School of Computing Science

GIST Seminar- Designing Explainable AI that Thinks with Us

Group: Human Computer Interaction (GIST)
Speaker: Dr. Furui Cheng, ETH Zürich
Date: 11 December, 2025
Time: 13:00 - 14:00
Location: SAWB 423 and Zoom: https://uofglasgow.zoom.us/j/84166272616?pwd=AfIAjDVABkfl0gRatrryb3uaxBWoDj.1

Abstract: Explainable AI (XAI) has become essential for calibrating trust in model predictions, supporting human-centred evaluation, and debugging. Yet most XAI methods assume that humans can independently judge whether an explanation makes sense, placing additional cognitive burden on users. In this talk, I propose an alternative: designing explainable AI that thinks with us. I illustrate this view through work on exploring classifier decision boundaries and scaling these analyses to understand large language model behaviours, using interactive visualizations that enable users to incorporate their hypotheses, domain knowledge, and exploratory questions into the interpretation process.

A Philosophical Exploration of Frugal Computing

Group: Low Carbon and Sustainable Computing
Speaker: Sylvia Wenmackers, Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science (CLPS), KU Leuven
Date: 11 December, 2025
Time: 15:00 - 16:00
Location: https://uofglasgow.zoom.us/j/88303151126?pwd=OhWcl8tFL8IL57nmAz5stxo7JqIJ1N.1

A Philosophical Exploration of Frugal Computing

In response to the unsustainable rise in materials and energy required for current and projected computations, Vanderbauhede (2021) argued that we urgently need to adopt a more frugal approach to computing. To develop this proposal, this talk explores related ideas from economics and philosophy. For instance, Schumacher’s (1973) Small Is Beautiful gave rise to the notion of ‘appropriate technology’, which suggests supplementing frugal computing with a people-centered focus. In addition, environmental virtue ethics can be used to refine a question that frugal computing already poses: in light of human flourishing, which computations are worth doing in the first place? Finally, we may wonder whether the study of what needs to be done should ever take precedence over the investigation of the facts themselves. Vermeersch (2001) argued that our current environmental problems do indeed warrant such priorities.

Speaker: Prof. dr. Sylvia Wenmackers is a BOF Research professor at the Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science (CLPS) of the Institute of Philosophy, KU Leuven.

Staff page: hiw.kuleuven.be/clps/people/00065629

CSA Africa Showcase 2025

Group: Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA)
Speaker: SICSA Event, SICSA
Date: 12 December, 2025
Time: 10:30 - 13:00
Location:University of Glasgow, School of Computing Science, Room 423, Sir Alwyn Williams Building, Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8RZ

Please join us for an inspiring session showcasing how CSA Africa is empowering the next generation of African tech talent. 10:30am on Friday, 12 December 2025 at University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science. Register CSA Africa is a transformative international outreach initiative under the School of Computing Science. Founded by Dr. Sofiat Olaosebikan, the initiative is driven by her personal journey of overcoming limited access to computing education in Nigeria to become an academic in the field. Her story fuels our commitment to bridging the tech education gap across Africa, ensuring that young Africans have the opportunity to build successful careers in technology. Since 2018, CSA Africa has raised over £150,000 in funding, delivered 5 Python programming workshops across the continent (Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, and online) and empowering 700+ young Africans with technical skills and opening doors to careers in technology. This showcase event brings together the CSA Africa community to celebrate our impact, share powerful stories, and explore how you can be part of our next chapter. This will be a hybrid event, with options for attendance both online and in-person. If you are interested in attending, please sign-up at the Eventbrite link here.

GIST Seminar- Designing Explainable AI that Thinks with Us

Group: Human Computer Interaction (GIST)
Speaker: Dr. Furui Cheng, ETH Zürich
Date: 11 December, 2025
Time: 13:00 - 14:00
Location: SAWB 423 and Zoom: https://uofglasgow.zoom.us/j/84166272616?pwd=AfIAjDVABkfl0gRatrryb3uaxBWoDj.1

Abstract: Explainable AI (XAI) has become essential for calibrating trust in model predictions, supporting human-centred evaluation, and debugging. Yet most XAI methods assume that humans can independently judge whether an explanation makes sense, placing additional cognitive burden on users. In this talk, I propose an alternative: designing explainable AI that thinks with us. I illustrate this view through work on exploring classifier decision boundaries and scaling these analyses to understand large language model behaviours, using interactive visualizations that enable users to incorporate their hypotheses, domain knowledge, and exploratory questions into the interpretation process.

