As part of its mission to help nurture a next generation of computing research leaders, the Computing Community Consortium today announced a call for participants in a first-ever Leadership in Science Policy Institute (LiSPI) — to be held on Monday, November 7, 2011, at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The goal of the LiSPI, co-organized by CRA’s Government Affairs Committee, is to educate a small cadre of computing researchers — at the associate professor or higher level — about how science policy is formulated in the U.S. and how our government works.  In particular, the LiSPI will feature presentations and discussions with science policy experts, current and former […]

The following is a special contribution to this blog by CCC Council member Stephanie Forrest.  She reports on her department’s opinions about PostDocs in computer science.  We welcome your thoughts about Stephanie’s summary — as well as the broader PostDoc issue — below or at http://cra.org/postdocs.  (More information about the CRA-facilitated conversation on CS PostDocs is available here.) The University of New Mexico’s Computer Science Department has considerable experience training post-doctoral fellows because of its long tradition in interdisciplinary research.  We discussed the pros and cons of post-doctoral fellows at a recent Faculty meeting.  Several of us have had positive experiences with post-docs — they have enriched our department during their stay — and […]

“A funding ecosphere that allowed, or possibly even encouraged, a postdoctoral position (or, in some cases, a stint in an industrial research lab or another industrial position) before taking an academic job seemed beneficial, from the standpoint of allowing many researchers freedom and flexibility.  [But] a setting where such positions came to be seen as mandatory seemed very worrisome, especially if it created an atmosphere where multiple sequential postdoctoral appointments became the norm.” That’s just a snippet of what the computing research community is saying in response to the Computing Research Association (CRA)-led white paper on PostDocs.  As you’ll recall, in early February, the CRA launched an effort to engage the computing research community in a conversation about PostDocs, […]

The CRA website has an interesting white paper on the role of postdocs in computer science.  The paper is relatively short and very readable.  Right under the white paper is an area for readers to post their thoughts and reactions.  The authors of the white paper plan to write a follow-on report that synthesizes the views of the computing community, so please share your thoughts by March 15.

The Computing Research Association — the umbrella organization of the CCC — today launched an effort to engage the computing research community in a conversation about PostDocs, at a time when a growing number of recent PhDs in computer science and allied fields are pursuing postdoctoral fellowships. According to data from CRA’s annual Taulbee Survey, the numbers of new PostDocs soared from 60 in 1998 to 159 in 2009 (three-year rolling averages), while the numbers of new tenure-track faculty positions declined sharply, from 224 in 2004 to 151 in 2009 (again, three-year rolling averages).  Moreover, the numbers of recent PhDs who are hired into industry immediately out of graduate school […]

Our colleagues at ACM today announced a landmark report that presents, for the first time, a state-by-state breakdown of current K-12 standards for computer science education, including specific high school graduation requirements: http://www.acm.org/runningonempty. At the same time, a new non-partisan coalition of associations, corporations, scientific societies, and other non-profits was unveiled. Computing in the Core, as it’s called, comprises CRA, NCWIT, the Anita Borg Institute for Women & Technology, the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), Microsoft, Google, and SAS. It strives to elevate computer science education to a core academic subject in K-12 education, giving young people the college- and career-readiness skills necessary in a technology-focused society. CinC’s new website […]