Executive Summary
With a university relations manager based in
Sydney, Australia, MSRA is committed to the
development of research collaboration,
curriculum innovation, talent fostering and
academic exchange throughout the Asia Pacific
region.
Research
There are several ways in which academics can
engage with MSRA for research opportunities.
These include Requests for Proposals (RFPs)
issued by MSR Redmond, Invitations for Proposals
(IFPs) issued by MSRA and ad hoc "opportunity"
proposals. "Opportunity" proposals are generated
by academics whose areas of expertise map to the
MSRA research areas and who are regarded as
thought leaders in these areas. MSRA or MSR
Redmond research managers review these proposals
and make decision on their suitability and
relevance. Academics who respond to IFPs are
invited to attend a workshop where many of the
academics would present their proposals and
discuss the potential impact generated by their
work.
Curriculum
Curriculum innovation is to meet the demand of
the academic community and to help evolve the
higher education in computing. MSRA encourages
the advancement of curriculums in computer
science, electronic engineering and related
disciplines and works with academics to improve
teaching content and explore innovative teaching
methodologies.
Academics who respond to IFPs are
invited to attend a follow up workshop to
showcase their innovative ideas and share their
curriculum innovation. All academics are
encouraged to place their curriculum notes and
classroom slides on a public web site and final
curriculum materials are usually uploaded into
the Microsoft Developer Network Academic
Alliance (MSDNAA) repository.
Talent Fostering
Students are our future for academia
and industry. We all should play a role in
providing opportunities for students to excel
and show their potential. The MSRA Fellowship
program provides PhD students in the early years
of their doctorate with the opportunity for a
fund award together with an internship at MSRA.
These Fellowships are very competitive across
universities. Each student recommended for
consideration, is evaluated based on his/her
academic record, soft skills, publications, and
supporting letters of recommendation from
his/her academic supervisors.
Academic Exchange
MSRA is committed to develop strategic
relationships with all levels of academics. We
ensure that academics are aware of the various
methods of engagement with MSRA and the ways in
which their students can also benefit from these
engagements. Faculty Summits held by MSR Redmond
and MSRA are excellent opportunities for
academics who want to find out more about
Microsoft and the various engagement models.
MSRA is also given the opportunity to invite
senior academics to TechFest event held annually
in Redmond, WA.
Business Overview
Microsoft is committed to supporting
academics and their efforts to provide
opportunities for graduates to excel in their
undergraduate and post graduate studies as well
as finding a career in Industry. Microsoft is
able to provide assistance to those academics
who wish to incorporate Microsoft technologies
into their curriculum and/or who wish to explore
opportunities for research collaboration.
In order to help Faculty members keep
up-to-date with various ways in which Microsoft
assists Faculty, Microsoft Australia has
developed this
web site. This site provides information on:
There is also some up-to-date information on
the
Microsoft blog for Faculty members at
Australian and New Zealand Universities.
Microsoft Research Asia via the University
Relations Manager based in Sydney Australia, has
several ways of engaging with academics who have
an interest in collaborative Research projects,
innovative Curriculum projects and talent
development. The following outlines some
specific examples.
Research Collaboration
There are a number of ways in which academics
can experience collaborative research
opportunities with Microsoft. These include the
following with a brief explanation and some
examples:
- Requests for Proposals (RFPs) issued by
MSR Redmond, External Research and Programs
These RFPs are global and
generally state the fund and the expected number
of awards that will be made. In the past
Professor Alistair Moffatt, Department of
Computer Science and Software Engineering,
University of Melbourne won an award for the RFP
"Accelerating Search in Academic Research".
Alistair's submission was titled "Predictive
Exploitation of Click-Through Knowledge".
- Invitations for Proposals (IFPs) or
"Theme" projects issued by MSR Asia
During the 2005 and 2006
calendar year, MSRA offered opportunities for
academics to participate in "Theme Projects".
These Theme Projects were in the areas of
Trustworthy Computing and Gaming and Graphics.
Awards for Research submissions were made to the
following:
Gaming & Graphics:
-
Dr Frederic Marie,
Queensland University of Technology 芒鈧�?
