Motivation, Design, and Ubiquity: A Discussion of Research Ethics and Computer Science

Modern society is permeated with computers, and the software that controls them can have latent, long-term, and immediate effects that reach far beyond the actual users of these systems. This places researchers in Computer Science and Software Engineering in a critical position of influence and responsibility, more than any other field because computer systems are vital research tools for other disciplines. This essay presents several key ethical concerns and responsibilities relating to research in computing. The goal is to promote awareness and discussion of ethical issues among computer science researchers. A hypothetical case study is provided, along with questions for reflection and discussion.Comment: Written as central essay for the Computer Science module of the LANGURE model curriculum in Research Ethic

International Field Trips - the Tourism and Entertainment Management Field Trip to The Gambia, West Africa

Since 2008 students from the Tourism & Entertainment Management Subject Group at Leeds Metropolitan University have been offered the opportunity to spend seven nights in The Gambia, West Africa on an educational field visit. The purpose of the field visit is to investigate how tourism and entertainment can contribute to economic and social development in one of the poorest countries in the world. The field trip is extra-curricular and as such is an optional experience for the students. While the study experience is not assessed, it is hoped that the students will use the learning they gain from their time in The Gambia in the assignments and projects on their course. To date three field trips have been organised and each year the number of students selecting this study abroad opportunity has increased. Thirty-two students (6% of our total student population in Tourism and Entertainment Management) joined the field trip in February 2010, with the majority of students being from our BA (Hons) International Tourism Management degree (primarily at Level 4) and the second largest cohort being from BA (Hons) Entertainment Management (Level 6). The students fund the cost of the field trip themselves

Robust one-dimensional wires in lattice mismatched bilayer graphene

We show that lattice mismatched bilayer graphene can realize robust one-dimensional wires. By considering a single domain wall where the masses of the Dirac electrons change their sign, we establish a general projection principle. This determines how the existence of topological zero-energy domain wall states depends on the direction of the domain wall and locations of the massive Dirac cones inside the bulk Brillouin zone. We generalize this idea for arbitrary patterns of domain walls, showing that the topologically protected states exist only in the presence of an odd number of topological domain walls.Comment: 8 preprint pages, 3 figure