A Philosophical Exploration of Frugal Computing

Group: Low Carbon and Sustainable Computing
Speaker: Sylvia Wenmackers, Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science (CLPS), KU Leuven
Date: 11 December, 2025
Time: 15:00 - 16:00
Location: https://uofglasgow.zoom.us/j/88303151126?pwd=OhWcl8tFL8IL57nmAz5stxo7JqIJ1N.1

A Philosophical Exploration of Frugal Computing

In response to the unsustainable rise in materials and energy required for current and projected computations, Vanderbauhede (2021) argued that we urgently need to adopt a more frugal approach to computing. To develop this proposal, this talk explores related ideas from economics and philosophy. For instance, Schumacher’s (1973) Small Is Beautiful gave rise to the notion of ‘appropriate technology’, which suggests supplementing frugal computing with a people-centered focus. In addition, environmental virtue ethics can be used to refine a question that frugal computing already poses: in light of human flourishing, which computations are worth doing in the first place? Finally, we may wonder whether the study of what needs to be done should ever take precedence over the investigation of the facts themselves. Vermeersch (2001) argued that our current environmental problems do indeed warrant such priorities.

Speaker: Prof. dr. Sylvia Wenmackers is a BOF Research professor at the Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science (CLPS) of the Institute of Philosophy, KU Leuven.

Staff page: hiw.kuleuven.be/clps/people/00065629

CSA Africa Showcase 2025

Group: Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA)
Speaker: SICSA Event, SICSA
Date: 12 December, 2025
Time: 10:30 - 13:00
Location: University of Glasgow, School of Computing Science, Room 423, Sir Alwyn Williams Building, Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8RZ

Please join us for an inspiring session showcasing how CSA Africa is empowering the next generation of African tech talent. 10:30am on Friday, 12 December 2025 at University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science. Register CSA Africa is a transformative international outreach initiative under the School of Computing Science. Founded by Dr. Sofiat Olaosebikan, the initiative is driven by her personal journey of overcoming limited access to computing education in Nigeria to become an academic in the field. Her story fuels our commitment to bridging the tech education gap across Africa, ensuring that young Africans have the opportunity to build successful careers in technology. Since 2018, CSA Africa has raised over £150,000 in funding, delivered 5 Python programming workshops across the continent (Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, and online) and empowering 700+ young Africans with technical skills and opening doors to careers in technology. This showcase event brings together the CSA Africa community to celebrate our impact, share powerful stories, and explore how you can be part of our next chapter. This will be a hybrid event, with options for attendance both online and in-person. If you are interested in attending, please sign-up at the Eventbrite link here.

SICSA Education Seminar - Pedagogical Prompt Engineering Protocol Applied to LLM Feedback in Introductory Programming

Group: Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA)
Speaker: SICSA Event, SICSA
Date: 15 December, 2025
Time: 14:00 - 15:30
Location: University of Glasgow, School of Computing Science, Room 423, Sir Alwyn Williams Building, Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8RZ

Please register to attend in person or online. Venue: Room 423, Sir Alwyn Williams Building, Lilybank Gardens, School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow Join us for the last SICSA Education Seminar of 2025 on 15 December at 2pm where University of Glasgow doctoral candidate Eyman Alyahyan will present her work: A Pedagogical Prompt Engineering Protocol Applied to LLM Feedback in Introductory Programming Abstract: Many researchers and educators are exploring how Large Language Models (LLMs) could be used to support feedback practices in computing education. Yet the prompts that guide these systems are often ad-hoc and not grounded in pedagogy. What if we could design prompts that enable LLMs to produce feedback that supports student learning? In this seminar, Eyman Alyahyan introduces the Pedagogical Prompt Engineering Protocol (PPEP)—a systematic, theory-informed methodology for developing effective educational prompts. PPEP served as the methodological foundation for this work. Applying the protocol led to the PPE-LLM framework, a set of 10 components that translate the protocol into a clear design structure for building prompts. These components give teachers a ready-to-use scaffold for creating a well-structured prompt. That prompt can then be used to generate formative feedback using LLMs that supports student learning in introductory programming. The talk shows how moving from principles to practice can make LLM-generated feedback more consistent and pedagogically meaningful. It also offers a transparent, repeatable approach for researchers and developers to create future prompt frameworks and LLM-based feedback tools grounded in pedagogy rather than intuition.

