Campus Notices
SkillsPEI is a division of the PEI Department of Workforce, Advanced Learning and Population. It manages the design and delivery of employment and skills development programming funded by the Canada-Prince Edward Island Labour Market Development Agreement and Canada-PEI Workforce Development Agreement.
Through SkillsPEI, the Post-Secondary Student Program supports full-time post-secondary students working a minimum of 12 to a maximum of 18 weeks during the summer. The exact number of weeks designated per placement will be based on factors such as but not limited to position, wage, and the likelihood of opportunity for experiential learning. Students must be entering or returning to full-time post-secondary studies in the fall.
Wage subsidy offered:
- Employer can set the wage rate but must provide a minimum of $14.50/hour and will be funded up to $15.80/hour.
- Employers will be reimbursed 100% of the approved hourly wage plus 4% vacation pay to a maximum of 40 hours per week, for the total weeks approved.
- Note: the subsidy does not include 8% benefits, so additional funding must be sourced elsewhere.
To centralize the administration of this program for UPEI researchers, Research Services is accepting/submitting research-related applications. To apply for the program, please provide the following details to Research Services (researchservices@upei.ca) by the closing date of March 31, 2024:
- Project or activity description
- Position title
- Job activities/duties
- Objectives to be achieved
- Education and skills required
- Duration including start and end date and total weeks
- Rate of pay (hourly)
- Mentorship plan
- Supervisor name and contact details
For additional information about the program, please click here. UPEI researchers may contact Maria Steele, Manager of Research Services, for more details (mlsteele@upei.ca).
The University of Prince Edward Island received the sad news on Friday that Dr. Greg Irvine, a long time and dedicated member of the University community, passed away after a short and courageous battle with cancer.
Dr. Irvine retired from UPEI in 2019 after a 29-year tenure with the Department of Music as a professor of brass. He was a long-time member of the University Senate, including serving as vice-chair, twice directed the Concert Band/Wind Symphony, and served as chair of the music department for several years—all while remaining active as a tuba soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player.
The UPEI flags have been lowered to half mast in Dr. Irvine’s memory.
Accessibility Services (first floor Dalton Hall) will close from noon until 2:00 pm on Thursday, February 22, for a staff meeting.
To submit an inquiry, please email accessibility@upei.ca or astesting@upei.ca (testing inquiries only).
Messages received during the closure will be answered as soon as possible.
Thank you!
Presenter: Saad Javed Cheema
Title: "Crop Water Requirements in the Face of Climate Change”
Date/Time: Thursday, February 22, 2024, 9:00 am, via Web Conference
If you wish to attend the public presentation, please contact the Graduate Studies Coordinator at gsc@upei.ca to receive the link.
Everyone is welcome.
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Global Women’s (and Allies) breakfast (GWB) will be held at the Fox & Crow, W.A. Murphy Student Centre, on February 27, 2024, from 7:30–9:30 am. Click here to register by February 22 at 4 pm. Breakfast is included for registered attendees.
Held in conjunction with the UN Day of Women and Girls in Science, the goal of the breakfast series is to establish an active network of people of all genders to overcome the barriers to gender equality in science. The theme of this year’s event is “Catalyzing Diversity in Science.”
Speakers will include Dr. Nola Etkin, dean of science; Dr. Marya Ahmed, associate professor of chemistry and engineering; and Leah Gauthier, a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry. They will speak about their experiences as female leaders in science as well as their research, mentorship, and equity, diversity, and inclusion. Also planned is a “tie-dye your lab coat” activity. Participants can bring clean lab coats and turn them into colourful garments.
A virtual information session regarding NSERC Alliance Grants will be held on Thursday, March 14, from 11:30 am-12:45 pm. The session will provide an overview of the Alliance Advantage and Alliance Society programs and will provide details on how to apply. The session will be presented by Shirine Jeradi, Manager, NSERC – Research Partnerships, and based in Atlantic Canada.
