances of the same product.

The competition started August 24. It is being hosted on EvalAI.

Please feel free to ask any questions. We have set up a mailbox dedicated to this competition at MLChallenge@ebay.com.

Events

Getting Hired at a California Community College

Panel Discussion with current and recent instructors at California Community Colleges, all UCSC graduate student alumni. 

Link to event

ACM-W Keynote Speaker - Swapna Savant

We will be hosting a keynote speaker event next week on Tuesday, November 10th at 6-7pm PST. The speaker is Swapna Savant, who is an engineering manager at Headspace, who will be sharing her experience as a woman in the tech industry, specifically her journey to an engineering leader, as well as how she has coped with and overcome imposter syndrome.

Jobs

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tracks at Sea Challenge

Announcing the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tracks at Sea Challenge conducted by the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC PAC) and the Naval Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Coordination Office, managed by the Office of Naval Research (ONR). 

The goal of this challenge is to engage with the workforce of tomorrow on relevant Naval problems. The need here is to augment unmanned surface vehicles’ (USVs’) maritime contact tracking capability.  The technology developed for this prize challenge will solve this problem by developing a computer vision system that will plot the tracks of shipping traffic exclusively using the passive sensing capability of onboard cameras. This technology would also be applicable for the Navy to document vessels performing unsafe navigation on the high seas.

NIWC PAC has established $200,000 as the total amount set aside for cash prizes under this challenge. Prizes will be awarded for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th places in the amounts of $55,000, $45,000, $35,000, $30,000, $20,000, $10,000, and $5000 respectively. Prizes will be disbursed to the respective teams’ department, college, laboratory, or other eligible university component as specified by the consensus of the team.

The challenge kicks off on Oct. 1 and is open to students at accredited higher education institutions.

For more information, please visit the following link: https://www.challenge.gov/challenge/AI-tracks-at-sea/

Tenure Track Assistant Professor in Computer Science: San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University, Department of Computer Science offers an exciting opportunity for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position beginning August 2021. We seek a colleague whose teaching and research interests include Database/HCI/Distributed Computing; other areas will also be considered. We are especially interested in qualified candidates who can contribute, through their research, teaching, and/or service, through diversity, to the excellence of the academic community.

More information is available at:
 https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/17140

Rochester Institute of Technology Full-Time Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Position in Department of Computer Science

The Department of Computer Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology invites applications for full-time tenure-track assistant professor positions starting in Fall 2021. We are looking to hire in all areas of computer science that strengthen our department.  Applications are due January 2.  

Successful applicants are expected to contribute to the scholarship of the department and college through externally funded research and through teaching and mentoring of BS, MS, and PhD students.

We are seeking an individuals who have the ability and interest in contributing to RIT’s core values, honor code, and diversity commitment.    

The Department: Computer Science (http://cs.rit.edu) is the largest department at RIT. Our student-centered programs are home to nearly 1,400 students pursuing BS, MS, BS/MS, and PhD degrees. Student employment rates upon graduation are over 98%, often with leading technology companies. Our innovative problem-based introductory programming sequence has been continuously updated, in part through research projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The BS in Computer Science program at RIT is ranked 52^nd in the U.S. News and World Reports 202 ranking of Best Undergraduate Computer Science Programs.
 
We have enhanced our research presence while maintaining our commitment to excellence in student instruction. Our faculty publish in top-tier venues, and contribute to leading conferences and journals.  Funded research is carried out in the areas of artificial intelligence, computing education, data science, distributed systems, graphics and visualization, pervasive computing, programming languages, security, and theory.  Students at all levels participate in research projects, including through NSF-sponsored undergraduate research programs. Our PhD students have made meaningful contributions to their respective areas, and gone on to secure good positions in industry and academia. Faculty are encouraged to develop new courses and teach in their area of interest and have a low teaching load with capped class sizes.

The College: Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences at RIT is one of the most comprehensive computing colleges in the nation. The college is housed in modern facilities in Rochester, NY, that include leading programs in computer science, game design and cybersecurity. As home to the country’s first undergraduate programs in software engineering and information technology, as well as the recently opened Global Cybersecurity Institute, Golisano College has long been a leader in computing education and research. Faculty, staff and students have access to specialized studios, labs, and equipment that are among the most complete and current of any university in the world. Moreover, Golisano College graduates go on to work at the world’s leading tech firms and have developed groundbreaking technology like the Kinect for Xbox 360 and game-changing innovations like jQuery. The college is home to the departments of Computer Science, Computing Security, and Software Engineering, as well as the School of Information, the School of Interactive Games & Media, and a college-wide PhD program, providing abundant opportunities for research collaboration within and beyond the college.

