This class will prepare you to perform great research in computer science, regardless of the area you ultimately choose to pursue for your Ph.D. Towards achieving this goal, this course will:
You will be expected to read some material on graduate school, research, etc., which will be assigned throughout the term.
There are no required textbooks for the course.
You must be a first-year Ph.D. student in the College of Computing.
This course will have a letter grade: A, B, or Fail. The components of the grade are as follows:
Papers will not be handed out in class.
Please print the readings
and read them before class.
Speaker schedule is tentative!
| Lecture | Date | Topics | Notes/Resources | Preparation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mon 08/23 | Course Overview [pdf] |
Mini-Assignment 1: Thought Questions |
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| 2 | Wed 08/25 | Why Ph.D.? |
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| 3 | Mon 08/30 | Grad School Survival (Panel) |
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| 4 | Wed 09/01 | How do I get a fellowship? (Karen Adams) [pdf] |
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| Mon 09/06 | Labor Day |
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| 5 | Wed 09/08 | How do I recognize a great idea? |
Assignment 1: Recognizing Good Ideas |
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| 6 | Mon 09/13 | Fun in Atlanta (Panel) |
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| 7 | Wed 09/15 | Blogging in Academia (Dick Lipton and Mark Guzdial) |
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| 8 | Mon 09/20 | Case Study #1: Example of a Scientific Revolution |
Baran Interview | |
| 9 | Wed 09/22 | One-on-One Meetings: Gregory |
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| 10 | Mon 09/27 | Case Study #2: Examples of Great Researchers |
Hamming | |
| 11 | Wed 09/29 | One-on-One Meetings: Nick |
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| 12 | Mon 10/04 | Generating Ideas #1: Research Patterns |
Assignment 2: Creating an Idea | Polya |
| 13 | Wed 10/06 | Generating Ideas #2: Creativity |
Adams | |
| 14 | Mon 10/11 | Generating Ideas #3: Cross-Disciplinary Thinking |
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| 15 | Wed 10/13 | Communicating Ideas #1 (Karen Head) |
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| Mon 10/18 | Recess |
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| 16 | Wed 10/20 | Ethics (Jason Borenstein) |
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| 17 | Mon 10/25 | Communicating Ideas #2: Writing |
Mini-Assignment 3: Project and Mini-Projects Interim Report |
Zobel Strunk |
| 18 | Wed 10/27 | Mock PC Session #1 |
Assignment 3: Critiquing Ideas |
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| 19 | Mon 11/01 | Mock PC Session #2 |
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| 20 | Wed 11/03 | Teaching Skills (Lydia Soleil) |
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| 21 | Mon 11/08 | Motivation and Time Management |
Mini-Assignment 2: Time Log |
Griessman |
| 22 | Wed 11/10 | Communicating Ideas #3: Speaking |
Mini-Assignment 4: Elevator Pitch |
Asher |
| 23 | Mon 11/15 | Elevator Pitches |
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| 24 | Wed 11/17 | People Skills |
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| 25 | Mon 11/22 | Commercialization (Keith McGreggor) |
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| Wed 11/24 | Turkey Cooking |
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| 26 | Mon 11/29 | Diversity (Stephanie Ray) |
Mini-Assignment 5: Personal Web Page |
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| 27 | Wed 12/01 | Data Analysis and Visualization |
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| Mini-Conference | ||||
| 28 | Mon 12/06 | Mini-Conference |
Assignment 4: Talk Reviews | |
| 29 | Wed 12/08 | Mini-Conference |
Pseudo-Assignment: Social | |
| Fri 12/10 | |
Project and Mini-Project Writeups Due | ||