Hadeel Farhan has spent the last two years thinking about Italy.

In 2020, the third-year computer science student decided she wanted to go on Professor Peter Wiederspahns Dialogue of Civilizations to Italy. She was looking for something newsomething different from her desk-bound computer science classesand Wiederspahns month-long romp through Italian architecture fit the bill. Farhan applied to the program and, to her delight, got accepted.

Farhan attended the first orientation session, and she grew even more excited. She headed out for spring break with Italys countryside and sunbaked terracotta roofs on her mind. Then, COVID-19 hit.

As international travel writ large ground to a halt, Northeastern canceled its study abroad and Dialogue programs before making some virtual. A few Dialogues returned in summer 2021, but not Farhans Italian dream trip. So, she waited. And when Farhan, who is entering her fourth and final year, saw that the Italian Dialogue would be returning this summer she leapt at her last chance to go to Italy.

I didnt let myself get excited because I was concerned about the fact that it could have gotten canceled last minute, Farhan said. I was really happy that I actually made it to Italy.

With the return of Northeasterns bite-sized abroad experiences, professors and students are embracing the opportunity to venture outside the country for, in some cases, the first time since the start of the pandemic. While theres been plenty of excitement, many programs have had to change in response to the pandemic and its challenges.

Farhans troubles didnt end when she landed in Venice: She and a small group of students tested positive for COVID-19 within one-week of the programs start. Farhan took the test resultand the ensuing quarantine periodin stride.

I kind of think that I was grateful to be on the Dialogue in the first place, and I was just like, Oh, this is a little blip, Farhan said. I thought that I would rather have gotten COVID and was still in Italy than not gone on the Dialogue at all.

For Wiederspahn, who led the architecture and urbanism Dialogue to Italy for three summers prior to the pandemic, these challenges required a new level of adaptability and flexibility when approaching the program.

We included those students on our walks through Zoom, through iPhone meetings and taking pictures and letting them draw in their quarantine space, which was a luxury in Florence, Wiederspahn said. We were bringing them gelato, and they learned very quickly how to order food.

After a seven-day quarantine, Farhan and her fellow students all tested negative and rejoined the in-person excursions throughout Italy.

Wiederspahn has made very few changes to his Dialogue, but thats not the case for every professor.

Liza Weinstein, associate professor of sociology and anthropology and chair of the department, began planning her Dialogue to India in 2021. She previously ran a Dialogue to South Africa for three years, and the new program was designed as a way to foster peer-to-peer interactions between Northeastern Dialogue students and students in local universities, in this case Ashoka University, located just outside Delhi.

When it became clear Weinstein wouldnt be able to lead the program in 2021 due to the pandemic, she integrated some of the peer-to-peer elements into her class, bringing Ashoka students into her classroom remotely. Weinstein found the experience affirming and ultimately beneficial to the program she will lead later this summer.

It was advantageous, and I think I now have a better sense of what kinds of projects it would make sense for the students to do, Weinstein said. I think it would have been a lot more trial and error if we went to Ashoka without having this year of virtual engagements. Plus, Ive had the additional year to build relationships with colleagues at Ashoka and to understand the Ashoka students better and to prepare more fully. I feel like were going in further ahead than we would have been.

Unlike Farhan, attending a Dialogue during the pandemic has been smooth sailing for Julia Henning.

A first-year journalism and political science student, Henning is currently in London on an English culture and documentary filmmaking Dialogue with Michelle Carr, senior lecturer of communication studies. Henning said there have been no pandemic-related disruptions to her Dialogue.

After two years of being in this really small community, doing online classes, and then getting back into life this year but still masked and not going to big social events, its fun to just be able to jump back into that whole [way] of meeting people on public transportation and just talking to a bunch of people, going out to all the restaurants, Henning said.

Henning and Farhan have had very different adventures, but after two years of a pandemic where anything and everything was up in the air, they share a gratitude for their Dialogue experiences.

