Surface of Significance is an ongoing research project in the School of GeoSciences with the aim of reconceptualising geographic space such that a relative view of space may be modelled computationally to support highly contextual maps on mobile devices. The Surface of Significance is a creative articulation of some of the core ideas that underpin the project. This audio visual installation explores the relationship between space, materiality and process, and focuses in particular on two ideas. Firstly, that space is not an independent, inert phenomenon, but is dynamic and has an intrinsic relation to the material world in the sense that structure and the spatiality of form are co-produced. The second key idea the piece explores is the notion of a unified whole that we interpret as exhibiting various different behaviours but is in fact a single ‘thing’. In this sense, form is space and vice versa, and our observation of the interconnectedness of the world gives way to a sense of a singular condition manifest in space and time.

At the heart of this work is the opportunity that is provided by computational technology to represent different phenomena as data, allowing us to conceptualise aspects of the world in a way that emphasises relatedness rather than reinforcing distinction. The Surface of Significance explores this idea by representing an infinite material surface both visually and through sound, with locally defined differentiation giving way to an all-encompassing structural state that is unified

Lucas Godfrey – PhD Automated Map Content Selection – lucas.godfrey@ed.ac.uk
Matt Giannotti – PhD Music – mattgiannotti@gmail.com

Data-X is a University of Edinburgh IS Innovation Fund initiative which brings together PhD researchers from arts and sciences to develop collaborative data ‘installations’
The exhibition runs from 26 November – 6 December 2016 in the Sculpture Court, Edinburgh College of Art, Main Building, 74 Lauriston Pl, Edinburgh EH3 9DF
For further information see: http://data-x.blogs.edina.ac.uk/about/ or contact Stuart Macdonald (Data-X Project Manager – stuart.macdonald@ed.ac.uk )
To accompany the exhibition a symposium will be held on 1 December 2016 in the Main Lecture Theatre, Edinburgh College of Art.
To register visit: http://tinyurl.com/jmet54a
Twitter: �@dataexhibition

Physical installations:
• eTunes – Dr Siraj Sabihuddin
• Feel the Heat – Nathalie Vladis & Julia Zaenker
• Inside the black box – Luis Fernando Montaño & Bohdan Mykhaylyk
• PUROS Sound Box – Dr. Sophia Banou, Dr. Christos Kakalis, Matt Giannotti
• Sinterbot – Adela Rabell Montiell & Dr. Siraj Sabihuddin
• Surface of Significance – Lucas Godfrey & Matt Giannotti

Performance installations (times are approximate):
• The Carnival of the Endangered Animals – Oli Jan (6.00pm)
• o ire – Prof. Nick Fells (6.15pm)
• Wind Gust 42048 – Matt Giannotti (6.30pm)

Supported by:

We are pleased to announce that the Data-X exhibition and symposium will be supported by The Data Lab. The Data Lab enables industry, public sector and world-class university researchers to innovate and develop new data science capabilities in a collaborative environment. Its core mission is to generate significant economic, social and scientific value from big data.

Each of the Data-X research groups have been working hard over the summer on their ideas and a number of data installations have now been confirmed for the Data-X Exhibition and Symposium. Members of each research group have been invited to showcase and discuss progress towards their respective installations on 19 October (2pm) in room D2, Argyle House (http://edina.ac.uk/about/contact.html).

The Data-X team will announce shortly the dates of the exhibition and symposium which will take place in Edinburgh College of Art at the end of November/start of December. As such planning has commenced on programmes and on promoting and publicising the events.

We aim to make further announcements over the coming weeks so please watch this space!

The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Data Science is holding their annual Data Science event in Edinburgh where you’ll be able to meet our staff, students and partner organisations.

The main purpose of the day is to meet people working within the data science community and identify new collaborative opportunities.

For further information including registration visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/data-science-research-day-2016-registration-26999748976

A Data Science Boot Camp organised by The Data Lab held will be held here in Edinburgh (12th September 2016).

Click here to view the embedded video.

Students can enroll for individual modules, or for the whole 3 week programme. For more details visit:http://www.thedatalab.com/Data-Science-boot-camp

The Research Data Service (RDS) would like to bring the following data-related workshops to you attention, namely:

Data Carpentry Workshop (22 & 23 August, University of Edinburgh Main Library, 30 George Square) – an example-driven two-day workshop on basic data science computing skills. Short tutorials alternate with hands-on practical exercises, and participants are encouraged both to help one another, and to try applying what they have learned to their own research problems during and between sessions. Tools to be used include OpenRefine, R, and SQL.

