The Computing Research Association

Computing Research News

January 2012 Vol. 24/No. 1 ∫ Download PDF Version - 1.5 MB ∫

Computing Researchers Get ‘Schooled’ on Science Policy at CCC Workshop

By Peter Harsha and Fred Schneider Full Article

As part of its mission to develop a next generation of leaders in the computing research community, the Computing Research Association’s Computing Community Consortium recently held its inaugural Leadership in Science Policy Institute (LiSPI). This one-day workshop was intended to educate a small cadre of computing researchers on how science policy in the U.S. is formulated and how our government works. Participants heard candid and “off-the-record” views from people who do it or have done it. Thirty-four computer scientists and engineers from twenty-five different universities and research organizations attended the November 7, 2011 workshop.

CRA Announces Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award Winners

By CRA Full Article

The Computing Research Association honors the recipients of its 2012 Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Awards, sponsored this year by Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs (MERL). Microsoft Research and MERL sponsor the awards in alternate years.

Collaborative Research Experience for Undergraduates: The CREU Program

By Andrea Danyluk Full Article

The Collaborative Research Experience for Undergraduates (CREU) program encourages and supports undergraduate women and minorities in computing research. It was started by CRA-W under the name “CREW” in 1998, and since 2004 has been administered collaboratively by CRA-W and the Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC). The goal of CREU is to increase the number of women and minorities who continue on to graduate school in computer science and computer engineering. Teams of undergraduates work with faculty member sponsors at their home institutions on research projects during the academic year and optionally the following summer.

NSF, NIST Do Surprisingly Well in FY 2012 Appropriations

By Peter Harsha Full Article

Despite relatively meager marks from the House and Senate for FY12 science budgets, a few key science agencies received a bit of a surprise in November when congressional appropriators provided final funding levels that exceeded those previously approved levels. The National Science Foundation and National Institute of Standards and Technology both will see increases in FY12 compared to FY11, and NASA, which had been slated for large cuts, will see those cuts mitigated somewhat. In the bill, NSF will see an increase of 2.5 percent versus its FY11 level, NIST will see an increase of $33 million, and NASA will see a decrease of $648 million-though markedly better than the $1.6 billion cut originally proposed.