This session is open to anyone interested in learning more about NSERC Alliance Grants. RSVP via this Google form to obtain the zoom link.
The session will be followed by an opportunity for researchers to have short (10-15 minutes) one-on-one consultations with Shirine. If you are interested in a consultation, please note this on the Google form and indicate your availability. A private Zoom link will be sent to you for your consultation meeting.
Alliance grants encourage university researchers to collaborate with partner organizations, which can be from the private, public, or not-for-profit sectors. These grants support research projects led by strong complementary collaborative teams that will generate new knowledge and accelerate the application of research results to create benefits for Canada.
Alliance Advantage grants (formerly Alliance cost-sharing option 1) are for partner-driven projects. They fund projects focused on the partners’ goals, with at least one partner sharing in the costs of research.
Alliance Society grants (formerly Alliance cost-sharing option 2) fund projects with societal impact as the main driver.
IT Systems and Services, in collaboration with the Robertson Library, now offers extended hours of technical support to cover evening classes. Extended support hours will run from 4:30 to 8 pm Monday through Thursday and 4 pm to 8 pm on Fridays.
This service will be delivered by the Robertson Library Service Desk (reference@upei.ca, 902-566-0583).
Support areas include password resets, account locks, Wi Fi, and basic computer/podium troubleshooting.
Our next Coffee Break Conversation will be Monday, February 26, at 10:30 am, with Scott Cassidy and John McIntyre, co-chairs of UPEI’s GenAI Taskforce. Bring your favourite morning beverage, and join us in the TLC, Robertson Library Annex, Room 230. If you want to join us online, here's a zoom link .
Interested in learning programming with Python? ACENET has added an additional session to its winter semester training offerings.
Join ACENET and Ocean Tracking Network in our Introduction to Python workshop series. Over three weeks, we will explore data analysis and visualization with Python, based on the Software Carpentry Lessons. Each week will build off the last; if you miss a week, check out the previous link to follow along!
No previous coding experience is necessary. These sessions will be held online and are free to attend.
This workshop will take place on:
- Wednesday, February 21, 1:00--4:00 pm
- Wednesday, February 28, 1:00--4:00 pm
- Wednesday, March 6, 1:00--4:00 pm
If you have questions about upcoming training or ACENET services at UPEI, contact Kaitlin Newson.
UPEI annually acknowledges individuals for their outstanding contributions to the success of the University. The awards are valued at $1,000 each and given in recognition of excellence of faculty, librarians, clinical veterinary professionals, clinical nursing instructors, sessional instructors, and staff.
The awards will be presented during a Celebration of Colleagues to be held on Thursday, May 23, 2024, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm in the UPEI Performing Arts Centre, PAC #121S.
Nominations are open and must be submitted to universityawards@upei.ca by the last Friday in February each year. This year, nominations close on Friday, February 23..
For further details on the awards and the nomination process, please visit University Awards of Excellence.
The UPEI Office of Commercialization, Industry and Innovation (OCII) is pleased to invite you to attend UPEI’s Research Breakfast on Thursday, February 29.
Dr. Jay Penney, associate professor of biomedical sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, will present “Microglia: The brain's immune cells that impact neurodegeneration.”
Dr. Aitazaz Farooque, Industry Research Chair in Precision Agriculture and associate dean, UPEI School of Climate Change and Adaptation, will present “Development of Climate Smart Agriculture Technologies to Ensure Food Security and Sustainability.”
Please join us as a part of PEI’s leadership community in this forum to exchange ideas and insights.This is a valuable opportunity for you to hear about the ongoing interdisciplinary research at UPEI in health and climate.
When: Thursday, February 29, from 7:30--9:00 am (breakfast will be provided)
Where: McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Student Centre, University Avenue, Charlottetown, PE, Canada
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/upei-research-breakfast-tickets-808175443507?aff=oddtdtcreator
The search committee for the Dean of Sustainable Design Engineering announces an upcoming presentation by a finalist candidate. Dr. Suzanna Kresta will give a public presentation on Monday, February 26, 2:00–3:00 pm, AVC 207N.
