The School of Computing will be hosting computer scientists from five continents in two international symposia. Dr Olaf Chitil and Dr Andy King from the School are co-chairs for these prestigious events in the logic and functional programming communities.

The 16th International Symposium on Principles and Practice of Declarative Programming (PPDP 2014) will take place from 8-10 September 2014 on the Canterbury campus.

PPDP brings together researchers from the declarative programming communities, including those working in the logic, constraint and functional programming paradigms, aiming to cross-fertilise one paradigm with ideas from another.

The 24th International Symposium on Logic-based Program Synthesis and Transformation (LOPSTR 2014) will be held from 9-11 September, and many delegates will be attending both events.

LOPSTR promotes international research and collaboration on logic-based program development, with particular focus on partial deduction, program synthesis and partial evaluation.

As per the QA retention policy (Section D, page 4), all Moodle modules for the following academic years will be permanently deleted from Moodle Archive on 1 October 2014:

• 2005/2006
• 2006/2007
• 2007/2008

If there is any content you wish to retain, please download this before the module is deleted, as it will not be possible to retrieve it beyond this date.

Staff are advised to contact their Faculty Learning Technologist with any related queries.

Dr Peter Rodgers has been appointed as the School of Computing‘s Director of Research and Enterprise. The three-year post runs from September 2014 until August 2017.

Head of School Professor Frank Wang said: ‘Peter’s work is in information visualisation and diagrammatic reasoning, including applications to mapping such as metro (underground) systems and he has a track record of publishing in international conferences and leading journals. He also has proven experience of working with industry through receiving a Royal Society Industrial Fellowship.’

Peter’s responsibilities in this role will include: developing the School’s research strategy, monitoring its research and enterprise performance, advising School members on preparation of research proposals and chairing the School Research & Enterprise Committee.

Professor Simon Thompson had been in this post for the last three years. Professor Frank Wang said: ‘I would like to take this opportunity to thank Simon Thompson for his extraordinary contributions to the School. Over the past years, he has spent an enormous amount of time in leading the research strategy, encouraging high quality research and supporting individuals. Without his dedication, we would not have had such a high quality REF submission.’

For further information, contact Orla Garratt.

The University’s 50th anniversary celebrations begin in one month, and all staff are invited to the opening ceremonies that will kick start the year.

They take place on 1 October in Canterbury and 2 October in Medway. They are open to all and we are inviting the local community to join our students, staff and alumni for an evening of live music, entertainment and spectacular fireworks.

Both events start at 5pm so come along after work – to the Senate Lawn in front of the Templeman Library and the No1 Bistro on the ground floor of the Rochester building – to join the fun. You can find out more about both events on the new 50th anniversary website.

It launched this morning and you are the first to see it! It includes details of events and projects taking place throughout the year – with more to come. It also has a new memory wall where we will add your photos and stories of Kent. Come and have a look around!

If you have any questions about the 50th anniversary, contact 50years@kent.ac.uk.

Corporate Communications and Kent Innovation & Enterprise have commissioned Viewforth Consulting to carry out a study of the University’s economic, social and cultural impact as part of the broad range of activities which are taking place as part of the 50th anniversary.

As part of this study, we would like to include the additional value for society generated by the external engagement and public service activities of University staff, inside and outside of normal work hours. This relates to unpaid or ‘nominally ‘ reimbursed advisory and engagement activity, such as acting as adviser to a government committee or serving on a school board. Many University staff participate in such activity but it can be an ‘invisible’ element of their professional role and is not always clearly recognised.

We would be most grateful if you could take part in a survey to help Viewforth carry out this part of the study. You can access the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7SWZJPZ.

Viewforth have worked with a number of other institutions across the HE sector including Universities UK. This is the second impact study they have carried out on behalf of the University. If you have any queries on this, Carole Barron (KIE) and Posie Bogan (Corporate Communications) would be more than happy to answer them. Please note the survey closes on 10 September 2014.

For those of you who like to plan your festive season well ahead, the Beagle’s Christmas menu is now available.

You can choose from two courses at £14.50 or three courses at £19.50, available from 17 November to 19 December.

To book:

• Call the Conference Office on ext 8000
• Or email internalcatering@kent.ac.uk.