Sefii Comisiei Europene au decis, in premiera, o schimbare radicala pentru un celebru institut de cercetare din Iasi. In joc sunt milioane de euro
Lovitura de imagine pentru un important centru de cercetare din municipiul Iasi • Un mare institut iesean a ajuns pe prima pagina a documentelor Comisiei Europene • Cei mai importanti experti din domeniu vor ajunge la Iasi pentru a pune bazele unui centru major de excelenta in domeniul cercetarii • Institutul de Chimie Macromoleculara „Petru Poni” a ajuns sa fie in mijlocul atentiei marilor cercetatori ai Europei
Un important institut iesean a ajuns in centrul atentiei Europei prin proiectele pe care le deruleaza si cercetarile facute in ultimii ani. Institutul de Chimie Macromoleculara „Petru Poni” din Iasi a devenit locul de întâlnire a inovatorilor europeni, acesta urmand a fi transformat intr-un centru de excelenta in domeniul cercetarii. Astfel, Iasul se numara printre marile centre de cercetare la nivel european, totul urmand a fi derulat cu sprijinul Comisiei Europene.
De altfel, in aceste zile Iasul a gazduit o conferinta a regiunilor inovatoare din Europa, conferinta derulata sub patronajul presedintiei Romaniei in cadrul Consiliului Uniunii Europene, prin Agentia de Dezvoltare Regionala Nord- Est, eveniment la care au participat nume grele din domeniul cercetarii si inovarii de pe continent.
In aceste conditii, institutul iesean a ajuns in centrul atentiei Directiei Generale pentru Cercetare si Inovare din cadrul Comisiei Europene. Prezenta la Iasi, Signe Ratso, director adjunct in cadrul departamentului respectiv, a aratat ca Institutul „Petru Poni” poate ajunge un centru de excelenta in domeniul cercetarii la nivel european. De altfel, in perioada urmatoare vor ajunge la Iasi numerosi experti din domeniul cercetarii, profesori universitari din marile centre europene.
„Romania a derulat o serie de proiecte de succes si are parte de institutii de cercetare foarte importante. Sunt oportunitati pentru cercetatorii romani in derularea unor proiecte inovatoare pe care noi le vom sustine. Iar Institutul «Petru Poni» este un centru important in acest sens. Stiu ca institutul a beneficiat de cateva milioane de euro pentru derularea unui proiect, ideea fiind de a aduce cercetatori renumiti din alte zone ale Europei, profesori de la Universitatea din Montpellier- Franta, dar si specialisti in chimie la «Petru Poni». Ideea este de a face un centru de excelenta in acest domeniu al chimiei si nu numai aici la Iasi, la Institutul «Petru Poni»”, a aratat Signe Ratso, director general adjunct al Directiei Generale pentru Cercetare si Inovare din cadrul Comisiei Europene.
Institutul deruleaza mai multe proiecte internationale ce au atras atentia europenilor veniti in aceste zile la Iasi. Sefa Departamentului de Cercetare din cadrul Comisiei Europene a subliniat si alte aspecte ce tin de proiectele derulate de cercetatorii romani.
„Reuniunea informala a sefilor de state de la Sibiu a subliniat ca cercetarea si inovarea vor avea o importanta vitala în conturarea unei Europe durabile în viitor. Vom avea nevoie de toti actorii, la nivel european, national si regional, sa ne implicam în acest proces, fructificând întregul potential de cercetare si inovare, în special potentialul care este în prezent insuficient utilizat. Comisia Europeana a depus mult efort pentru a se asigura ca instrumentele sale de finantare lucreaza împreuna pentru a sprijini acest demers. Viitorul program Horizon Europe va oferi noi oportunitati de sinergie cu Politica de Coeziune, permitând combinarea diferitelor surse de finantare UE pentru a maximiza impactul”, a mai spus Signe Ratso.
Sute de experti in cercetare au invadat Iasul
Evenimentul de la Iasi a stârnit interesul a peste 200 de participanti din 33 de tari, reprezentând universitati, centre de cercetare si inovare, clustere, ministere si agentii guvernamentale, organizatii de dezvoltare regionala, antreprenori si asociatii profesionale. Manifestarea care a reunit expertii Europei in cercetare a reprezentat principalul forum politic european de inovare si dezvoltare regionala in promovarea oportunitatilor din domeniu.
