Informatics Europe Explained

Informatics Europe
Formation:2006
Type:Learned Society - Nonprofit organization
Headquarters:Zurich, Switzerland
Membership:Around 200 institutions (over 30 countries)
Language:English
Leader Title:President
Leader Name:Jean-Marc Jézéquel (IRISA / University of Rennes)
Key People:Informatics Europe Community
Website:http://www.informatics-europe.org

Informatics Europe is the European association uniting university departments, research labs and companies in the field of informatics (also known as computer science).

Overview

Founded in 2006,[1] [2] Informatics Europe is a non-profit organization with head office in Zurich, Switzerland. They represent the Research and Education community in Europe, uniting some 200 member institutions and connecting over 50,000 researchers in informatics and related disciplines from more than 30 countries. Informatics Europe members include university departments of Informatics (Computer Science, Computing, IT, ICT), public and private research labs as well as national informatics associations.

Informatics Europe liaises with other scientific organisations such as the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM), the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Computing Research Association (CRA).

History

On 21 October 2005, the “1st European Computer Science Summit” brought together, for the first time, heads of Informatics and Computer Science departments throughout Europe. This landmark event was a joint undertaking of the Computer Science departments of the two branches of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology: EPFL (Lausanne) and ETH (Zurich).

Besides the keynotes, talks, panels and workshops, the result of the summit was the unanimous view that European computer scientists needed an organisation with aims and scope similar to those of the CRA in the US, extended—in light of the situation in Europe—to cover education as well as research. As a result, Informatics Europe was created with the aim to become the recognized voice of the European computer science community, including both universities and research centres.

Bertrand Meyer from ETH Zurich, one of the founding members of the organisation, served as its first President from 2006 to 2011. Other former Presidents include Carlo Ghezzi, Politecnico di Milano (from 2012 to 2015), Lynda Hardman, CWI / Utrecht University (from 2016 to 2017),[3] Enrico Nardelli,Università di Roma 'Tor Vergata', (from 2018 to 2023). The current President is Jean-Marc Jézéquel, IRISA/ University of Rennes, who took office since January 2024.

Mission and Activities

Informatics Europe mission is to empower and unite the European informatics community, find concerted positions, act on shared priorities, and support policy-making in Education, Research, and the Social Impact of informatics in Europe. They do so by addressing strategic matters and emerging trends in informatics and related fields, fostering unity in the variety of their member institutions, and promoting pan-European collaboration.[4]

Informatics Europe is involved in a number of activities and services. While some are exclusive to members (and researchers affiliated with those institutes), others are open to the broader informatics and related disciplines community.

ECSS - European Informatics Leaders Summit

The European Informatics Leaders Summit is open to the broad informatics community. It takes place once a year and offers a platform where leaders and decision-makers in Informatics and related disciplines in Europe gather to debate strategic themes and trends related to informatics research, education and its social impact. Originally the European Computer Science Summit, ECSS has been renamed since 2024 in celebration of its 20th anniversary and to reaffirm the core value and importance of the Summit to informatics leaders and communities across Europe.

Past Summits since 2005:

Working Groups

Informatics Europe fosters various working groups to shape strategic priorities within the European Informatics community. Each working group has thereby a focus on a specific topic or goal that is agreed upon at the beginning of each year. The current groups are as follows:

Past working groups:

Awards

Each year, Informatics Europe presents awards recognizing outstanding initiatives that advance the quality of research and education in Informatics in Europe.

Since 2023, the Best Dissertation Award aims to support young researchers in informatics by rewarding and disseminating their excellent research. The award criteria include the originality of the research and methods used, the quality of the achieved results, the societal impact of the thesis, and the quality of the exposition.[17]

Since 2016, the Minerva Informatics Equality Award recognizes best practices in Departments or Faculties of European Universities and Research Labs that encourage and support the careers of women in Informatics research and education.[18] [19] [20] [21]

Since 2012, the Best Practices in Education Award recognizes educational initiatives across Europe that improve the quality of Informatics teaching and the attractiveness of the discipline.[22] At present the award is on hold, awaiting sponsor.[23]

EU-funded Projects

Informatics Europe contributes to pan-European projects in the promotion of informatics research and education:

Services

Informatics Higher Education Data Portal

The Higher Education Data Portal is a project of Informatics Europe created with the goal of providing members, the Informatics academic community, policymakers, industry and other stakeholders a complete and reliable picture of the state of Informatics (Computer Science, Computing, IT, ICT) higher education in Europe. The full dataset, now covering 10 academic 8 years of data from more than 20 countries, is the only one of its kind in Europe. The focus on Informatics, and the central role played by data curation makes it unique, reliable and relevant.

Leaders Workshop

Every year Informatics Europe organises a special Workshop for Leaders of Informatics Research and Education, as part of the ECSS global program, to address specific challenges they encounter in their role. The workshop is a unique networking forum for leaders of Informatics institutions and research groups, and focuses on concrete issues and practical solutions.

