Richard Kaeuper declared himself “really gob smacked” when the University obtained a rare 14th century manuscript in his honor.

The manuscript is one of only two copies of Ordonnances de plaidoyer de bouche et par escript (Ordonnances governing legal pleas made orally and in writing) authored by Pierre and Guillaume de Maucreux around 1330 to 1340 CE in Paris. It will be part of a permanent collection honoring Kaeuper, the Franklin W. and Gladys I. Clark Professor Emeritus of History who retired this year. Kaeuper, a beloved teacher and expert in chivalry, medieval European law, public order, administration, and finance, taught and researched at the University for 52 years.

The collection will support medieval studies research and teaching at the University.

The manuscript represents a vital early source for the history of the Parlement de Paris, which functioned as France’s supreme court from the 13th century until 1789.

“It’s a great opportunity for both graduate and undergraduate students to grapple with a valuable manuscript, to hopefully do projects on it,” says Anna Siebach-Larsen, the director of the Rossell Hope Robbins Library and Koller-Collins Center for English Studies. The library is dedicated to making its manuscripts available as hands-on experiences to anyone who wants to use them.

Read more here about the outpouring of support from Kaeuper’s former students, and the combined efforts of numerous University offices and nearly 100 alumni to make the Richard W. Kaeuper Collection of Medieval Manuscripts possible.

COVID-19 caused massive adjustments in the workplace, including increased reliance on virtual rather than in-person meetings. That trend is likely to continue—even after the pandemic wanes—as breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence and machine learning threaten even high-skilled jobs in many fields.

“Demand is instead soaring for tasks involving socio-cognitive soft skills, such as leadership and creative problem-solving,” explain Ehsan Hoque, associate professor of computer science, and Gourab Ghosal, associate professor of physics, mathematics, and computer science. “The future workplace is likely to involve large ensembles of people interacting in virtual settings, such as online social networks, as they tackle complex challenges that are yet beyond the capability of machines.”

Their argument persuaded the Army Research Office to award them a $700,000 grant to continue their research on redesigning and maximizing the productivity of these “self-organizing social networks.” Using creative performance as an initial yardstick, Hoque and Ghoshal will set up controlled, virtual experiments to test how variables such as group composition, size, external signals, and network structure affect the productivity of network participants. They will also develop a tunable simulation architecture to extend their findings to a broad range of other skills that will be relevant to the future of work. They will then develop, test, and validate a suite of intervention strategies to alleviate bottlenecks and enhance the productivity of the creative process.

Hoque says this project builds on interdisciplinary connections the researchers have been able to establish through the Goergen Institute for Data Science. “We are very grateful to have received a University Research Award last year allowing us to get some initial results to be successful with this proposal,” Hoque adds. Learn about other ongoing projects at the Rochester Human-Computer Interaction (ROC HCI) lab.

Lynne Maquat, the J. Lowell Orbison Endowed Chair and Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Oncology and Pediatrics, who has been elected a member of the Council of Scientific Advisers (CSA) of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB). Also the founding director of the University of Rochester’s Center for RNA Biology, Maquat will serve as a member of the council for a term of three years, beginning in July 2022. Read more about this prestigious appointment.

Ronald Goettler, the James N. Doyle, Sr. Professor of Entrepreneurship and senior associate dean for faculty and research at Simon Business School, who will be on an academic leave beginning August 29 to be chief economist at Amazon Web Services. In his new role, Goettler will lead economists and data scientists to help units throughout Amazon Web Services identify and pursue market opportunities and operational efficiencies. He will be succeeded as senior associate dean by Jim Brickley, the Gleason Professor of Business Administration, who brings extensive research, teaching, and administrative experience to the position.

Yunjiao Mao, health services research and policy, Aug. 16, 2022.
“Variations in Home Time among Assisted Living Residents: Associations with Resident Characteristics, State Regulations, and Online Ratings.”
Advisor: Helena Temkin-Greener.

The University’s 2022 Biomedical Data Science Hackathon will take place online August 22–26. The hackathon is open to all University undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs, and includes prizes for better than random predictions and cash prizes for first- and second-place winners.

Participants are welcome to work individually or in teams of up to four people. All skill levels are welcome. The deadline to register is today, August 19, at noon EDT.

The University now has an approved vendor for texting research participants. Mosio is a text messaging software that enables you to efficiently communicate with, collect data from, and engage research participants.

Mosio must be used as an integration with REDCap and not independently. Obtain a quote and a statement of work that includes the REDCap integration from Mosio.com. Then, submit a REDCap Support Request. For questions, please contact the REDCap Administrator.

The Rochester Early-Stage Investigator Network at the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) has curated over 40 documents from successful K01, K08, K23, KL2, and K99 award applications that University of Rochester faculty and staff can use as they prepare their own K grant applications. This growing resource, which requires NetID login, includes full grant submissions as well as individual research plans, career development plans, specific aims, and summary statements. Learn more.