Dr. Kresta is a professor of chemical engineering and recently completed a term as dean of the College of Engineering (2018–2023) at the University of Saskatchewan. She received a BScEng (University of New Brunswick), MSc (Leeds University), and PhD (McMaster University) in 1992, all in chemical engineering. As dean at USask, she led the development and implementation of the College’s strategic plan, new co-operative education program, complete re-design of the first-year program, and three major building plan projects, among others. She has received several teaching and research awards, including the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal for contributions to education in the province of Saskatchewan. Dr. Kresta is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering American Institute of Chemical Engineers Canada.
Since the search for the Dean of Sustainable Design Engineering began in June 2023, the committee has conducted a comprehensive search and selected an additional finalist for a series of stakeholder meetings on campus.
The Government of Prince Edward Island invites students aged 14 to 24 to undertake anti-racism work on PEI. Students can apply for funding ranging from $100 to $1,500 for projects that must align with one or more of the following goals: strengthening organizational capacity with activities focused on anti-racism; public outreach, engagement, and advocacy; and strengthening BIPOC communities. Project proposals will be accepted until February 26, 2024. For more information, visit princeedwardisland.ca/antiracismmicrogrants
SkillsPEI is a division of the PEI Department of Workforce, Advanced Learning and Population. It manages the design and delivery of employment and skills development programming funded by the Canada-Prince Edward Island Labour Market Development Agreement and Canada-PEI Workforce Development Agreement.
Through SkillsPEI, the Post-Secondary Student Program supports full-time post-secondary students working a minimum of 12 to a maximum of 18 weeks during the summer. The exact number of weeks designated per placement will be based on factors such as but not limited to position, wage, and the likelihood of opportunity for experiential learning. Students must be entering or returning to full-time post-secondary studies in the fall.
Wage subsidy offered:
- Employer can set the wage rate but must provide a minimum of $14.50/hour and will be funded up to $15.80/hour.
- Employers will be reimbursed 100% of the approved hourly wage plus 4% vacation pay to a maximum of 40 hours per week, for the total weeks approved.
- Note: the subsidy does not include 8% benefits, so additional funding must be sourced elsewhere.
To centralize the administration of this program for UPEI researchers, Research Services is accepting/submitting research-related applications. To apply for the program, please provide the following details to Research Services (researchservices@upei.ca) by the closing date of March 31, 2024:
- Project or activity description
- Position title
- Job activities/duties
- Objectives to be achieved
- Education and skills required
- Duration including start and end date and total weeks
- Rate of pay (hourly)
- Mentorship plan
- Supervisor name and contact details
For additional information about the program, please click here. UPEI researchers may contact Maria Steele, Manager of Research Services, for more details (mlsteele@upei.ca).
The Robertson Library invites the campus community to the final candidate's presentation for the permanent-track position of One Health & Scholarly Communications Librarian.
Candidate: Dan Phillips, MI, MREM
Title: What can the Library do to support scholarly communications at a university like UPEI?
When: Monday, March 4, 2024, 2:45 PM
Where: AVC 278N
Dan Phillips earned his ALA-accredited Master of Information and Master of Resource and Environmental Management from Dalhousie University. He is currently a Clinical Librarian with the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
The 2024-2025 MSSU Trainee Support Program is now accepting applications. This funding opportunity is open to trainees engaged in patient-oriented health research and entering or enrolled in a master’s, doctoral, or post-doctoral fellow program at universities in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.
Funding amounts and duration:
Non-renewable awards will be available in the following amounts:
- Master’s level – $10,000 for 1 year
- Doctoral level – $15,000/year for 2 years
- Post-doctoral level – $20,000/year for 2 years
Deadline to apply: March 22, 2024, at 2 pm AT
Information session: February 22, 2024, at 3 pm AT
Join the information session about the requirements and process: https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07ek6x8aj0ff533bed&oseq=&c=&ch=
In the meantime, visit the MSSU website for a program overview with more details, including links to the online application forms.