For further details see: http://www.epay.ed.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=2&deptid=80&catid=96&prodid=2350

Software Carpentry Workshop (24 & 25 August, University of Edinburgh Main Library, 30 George Square) – an example-driven two-day workshop on basic data science computing and coding skills. Short tutorials alternate with hands-on practical exercises, and participants are encouraged both to help one another, and to try applying what they have learned to their own research problems during and between sessions. Tools to be used include Python, Git and Github.

For further details see: http://www.epay.ed.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=2&deptid=80&catid=96&prodid=2351

We are holding our second DATA-X workshop on Wednesday 15 June at the
James Clerk Maxwell Building, Room 3217 and are inviting PhD students
and technologists to come along and participate in what we hope will
be lively discussion and activities.

We aim to engender Art and Science collaborations by offering
micro-funds towards each ‘installation’ as well as the opportunity to
publish in the exhibition catalogue and present at the Pioneering
Research Data Symposium later in the year.

We have over 20 registered participants with a range of research
interests including:
Crystal structure, Raman spectroscopy, Structural biology,
Measurement-Based Power Systems Control, Astrophysics, Polymer-sensors,
Biological data mining, Computational Mechanics,
Internationalization of Higher Education, Bioinformatics, Evolution,
Genomics, Visual sociology, Advertising, National identity, Environment,
Agriculture, Nutrient Management, Soil, Pollen, Farmers, Social Network
Analysis, Food security, Systems biology, Cell level
modelling, Cell physiology, Mobile User Experience, Enviromental
Sustainability, Political science, Human rights, Data materialisation,
Digital fabrication, Practice based research, Synthetic
biology!

To register for the workshop (and get a free lunch) see:
http://data-x.blogs.edina.ac.uk/

To find out more about DATA-X see:
http://data-x.blogs.edina.ac.uk/about/

or watch the short You Tube
trailer: https://youtu.be/NMPPZZc-sZ4

Please get in contact should you require further information.

All best,
Stuart Macdonald
DATA-X Project Manager / Associate Data Librarian
EDINA

Earlier this week DataShare received the Data Seal of Approval – a peer review certification for trusted digital repository (TDR) status. The award is reviewed every two-years.

Edinburgh DataShare self-assessment statements for each of the 16 metrics (which express roles and responsibilities of data producer, data repository and data consumer) can be viewed on the DSA website at: https://assessment.datasealofapproval.org/assessment_175/seal/pdf/ (note: liberal use of white space). We aim to publish the actual seal on the home page of DataShare as part of the upcoming major release (2.0).

For more information about DSA see our web page, http://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/research-support/data-library/data-repository/trustworthiness

Note: a paper will be published in the forthcoming IASSIST Quarterly showcasing institutional implementations of DSA. This follows on from a successful panel session at the IASSIST Conference at Univ. Minneapolis in June (see: http://iassist2015.pop.umn.edu/program/block6#a4)

DSA are also currently in discussion with ICSU World Data System to produce a harmonised discipline-agnostic self-assessment TDR certification scheme. This should be in place some time in 2016.

Stuart Macdonald
Associate Data Librarian

Work was completed on collating and assembling 17 self-assessment statements for Edinburgh DataShare’s Data Seal of Approval application for trusted digital repository status.

‘Recommended File Formats’ and ‘Trustworthiness’ pages have been added to Edinburgh DataShare documentation as evidence to support Edinburgh DataShare’s Data Seal of Approval application.

The DataSync service build, testing and documentation is now complete, and the service went live on 27th May 2015.

The RDM website continues to add new content. Links are being checked and corrected to match the format needed for the migration to Drupal.

A Call for Papers for the ‘Dealing with Data 2015’ conference has been was finalised, and an announcement was posted on the data blog and call for papers were sent out to Research Administrators, Directors of Research and Research staff in three colleges.

System design of the DataVault project funded by Jisc has commenced, with the architecture being developed jointly between the universities of Edinburgh and Manchester. Development is due to start in June. A ‘ skeleton service’ is currently being scoped, to offered as an interim service.

A one-page EPSRC compliance guide has been produced to assist PIs with meeting the EPSRC research data expectations.

The Data Library is currently looking at end user interface improvements to the new Mirage theme for DataShare.

Talks are continuing between the Data Library, Learning, Teaching & Web Division, and North Carolina about a MANTRA MOOC for academic year 2015-16.

Stuart Macdonald
RDM Service Coordinator / Associate Data Librarian