„Transformarea economica, digitalizarea, excelenta, pietele globale, ecosisteme regionale de inovare si, bineînteles, educatia sunt doar câteva dintre temele pe care le abordam anul acesta la conferinta. Recunostinta noastra se îndreapta catre Comisia Europeana, în special Directoratul pentru Cercetare si Inovare si Ministerul Cercetarii, care ne-au sprijinit în acest efort, partenerilor nostri locali si regionali si lectorilor care au ales sa împartaseasca cu noi din expertiza lor, din provocari, dar si din lectii învatate”, a mentionat Vasile Asandei, director general ADR Nord–Est.
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
Viitorul rector al Universitatii „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iasi va fi ALES prin VOT DIRECT
Joi (ieri – n.r.), 27 iunie 2019, Senatul Universitatii „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” (UAIC) din Iasi a validat rezultatul Referendumului universitar pentru alegerea modalitatii de desemnare a rectorului Universitatii, pentru mandatul 2020-2024.
„La Referendumul organizat în cadrul Universitatii „Cuza” din Iasi au participat un numar de 489 de votanti din cei 859 înscrisi în listele electorale, dintre care 429 au optat pentru alegerea rectorului prin vot universal, direct si secret, 58 de persoane au optat pentru alegerea rectorului pe baza de concurs public, în timp ce 1 vot a fost declarat nul, iar 1 buletin de vot nu a fost completat. Astfel, 88.09 la suta dintre persoanele care s-au prezentat la vot au optat pentru alegerea viitorului rector prin vot direct, universal si secret, iar restul de aproximativ 11.91 la suta s-au pronuntat pentru alegerea rectorului printr-un concurs public”, au precizat oficialii UAIC.
În urma voturilor valabil exprimate de catre membrii comunitatii academice cu drept de vot, s-a decis ca desemnarea rectorului pentru mandatul 2020-2024 sa se faca pe baza de alegeri generale, prin vot universal, direct si secret.
Publicație: Bună Ziua Iași și Ziarul de Iași
Using commander’s intent in the science lab
Focusing on the “why” instead of the “how” of experiments can make you a more flexible and efficient scientist, says Daniel Bojar
In the lab, it’s easy to fall into this pattern: you plan one experiment and then, while you’re in the process of setting it up, you’re already planning the next one and the one after that. But all the experiments are conditional on the success of the first one. And then, because this is science after all, the initial experiment doesn’t work and you’re left devastated. Sound familiar? It certainly does to me! My plans for weeks are in ruins after the first experiment fails. It’s an all too common pattern, especially in the early phases of my PhD.
And there is another common pattern that at first glance seems to be distinct from this: haphazardly planning unconnected experiments, stumbling from lab week to lab week and hoping for a breakthrough.
But during my PhD, I’ve come to realise that the origin of both these patterns is a lack of focus. Not the I-can’t-concentrate-even-after-three-coffees lack of focus, but the one that comes when you don’t have an overarching goal and purpose. Of course I focused on the planning, execution and analysis of my experiments. Yet I realised that I was lacking the other sort of focus, the higher-level focus of my project and my research.
Like most PhDs, I read a lot and I try to expose myself to diverse topics, picking up nonfiction books from all corners of academia. So it was actually twice that I independently stumbled upon the concept of “commander’s intent”.
The first time was in Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan Heath and the second was in the stellar Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction by Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner. Commander’s intent (or if you prefer the slightly tongue-in-cheek abbreviation, CSI) refers to a concept in military planning that I think carries great value for a whole range of situations, one of which is the lab work in a research project.
Military commanders like to plan really well. In fact, they plan in a style similar to the first experiment routine I mentioned, building on the assumed success of previous steps.
But, to paraphrase the great Prussian general Helmuth von Moltke, no battle plan survives contact with the enemy. The whole plan can be derailed by weather vagaries or a wrong turn on the road. Analogous mishaps can (and did) happen to me at any given time in the lab. Like the time it took weeks of cloning a stubborn plasmid I needed for an experiment, which stalled my sequence of planned experiments.
Enter commander’s intent. To combat the uncertainties of war, the military established a system in which the actual intent of the order was written on top. So in addition to how the officer or soldier should fulfil their duties, commander’s intent ensured that the why was also evident. In fact, the why on every order should be so abundantly clear that it’s understandable for soldiers several ranks lower than the recipient of the order.
