The Computing Research Association recently published the results of its annual Taulbee Survey, and the numbers of PostDocs rose to record levels, continuing a trend that we have witnessed for more than a decade — and bringing new meaning to the CRA’s PostDoc white paper effort. Background As we have blogged here before, CRA — the umbrella organization of the CCC — initiated an effort last fall to engage the community in a conversation about PostDocs, at a time when a growing number of new CS PhDs appeared to be going that route. A committee commissioned by CRA prepared a white paper reporting the statistics associated with academic and industry […]

As we’ve previously reported in this space, the NSF’s CISE Directorate and the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) jointly sponsored a Workshop on the Role of Information Sciences and Engineering in Sustainability on February 3-4, 2011, in Washington, DC. A primary goal was to bring together leading researchers in a wide range of disciplines spanning sustainability and information technology to discuss research challenges in this area. The workshop participants were unanimous in their belief that CISE innovations are critical for addressing core problems in sustainability, to include energy, transportation, and climate science and the environment. In the final report, we have articulated guiding principles for achieving sustainability through CISE research, as well […]

There’s a great article in today’s New York Times describing a 2007 persuasive technology course at Stanford University — and how it became a laboratory for start-ups making simple products aimed at attracting large numbers of users (emphasis added): All right, class, here’s your homework assignment: Devise an app. Get people to use it. Repeat.   That was the task for some Stanford students in the fall of 2007, in what became known here as the “Facebook Class.”   No one expected what happened next.   The students ended up getting millions of users for free apps that they designed to run on Facebook. And, as advertising rolled in, some of those […]

The National Library of Medicine has announced a software development challenge, seeking innovative software applications that use the library’s vast and free biomedical data. The goal is to further the agency’s “mission of supporting the dissemination and exchange of biomedical information to foster scientific discovery, enhance clinical care, and improve public health.” Entries are due by August 31, 2011 — and winners will be recognized at an awards ceremony at NLM in early November. The National Library of Medicine (NLM), part of the National Institutes of Health, invites people to show off their apps. NLM is challenging people to create innovative software applications that use the Library’s vast collection of […]

Today, the Computing Community Consortium, a standing committee of the Computing Research Association, is pleased to announce a call for 2011-12 Computing Innovation Fellows (CIFellows). The CIFellows Project, established in 2009 with support from the National Science Foundation, offers recent Ph.D. graduates in computer science, computer engineering, information science, or a closely related field an exciting opportunity to obtain one- to two-year positions at universities, industrial research laboratories, and other organizations that are pursuing innovation in computing and its positive impact on society. I encourage applications from recently graduated/graduating Ph.D.s by the May 31, 2011, deadline!

A bit of shameless self-promotion: I’ve been asked many questions about the Computing Community Consortium in the past year — and we’ve recently put together a two-page flyer that attempts to address the most common ones. Please click on the image to the right to open the PDF version — for what we hope is a quick read detailing the CCC’s history, objectives, and principal activities. And while we’re on the subject, a few shameless plugs: Below are key activities the CCC is leading right now. I encourage you to e-mail me if you’re interested in getting involved with, or participating in, any of these. Research Frontiers sessions at major […]