If you have any questions or would like to register for the information session, please email Sharon.Skaling@nshealth.ca.
Interested in learning about machine learning, natural language processing, or a second programming language like C? More training from ACENET for the winter semester is now open for registration. Sessions are online and free of charge.
If you have questions about upcoming training or ACENET services at UPEI, contact Kaitlin Newson.
February 20 and 22, 2024, 1:00--4:00pm
Apache Spark is a user-friendly open-source platform for large-scale data processing, analytics, and parallel computing. Using Apache Spark and Python (PySpark), this workshop is aimed at analyzing data sets that are too large to be handled and processed by a single computer. With hands-on guided examples, the workshop covers the basics of Spark and Resilient Distributed Datasets (RDD) high-level architecture. The examples are mainly written in Python, hence the APIs covered are the ones available in PySpark, including Spark Core API (RDD API), Spark SQL, and Pandas on Spark. Participants learn how to import data, use functions to transform, reduce, and compile the data, and produce parallel algorithms that can run on Alliance clusters.
Prerequisites: ACENET Basics or equivalent, and how to write functions in Python.
The Why's and How's of Machine Learning
March 5, 2024, 1:00--3:00 pm
How can you make smart decisions about setup and execution of a machine learning project? How should you hire and support the staff working on the project? We hope to provide clear, thoughtful answers to these, and other common questions to get you thinking about whether machine learning is a technology that you and your company or group should think about investing in. We will discuss topics like data collection, the trade-offs involved in choosing a model, and what to expect from a successful project, as well as how to salvage useful by-products and skills when projects don’t go as planned.
This is a beginner session oriented to business owners and project managers curious to learn more about machine learning, or who may have an idea that involves machine learning and want to know where to begin.
Mar ch13, 2024, 10:00 am--4:00 pm
A great deal of high-performance computing software is written in C, but few universities offer courses in the language any more. If you have to work with "legacy code" written in C, adding features, porting to a new machine, or patching errors, or if you need to write user-defined functions for engineering packages such as Fluent, then this workshop is for you.
Prerequisites: Familiarity with some other programming language.
March 19, 2024, 1:00--3:00pm
Are you curious about machine learning, but not sure where to start, or if the discipline is for you? Join ACENET for a survey and explanation of several methods used to make machines learn. From simple models like Naive Bayes, Regression, and Decision Trees to an introduction to Support Vector Machines and Feed-Forward Neural Networks.
This talk is geared to be approachable to a novice audience, curious about machine learning, but not necessarily math or computer science majors. Methods and techniques will be explained using metaphors, examples, and clear language, without diving too deeply into the math and calculus on which these techniques are based.
March 27, 2024, 10:00 am--4:00 pm
A great deal of high-performance computing software is written in C++, but few universities offer courses in the language any more. If you have to work with "legacy code" written in C++, adding features, porting to a new machine, or patching errors, or if you need to extend packages like OpenFOAM which are written in C++, then this workshop is for you.
C++ was designed as an extension of the C language but has its own distinct idiom or style. This workshop assumes that you already know C to the level reached in the ACENET workshop, "C as a Second Language."
Prerequisites: "C as a Second Language" or prior experience with C programming.
Introduction to Neural Network Architecture
April 2, 2024, 1:00--4:00 pm
Have you wondered how machine learning models can suddenly do so many different types of work? How is it that machines can learn things like language, vision, and translation in such a short amount of time, and what has helped drive these kinds of improvements? The obvious answers--big data and big processors--are only part of the story, and to understand the full picture, we need to take a closer look at the models driving the AI revolution. This talk is aimed at people who are familiar with the basics of feed-forward neural networks, and will involve an in-depth explanation of how information is represented for machines to learn on, how machines can make sense of information, and the challenges presented.
Prerequisite: Familiarity with feed-forward neural networks.
Introduction to Natural Language Processing
April 16, 2024, 1:00--4:00 pm
How do computers understand language? It seems impossible that zeroes and ones could ever add up to words that humans can understand, but machine language has come a long way in the past few years. Let us take you behind the code to explain how machines simulate language comprehension, and why it’s a far more complicated problem than “bonjour = hello.” This talk is aimed at an audience who is not necessarily familiar with computers or language comprehension, but would like a primer to the field, and what it can realistically do. We will explain natural language processing from the perspective of machines that cannot understand words, but capture semantic meaning by processing data.
April 24, 2024, 10:00 am--4:00 pm
Fortran, one of the initial high-level programming languages, continues to be an excellent option for high-performance computing due to its superb performance. The newer versions offer many modern features, including object-oriented programming capabilities to programmers. This course will cover some of these features.
Prerequisites: Familiarity with another programming language.
The Bridge Effect: Critical Reflections in the Age of Technological Solutionism, a book co-edited by Drs. Laurie Brinklow and Andrew Jennings, will be launched at the Institute of Island Studies’ Island Lecture Series presentation on February 27. Featuring a discussion of the effect of bridges—physical or digital—on island life and culture, the event will take place from 7:00-8:30 pm in the Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building, UPEI.
Dr. Brinklow will take a humorous look at ferry crossings and how the various stages of the journey from the race to the dock to chatting with neighbours in the lineup can define Island life. Presenting virtually from Shetland, Scotland, via a technological bridge, Dr. Jennings will discuss the long-lasting impacts of two small bridges on island populations in the Scottish archipelago. Janice Pettit, PEI contributor, will share her interviews with Island residents about how the Confederation Bridge has affected “the Island way of life” 20 years later.
The event is free; all are welcome to attend. Books will be available for purchase.
Dr. Brinklow is a writer, editor, assistant professor, and coordinator of the UPEI Master of Arts in Island Studies (MAIS) program. She is the author of My island’s the house I sleep in at night and Here for the Music. A resident of Shetland, Scotland’s most northerly islands, Dr. Jennings is an associate professor of Island Studies based at UHI Shetland, where he works with the Institute for Northern Studies. Janice Pettit was an adjunct professor at UPEI where she taught the Introduction to Island Studies course for seven semesters. She now works for the PEI Public Service Commission.
The Bridge Effect was published by Island Studies Press with the support of a SSHRC Exchange Publication Award from the Office of the Vice-President, Academic and Research at UPEI. For more information, contact Bren Simmers at 902-566-0386 or ispstaff@upei.ca.
Presenter: Saad Javed Cheema
Title: "Crop Water Requirements in the Face of Climate Change”
Date/Time: Thursday, February 22, 2024, 9:00 am, via Web Conference
If you wish to attend the public presentation, please contact the Graduate Studies Coordinator at gsc@upei.ca to receive the link.
Everyone is welcome.
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Global Women’s (and Allies) breakfast (GWB) will be held at the Fox & Crow, W.A. Murphy Student Centre, on February 27, 2024, from 7:30–9:30 am. Click here to register by February 22 at 4 pm. Breakfast is included for registered attendees.
Held in conjunction with the UN Day of Women and Girls in Science, the goal of the breakfast series is to establish an active network of people of all genders to overcome the barriers to gender equality in science. The theme of this year’s event is “Catalyzing Diversity in Science.”
Speakers will include Dr. Nola Etkin, dean of science; Dr. Marya Ahmed, associate professor of chemistry and engineering; and Leah Gauthier, a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry. They will speak about their experiences as female leaders in science as well as their research, mentorship, and equity, diversity, and inclusion. Also planned is a “tie-dye your lab coat” activity. Participants can bring clean lab coats and turn them into colourful garments.