Additional Details: The hiring process for this position may require a criminal background check and/or motor vehicle records check. Any verbal or written offer made is contingent on satisfactory results, as determined by Human Resources.RIT does not discriminate. RIT promotes and values diversity, pluralism and inclusion in the work place. RIT provides equal opportunity to all qualified individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, age, marital status, sex, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, veteran status or disability in its hiring, admissions, educational programs and activities. RIT provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities under the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the New York Human Rights Law, or similar applicable law. If you need reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, and you wish to discuss potential accommodations related to your application for employment at RIT, please contact the Human Resources office at 585-475-2424 or email your request to Careers@rit.edu. 

Assistant Professor Position at SJSU

The Department of Applied Data Science at San Jose State University is recruiting tenure-track assistant professors for Fall 2021. The position announcement is currently posted at https://jobs.sjsu.edu/sj/en-us/job/497762?lApplicationSubSourceID=

Tenure Track Assistant Professor in Computer Engineering: San Jose State University

The Computer Engineering department at San Jose State University is recruiting for two tenure track faculty positions at the rank of Assistant Professor for Fall 2021. The position announcement is currently posted at: https://jobs.sjsu.edu/sj/en-us/job/497818?lApplicationSubSourceID= 

Computer Science Tenure Track Positions - UC Davis

The College of Engineering announces four open tenure-track positions, at any level (assistant/associate/full), in the Department of Computer Science. Applications are encouraged from candidates with a strong background in any current or emerging area that will align with one of our department’s disciplinary interests in:

ML, NLP and Vision: https://recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF03850

Quantum Computing: https://recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF03853

Theoretical Computer Science: https://recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF03838

We seek candidates with potential or demonstrated excellence in research that complements or extends existing research strengths in the Department of Computer Science and elsewhere on campus, and the potential to attract extramural funding. We also seek evidence of, or potential for, commitment to the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion for historically underrepresented and marginalized student communities. Finally, we seek evidence of a commitment to excellence in teaching at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

For fullest consideration applications must be completed by December 15, 2020; there is some possibility that applications that arrive as late as January 20, 2021 might be considered. Application packages should be submitted online at https://cs.ucdavis.edu/jobopportunities.

Please see the announcement here: JointAdShort.pdf

DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program accepting applications

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science is pleased to announce that the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is now accepting applications for the 2020 Solicitation 2.  Applications are due 5:00pm Eastern Time on Thursday, November 12, 2020. 

We would like to bring to your attention 4 new transdisciplinary research areas for encouraging graduate training activities at the convergence of multiple disciplines and communities, including Microelectronics, Data Science, Conservation Laws and Symmetries, and Accelerator Science. We strongly encourage applications in these areas.  Detailed information about the program, including eligibility requirements and access to the online application system, can be found at: https://science.osti.gov/wdts/scgsr/.  

The SCGSR program supports supplemental awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students to conduct part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE national laboratory/facility in collaboration with a DOE laboratory scientist for a period of 3 to 12 consecutive months—with the goal of preparing graduate students for scientific and technical careers critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission.

The SCGSR program is open to current Ph.D. students in qualified graduate programs at accredited U.S. academic institutions, who are conducting their graduate thesis research in targeted areas of importance to the DOE Office of Science. The research opportunity is expected to advance the graduate students’ overall doctoral thesis/dissertation while providing access to the expertise, resources, and capabilities available at the host DOE laboratories/facilities. The supplemental award provides for additional, incremental costs for living and travel expenses directly associated with conducting the SCGSR research project at the DOE host laboratory/facility during the award period.

The Office of Science expects to make approximately 95 awards in 2020 Solicitation 2 cycle, for project periods beginning anytime between June 14, 2021 and October 4, 2021. 

Since its inception in 2014, the SCGSR program has provided support to over 580 graduate awardees from 141 different U.S. universities to conduct thesis research at 18 DOE national laboratories/facilities across the nation.

The SCGSR program is sponsored and managed by the DOE Office of Science’s Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS), in collaboration with the six Office of Science research programs offices and the DOE national laboratories/facilities, and program administration support is provided by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE).

For any questions, please contact the SCGSR Program Manager, Dr. Ping Ge, at sc.scgsr@science.doe.gov.