Staff Profile
Associate Professor Frans Henskens
Associate Professor
School of Elect Engineering and Computer Science
EditCareer Summary
Biography
I commenced as an academic at the age of 40. After establishing, with John Rosenberg, the very successful and productive Persistent Systems Research Group at the University of Sydney, I left the group in 1995 to return to Newcastle for family reasons. I was then employed by the School of Management, UoN, on a series of short teaching contracts, until being appointed to a full-time position with FEBE in mid 1998. I established inter-disciplinary collaboration with groups in UoN (Mental Health) and QUT (Bioinformatics), achieving substantial results including an international patent. From 2002 I also became heavily involved in University administration as HoD and Assistant Dean, but also resumed work on my previous area of expertise, forming the Distributed Systems Research Group which I lead. This work recommenced in the context of continued collaboration with my colleagues in Mental Health Studies, and in Health Behaviour, and is creating infrastructure by which our research is able to flourish. Additionally, I am advancing the techniques and ideas on which I commenced work in the early 1990s (and on which I supervised Ph.D students who graduated in 1995 (X2), 1996, 1997, and 2005 respectively), applying them to grid and Internet-based distribution. In 2007, two new Ph.D students commenced working with me on these techniques: one "A Framework to Support Long-Running Web Service Transaction" - is nearing completion; the other in "Data Management and Query Processing for Semistructured and Structured Databases" - graduated PhD in 2011;. I also, in mid-2005, took over supervision of several Ph.D students who had commenced their studies with other supervisors. The first of these students worked on "Advances in Cluster Editing: Linear FPT Kernels and Comparative Implementations" - graduated PhD in 2010; the second is nearing completion on "A Software Engineering Process for BOI Multiagent Systems". In 2008 - 2010 several new postgraduate students joined the group to work on: "A Framework for Clinical Reasoning, Knowledge Acquisition, Retrieval and Synthesis in Psychiatry"; "Component-based Runtime Environment for Internet Applications"; "The Effect of Learning Style Based Educational Intervention on Self-Regulated Learning and Academic Performance in Computer Science Education"; "IT-Enabled Growth in Developing Countries" respectively.
Qualifications
- PhD, University of Newcastle, 02/05/1992
- Diploma of Computer Science, University of Newcastle
- Diploma in Education, University of Newcastle
- Bachelor of Mathematics, University of Newcastle, 21/03/1975
Research
Research keywords
- Bioinformatics
- Computer Networks
- Distributed Operating Systems
- Grid Computing
- Persistent Systems
- Programming Languages
Research expertise
Research centres on engineering of flexible software systems, bioinformatics, operating systems and computer forensics, distributed and grid computing, resilience and availability in database systems, and use of persistent stores for bulk data storage and manipulation.
Languages
Fields of Research
| Code | Description | Percentage |
|---|
| 080399 | Computer Software Not Elsewhere Classified | 40 |
| 080501 | Distributed And Grid Systems | 40 |
| 080499 | Data Format Not Elsewhere Classified | 20 |
Memberships
Body relevant to professional practice.
- Member - Australian College of Educators
Awards
Recognition.
| 2002 | Baden-Wuttemburg Visiting Scholar
State of Baden-Wuttemburg (Germany)
|
|---|
Collaboration
Research interests centre on: engineering of flexible (component-based) software systems; the role of distributed systems in health behaviour; distributed systems to support understanding & management of schizophrenia; bioinformatics; operating systems and computer forensics; distributed and grid computing; resilience and availability in database systems; and use of persistent stores and matching programming languages for bulk data storage and manipulation.
Administrative
Administrative expertise
Head, Discipline of Computer Science & Software Engineering; Deputy Head, School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science; Assistant Dean (IT), Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment; Founder & Head, Distributed Computing Research Group.
Teaching
Teaching keywords
- Computer Networks
- Computer Programming
- Concurrent Programming
- Data Structures & Algorithms
- Distributed Computing
- Operating Systems
Teaching expertise
2007 teaching recognised by receiving both the University of Newcastle Vice Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence and the Australian College of Educators N.S.W. Quality Teaching Award.
EditPublications
No publications.
EditGrants and Funding
Summary
| Number of grants | 30 |
|---|
| Total funding | $6,784,911 |
|---|
For project grants received where the lead institution is other than the University of Newcastle, details are shown in italics.
