CS 7123 Research Seminar
Fall 2011
Descriptions
3 hours. 6 hours are required for Ph.D. in Computer Science. Presentation and analysis of literature in a selected area of research. May be repeated, but only 6 hours will count toward the Ph.D. requirements.
Objectives
Review, present and critique the state-of-the-art research in areas of interest to the Computer Science Department. Learning research methods, presentation and communication skills.
Instructor
Dr. Qi Tian
Associate Professor
Department of Computer Science
SB 4.01.15
Tel: 458-5165
Web: http://www.cs.utsa.edu/~qitian/
Time and Place
MW 8:30 - 9:45 pm, AET 0.204
Implementation
(1) Faculty presentation. We will invite several CS faculty members to present their research topics during the semester.
(2) Student presentation. Each student will take turns to make half-hour presentation. Depending on the number of students, students may give more than two presentations during the semester. Student participations including both class attendance and active involvement in presentation are important factors for assigning grades. Students are required to submit their topics and schedules as soon as possible, or a random selection will be conducted. Early participation is encouraged.
E-mail the presentation slides in ppt and reference papers (if any) to the instructor at least one day before the class.
(3) Outside
speakers. Class
schedule may vary to accommodate the schedule of outside speakers. In this
case, class will not meet at regular schedules unless elsewhere notified.
Grading and Policies
The final grades consist of three components:
class attendance (15%), presentation (75%) and participation (10%) . Students
are required to sign in every class except for university-sanctioned
absences. Student participation after each presentation is strongly
encouraged and counted in the final grades.
Being late (more than 5 minutes) or
early leave without proper excuses are considered inactive
participation.
The class attendance will be
calculated based on the formula: class attendance component = 15 - (number
of absences)^3. The points to grade ration is as follows:
A: 90-100
B: 70-89
C: 60-69
F: otherwise.
Resources
(1) How to choose a topic?
Consult with
your thesis advisor or the course instructor to determine a topic as soon as
possible.
Typically, a research paper will
be selected from IEEE or ACM digital libraries published in last 3 years
(2008-2011). The paper has to be full-length, i.e., more than 6 pages, not
abstract or extended abstract. Finding papers is never be easier. Follow the
link, http://www.lib.utsa.edu/, and
click on "Databases A-Z". For ACM, click on "ACM Digital
Library"; for IEEE, click on "IEEE Xplore/IEE
Electronic Library Online (IEL)." Students should discuss with the
instructor if there is difficulty in finding a topic. Once a paper is
identified, carefully read it through several times. Identify key issues
depicted in the paper and refer to other papers through references if some
concepts are not clear. Through cross reference, the idea described in the
paper would be fully understood. PowerPoint slides can then be made to address
key items as follows:
Motivation: Why bother?
Key issues: What are the problems?
Solutions: What are the new proposed solutions and their technical details?
Comparisons: What are other solutions out there and what's good/bad about it?
Possible improvement: Where in the proposed solution can be improved?
(2) How to make presentations?
Presentation tips on PowerPoint Presentation techniques.
Advices on Research and Writing
(3) Questions?
Always consult with the course instructor for questions and help. E-mail is the best way to reach the instructor.
Comments and suggestions on research seminar are always welcome and are considered active participation.
Note:
The topics for second round of presentation: Cloud Computing, Security, and Computer
Architecture.
Schedule of the
Talk