CPS 701: Introduction to Graduate Studies

Instructor: Kamesh Munagala 

   Fall Semester, 2013


The purpose of this course is to introduce you to research in computer science, and to your new roles as a graduate student and as a scientist/technologist. This course is required for all entering Ph.D. students in computer science.

 Lectures:  4:40-5:55 pm on Wednesdays, LSRC D344

The email address cps701s@cs.duke.edu reaches everybody in the class as well as the instructor. Only announcements, questions/answers, and comments of general interests should be sent to this address. Specific questions should be directed to the instructor. Please check your emails regularly, as important announcements and information will be sent via email.

Some of the slides and links below are due to the previous DGS, Jun Yang.


Lecture 

Date 

Topics 
1
 Aug. 28
 Graduate School Essentials
2
 Sep. 4
 Ph.D.  Requirements (sigh!!!)

3

Sep. 11

 The Daily Grind

4

Sep. 18

 On being a Scientist: Handling data, Skepticism, Reproducibility, Authorship, Conflicts

5

Sep. 25

 Technical Writing (slides from MIT)
The Science of Scientific Writing

6

Oct. 2

 Debmalya Panigrahi
Papers presented: This and this

7

Oct. 9

 Theo Benson
Demystifying and controlling the performance of data center networks

8

Oct.16

 Kamesh Munagala
Big Data: Is theory relevant?  Papers: This and this
9
 Oct. 23
 Owen Astrachan
10
 Oct. 30
 How to give good talks. See also this
11
 Nov. 6
 Ashwin Machanavajjhala

12

Nov. 13

 Carlo Tomasi
3D visual reconstruction from 2D and 3D images

13

Nov. 20

 CLASS CANCELED


Assignments:The Wednesday class meetings will consist of a combination of presentations by the instructor and guests, as well as discussions led by students. There will be (unscored) assignments and no exams. Grades are based on class participation and satisfactory completion of assignments.

You will be assigned material that you will have to read in advance, so that the discussion in class can be fruitful. We will split the class into groups of 3 students each, and you can work on an assignment in a group. However, please write up the assignment independently of your group members.

General Note: Several faculty members helped me choose the papers below. I would encourage you to find examples from your own domain of expertise, and substitute them below!

Lecture 1: The following paper is one of the most highly cited in computer science. Other examples of high impact papers: *, *, *, *, *. Discuss what is it that makes these papers have such high impact?

Lecture 4: The following two papers: * and * present different explanations of the same observed data. For another example, see this survey paper. An example of a paper that has generated controversy and made researchers rethink their approach is *. What can you learn from these papers that you can apply to your own research?

Lecture 5: The following are some examples of well-written papers: *, *, *. Discuss the techniques used by the authors to make their work widely accessible.

Lectures 6 - 13:  Prepare a one-page summary of the material presented in class, with critical emphasis on open questions and research directions. (choose any 4 lectures.)


Additional Material: