London Hopper Colloquium 2024

London Hopper is an event for academic researchers across the UK who are building a career in computing.

UCL and the BCS Academy of Computing will be presenting the 17th London Hopper Colloquium on Friday 24th May 2024. London Hopper is for academic researchers across the UK who are building a career in computing. Featuring women speakers talking about their research, a spotlight competition open to postgraduate students, and opportunities to network with other new researchers in computing, this year’s event will be held at the UCL Computer Science offices in Bloomsbury, London. We will hear from women about their work on innovations that will change the world, fact checking, verification, and natural language generation.

Spotlight Competition Eligibility: Women* research masters students and PhD students, with a Computer Science focus, enrolled at UK universities.

Audience attendance is open to all.

*Please note that London Hopper uses an inclusive definition of “woman” and “female”, which means all individuals who identify fully or partly as women. We also welcome non-binary people to attend and present, and everyone is welcome to attend as an audience member.

Research Spotlight competition

The Research Spotlight competition focuses on female research Masters and PhD students, providing them with a friendly forum for communicating the essence of their work. This will be via 3-5 minutes (depending on the number of accepted submissions) presentations. Presentation topics may be from any research area within the field of computing, and may encompass interdisciplinary studies connected to computing. There will be 10-12 spotlight presentations, split between two thirty-minute sessions. Prizes will be awarded for the best research spotlight presentations and each entrant will also receive a prize.

If you would like to apply for the research spotlight competition, please first register for London Hopper 2024. You will receive an Eventbrite confirmation email, containing a link to a form to submit your abstract.

Submission deadline is midday 3rd May 2024.

If you have any questions about the event, please email us: hopper@ucl.ac.uk

Preparing your Spotlight slides

When you register for the Research Spotlight competition, we will provide you with a Powerpoint presentation template and an example set of slides to guide you in preparing your own slides. All finalists must submit an acceptable set of 4 slides (no dynamic Powerpoint slides allowed) for their presentation. You will receive notification of your acceptance by 7th May 2024.

Due to timing constraints, the number of spotlight entries is limited to 10-12 and a reserve list will be maintained. Finalists will be disqualified if they have not submitted an acceptable set of slides by the specified timescale. If a presentation time slot becomes available, the top-ranked member of the reserve list will be invited to join the finalists and participate in the Research Spotlight.

Spotlight Presentations

Your presentation will be stopped at the specified minute mark, you will not be allowed to over-run. You may not use props during your presentation; you are being judged on the quality of your presentation, slides and written abstract.

Judging Criteria

For the Spotlight and Runner Up prizes, the judges will have read the abstracts beforehand but will also judge the competition on the quality of the presentations and slides. The criteria the judges will use in selecting winners are:

• Communication: How successful overall were you in explaining your research topic through the presentation, slides and abstract?

• Presentation: Did you present a clear story with the right amount of scientific and/or technical content?

• Slides: Were your slides well designed in terms of images, graphics and text?
• Abstract: Did your abstract clearly describe the research topic?

For the People’s Choice Prize, each attendee at London Hopper will be provided with an entry to a voting system and will be invited to cast a single vote for the prize winner.

Points to note

1. In the event of a "tie" for the People’s Choice prize, the judges will choose a single winner from the tied entrants.

2. If you have already won a prize in an earlier London Hopper Colloquium Spotlight or Poster competition, you are not eligible to enter this year’s Research Spotlight competition.

3. The organisers reserve the right to reject a Hopper Research Spotlight submission if the content of the abstract or slides are deemed inappropriate.

If you have any questions about this competition or your entry, please email hopper@ucl.ac.uk

The Hopper Colloquia

The London Hopper Colloquia grew out of the Scottish Hopper Colloquia, and are modelled on the American Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing which is designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. These annual American meetings are held as a tribute to Admiral Grace Murray Hopper pioneer of the computer business language COBOL - who inspired many young U.S. Naval computing students during her heyday and still continues to inspire computer scientists around the world many years after her death.

Further information

Read about the previous event: London Hopper 2020 and London Hopper 2021

Supporters of the 2024 Colloquium

UCL Computer Science is a global leader in research in experimental computer science. The 2014 Research Excellence Framework evaluation ranked UCL first place for computer science; 61% of its research is rated ‘world-leading’ and 96% of its research is rated ‘internationally excellent’. UCL Computer Science research has made a deep, lasting and sustained impact on all aspects of society. Code written at UCL is used across all 3G mobile networks; medical image computing now means faster prostate cancer diagnosis and has developed cutting edge software for neurosurgery; a human-centred computer security approach has transformed UK government’s delivery of online security. Our degrees reflect the ever-increasing importance of fields such as virtual environments, financial computing, and machine learning; and new programmes in Web Science and Business Analytics reflect latest trends in technology and industry. Computer Science enjoys a rich history – it established the first connection to the precursor of the Internet outside the US – and continues to create innovative technologies that change lives with computers.

The BCS Academy of Computing is the Learned Society within BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, and is dedicated to advancing computing as an academic discipline. By developing and supporting a cohesive community inclusive of scholars, researchers, educators and professionals with a shared commitment to the advancement of computing, the Academy aims to nurture ingenuity, inventiveness and innovation in computing. It is through our range of activities that we promote excellence in the creation, study and application of knowledge in computing. BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, promotes wider social and economic progress through the advancement of information technology science and practice. Bringing together industry, academics, practitioners and government to share knowledge, we promote new thinking, inform the design of new curricula, shape public policy and inform the public.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the main funding body for engineering and physical sciences research in the UK. Their diverse portfolio ranges from digital technologies to clean energy, manufacturing to mathematics, advanced materials to chemistry.

EPSRC invests in world-leading research and skills to advance knowledge and deliver a sustainable, resilient and prosperous UK. They support new ideas and transformative technologies which are the foundations of innovations that improve our economy, environment and society. In partnership and co-investing with industry, they work to deliver both national and global priorities.

Cisco

Cisco helps seize the opportunities of tomorrow by proving that amazing things can happen when you connect the unconnected. An integral part of their DNA is creating long-lasting customer partnerships, working together to identify customers' needs and provide solutions that fuel their success.

Cisco understands the power of human connection and its potential to make a difference in our world. That's why they empower people to play a positive role in UK society. This starts with modelling the right values within their own organisation. It's all part of their People Deal, which outlines their commitment to support each other and work together to create shared success that will benefit everyone.

Photography and Filming Notice

Please note that the event will be recorded. This media may be used by UCL for marketing and publicity in our publications, on our website and in social media or in any third party publication. Please contact the event organisers at: hopper@ucl.ac.uk if you have any concerns or if you wish to be exempted from this activity. Please also make yourself known to event staff when you arrive at the event.