[FATA] Festive event

Group: Formal Analysis, Theory and Algorithms (FATA)
Speaker: N/A
Date: 16 December, 2025
Time: 14:00 - 16:00
Location: Room 422, SAWB

Calendar blocker

Measuring and understanding Distributed Denial of Service attacks

Group: Systems Seminars
Speaker: Daniel R. Thomas, University of Strathclyde
Date: 20 January, 2026
Time: 14:00 - 15:00
Location: Room 422, Sir Alwyn Williams Building and Zoom

Bio:

Dr Daniel R. Thomas is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Strathclyde where he is Director of the NCSC certified Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR). His research interests are in measuring security and cybercrime so that we can monitor improvement, evaluate interventions and inform regulators. This reveals which techniques work and provides the missing economic incentives to improve security and reduce cybercrime. He co-organises the Strathclyde International Perspectives on Cybercrime Summer School [link](https://www.strath.ac.uk/science/computerinformationsciences/strathcyber/cybercrimesummerschool) , which next runs 24th-28th August 2026.

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Group: Systems Seminars
Speaker: Tom Spink, University of St. Andrews
Date: 27 January, 2026
Time: 14:00 - 15:00
Location: Room 422, Sir Alwyn Williams Building and Zoom

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Aberdeen GameJam 2026

Group: Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA)
Speaker: SICSA Event, SICSA
Date: 28 January, 2026
Time: 12:00 - 17:00
Location: Meston Building, University of Aberdeen, Meston Walk, Aberdeen, AB24 3UE

View full event details here. After the success of last year, University of Aberdeen’s School of Natural and Computing Sciences will be running Aberdeen GameJam 2026, this time in partnership with the History department! The event is open to students at University of Aberdeen and any other Scottish University. Each participant will receive an Aberdeen GameJam 2026 t-shirt and Amazon vouchers will be awarded to winners in each prize category. Additionally, ABVentures and Common Profyt Games have sponsored prizes, one for the Best Pitch, and one for a category yet to be announced! This year’s general theme is Games & History (so it might be a good idea to grab somebody who knows their history!) Participants will have a week to develop from scratch a game on a more specific theme that will be announced on Wednesday, 21 January 2026, followed by an in-person event starting at 9am on Wednesday, 28 January 2025 where teams will get feedback from judges. Teams will make a short presentation of their game starting at Noon and then judges will choose a winner for our prizes to be announced that afternoon.

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Group: Systems Seminars
Speaker: Yuvraj Patel, University of Edinburgh
Date: 03 February, 2026
Time: 14:00 - 15:00
Location: Room 422, Sir Alwyn Williams Building and Zoom

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Group: Systems Seminars
Speaker: Tao Chen, University of Birmingham
Date: 19 February, 2026
Time: 14:00 - 15:00
Location: Room 422, Sir Alwyn Williams Building and Zoom

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Group: Systems Seminars
Speaker: Youssef Moawad, University of Glasgow
Date: 03 March, 2026
Time: 12:00 - 13:00
Location: Room 422, Sir Alwyn Williams Building and Zoom

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HRI 2026

Group: Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA)
Speaker: SICSA Event, SICSA
Date: 16 March, 2026
Time: 00:00 - 00:00
Location: TBA

The ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) is the premier venue for innovations on human-robot interaction. Sponsored by the ACM special interest groups on computer-human interaction (SIGCHI) and artificial intelligence (SIGAI) as well as the IEEE robotics and automation society (RAS), HRI brings together researchers spanning robotics, human-computer interaction, human factors, artificial intelligence, engineering, and social and behavioral sciences. The theme of the 21st edition of HRI is HRI Empowering Society. Our field has the potential to bring about positive change in many areas of our societies such as healthcare, transport, remote working, agriculture and industry. However, this change cannot happen if we do not engage properly with the end users who will potentially utilize robots in their jobs and daily lives. For this reason, HRI 2026 will focus on: 1) how we can ethically integrate robots in everyday processes without creating disruptions or inequalities, carefully thinking at the future of work and services; 2) how we can make them accessible to the general public (in terms of design, technical literacy and cost) with the final aim to make robots more willingly adopted as technological helpers. More information is available on the HRI 2026 website