Today we left our wonderdul hotel in Nanjing and we took the fast train to Beijing. Beijing is one of the oldest cities in the world (3000 years). Today we were in one of the largest squares in the world, Tiananmen Square. I had so much fun, I found very funny that the Chinese guide presents herself as Ms. Cool. I have told to the students that when I am back to Trondheim I will change my name to Professor Mary Cool, since so many people mispells Letizia Jaccheri during so many years.
Now we live near Tsinghua campus. We have already met professor Xiaoying Bai and one of her students and one administrative leader of the university. We have also met master student Eirik Lund.

today it was even better, see the detail of our program is here. the temperature dropped from 30 C to 10 C and it was almost storm, but we did not care. The day started with a good breakfast. I do not even look at the bread, ham, cheese. Soup, and vegetables and everything eaten with the sticks from breakfast to dinner. Then we went to a startup (100 employees) and then to the research center of Huawei (10000 employees). After that we visited the old town and then dinner with the students. They invited us to eat dinner with them. Now the students and the young researchers are in the bar. I sit here and do some work (only the emails that I really have to process) and I think that the world is amazing and that I want to come back here in Spring 2020. There are two mistakes: the first 2 pictures were taken in Shanghai 2 days ago. The second mistake you should find yourself.

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Amazing day, great hospitality, presentations, and very green (!) campus  at Nanjing University. I was moved when I saw all the students sitting there, with student Nora Tomas, our first NTNU master student to Nanjing, former student and assistant in Customer Driven Project we could not look at each other in danger to cry, but then we laugh at usual.

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Is there anybody who does not dream to see the world? I have, like Tappetina, always been dreaming to see the world, those who knows me for decades can confirm. However, I have spent weeks, months, years in a small place called Ila going back and forth between kindergarden, school, footbal matches, some bike rides to NTNU, and flights to Tirrenia.

This Spring 2019, the next two months, I have many plans. China (for the IPIT project), Italy, Canada, US, Russia. There will be a lot of mistakes, I have for example already  managed to print business cards without email nor telephone number. May be I will not manage, who know? In any case, I am ready. I bring with me Tappetina in Chinese and More women in Informatics. I am looking forward, not good for CO2 emissions, I know.

Once upon a time, in another galaxy, I used to be the youngest one, like when I was a programmer in the late 80’s or when I started to attend scientific conferences. Suddenly I am almost always the oldest one, in lunches at work, unless an emeritus joins us, during meetings, in social settings. But it is ok, it is in fact very nice to listen to young people and get inspired. My favorite young person is Greta Thunberg whom I want to honor today in occasion of the Autism Awareness Day. In the old galaxy where I come from, one does not accept nor understand diversity.  I left industry for university as I felt that I was not normal enought for a life in industry in my early 20’s. However, universities are also conservative and a lot of work has to be done to include people like Greta who challenge science and the world.

Today, together with 8 European partners, we have submitted an H2020 application called GRETA to the Science with and for Society – SwafS-15-2018-2019: Exploring and supporting citizen science SWAFS program of H2020.   

“Empowered through the innovative GRETA citizen science methodology, young people and all citizens will generate, and engage in, bottom-up citizen science activities aimed at social innovation that will help humanity achieve its sustainable development goals. We choose to focus particularly on addressing societal challenges linked to the transition towards happier and healthier cities, with climate change being one of the most important among them.
We aspire to include everyone in this process, regardless of their gender, age, ability, geographical, socio-economic, cultural, or other background. Therefore, we pay particular attention to empowering people at risk of exclusion, focusing especially on the inclusion of the disabled as well as of girls and women in the innovative citizen science activities that we will develop.”

I do not know if the GRETA project will get fundings, the competition is hard. In any case, it is a big inspiration to try to be part of this. I am 54, I am one of the oldest ones, but not even when I wrote my master thesis in the old times, in the other galaxy, I concentrated and worked hard as in this process.
Thanks @Greta

Libro meraviglioso

l’Islanda ha acquistato l’indipendenza dalla Danimarca nel 1944

In Islanda fino al 1989 la birra era proibita

Gli islandesi sono poeti e pescatori

Voglio andare in Islanda e voglio scrivere un libro cosi’

Chi e’ l’io narrante?

When the snow in March develops its soft consistency, it  reminds me of the 24th of March. It was the first morning I was not working nor going to school since 1970. The day that should have been the first of 3 weeks preparation to the birth of my first son, I went to town and I bought clothes for my baby. I remember very clearly that I bought, among other things, a red winter suit of size 60. Norwegian people do not often comment how I look like but an old man, unknown one, but surely a doctor, told me in the street – where are you going in this weather? you will have your baby soon.
I did my shopping and went home. In the evening I told to Geir – now I have to go to IDI to collect a paper I have sent to the printer from here. Geir replied – are you sure?
I did not reply for a while but then I said – No we go to the hospital.
Eirik was born the day after, 25.3.1998. When I went to NTNU with him a couple of weeks later, the paper was still in the copy room.

I write about me as it would be embarassing for a 21 years old young bright man to see pictures of him as a baby, in his red winter suit of size 60 attached to his facebook profile. I write about me, in hope to be of help of other people. You could say that I have worked too much. I do not regret that I have worked many hours, many days, many years. The only things I regret in life is that I have been unkind to anyone and to me. If things go well or bad, it cannot be intepreted by how many hours, days, years the mother has worked.

I am working toward the start of the NFR IDUN Project. We start from PhD students. Do you know which is the percentage of female PhD students at the whole NTNU IE faculty? And at the different departments? I know. Try to guess, or count. If any Computer Science department in the world has a higher percentage of female PhD students than IDI, I will send a present to the department head. On Monday evening I will tell some answers. Happy weekend!