I feel like Im taking advantage of things more, Farhan said. During quarantine I said I wasnt going to be indoors unless I needed to sleep. I havent really stuck to that 100%, but I have spent more time outside, so Im happy with that.

For media inquiries, please contact media@northeastern.edu.

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Dialogue of Civilizations programs returns to Northeastern - Northeastern University

While data science and AI create many opportunities in all dimensions of our daily lives, they also pose new legal, ethical, and political challenges. The new AI in Society MOOC, created in collaboration with the Una Europa alliance, will respond to the increasing need for more public awareness and understanding of AI.

Una Europa AI in Society Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) creates critical awareness of the basics of AI and its related ethical issues as well as its impacts on different sectors of society, including justice and jurisprudence, health care, and democratic participation. The MOOC examines how society could cope with these issues, and how the societal impact and relevant values can be considered in design, implementation, and deployment of AI.

The course has no prerequisites and is aimed at students, civil servants (e.g. within the European Union and national governments), policy makers, (ICT) companies, application developers, and regular laymen with interest in how AI will impact the society.

Some people have prejudices toward AI systems. A better understanding of the impact of AI allows proactive dealing with the negative issues while ensuring that we all benefit from the positive opportunities, says Professor Jukka Nurminen from the Department of Computer Sciences of the University of Helsinki.

The multidisciplinary MOOC is based on latest research on Data Science, AI and Social Sciences. In addition to the compulsory basic part, students can choose optional modules matching their interests, needs and background. To support selecting the elective modules, the MOOC gives suggestions based on the background and previous knowledge of the student.

The course will be launched 2 June 2022 at the event Are you ready to live with AI? which is open to the public in Helsinki or streamed online.

Una Europa AI in Society MOOC is provided by University of Helsinki in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh and University of Paris 1 Panthon-Sorbonne. Una Europa is an alliance of leading European research universities, to which University of Helsinki is a member of.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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University of Helsinkis new open AI in Society MOOC will consider technologys issues and challenges - EurekAlert

Work type: Full-timeDepartment: Faculty of Engineering (14000)Categories: Professoriate Staff

The Faculty of Engineering at The University of Hong Kong invites applications for Professor and Head of Department of Computer Science (Ref.: 513846), to commence on January 1, 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter. The appointment as Head of Department will be made for an initial three-year term, renewable subject to mutual agreement.

The University

Ranked the World #1 Most International University (2021), and 22nd amongst the Worlds Top Universities by QS World University Rankings (2022), the University is a leading university in Asia with 29,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and more than 7,000 academic and administrative staff.

The Faculty

The Faculty of Engineering, one of the two founding faculties of The University of Hong Kong, is at the forefront of engineering research, and is one of the largest Faculties in The University offering a wide range of undergraduate majors, masters programmes and PhD degrees. The Faculty groomed more than 19,000 first-degree engineering graduates and 16,000 masters and PhD graduates. The Faculty has over 140 professors and teaching staff.

The Department

The Department of Computer Science has 38 core faculty members and serves around 540 undergraduate and 832 graduate students. The Department offers a wide-range of successful undergraduate programmes, including in Computer Science, Data Science & Engineering, Financial Technology, and a dual degree with the Faculty of Business and Economics. At the graduate level, it offers masters degrees in Computer Science, Data Science, and Artificial Intelligence, Electronic Commerce and Internet Computing, Financial Technology and Data Analytics. In addition, Computer Science has very active research degree (MPhil and PhD) programmes covering a very broad set of topics.

Research activities in the department are broadly categorized into five main streams, namely Data Science and Engineering; Foundations of Computer Science; Systems and Networking; Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Visual Computing; Cyber Security, FinTech and Blockchain. The Department is equipped with state-of-the-art computing facilities, and maintains a broad range of laboratories in Artificial Intelligence, Bioinformatics Algorithms Research, Computer Networks, FinTech and Blockchain, Quantum Information Computation, etc. Computer Science works closely with other departments withing the Faculty of Engineering along with the Faculties of Medicine, Business and Economics, and Law.

