November 1st, 2021

AI4Society calls for proposals for activities, grant support, big questions, and other initiatives for the 2021-2022 academic year.

The Call
AI4Society is a University of Alberta Signature Area that brings together interdisciplinary research around artificial intelligence, big data, ethics, and social impact. Researchers at the University of Alberta in any discipline are invited to propose projects, grant preparation ideas, and big question events for funding support from AI4Society. Applications should:

Be led by a full-time faculty member of the University of Alberta
Include an interdisciplinary team of researchers. (Researchers at other universities and community researchers are welcome)
Be relevant to the focus of the AI4Society Signature Area

Applications will be reviewed over the Fall 2021 term. We will continue to accept applications over the academic year or until our funding is finished.

More information here

Grant Opportunities

UofA and EPS Seed Grant Program

The Office of the Vice-President (Research and Innovation) (OVPRI), the Kule Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS), and the AI4Society Signature Area (AI4S) at the University of Alberta, in partnership with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS), are pleased to announce the launch of Year 2 of our University of Alberta and Edmonton Police Service Seed Grant Program.

These grants provide support for the co-development of research collaborations between University of Alberta researchers and members of Edmonton Police Service. The program will fund up to three projects per year. Grants are capped at a maximum of $10,000 each, are to be carried out over a period of 18-months, and should focus on one or more the following areas:

Policing among marginalized populations
Police legitimacy and racism
Use of data and analytics in policing
History of Colonialism and the impacts on policing today
Evaluation of Edmonton Police Service training initiatives

The Program Guidelines are attached for your information. They can also be found on our Internal Research Funding website. Applications are to be submitted to Leslie Parsad at uofaepsgrant@ualberta.ca by 4:30 p.m. on December 10, 2021.
Find more information and the full call here

Awards

Globalink Research Award Thematic Call

Attention UofA AI researchers! Mitacs has a call for the Globalink Research Awards in specific thematic areas:

1. Advanced computing (Quantum and AI)

Quantum computing
Advanced materials for computing and other advanced computing technologies
AI and health
AI and climate change
Cybersecurity

2. Achieving Net Zero

Sustainable technologies
Future cities/IoT
Environmental sustainability
Circular economy
Water
Food Security

3. Global Health

OneHealth
Innovations in therapies and prevention
Biomanufacturing
Healthy aging
Mental health and wellbeing

Professors can submit projects by December 1, 2021, at 5 p.m. PT. Please fill out this webform to request an application package.

Find more information here, GRA thematic call info session recording: ENG or FR version.

Interships

Ghostlab

We are looking for two students for internships ideally beginning in Jan 2022. Please read the full post on the links provided.

Business Analyst
- Strong listening and oral/written communications skills in a variety of settings
- Ability to facilitate interactive sessions with business / technical personnel
- Ability to work effectively in teams
- Knowledge of software development life cycle with emphasis on Requirements Analysis or interest in learning
- Strong research and documentation skills
- Interest in IT / Experience with and lack of fear of Computers
- Organizational skills to perform a variety of concurrent projects under specific time restraints
Software Developer
- Node.js, Typescript, and/or Object-Oriented Programming
- Relational databases e.g. MySQL or PostgreSQL
- AWS services
- Linux or other UNIX based operating systems
- Version control
- Testing frameworks

Geometry and Statistics in Data Sciences

First announcement: registration

It is our pleasure to announce the thematic three-month program entitled Geometry and Statistics in Data Sciences at the Institut Henri Poincaré (IHP) in Paris. Registration free but mandatory, please do so here

Important: the deadline for financial support requests is March 15th, 2022

The Institut Henri Poincaré can help you to find an accommodation during your stay in Paris.

An Introductory School will be organized at IESC (Corsica), from September 5th to 9th, 2022. Register here

Three conferences will be organized at IHP:

From October 3rd to 7th, 2022: Non-Linear and High Dimensional Inference Register here
From October 10th to 14th, 2022: Geometry, Topology and Statistics in Data Sciences Register here
From November 21st to 25th, 2022: Measure-theoretic Approaches and Optimal Transportation in Statistics Register here

We are looking forward to welcoming you!
The organizers: Eddie Aamari, Catherine Aaron, Frédéric Chazal, Aurélie Fischer, Marc Hoffmann, Alice Le Brigant, Clément Levrard, Bertrand Michel

AI4Society NEWS

Ethics Data and AI
Discussion Salon #2

Come and join us for the new Ethical Data for AI Salon on November 3rd featuring Dr. Jacob Jaremko from our University of Alberta, Faculty of Medicine.

November 3rd, 4:00pm to 5:30pm Online AND Onsite.

The Ethical Data and AI Salon is meant to be an informal gathering. We will have a short presentation from Dr. Jaremko on his research and related privacy issues followed by an opportunity for discussion.

The Salon will be held both online and we will also have a room on campus where up to 10 people can join in person.

To join either online or in person please register on our event page. Please specify if you want the Zoom link or if you plan to come on campus when registering. If you plan to come in person, please follow the University of Alberta COVID-19 guidelines: https://www.ualberta.ca/covid-19

This Salon is hosted by the AI Ethics and Privacy collaboratory of the AI4Society Signature Area

AI in Construction - Meet and Greet event

The University of Alberta’s Construction Innovation Centre (CIC) and the AI4Society Signature Area have joined forces to promote and develop research initiatives that relate to the area of Artificial Intelligence for the Construction industry.

