Nordic Graduate School of Language Technology

NGSLT Board Meeting

23rd May, 2007

13.30-16.30

(lunch 12.00-13.30)

Room 225, Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science of the University of Tartu (2, J. Liivi St), Tartu

Present: Robin Cooper (Göteborg, chair), Mare Koit (Tartu), Kimmo Koskenniemi (Helsinki), Stina Ojala (Turku, student representative), Gailius Raskinis (Vytautas Magnus), Eirikur Rögnvaldsson (Iceland), Inguna Skadina (Latvia), Torbjřrn Svendsen (NTNU), Markus Uneson (Lund, student representative)

  1. formalia
    Robin will prepare minutes and post them on NGSLT's website.
    The agenda was approved.
  2. information
    Robin reminded the Board that the deadline for the Third Baltic Conference on Human Language Technologies 2007 is June 1. See http://conference.vdu.lt/index.php?cf=7
    Robin gave information about the progress of the review of NGSLT which NordForsk is conducting and the meeting in Oslo on 4th June which Robin and Kimmo will attend.
    Eirikur gave information about the application for a Nordic Masters Programme in Language Technology which has been sent to the Nordic Council of Ministers. There were 41 applications of which three will be granted. We expect to hear on 15th June.
  3. minutes of last meeting (html)
    In connection with item 4 it was noted that updateable versions of student information is still desirable. Action Göteborg
    In connection with item 10 it was noted that there was still some overlap in mailing lists. Perhaps some instructions on the use of the lists is necessary. Action Göteborg
  4. student issues (student representatives)
    The students will make minutes oftheir meeting available on the website.
    Student representatives will in future be elected for a two-year period.
    Student representatives will make sure that students are informed about the rules concerning course attendance and completion and the availability of funds for the Baltic and Swedish LT conferences.
    The students noted that the questionnaire concerning the review was made available with only a short time before the deadline and expressed the desire that more time be provided in future for such things.
    Fredrik Jřrgensen will moderate a mailing list with web archive concerning questions specific to Nordic LT. Action Göteborg: Robert to contact Fredrik re creating such a list.
    The possibility of secondary supervision with support from NGSLT possibly requires updating and/or extension of data on supervisors. Action Göteborg: check supervisor data; create a template or form where students can enquire about possible supervisors, stating need/research project, whether travel or video-conferencing is desirable, possible supervisor(s) (if known); possibly explore payment possibilities with NordForsk.
    Increased use of distance learning via Marratech is desirable. Whole courses could be given this way.
    More course content on web for NGSLT courses is desirable in advance of course applications, even where a lecturer has not yet been decided on. Action Göteborg.
    The possibility of a summer school in 2008 was discussed. This might be a two week school with six courses of ten hours each corresponding to 3 ECTS credits each. There should be one or more courses integrating speech and NLP. Action Göteborg: create budged proposal. If it seems feasible we should call for a country to host the school, course proposals from potential course coordinators and course suggestions from students. Students may be required to take at least three or four courses depending on what is required for the budget.
  5. budget issues
    We are still operating within our budget with a surplus largely resulting from the underspend during our first startup year.
  6. courses
    1. courses for Autumn
      The Computational Phonology course which had been previously planned by GSLT may be taken over by Lithuania.
      A course on Computational Semantics by Apresjan is planned in Riga, possibly 26th-31st Oct. We will possibly exchange Latvia and Norway on the wiki course planning page.
      A course on machine translation in planned in Estonia for November.
    2. descriptions of existing courses on NGSLT's wiki (http://ngslt.org/wiki/view/Main/LocalCourses)
      There are two versions on this on the web. Action Göteborg: integrate the versions. Action all: add information. We should include all courses offered in English.
  7. NEALT report
    Kimmo reported on NEALT and the special interest groups being constituted there. There is to be a NEALT election of officers at the NODALIDA conference.
  8. Accounts of language technology in the participating countries
    Action all: keep these up-to-date. Action Göteborg: Make latest revision dates clearly visible. An alternative should be found for the word "account".
  9. date of next meeting
    8th October, in connection with the Baltic Conference on LT. It will be in the morning, unless there is a student meeting in the morning. The students may possibly meet via videoconference in advance of the Board meeting.
  10. any other business
    There was no other business.
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