On April 2, 2013, President Obama launched the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative to revolutionize our understanding of the human mind and uncover new ways to treat, prevent, and cure brain disorders. This multi-agency effort includes funding opportunities from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). In mid-November, DARPA announced two programs as a part of this Initiative: SUBNETS (Systems-Based Neurotechnology for Emerging Therapies) and RAM (Restoring Active Memory). The NIH plans to invest $40 million in Fiscal Year 2014 and has announced six funding opportunities for the BRAIN Initiative. “The first wave of NIH investments in the BRAIN initiative will focus largely on technology development that will advance […]

On Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at 10 am EST, Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council Member Mark Hill will be delivering a Distinguished Lecture at the National Science Foundation (NSF).  Hill is the Gene M. Amdahl Professor of Computer Sciences and Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Hill’s talk will have two parts.  First, he will discuss possible directions for computer architecture research, including architecture as infrastructure, energy first, impact of new technologies, and cross-layer opportunities. This is based on a 2012 CCC whitepaper effort led by Hill. In the second part, Hill will discuss an example of the cross-layer research advocated in the first part. From the […]

As part of Computer Science Education Week, Tom Kalil, Deputy Director for Technology and Innovation at The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and Farnam Jahanian, Assistant Director of The National Science Foundation (NSF) for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), share their thoughts on the White House blog about the importance of computer science for all students and what the government is doing about it. This week, we’re celebrating Computer Science Education Week (CS Ed Week), which highlights the importance of computer science in our education system.  To recognize CS Ed Week this year, we encourage everyone to participate in the Hour of Code. It’s an easy way […]

It was announced on December 9, 2013 that Yann LeCun from NYU will be heading a new research lab at Facebook focused on Artificial Intelligence.  LeCun posted on his Facebook page: Big news today! Facebook has created a new research laboratory with the ambitious, long-term goal of bringing about major advances in Artificial Intelligence. I am thrilled to announce that I have accepted the position of director of this new lab. I will remain a professor at New York University on a part-time basis, and will maintain research and teaching activities at NYU. Cade Metz of Wired has also reported on the news.  He shares, LeCun sits at the heart […]

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced the formal appointment of Dr. Philip E. Bourne as the First Associate Director for Data Science at the Institutes.  Francis S. Collins, Director of NIH said, Phil will lead an NIH-wide priority initiative to take better advantage of the exponential growth of biomedical research datasets, which is an area of critical importance to biomedical research. The era of ‘Big Data’ has arrived, and it is vital that the NIH play a major role in coordinating access to and analysis of many different data types that make up this revolution in biological information. This appointment is very exciting for the computing community, as it signals […]

Today, December 9, 2013,  is Grace Murray Hopper’s Birthday (she would be 107 years old) and the beginning of Computer Science Education Week.  These events are being commemorated and celebrated in many ways throughout the country.  Even President Obama is getting involved with his own video.  As he says, Don’t just buy a new videogame, make one.  Don’t just download the latest app, help design it.  Don’t just play on your phone, program it. Hadi Partovi is the founder of Code.org, the organization bringing us The Hour of Code, a way to engage every student in the country in computer science for one hour this week.  He says, If you […]