- Indicates that the researcher may be seeking students for this project.
Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.
2013 (4 grants)
Who decides and at what cost? Comparing patient, surrogate and
oncologist perspectives on end of life care$252,111
Funding Body: NHMRC (National Health & Medical Research Council)
A randomised controlled trial of online versus telephone-based information and support: Can electronic platforms deliver effective care for lung cancer patients?$175,000
Funding Body: Cancer Council NSW
Reducing psychosocial burden among women diagnosed with breast cancer and their support persons: A randomised controlled trial of a web-based intervention.$20,000
Funding Body: Hunter Medical Research Institute
Reducing psychosocial burden among women diagnosed with breast cancer and their support persons: A randomised controlled trial of a web-based intervention.$20,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
2012 (2 grants)
A randomised controlled trial of online versus telephone-based information and support: Can electronic platforms deliver effective care for lung cancer patients?$321,251
Funding Body: NHMRC (National Health & Medical Research Council)
Evaluating the acceptability of a web-based approach to improve knowledge transfer to general practice regarding care for sleep disorders $18,000
Funding Body: Sleep Health Foundation
2011 (5 grants)
Flexible architecture high-performance computing facility for the Intersect consortium of New South Wales$500,000
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Linkage Infrastructure Equipment & Facilities (LIEF) | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $500,000 | 2011 | 2011 |
| GNo:128710637 |
The role of individual patient, social support and treatment centre variables in the psychosocial outcomes of cancer patients$494,604
Funding Body: NHMRC (National Health & Medical Research Council)
The Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank (ASRB)$440,650
Funding Body: NHMRC (National Health & Medical Research Council)
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Extension of Enabling Grant | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $440,650 | 2011 | 2012 |
| GNo:146476742 |
Data Capture for the Data Commons$200,000
Funding Body: Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research
| Project Team |
|---|
| Associate Professor Frans Henskens |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Australian National Data Service | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $200,000 | 2011 | 2012 |
| GNo:G1100054 |
Flexible architecture High Performance Computing facility for the Intersect consortium of NSW$45,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
2010 (1 grants)
Perkin-Elmer Janus Liquid Handling Workstation (Mini 4-Tip Platform)$7,162
Funding Body: NHMRC (National Health & Medical Research Council)
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Equipment Grant | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $7,162 | 2010 | 2010 |
| GNo:110284884 |
2009 (3 grants)
A High Performance Computing Cluster and Storage for the INTERSECT Consortium of NSW$500,000
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Linkage Infrastructure Equipment & Facilities (LIEF) | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $500,000 | 2009 | 2009 |
| GNo:110284849 |
Shared mass storage device and backup media$16,800
Funding Body: NHMRC (National Health & Medical Research Council)
Design of integrated environmental field data management system$8,000
Funding Body: Odour Control Systems (Aust) Pty Ltd
2008 (1 grants)
A Compiler to Support the Novel Features of the Timor Programming Language$5,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle - Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Michael Hannaford, Associate Professor Frans Henskens |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Pilot Grant | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $5,000 | 2008 | 2008 |
| GNo:G0189149 |
2007 (3 grants)
Technical Officer to Support the Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank (ASRB)$435,379
Funding Body: Schizophrenia Research Institute
Grid Research: Technical Officer to Support the Australia Schizophrenia Research Bank (ASRB)$235,000
Funding Body: Neuroscience Institute of Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
|
| Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $235,000 | 2007 | 2007 |
| GNo:9310778 |
International Conference on Software and Data Technologies 2007 (ICSOFT07), Barcelona, Spain, 22/7/2007 - 25/7/2007$1,700
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
2006 (2 grants)
Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank$1,750,000
Funding Body: NHMRC (National Health & Medical Research Council)
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Enabling Grants - Special Facilities | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $1,750,000 | 2006 | 2011 |
| GNo:430473 |
Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank (ASRB)$399,000
