This research report covers the period 1994-1998. There have been some rapid and exciting developments in the world of computing over the last five years. The massive explosion in the use of the Internet and WWW has fostered the emergence of new applications and technologies such e-commerce and data mining. Multimedia, agent-based computing and bioinformatics have also become established as important strands in computing research. The Department is constantly evolving to better meet these new challenges; there are now a number of applications-oriented groups, which amalgamate research from different technical areas. However, the new developments also pose interesting problems for the technical areas that have been a traditional strength of the Department.

The Department was awarded a 5* in the last research assessment exercise in 1996, the highest possible rating which confirms that our work is of international standing. New groups have been formed and some exciting work is being undertaken in areas such as mobile computing, bioinformatics and data mining.

Our centralised system for monitoring PhD student progress has proven to be very effective. EPSRC have moved to a quota allocation system based on research grant volume; in 1998 the Department received by far the most quota studentships of any Computer Science department in the UK (11 studentships). We have made studentships more attractive by providing a number of industrially sponsored "top-up" awards; the first such scholarship has recently been funded by Deutsche Bank. We intend to continue this initiative.

Another innovation has been the formation of a Research and Industrial Liaison Unit consisting of the Director of Research, the Director of Industrial Liaison and the Research and Industrial Liaison Administrator. They are assisted by the Research Committee who meet regularly to discuss strategic issues and monitor PhD-related matters.

This report is a catalogue of our research activity over the period. You will find lists of publications; research grants and PhDs awarded. There is a report by the Director of Industrial Liaison and a description of our main research areas. I hope you enjoy this report and find it informative; for further information please visit our web site at http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk

Professor Chris Hankin
Director of Research
May 1999