The Role

Reporting to the Dean of Engineering, the Head of Computer Science is expected to provide leadership and vision in leading and growing the Departments research and educational missions and to lead a major expansion of the Department professoriate.

The Head should possess distinguished academic credentials, with internationally acclaimed research achievements. He/She should preferably have relevant administrative experience.. The successful candidate should also possess excellent leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills.

A wide-range of research funding opportunities exist both in Hong Kong and China (far exceeding most other countries) and through interactions with government and local, regional and international industry. The University is adding major new facilities throughout Hong Kong and nearby in China. A highly competitive salary commensurate with qualifications and experience will be offered, in addition to annual leave and medical benefits. At current rates, salaries tax does not exceed 15% of gross income. The University will contribute up to 15% of basis salary into the retirement benefits scheme. Housing benefits will be provided as applicable.

The University only accepts online applications for the above post. Applicants should apply online at the Universitys career site and upload a letter of interest outlining their experience in and vision for research and academic leadership and an up-to-date CV. Review of applications will start on July 1, 2022 and continue until the post is filled.

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Professor and Head of Department of Computer Science job with THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG | 295026 - Times Higher Education

Newswise On April 29-30, 2022, student researchers from across the CSU presented their work at the36th Annual CSU Student Research Competition, hosted virtually bySan Francisco State University.

Many of our students work closely with faculty mentors to explore topics ranging the arts, humanities, behavioral sciences, and science and engineering, says Ganesh Raman, Ph.D., assistant vice chancellor of Research at the CSU Office of the Chancellor.The event, which showcased both undergraduate and graduate research, scholarship and creative activity, was truly a delight to watch and exemplified the CSUs'learn by doing'approach to learning.

Meet a few of the competitions first-place winners.

Name: Madison Stewart Campus: CSU San Marcos Major/Program: Biotechnology, Senior Project: Defining the Relationship Between the Soil Microbiome and Crop Nutritional Content

Working with Biological Sciences Professor Matthew Escobar, Ph.D., and research partner Sheyenne Black, Madison Stewart studied if a soils microbiomeits ecosystem of bacteria, fungi and other organismsaffects nutritional content in crops, specifically tomatoes.

The larger goal of this project is to figure out if there is a relationship where we can alter the nutritional content of these tomatoes using a process called biofortificationwhich is biotechnology, agricultural practices or selective breeding to increase crop nutritionbecause a lot of people are nutrient-deficient in the U.S., Stewart says.

For the project, Dr. Escobar gathered five soil samples from across Southern and Central California, which were then split in half. The first half kept its live microbiome, while the other half was steam-sterilized to kill the microbiome. The team then grew micro tomato plants in each, as well as in a steam-sterilized potting mix. The resulting tomatoes were then freeze dried, ground into a powder and analyzed for nutrient content.

The study confirmed the teams hypothesis that a relationship exists between the soil microbiome and the crops nutritional contentand earned Stewart first place in the Biological and Agricultural Sciences (Undergraduate #1) category. Since then, the team has conducted further analysis and found high levels of ectoinea compound plants do not produce, but may increase their drought resiliencein tomatoes grown in soil with live microbiomes. Future research would investigatehowthe microbiome changes the tomatoes nutritional content.

This ectoine content might be beneficial in times of drought, and if we knew [the relationship], we could pass on [the knowledge to] farmers, Stewart says. As for human consumption, it's a little bit further in the future, but if we can figure out which specific bacteria cause specific nutrient changes, you might be able to engineer a soil microbiome to get a desired crop.

Following graduation, shell begin a Ph.D. program at University of California, Davis to study stem cells and regenerative medicine.

Name: Nikita Mishra Campus: Cal State Los Angeles Major/Program: Biochemistry, Computation Biology and Bioinformatics minor, Senior Project: Computational Characterizations of Binding Affinity in SARSCoV2 Variants to the Human ACE2 Receptor

Nikita Mishra earned the top spot in the Engineering and Computer Science (Mixed) category for her research with Assistant Professor of Computer Science Negin Forouzesh, Ph.D., modeling mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19.