Please join us for an online event where you can meet your fellow researchers interested in this area, explore potential overlaps of your research with that of others, and form new research partnerships! The AI4Society and CIC are jointly providing support for these partnerships, including introductions to potential industry partners, grant-development support and seed funding.

More information and registration here

AI4Society Dialogs - Season 2

After a quite successful first season, we are thrilled to bring to you a second collection of 10 new episodes, this time focused on AI and Health. For this ambitious project we are collaborating with our research and teaching Signature Areas partner Precision Health. Together, we are interviewing University of Alberta highlighted professionals working on Health using AI, we will explore how advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning are shaping the direction of healthcare. We’ll talk to researchers working on furthering our knowledge of major diseases, like cancer and diabetes. We’ll find out how fields like computer vision and natural language processing are intersecting with medicine and we’ll talk about the entrepreneurial journey that some of these researchers are taking and how these exciting developments are paving the way for personalized healthcare.

On October 25th our second episode on this new season was premiered, Alona Fyshe - Understanding computer "brains" and human brains. Visit the official site
AI4Society Dialogues to hear this and our previous episodes.

What's coming

EPISODE 3

Listen to all episodes on these platforms!

Daniel Baumgart - Data, Virtual Care and Precision Health
Advances in digital innovation, including artificial intelligence, are rapidly changing the face of both healthcare research and the delivery of care. In his work as a clinician, professor and researcher, Dr. Daniel Baumgart is working to advance precision medicine on all of these fronts. We talk about his early interest in computers, why he chose to pursue an MBA in addition to his medical background, his research on Crohn’s disease and his recent work on virtual care, why Alberta can play a leading role in digital health innovation, and being a clinician during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Release date: November 8th, 2021

EVENTS

Department of Sociology
Speakers Series

The Department of Sociology is thrilled to welcome Dr. Kirstie Ball from University of St Andrews to present "Workplace counter-surveillance: Compliance and resistance in workplace 4.0."

Time: Nov 3, 2021 12:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
https://ualberta-ca.zoom.us/j/97485821456?pwd=TWcvRkhacHhRZUdzTm84N1N3RkxxUT09
Meeting ID: 974 8582 1456
Passcode: 089029

NRC Responsible Data Speakers Series

AI for Logistics Program / Programme IA Logistique (NRC/CNRC)

Please join us for the 2021-22 NRC Responsible Data Speakers Series.

The bi-weekly series structure, as well as the choice of themes, reflect the feedback we received following the Forum last winter. We have maintained our focus on research, data sharing, and research ethics-type concerns. Talks will occur on alternating Tuesday afternoons (Eastern Time).

This year’s themes are:

Responsible Collection and Use of Internet-Derived Data
Cultural Knowledge and Community Data in research and publication
De-identification and Anonymization of Data for Sharing or Collaborative Research Purposes
Interoperability in Research Data Storage and Analysis Platforms

Theme 2: Cultural Knowledge and Community Data

November 9 Delaney Lothian, National Research Council of Canada / University of Alberta, “Privacy, sovereignty, and informed consent in Indigenous language data and documentation.”

Register here

Digital Law Tea Time Talks!

November 4, 2021 (12:00 - 01:00 MT) Brynn Doctor: Founder/Owner/Lawyer at Doctor Law, presented by "Digital Law Tea Time Talks!"

Brynn has created Doctor Law, a legal practice that puts people at the centre of the work, re-imagines who lawyers serve and sets out to help people heal and move forward through family conflicts that involve the legal system. That means using tech well, and creating a whole new type of legal work.
Digital Law Tea Time Talks are a chance for law and tech geeks to learn about topics at the intersection of those fields. A short presentation on a work in progress, recent article or experience will be followed by open Q&A. The 12-1 pm time block includes a "digital commute" allowing everyone to sign in and get settled. The actual presentation and discussion will go from 12:10-12:50 MT.

Meeting Link here
Find the list of future events here
Hosted by the Digital Law & Innovation Society

5th International School on Deep Learning

(DeepLearn 2022 Winter), Bournemouth, UK, January 17-21, 2022

DeepLearn 2022 Winter will be a research training event with a global scope aiming at updating participants on the most recent advances in the critical and fast developing area of deep learning.
Graduate students, postgraduate students and industry practitioners will be typical profiles of participants. However, there are no formal pre-requisites for attendance in terms of academic degrees, so people less or more advanced in their career will be welcome as well.

More information here

Who

Any UofAlberta community member (faculty, researcher, or student) interested in any and all aspects of Artificial Intelligence!

Why

To stay informed about AI-related funding opportunities and events (research grants, internships, competitions, ...)
To access AI4Society support for research and teaching initiatives
To profile your research and to collaborate with other community members, through our Forum.

How

Send an email with a brief description of your affiliation, interests, and activities related to artificial intelligence to ai4s@ualberta.ca.

AI EDUCATION

New AI courses at Faculty of Extension, UofA

UAlberta Digital Law Primers

Fall 2021 courses

Get AI informed. Learn what you need to know about Artificial Intelligence and how to effectively manage legal risk, opportunity and solutions.

Join courses tailored to enhance digital literacy in Canada’s legal communities. Whether you are curious or cautious about AI, these courses will equip you as a legal professional to confidently understand and interact with technology to best serve your clients in your day-to-day work.

Now accepting registration, still some spots available! Register now for “AI & Your Legal Business: Artificial Intelligence and Its Implications for Legal Practice” - Course starts on November 6th, 2021!

Find out more about these courses and how to register here

Read about the course here

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For information about
AI experts, and AI-related events and opportunities,
visit https://ai4society.ca