Objectives

• Coordination of the network's activities in education and training.
• Development and organisation of an international and distributed masters programme in computational logic.
• Organisational support of an exchange programme on the masters and PhD levels.
• Liaison with summer schools and other educational events in the field.
• Organisation of a distributed colloquium on computational logic.

Description of work

Education and training is of utmost importance for the successful promotion and development of computational logic. A tremendous amount of knowledge and experience in the field of computational logic has been gathered at the various partner sites in CoLogNET, and it is the goal of this workpackage to combine this expertise into a unique distributed education and training programme.

International masters programme in computational logic. We plan to mirror the international masters programme in computational logic currently run by the Technical University Dresden at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa in an attempt to attract more Latin-American students. This will lead to close collaboration between the TU Dresden and the Universidade Nova de Lisboa with exchanges on all levels: masters and PhD students, researchers, lecturers and professors. Other sites are welcome to join.

Distributed masters programme in computational logic. Based on the experience of the masters programme in computational logic the WP will develop and organise a distributed masters programme in computational logic. Courses on all levels shall be described according to the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). Course material such as manuscripts, slide-shows, digital videos, software packages and demonstrations will be made available via an internet portal. We will seek official accreditation of these courses from recognised educational programmes such as the Dresden masters programme. The language of the masters programme will be English. In addition, the portal will contain pointers to other educational material of possible interest made available to us by the partners in CoLogNET.

Exchange Programme. Based on the distributed masters programme in computational logic we will organise and support an exchange programme on the masters-level. Its goal is to provide the necessary information and organisational support such that the best students can study with the best experts. Likewise,
we will provide the necessary information and organisational support such that PhD-students working on topics from the field of computational logic can stay for several months at partner institutions. In particular, we intend to establish a forum, where PhD-students can present and discuss their thesis proposals. Such a
forum will be organised electronically as well as physically in the form of presentations and discussions at affiliated conferences.

Summer schools. We plan to establish formal relations with European summer schools such as the annual GULP summer school in Logic Programming held in Italy and the European Summer School in Logic, Language and Information (ESSLLI). Based on existing experience we plan to support such summer schools financially as well as organisationally, but we want to extend our involvement in various directions: Adapt courses such that they follow the ECTS guidelines and, consequently, can be accepted within the distributed masters programme in computational logic; include courses on specific topics of current interest and of
special interest for industrial participants; include tracks on special themes.

Distributed Colloquium on Computational Logic. Using software developed at the Technical University Dresden and VidSoft GmbH, Dresden, we intend to organise and support a monthly distributed colloquium on computational logic via the internet. In the long run we plan to broadcast sound and video live to various
partner sites, while questions from the audience can be posed by email.

Deliverables

• Curriculum of the distributed masters programme in computational logic.
• Internet portal to the course material.
• Electronic marketplace for exchanging masters and PhD students.
• Electronic forum for presenting and discussing PhD proposals.
• Lectures and tutorials for summer schools.
• Distributed Colloquium.

Milestones and expected result

• Months 1-6: Workshop on the distributed masters programme leading to a curriculum; discussions on the electronic forum for presenting and discussing PhD-proposals; first contact with the organisers of GULP, ESSLLI and other summer schools as well as affiliated conferences; first colloquium broadcast from
  Dresden to Lisbon.
• Months 7-12: Mirror of the Dresden international masters programme in computational logic at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa established; set-up of the curriculum for the distributed masters programme; selection of courses within the distributed masters programme; establishing the internet portal for the course
  material; Establishing the electronic marketplace for exchanging masters and PhD students; establishing the electronic forum for presenting and discussing PhD-proposals; first adapted courses at summer schools; first colloquium broadcast from Dresden to more than one site.
• Months 13-24: Complete description of courses within the distributed masters programme including course material; Internet portal and electronic marketplace in full operation; First PhD proposals are discussed on the Internet as well as at affiliated conferences; formal relations with summer schools established; several colloquia broadcast from Dresden to the CoLogNET partner sites.
• Months 24-36: Addition of new courses and course material; accreditation of the courses from recognised educational programmes; internet portal, electronic marketplace and forum in full swing; Colloquia broadcast from selected partner sites.