What this enables is flexibility. The true goal of a defence assignment, for example, is probably not holding the bridge but rather barring enemy access to the other side of the river. As soon as the true goal of the mission is made clear, alternative actions can be independently taken in case of adversity.
The same is true in research. I realised that what you’re doing is far less important than why you do it.
So I began to live by commander’s intent by constantly reminding myself of the overarching goal of my current actions. Sometimes I get the feeling that I’m more of a foot soldier while I’m conducting the experiments. But while I’m planning out the research project in the first place I’m in the general’s role. That’s why I have to break it down and always keep the long-term goal in my head.
Now when I run into problems with a plasmid that doesn’t want to be cloned, I think of a different way or a different experiment to achieve my overarching goal instead of wasting weeks on a recalcitrant plasmid. Now when an experiment fails, I’m considerably less discouraged because I know that the goal still stands unperturbed and I just have to find another way to get to it. Now I have the goal to guide me. It’s not only a lot healthier for myself, but I believe it also makes me a more effective scientist.
Publicație : The Times
Want to get women to ask more questions at events? Talk about it
Study backs up earlier findings that women are less likely to ask questions at conferences, even when they are in majority – but that raising awareness of the issue can have a big impact
Getting more female voices heard at academic conferences may not necessarily be achieved simply by getting more women to attend, but raising awareness of how less likely they are to ask questions can make a significant impact, according to a study.
Stanford University researchers who analysed participation in question-and-answer sessions at the American Society of Human Genetics and Biology of Genomes conferences over four years, found that, while women made up 53 per cent of estimated attendees, they asked only 35 per cent of recorded questions.
This backs up previous research which found that women were significantly less likely to ask questions at academic conferences.
However, the new study finds that, even when women made up around 70 per cent of attendees, they still only asked around 40 per cent of questions.
This argues against the hypothesis that women are discouraged from asking questions because they are in a minority.
“For a long time, we’ve been saying that as soon as we reach 50 per cent representation, all differences in behaviour will go away, but this provides a really important counterpoint to that,” said Natalie Telis, a Stanford PhD graduate and co-author of the study, published in The American Journal of Human Genetics on 27 June.
Dr Telis said that, at this rate, an audience would need to be 80-90 per cent female before the questions were evenly split between men and women.
What Dr Telis did find made a difference, however, was raising awareness of this disparity. At a Biology of Genomes conference in 2015, she shared existing results demonstrating the underrepresentation of women in question-and-answer sessions. The resulting discussions prompted a change in policy – so that the first question after each talk was offered to a junior academic, Dr Telis explained.
This led to the proportion of questions asked by women at the event to rise from around 10 per cent to 30 per cent. The figure remained higher in subsequent meetings, suggesting that the discussion had a long-lasting impact.
At a separate event hosted by the American Society of Human Genetics in 2017, Dr Telis repeated the experiment by describing her preliminary findings in a plenary talk on the opening night of the meeting. While the total proportion of questions asked by women stayed the same, the proportion of talks with no questions asked by women decreased from 51 per cent to 30 per cent.
“With a simple and immediate intervention – public discussion – we changed behaviour, at least in the moment,” Dr Telis concluded. “It’s clear that discussion has some impact. But that’s not the end of the story and I’m excited to see what else we can try.”
Publicație : The Times
Obama adviser warns universities of growing cybersecurity threat
‘Irresistible’ network technology raises threat level from crooks and spooks, says Jeff Bleich
Universities must brace for a step change in cybersecurity threats as criminals and manipulators exploit runaway connectivity to feed their greed for data, according to a former adviser to Barack Obama.
Cybersecurity expert Jeff Bleich said artificial intelligence was fuelling a new wave of speculative data theft. And the challenge that “keeps me awake at night” is 5G mobile network technology, said the former US ambassador to Australia.
Professor Bleich said universities could not afford to steer clear of 5G until its security risks were resolved, because the technology’s potential to underpin extraordinary improvements to research and teaching made it “irresistible”.
“The speeds are breathtakingly fast, and it connects with every device you can imagine. Rather than suggesting that people need to somehow stop or avoid it, we need to mobilise as a society to figure out how to make it work for humanity, as opposed to overwhelming humanity,” said Professor Bleich, who also served as special counsel to Mr Obama in the White House.
