Research Seminar CourseFor MRes and first-year PhD studentsSpring term January-MarchUp to 10 weeks, ca.1-2 hours per weekhttp://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~phjk/MACResearchSeminar/index.htmlCourse leaders: Paul Kelly, Herbert Wiklicky, Uli Harder

MAC Research Pathway:Research Seminar Course

Course objectives Learn how to evaluate research papers Learn what makes papers good Learn about how papers are refereed

and published Learn how to get your papers published

MAC Research Pathway:Research Seminar Course

Course design: Student presentations:

Each student will present one paper during the term

Class evaluations: Each week each student is asked to write a short

evaluation of one of the papers being presented

Class Discussion: Discuss the papers – expose the flaws, analyse the

writing, what was the impact?

MAC Research Pathway:Research Seminar Course

Assessment: Short review submitted each week (you

may work in pairs) Longer review of the paper you

presented

Key skills: Summarise Evaluate Identify the important questions Understand the context

What students like about it:

Mentoring in preparation for talks Broad sweep of CS topics Class discussions Learn to referee

Don’t like: Workload Having to read and listen to topics outside

specialist area

Course objectives• Our objective is to study

– how research papers are written, – how to read such papers critically and efficiently, – how to summarise and review them. – how to gain an understanding of a new field, in the

absence of a textbook– how to judge the value of different contributions– how to identify promising new directions

• How?– Broad theme “Impactful Computer Science" – Broad sweep over research in Computer Science that

has had an impact, or might impact in the future– Student presentations– Classroom discussion– Write (and get feedback on) summaries/reviews

Paper presentations - assignments Papers will be assigned at the start of the

course in January – see web page You can swap assignments with your friends You can also swap your assignment for a

paper on the shortlist (see course web site) But you must finalise your choice within a

week or so, and inform the course organisers

Preparing a paper presentation See Guidance Notes on the web Aim for about 15 minutes Main objective:

lively interesting talk that promotes discussion

Use Powerpoint or OpenOffice or Keynote

Make an appointment with Herbert or Paul or Uli to review your slides

Presenting a paper - outline Objective what is the goal of this work, what problem is addressed, what was the

current state of the art, who is the work aimed at? Proposal

if this paper presents a new idea, what, in a nutshell, is it? Contributions/claims

what contributions does the paper claim to make?  Which one is the most significant?

Evidence Support for claims - Theorems?  Case studies?  Simulations?

Benchmarks?  Does evidence address issues needed to support claims?

Shoulders of giants... what previous research does this work build on?  What are the key

underlying theoretical ideas?  Software infrastructure? Impact

has this work been influential?  When later research papers cite it, what contribution is being referred to?  

Discussion points End with questions which you think should arise

After presenting a paper You have two weeks in which to write it

up into a review article Same structure/objectives as paper

presentation But should also include

issues/comments/conclusions which arise from the discussion

Writing your short review

Target: half a page, maximum: one page Clearly-separated (use subheadings) sections covering

Summary (as briefly as you can – two or three sentences) Evidence (what evidence is offered to support the claims?) Strengths (what positive basis is there for publishing/reading it?) Weaknesses Evaluation (if you were running the conference/journal where it

was published, would you recommend acceptance?) Comments on the quality of the writing

Plus: Queries for discussion

How to get high marks for the short review

Format your submission Have a title Marking scheme:

Summary Discussion – strengths, weaknesses Reflection – including evaluation

Step back, present your own objective opinion Clarity – of what you have written

Please put your name(s) on the review

Outcomes…1. Find the best examples of research papers in

theoretical computer science which have had impact – in whatever terms you think are important

2. Identify the most promising recent research papers, likely to find application in the future

3. Learn how best to present contributions in computer science, how to present evidence for claims made, and how to evaluate them critically

4. Choose a thesis topic which will change the world5. Become a seasoned, critical, cynical reader of

scientific literature