CV Repository

Established in 2023, Informatics Europe’s CV Repository is a cutting-edge platform revolutionizing the way informatics students, recent graduates and recruiters connect across Europe’s top institutions. It aims to support the European informatics community in fostering research and education quality by connecting new generations of talent in informatics and relevant disciplines to employers across Europe.

Informatics Job Platform

The Informatics Europe Job Platform lists open scientific positions in Informatics (Computer Science, Computing, Computer Engineering, IT, ICT) and closely related fields and includes positions requiring a PhD degree or higher (e.g.: scientific researcher, post-doc, professor, etc.).

Department Evaluation

The Department Evaluation is an expert-led service offered by Informatics Europe to assess research quality and support the continuous improvement of informatics university departments/faculties. The evaluation is conducted by internationally recognized researchers in the field and is supervised by the Informatics Europe Executive Committee.

Bespoke Academic Leadership Course

Facilitated by Prof. Geraldine Fitzpatrick and Prof. Austen Rainer, esteemed informatics experts and accomplished facilitators of leadership ccourses, the Bespoke course provides a cost-effective approach to work with academics from the same institute, and thus develop positive academic leadership based on their academic culture. Those attending the course acquire the skills needed for developing a leadership peer support group.

Informatics Research & Education Directory

The Research & Education Directory includes institutions (faculties, departments, institutes, etc.) doing research and offering education in Informatics (Computer Science, Computing, Computer Engineering, IT, ICT) in Europe. The directory provides quick access to these institutions and the information is self-maintained by them.

Publications

External links

Notes and References

  1. Bertrand Meyer and Willy Zwaenepoel, European Computer Science Takes Its Fate in Its Own hands, in Communications of the ACM, vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 21–24, March 2006; draft copy available here.
  2. Bertrand MeyerWeb site: Showcasing European Computer Science.
  3. Web site: Lynda Hardman President Informatics Europe. ercim-news.ercim.eu. 2019-11-15.
  4. Web site: Mission and History . 2024-03-01 . Informatics Europe . en-gb.
  5. Web site: ECSS 2023, Edinburgh . 2024-03-01 . Informatics Europe . en-gb.
  6. Web site: ECSS 2022, Hamburg . 2024-03-01 . Informatics Europe . en-gb.
  7. Web site: ECSS 2021. www.informatics-europe.org. 2021-06-02.
  8. Web site: ECSS 2020. www.informatics-europe.org. 2021-06-02.
  9. Web site: 2019 ERCIM Cor Baayen Young Researcher Award for Ninon Burgos and András Gilyén. ercim-news.ercim.eu. 2019-11-15.
  10. Web site: ALaDDIn wins 2016 Best Practices in Education Award. ercim-news.ercim.eu. 2019-11-15.
  11. Web site: ECSS 2015: Informatics in the Future – in the Year 2025. ercim-news.ercim.eu. 2019-11-15.
  12. Web site: Informatics Europe offers Department Evaluation. ercim-news.ercim.eu. 2019-11-15.
  13. Web site: Informatics as a Fundamental Discipline for the 21st Century. Caspersen. Michael. McGettrick. Andrew. Gal-Ezer. Judith. Nardelli. Enrico. April 2019. cacm.
  14. Web site: Research Evaluation in Informatics. ercim-news.ercim.eu. 2019-11-15.
  15. Web site: Reports . 2024-03-01 . Informatics Europe . en-gb.
  16. Web site: Women in Informatics Research and Education. ercim-news.ercim.eu. 2019-11-15.
  17. Web site: Best Dissertation Award . 2024-03-01 . Informatics Europe . en-gb.
  18. Web site: TU Dublin wins European Award for Gender Equality in Technology. Dublin. T. U.. tudublin.ie. en. 2019-11-15.
  19. Web site: Minerva Informatics Equality Award • European Platform of Women Scientists EPWS. 2016-03-04. European Platform of Women Scientists EPWS. en-US. 2019-11-15.
  20. Web site: University College London wins first Minerva Informatics Equality Award. ercim-news.ercim.eu. 2019-11-15.
  21. Web site: Minerva Informatics Equality Award . 2024-03-01 . Informatics Europe . en-gb.
  22. Web site: Best Practices in Education Award 2018 Edition "Transforming Informatics Education" - Informatics Europe ATIEF . 2019-11-15 . www.atief.fr.
  23. Web site: Best Practices in Education Award . 2024-03-01 . Informatics Europe . en-gb.
  24. Web site: Women Are Needed in STEM: European Policies and Incentives. Fatourou. Panagiota. Panagiota Fatourou . April 2019. cacm.
  25. Web site: The European Perspective on Responsible Computing. Inverardi. Paola. Paola Inverardi. April 2019. cacm.

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