Professor Bleich now lectures on security issues at Adelaide’s Flinders University and has given his name to the university’s new multidisciplinary research centre on digital technology.
Its establishment coincides with rising concern about the data security of universities themselves. In early June, the Australian National University revealed that hackers had netted almost two decades of staff, student and visitor records.
A fortnight later, the Australian Catholic University said a “phishing attack” had accessed staff emails and bank account details. Both incidents emerged after a report from the New South Wales auditor-general warned universities to strengthen cybersecurity controls to “protect sensitive data and prevent financial and reputational losses”.
Professor Bleich said universities were entering a period of “rapidly adapting security”, with information now being harvested by people who had no immediate idea about how to use it. He cited the 2015 hack of the US Office of Personnel Management, when the records of some 4 million people were stolen.
It was not clear whether the culprits planned to sell the data, use the information for blackmail or distract government officials by “creating mischief with their bank accounts”, he said. Another possibility was that the records were simply being used “to create a larger dataset for the future” on the assumption that they would be “highly valuable in some context”.
The race to adopt 5G means that data will now be collected “in ways we have no ability to track”, he warned, with hackers “using technologies that we have not yet figured out how to stop”.
Professor Bleich said universities should be wary in their dealings with Huawei, the Chinese company considered the global 5G leader. “I think having Huawei in the backbone of a 5G system is a grave threat, and the countries that have taken a close look at it have reached the same conclusion,” he said.
He predicted a role for blockchain, the digital ledger technology, in protecting universities’ data. While people tended to equate blockchain with the virtual currency bitcoin, it was an “invaluable tool” for tracing activities with complete accuracy.
“It’s in the background of a number of different systems, and it’s continued to evolve and improve for each of them. Blockchain may be part of the solution, but there’s going to be a suite of solutions – not one magic bullet that suddenly makes everyone’s information secure. As soon as you develop a magic bullet, someone’s going to come up with a magic shield.”
Publicație : The Times
Robotica, gli studenti italiani trionfano ad Hannover
Ai campionati internazionali hanno partecipato migliaia di giovani divisi per categorie, 150 team, 22 dei quali italiani. Il gradino più alto del podio è stato raggiunto dalla squadra Sambei dell’ ITIS ‘De Pretto’ di Schio
La robotica è una scienza interdisciplinare che si occupa della progettazione e dello sviluppo di robot. Scienza interdisciplinare vuol dire che nella progettazione di un robot sono coinvolte tante discipline e tipi di conoscenze diverse, e che alla realizzazione di un androide lavorano tanti professionisti di formazione differente. Ecco perché da qualche anno la robotica ha preso piede nelle scuole di tutto il mondo e non stupisce che ai campionati internazionali di Hannover si siano confrontati migliaia di giovani divisi per categorie, 150 team, 22 dei quali italiani.
La Robocup Junior Euro 2019 è stata ospitata all’interno di Ideen-Expo, una manifestazione interamente dedicata alla tecnologia, alla scienza e all’ambiente. Il gradino più alto del podio è stato raggiunto dalla squadra Sambei dell’ ITIS ‘De Pretto’ di Schio, che ha gareggiato per la categoria Rescue line, in cui un robot deve muoversi seguendo la linea tracciata sul pavimento e affrontando salite più o meno ripide.
Il Manetti soccer team del Polo tecnologico di Grosseto ha invece conquistato il 2° posto nella specialità Soccer open, in cui i robot si confrontano in una partita di calcio con tanto di goal. I Negrelli1 di Rovereto hanno conquistato il 3° posto nella Line entry, cioè la categoria Under14, quindi i più piccoli fra gli italiani premiati.
Hanno sfiorato il terzo posto nella categoria On Stage Advanced i ragazzi del team Musicurao del Liceo Scientifico Statale ‘G. Galilei’ di Catania, piazzandosi dietro ai francesi con uno scarto minimo di 0,30. La prova di Onstage a cui hanno partecipato prevede una interazione con un robot che si esibisce in una performance artistica: i ragazzi hanno costruito delle mani meccaniche che suonano una tastiera riproducendo le colonne sonore di videogames iconici. Per la qualità del loro lavoro ai ragazzi siciliani è stato assegnato il Team Spirit Award.
Publicație : La Repubblica