The BCS Lovelace Colloquium is an annual one-day conference for women and non-binary students of computing and related subjects. Dr Safia Barikzai and Hannah Dee MBE discuss the storied event’s history, significance and future.
The BCS Lovelace Colloquium is special. Uniquely, the annual conference is open to abstract submissions from any women or non-binary people studying computing (BSc, BEng, MSc and MEng) in a UK university.
The 17th BCSWomen Lovelace Colloquium was held in Liverpool in April 2024. That means that next year the women in computing conference will be celebrating its 18th birthday.
The 2025 event will take place at the University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science. This is fitting because, in 1957, the University of Glasgow became the first in Scotland to have an electronic computer (known as DEUCE).
Two of the event’s leading lights, Hannah Dee MBE and Dr Safia Barikzai, share their thoughts on why this event is so special and so important.
Why did you start the event?
Hannah: My first computer vision conference as a PhD student was ECCV 2004, and it was a great experience, but in some respects also uncomfortable. Part way through my presentation in a workshop with about 60 people in it, I looked around, and it felt like I was the only woman in the room. The room was ornate, full of busts of half-naked women. Looking up at the ceiling revealed more artworks of half-naked women. It felt very strange. During the conference I was socialising with various guys from my lab and their friends, and I remember one evening sitting outside a bar somewhere in Prague and watching a guy approach every passing Czech girl and ask them for a date. Literally every girl. Everyone else seemed to just think it was funny, nobody intervened or anything. The atmosphere made me feel very uncomfortable.
Just over a year later I attended the London Hopper 2006 Women In Computing event for postgraduate and postdoc women, and it was entirely different. I hadn’t been sure what to expect but it felt more friendly, the people were more approachable, and there was none of that undertone of threat, no uncomfortable flirting from other participants, no laddishness.
I came out of the Hopper event and thought, ‘We should try to get that experience for people earlier on in their career, like, for undergraduates.’ So I joined BCS, and BCSWomen, and asked if I could start an event.
Why did you decide to join the organising team?
Safia: I saw BCSWomen Lovelace Colloquium as an excellent opportunity for my students at London South Bank University to gain valuable exposure to the IT Industry, learn from researchers and meet fellow students from across the UK in a safe and supported environment. I have equally gained academic friends and increased my professional network!
How was the event organised so that it flowed smoothly right from the start?
Hannah: Firstly, we’re clear that the event is about computing. Whilst it’s for women and non-binary people in tech, it’s not strictly speaking about us. We want the speakers to talk about all of computing and technology — algorithms, business IT, AI, data science, programming, robotics, startups, careers... whilst we could have talks on women in tech, an entire day about that would be boring. One of the real joys of the Lovelace is seeing lots of young computer science women and non-binary people properly ‘geeking out’ about technology.
The other thing I think we got right from the start is that we ensure student travel is covered, and for a long time (since 2011, I think) we’ve organised the accommodation centrally. There are always going to be some students who’d come anyway, funded by parents or grandparents, and there are always going to be some universities who are really supportive and who chip in (I have to give a shout out to Bath, here, who’ve been helping their students attend the Lovelace from the very start). But generally, undergraduates don’t have funds, and universities differ hugely in how willing or able they are to support their women students financially. We try very hard to be an inclusive event and want to be within reach of all women and non-binary students, not just those who have other forms of support.
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Booking the hotels centrally has been a real organisational headache — particularly in recent years, as the cost of hotels has rocketed — but we believe the safety win that comes from putting students in the same place is still worth the administrative cost. For many of our attendees this is the first time they’ve travelled to a different university or town, and for some, it could be their first solo train journey. They don’t have to talk to each other at the hotel, and they don’t have to all walk to the event together, but generally those who want to are able to meet up via our group chat.
This means, as we grow, we have a major fundraising job. We need to find funds to cover hotel accommodation for about 110 attendees (for one or two nights) and travel for about 160, and I’m hugely grateful that Safia has stepped up as event chair to take over!
Who does what on the organising team?
Hannah and Safia: It’s not just us two. We have monthly calls most of the year, which ramp up to fortnightly in the spring term, running up to the event. On these calls, we have someone from BCS (Jon Jeffery at the moment, who is great!) who helps us to interact with systems inside BCS.
We’re responsible for bringing in, and for spending, quite a lot of cash, so the admin side can get challenging. Amanda Clare from the University of Aberystwyth helps us particularly in terms of speakers, both in advance and on the day, and Lucy Hunt from the University of Lancaster has also been a long-term committee member.
We move around the country, so each year we have a local chair helping, and they lead on things like room bookings and catering. Between us two though, Safia is the chair and the figurehead taking the lead on fundraising and sponsor liaison and publicity, and Hannah is the deputy chair dealing with ‘student stuff’ such as student submissions, abstracts, student travel and event feedback. We work together closely on strategic things like venue choice and future plans.
How do you raise the funds?
Safia: We have had regular industry and higher education sponsors — their support is much appreciated and it helps. Our Lovelace Alumni have also come back to sponsor the event through their respective companies. BCS, BCSWomen, and CPHC have helped us raise awareness and generate sponsorships.
We are keen to engage with potential sponsors, both from industry and universities.