In the past year, we've been hearing a lot about [COVID-19] mutationsOmicron, Delta, Gammabut what we are struggling with right now is that the variants are hard to predict, Mishra says. My research is trying to build a tool that can analyze these different mutations of the virus to see how damaging a given mutation will be should it occur in the virus and then infect the human body.

Using a computer model of the virus protein, Mishra manipulates the amino acids (proteins component parts) that bind to the human ACE2 receptor. The strength of this binding affects how quickly the virus spreads between people and how severe it is. These models help predict the effects of potential variants and how to defend against them.

The virus continues to evolve as time goes on; it's not stopping and it's not going away for the foreseeable future, Mishra says. Having this tool to understand what mutations could be next should help scientists in terms of vaccine development and booster development.

Mishra will continue working with Dr. Forouzesh during the summer to automate the mutation prediction tool before beginning her masters in bioengineering at Stanford University.

Name: Justise Wattree Campus: San Jos State Major/Program: Humanities, African American Studies and Public Health minors, Senior Project: The TwoFront War: SelfHelp, and Black Health Activism during The Spanish Flu, HIV/AIDS, and COVID19

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed health disparities or health inequities [by race and ethnicity] a lot more than what we've seen before, Wattree says. I saw the attempts to counter these disparities in the Black community within the Black church and within activist groups and I was wondering if the community mobilized itself the same way during past pandemicsduring HIV/AIDS and during the Spanish flu.

For this project that won Wattree first place in the Humanities, Arts and Letters (Undergraduate #1) category, he compared the Black health activism carried out during the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, the HIV/AIDS epidemic beginning in the 1980s and the COVID-19 pandemic. The research involved archival work, reviewing Black newspapers from 1918 and newspapers and photographs from the 1980s and 1990s. He then conducted an interview with a public health official and obtained resources from local activist groups in the Bay Area about the current pandemic.

One interesting finding included a fashion campaign in the Black community during the 1918 pandemic to encourage women to wear masks, in hopes theyd influence their families. In addition, Wattree found that the Black churchwhile usually a strong agent of public health activismdid not respond as quickly to the HIV/AIDs epidemic due to the taboos associated with its transmission. The latter leads into his next research project on how the Black churchs connection to local activist groups impacts its response to pandemics, namely the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

It's important to investigate health activism as an avenue for addressing health disparities because health activists may have access to resources or connections with the people that the public health infrastructure wouldnt have, Wattree says. Some of it has been in community groups, but its also Black churches. I think Black churches or religious organizations in the Black community should be mobilized to the fullest capacity to counter health disparities.

Name: Mauricio Gomez Lopez Campus: Cal State Fullerton Major/Program: Physics, Mathematics, Senior Project: Studying the Material Properties of an Active Suspension of Swimming Bacteria

There is a phenomenon known as a starling swarm, or starling murmuration, when a flock of hundreds to millions of these birds form changing shapes and patterns as they fly. Scientists have noticed such motion patterns reflected at the microscopic level.

You see those same dynamics, that same kind of motion from the microscopic scale with E. coli all the way up through birds, says Mauricio Gomez Lopez. So that makes us think that there might be some physical laws determining these sorts of motions.

Taking first place in the Physical and Mathematical Sciences (Undergraduate) category, Gomez Lopez studied how E. coli particles move in response to force, seeing if and how they follow these movement patterns. Working in theSLAM Labwith Assistant Professor of Physics Wylie Ahmed, Ph.D., Gomez Lopez programmed an infrared laser, called optical tweezers, to direct force on the particles, documenting the resulting motion. In the videos taken under the microscope, it almost looks like this dense crowd, and someone trying to get through.

The hope is understanding the particles reaction will help scientists figure out how to harness the energy generated by the moving particles to produce power.

