Conference

TL;DR: There was a Science Jam for the first time at CHI this year. Fitting with the CHI 2018 motto “engage with CHI” the event offered a rapid learning and research prototyping experience. Teams of participants that formed on the spot developed research from concept to early outcome presentations over the course of just two days. Due to a wide array of support materials, an accompanying crash course in Research Methods in HCI, and most importantly thanks to the support of an all-star team of mentors, the participants were enabled to make the Science Jam a great success. The event attracted more than 60 participants, mostly HCI researchers who are new to the field. They reported great learning experiences and fun networking while working on more than 10 different research projects. As one participant put it:
“The ScienceJam was a fantastic introduction to my first CHI conference. I was able to learn from some of the best researchers in the field, improve my presentation skills and make new friends from all over the world.”

This is a crosspost from: mooqita.org

The Heidelberg Laureate Forum

I was humbled and extremely excited to be selected to attend the Heidelberg Laureate Forum 2017. The event is organized by the Klaus Tschira Foundation (KTS) in cooperation with the ACM and multiple other partners. In the spirit of the Lindau Nobel Laureates Meetings the event brings together laureates from computer science and mathematics. Since the Nobel prize is not awarded in these disciplines, the event brings ACM A.M. Turing Prize and ACM Prize in Computing winners, as well as Fields Medal, Abel Prize, and Nevanlinna Prize winners together with up to 200 young researchers. Based on our prior work at the University of Bremen and our ongoing work at Berkeley I was able to - together with Markus Krause (a colleague from the Mooqita project) - attend the meeting and to engage in a once-in-a-lifetime week of intense exchange and networking.