"Automatic Evaluation and Quality Control of
Strategy Games"
-
Greg Wadley, University of
Melbourne 芒鈧�?"Voice Communication in
Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing
Games (MMORPG)"
Trustworthy Computing:
Proposals for these projects
are reviewed by MSR Asia/MSR Redmond research
managers and approved as valuable collaborative
research projects. A research manager/senior
researcher is nominated as the "sponsor" and
funding is provided by the University Relations
Manager. Many projects are co-funded by the
government or industry.
-
Monash University -
Professor Arkady Zaslavsky, School of
Computer Science and Software Engineering.
"Context Rich mobile agent technology".
-
University of New South
Wales 芒鈧�?Dr. Piyush Maheshwari, School of
Computer Science and Engineering.
"Peer-to-Peer Computing".
-
Queensland University of
Technology 芒鈧�?Professor Paul Roe, School
of Software Engineering & Data
Communications. "Investigation of a Dynamic
Collaborative Framework for Multi-modal
Devices".
Other Research Initiatives
Microsoft/Queensland University of Technology
(QUT) eResearch Centre was announced in May 2006
and will be officially opened in February 2007.
The eResearch Centre is a joint initiative
between Microsoft Research and Queensland
University of Technology (QUT). Funding is also
being provided by the Queensland Government over
a 3 year period. Over 25 full-time researchers
will work in the lab.
The lab will
explore ways to
deal with the
volume of data
research
creates, looking
for ways to
identify
patterns within
a research
project and to
collaborate with
other research
projects to
determine links
across disparate
research. It
will focus of
eScience
including
health,
environment,
agriculture etc.
This is the
first eResearch
Centre (of any
type) and it is
located in
Brisbane.
Curriculum Innovation
Invitation For Proposals were sent to top
tier universities inviting responses for
curriculum with Windows-Core technology during
the 2005 calendar year and with Windows Embedded
CE during the 2006 calendar year. The
instructional materials by academics awarded are
always loaded into the MSDN AA web site. Awards
for Curriculum submissions were made to the
following:
Gaming & Graphics:
- Dr Ross Brown, Faculty of Information
Technology, Queensland University of
Technology 芒鈧�?"XBOX Games Development
Games Curriculum". Dr. Brown completed his
curriculum development project and his
curriculum materials have been uploaded to
http://www2.msdnaa.net/default.aspx
- Dr. Brown has also published the
following web site which could be of
interest to those with an interest in Visual
and Media Computing
http://www.vmc.fit.qut.edu.au/
Trustworthy Computing:
- Associate Professor Francois Ladouceur,
School of Electrical Engineering and
Telecommunications, University of New South
Wales 芒鈧�?"Applied Secure Communications:
Quantum Communication"
In the year 2006 these two Themes continued
and Dr. Ross Brown won another curriculum award:
- Dr. Ross Brown, Faculty of Information
Technology, Queensland University of
Technology 芒鈧�?"Visualiation Techniques and
Tools for Game Usability Analysis". Dr.
Brown has continued with his curriculum
development work in the area of Gaming and
in 2007 Queensland University of Technology
will launch what is believed to be the first
Games and Interactive Entertainment Degree
offered in Australia. The degree is cross
faculty in nature, involving 6 faculties
across Queensland University of Technology:
Information Technology, Creative Industries,
Science, Business, Built Environment and
Engineering and Law.
Curriculum Advisory Boards
University Relations is proud to be invited to
participate as an Industry advisor on Curriculum
Advisory Boards. Currently John Warren is an
active member of the following:
- University of Sydney 芒鈧�?School of
Information Technologies, Postgraduate
Coursework External Advisory Board
- University of Sydney 芒鈧�?School of
Electrical and Information Engineering
Foundation
- University of Western Sydney 芒鈧�?
Bachelor of Computing, External Advisory
Committee
- Victoria University - School of
Information Systems, Programs Advisory
Committee (PAC) Meeting
Talent Fostering
The MSRA Fellowship Program offers PhD
students typically in their 1st year, with the
opportunity to be nominated by their supervisor
for consideration for an award as a MSR Asia
Fellow. This cash award of US$6,000 is provided
to the winners together with a plaque. since
2005, there have been the following 4 winners
from 5 nominees in Australia:
- (2005) Ying Zhang from RMIT University
- (2005) Peng Gong from University of
Sydney
- (2006) Florian Verhein from University
of Sydney
- (2006) Xiaonan Ji from University of
Melbourne
Each of these PhD students also has the
opportunity to undertake a 3 to 6 months
internship at the MSRA lab in Beijing.