When we think about renewable sources of energy, we can see bacteria and E. coli being a possible new energy source, Gomez Lopez says. We were able to show that there is this transfer of energy, so the idea now is how can we engineer something to extract that energy and use it to power stuff we use on a daily basis.

Gomez Lopez will continue his research as he works towards his masters in physics at Cal State Fullerton.

See thecomplete listof this years CSU Student Research Competition winners, and view morecoveragefrom CSU campuses.

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Bright Minds of the Future - Newswise

The Institute of Diversity Sciences (IDS), led by Nilanjana Dasgupta, awarded three new grants to multidisciplinary teams of faculty and student researchersfocused on promoting social justice in the science and engineering. From bilingual tutoring software to the safety of public drinking water, the winning teams are working to ensure that STEM research addresses some of societys most pressing disparities. Here are the winning teams:

Ivon Arroyo (education and computer science), Marialuisa Di Stefano (language, literacy, and culture) and Beverly Woolf (computer science) have teamed up to address the growing need for new learning technologies that address the needs of bilingual (Spanish and English) students, with personalized Latinx digital avatars. Addressing the problem of a one-size-fits-all approach to education, this research responds to the need to personalize tech for individual student needs: using alternative languages and representations of content, deploying avatars that reflect their identities, and providing personal pathways through the curriculum.

Read more here.

Youngmin Yi (sociology), Jamie Rowen (legal studies and political science), Joshua Kaiser (sociology), Cindy Xiong (computer science), Guiherme Santos Rocha (undergraduate, sociology and computer science, Amherst College), and Hamza Elhamdadi (graduate student, computer sciences, UMass Amherst) are concerned studying ongoing public concern about racism and other systemic inequalities in the criminal legal system, as exemplified by the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020. In response, many criminal legal agencies instituted new reforms to reduce bias and inequality in their operations and to increase their legitimacy in the eyes of constituents. Some district attorneys (DAs) have engaged in particularly strong, public efforts to tackle the disparities in prosecutions, offering various options for those convictedfor instance, diversion from incarceration, or from a criminal record altogether. As part of this progressive prosecution agenda, DAs are turning to administrative data not only as a tool to manage cases, but as a resource to assess whetherreforms are working. To be more transparent about their process, they also are disseminating data on their practices broadly Yet, there is limited knowledge as to whether these efforts are in fact addressing bias, inequality and public trust in the criminal legal system. Are these data analyses and public dissemination of quantitative information about prosecution effective tools for reform? By being more transparent, are they making the criminal prosecution system more accountable to the public?

Read more here.

Emily Kumpel (civil and environmental engineering), Airn D. Martnez (health promotion and policy) and CarlosVeras (graduate student, environmental and water resources engineering), are conducting a community-engaged study bridging expertise in water utilities and public health to better understand and address water mistrust. The publics perception of the safety and quality of their public drinking waterknown as water mistrustis a significant concern in the United States that disproportionately affects the health and wealth of marginalized ethnic/racial communities, low-income, and foreign-born populations. This persistent problem has been exacerbated by COVID-19 pandemic-related financial hardships on both households and water utilities, as well as by climate change. When people dont trust the water coming from their taps, they turn to unhealthy and more expensive drinking options such as sugar-sweetened beverages or bottled water. Some households even invest in household water treatment systems and filters, incurring additional expenses. Whats more, the purchasing of bottled beverages and water purification supplies creates waste, leading to environmental impacts of water mistrust.

Despite high public mistrust of tap water, experts agree that tap water in the United States is generally very safe. Water from community water systems is regulated and monitored through the Safe Drinking Water Act to ensure this. Utilities are required by law to send water safety reports to homes annually. If there are water quality problems that violate the law, utilities must inform the public in a timely manner about its impacts. So why this continued mistrust?

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Institute of Diversity Sciences Awards Team Grants for Science and Engineering Research that Promotes Social Justice - UMass News and Media Relations