Funding Body: NHMRC (National Health & Medical Research Council)
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| IRIISS Infrastructure Funding | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $399,000 | 2006 | 2010 |
| GNo:174557188 |
2005 (3 grants)
Application for funding to develop a software grid for data-sharing associated with the NISAD/LONI Virtual Brain Bank$95,254
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
The Australian EEG Database - Infrastructure Support$20,000
Funding Body: Hunter Medical Research Institute
Australasian Computer Science Week (ACSW'05)$3,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
2001 (1 grants)
Distributed Accounting System: A Technology Demonstrator for Software and Data Engineering for Smartcards.$5,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team |
|---|
| Associate Professor Abdulkadir Sajeev, Associate Professor Frans Henskens |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Project Grant | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $5,000 | 2001 | 2001 |
| GNo:G0179993 |
2000 (1 grants)
Developing a software simulation environment for neurocognitive and neurobiological modelling.$12,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team |
|---|
| Associate Professor Frans Henskens, Mr Patrick Johnston |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Special Project Grant | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $12,000 | 2000 | 2000 |
| GNo:G0179709 |
1995 (1 grants)
A persistent platform for conventional architectures$165,000
Funding Body: Australian Research Council
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Discovery Projects | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $165,000 | 1995 | 1997 |
| GNo:9310829 |
1993 (2 grants)
A persistent platform for conventional architectures$340,000
Funding Body: Digital Equipment Corporation
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| ALPHA Innovators Grant | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $340,000 | 1993 | 1993 |
| GNo:9310807 |
Concurrency control and resilience for generic persistent stores$135,000
Funding Body: Australian Research Council
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Discovery Projects | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $135,000 | 1993 | 1995 |
| GNo:9310815 |
1992 (1 grants)
A persistent platform for conventional architectures$165,000
Funding Body: Australian Research Council
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Discovery Projects | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $165,000 | 1992 | 1994 |
| GNo:9310799 |
EditResearch Supervision
| Number of current supervisions | 5 |
|---|
| Total current UoN PhD EFTSL | 2.2 |
|---|
For supervisions undertaken at an institution other that the University of Newcastle, details are shown in italics, and the institution name is listed below the program name.
Current Supervision
| Commenced | Proposed
Completion | Program | Supervisor Type | Research Title |
|---|
| 2010 | 2014 | PhD (Computer Science) | Co-Supervisor | Reinforcement Learning in Hierarchical Multi-Agent Systems |
| 2010 | 2014 | PhD (Computer Science) | Principal Supervisor | Component-based Runtime Environment for Internet Applications |
| 2009 | 2013 | PhD (Computer Science) | Principal Supervisor | Pedagogical-Based Learning Object System to Support Self-Regulated Learning of Computer Science |
| 2008 | 2015 | PhD (Computer Science) | Principal Supervisor | A Framework for Clinical Reasoning, Knowledge Acquisition, Retrieval and Synthesis in Psychiatry |
| 2006 | 2008 | PhD (Computer Science) | Principal Supervisor | A Software Development Process for BDI Multiagent Systems |
Past Supervision
| Year | Program | Supervisor Type | Research Title |
|---|
| 2012 | PhD (Computer Science) | Principal Supervisor | Deliberate Cooperation in Service-Oriented Environments: Dynamic Transactional Workflows for Web Services |
| 2011 | PhD (Computer Science) | Principal Supervisor | Data Management and Query Processing for Semistructured and Structured Databases |
| 2010 | PhD (Computer Science) | Principal Supervisor | Advances in Cluster Editing: Linear FPT Kernels and Comparative Implementations |
| 2007 | Honours Computr Sc Not Elswhere Class
University of Newcastle | Sole Supervisor | WEWORM: A Benevolent Worm |
| 2004 | Honours Computr Sc Not Elswhere Class
University of Newcastle | Sole Supervisor | Computer-aided Identification of Highly Informative Bacterial SNPS |
| 2004 | PhD (Computer Science) | Sole Supervisor | Management of Data, Access and Concurrency in Persistant Systems |
| 2003 | Honours Compiler Construction
University of Newcastle | Sole Supervisor | Kernel Compiler for Speedos |
| 2003 | Honours Computr Sc Not Elswhere Class
University of Newcastle | Sole Supervisor | Speedos Program Interface |
| 2002 | Honours Computer Graphics
University of Newcastle | Sole Supervisor | FaceXpress |
| 2001 | Honours Computr Sc Not Elswhere Class
University of Newcastle | Sole Supervisor | Neu-Model: A multi-level object-oriented dynamic emulation laboratory |
