The School of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews has around eight  fully-funded PhD positions available. I’d welcome applicants interested in sensor networks, complex systems, and data science. We welcome students from a wide range of countries, our only major requirements being that you’re excited by the idea of research and are able to conduct a complex programme within a small, friendly, and supportive environment. In my case, I’m interested in hearing from potential students with interests in the following areas:

• Sensor networks, especially deploying sensors into the environment;
• Complex system modelling, trying to model phenomena that operate on a range of scales; and
• Data science, particularly for how we collect, categorise, and work with large scientific datasets.

An early conversation by skype or email could be followed by a formal application, the details of which are available here.

The 2013/14 CPHC/BCS Distinguished Dissertations competition is now open for submissions. Closing date Tuesday 1 April 2014. Further details can be found below and on the web at http://academy.bcs.org/content/distinguished-dissertations The Council of Professors and Heads of Computing (CPHC), in conjunction with BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, annually selects for publication the best British PhD/DPhil dissertations in computer science. The scheme aims to make more visible the significant contribution made by Britain - in particular by post-graduate students - to computer science. Publication also serves to provide a model for future students. The selection panel on behalf of BCS/CPHC consists of experienced computer scientists, not more than one from any institution, each normally serving on the panel for three years. The panel members for this year are: Russell Beale (Birmingham), Simon Dobson (St Andrews, chair), Michael Fisher (Liverpool), Joemon Jose (Glasgow), Steve Pettifer (Manchester), Iain Phillips (Loughborough), and Perdita Stevens (Edinburgh). Any dissertation is eligible which is submitted for a doctorate in the British Isles in what is commonly understood as Computer Science. (Theses which are basically in some other discipline but which make use, even very extensive use, of computing will not be regarded as eligible.) However, there is a limit of THREE dissertations per year per university, and one per research group within any university. To be considered, a dissertation should:

• make a noteworthy contribution to the subject;
• reach a high standard of exposition;
• place its results clearly in the context of computer science as a whole; and
• enable a computer scientist with significantly different interests to grasp its essentials.

It is reasonable to submit a thesis to the scheme if it has all of the above qualities in good measure, and if it is comparable in standard with the top 10% of dissertations in the subject. Long dissertations are not encouraged; if the main text is more than 80,000 words, there should be good justification. The dissertation should be submitted electronically (as a PDF file) by the author’s examiners, or by the Head of Department with the examiner’s advice. The submitted version of the dissertation must be the final version after any required corrections have been made. The competition period for the 2014 competition is for theses accepted from 1 January 2013 until the closing date of 1 April 2014. A dissertation cannot be submitted to the competition more than once. The dissertation should be accompanied by a written nomination comprising the following information:

• a justification, of about 300 words, by one of the examiners - preferably the external - explaining the dissertation’s claim to distinction (against the criteria listed above);
• the name of the primary supervisor and the research group within the university to which the student was primarily affiliated;
• an assurance that within the competition period the examiners have recommended to the author’s institution that the doctorate should be awarded;
• the names and contact details of three suggested reviewers who are not in the same Department as the nominated thesis and who are independent of the supervision and examining of the thesis; and
• an indication should be given if the dissertation is being considered for publication elsewhere.

The nominated reviewers must have confirmed that they are willing to provide a review. In addition the author’s written agreement that their thesis may be considered for the Distinguished Dissertation competition should be emailed by the author to disdis14@easychair.org. Submissions should be made on-line via http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=disdis14 The first author name submitted should be that of the thesis author; the individual submitting the nomination should list themselves as the second author. The title and abstract should be those of the thesis being nominated. The first file uploaded should be the 300 word nomination; the thesis document should be uploaded as an attachment. If any problems are experienced, or you have any questions, please email disdis14@easychair.org for assistance. The deadline for submission is 1 April 2014.