1 Emerging Trends in Semantic Technologies Spring 2011 Deborah McGuinness & Joanne Luciano CSCI Week 1, January 25, 2011

Admin info Hours: 4pm-7pm Tuesdays, Location: Winslow 1140 Instructors: –Deborah McGuinness –Joanne Luciano Instructor contact: cs.rpi.edu and cs.rpi.edu Office hours currently by appointment Class web site Are you able to attend class on time and each week? 2

Course Objective and Approach The objective of the course is to provide a solid framework for academic research. To best prepare you for this, we will run the course as a research group and thus provide an opportunity to experience all aspects of academic research. The class will therefore include Lab meetings Lab research/work Lab seminars, preparations, presentations, reports 3

Course Approach and Focus The course will be run as a lab meeting (and not a lecture course). Therefore we will have many discussions about –what we do, what research is, generally how we propose, conduct, present, report, and evaluate research The course focuses on and prepares you for –Publication –Funding –Presentations –Reviewing 4

Course Participant Roles Course participants have roles and will rotate through most of them: –Professors – McGuinness & Luciano –Meeting coordinator (prof, member, etc.) –Technology support –Scribe –Presenter(s) Scribe for each meeting – volunteer today? Patrick will now teach us how to set up for our meetings (technology Support ) –(DimDim, Titan Pad, Projector) 5

Let’s get Started Assign Participant Roles for Today Scribe for each meeting –Volunteer today? Technical Support for each meeting –Patrick will now teach us how to set up for our meetings (technology Support ) DimDim Titan Pad Projector –Volunteer for next week? 6

Where do we begin? Who are we? What’s your name? Status at RPI – e.g. 1 st year CS PhD student, IT Masters, …. Who is your advisor? What is your background? What interests you? What skills and expertise do you bring? Anything else you’d like us to know? 7 Introductions – getting to know your colleagues!

Class Goals Prepare you for research in Semantic Technologies by giving you practice and guidance on –Critically reading and reviewing research papers –Making scientific technical presentations – individually and in groups –Preparing and writing research papers –Preparing and writing research proposals Also giving you the opportunity for practice talks, suggestions, literature review, etc. 8

Example Topics and Survey On the next few slides, we present some course content details. Note that we do not intend to teach these topics today. We will cover them later in the course. We present these details today to help us assess the prior experience of the this semester’s students in order to help us plan the appropriate level of course materials to meet your needs and learning objectives of the course. 9

10 Semantic Web Layers How familiar is this to you?

Application Areas for Semantics Some emerging areas: Knowledge Provenance Open Linked Data (government ( e.g., data.gov, logd, …), other (e.g., health 2.0, …))) Ontologies, their environments, and their “enablement” of applications Other classes cover: Semantic eScience; Xinformatics; Data Science Assorted specific topics Smart search Annotation (even simple forms), smart tagging Explanation, Proof, Trust Geospatial Implementing logic (rules), e.g. in workflows Data integration Verification Web services Web content mining with natural language parsing and query User interface development (portals) Semantic desktop Wikis - OntoWiki, SemanticMediaWiki Sensor Web Software engineering 11

Publications (what to Publish) Write-ups of research Typically written up in a way that reports –What you did and why –How it differs from other’s work –Why someone (other than you cares) –How it can be evaluated, replicated, (re-)used Submitted to a publication venue –Workshop, Conference, Journal, online resource… Typically reviewed by knowledgeable reviewer(s) 12

Some Conferences and Workshops ISWC – International Semantic Web Conference - next: Koblenz – Oct 23-27, 2011 /; abstracts June 16. ESWC – Extended Semantic Web conference – next: Greece May 29- June 2 ; due date last dec. IAAI / AAAI – Innovative Applications of AI and Association for the Advancement of AI – next: Atlanta – Aug 7-11, San Francisco Feb 3 abstracts due SemTech - Semantic Technology – next: San Francisco June 5-9 ; abstracts already due. Although still open… International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management – next:Glasgow – Oct 24-28; abstracts due May 17;

Conferences and Workshops Web Science – next:Koblenz – June 15-17; 2 page abstract due Feb AAAI Spring Symposium- next: Stanford March AI and health communication, submission deadline past IPAW – International Provenance and Annotation Workshop – next meeting (last one here at RPI) tw.rpi.edu/portal/IPAW2010http:// KR – Knowledge Representation – next meeting 2012 in Rome OWLED – co-located with SemTech – June 5-6, San Francisco Many domain-specific meetings such as –AGU – American Geophysical Union meeting fall meeting in december in san francisco every year, spring meeting moves aroundhttp:// –Your additions here… 14

Publications (Where to Publish) Journals (example of where to publish) –Journal of Web Semantics: –Journal of AI Research: International Journal On Semantic Web and Information Systems: –International Journal of Semantic Computing (IJSC): –International Journal of Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies (IJMSO): –Journal of Data Semantics: –Journal of Semantics: – your additions here… 15

Paper Submissions Go to the web site Look for important dates (submission, and conference) Look at the call for papers Review topics and keywords Look at the organizers Look at location – can you go? Do you have visa issues? Do you have funding? Do they offer student support? Review co-located events Review past conference listings Review for one submission venue that makes sense for you. We will look at aaai in class

Proposal Submissions Go to the web site and look for: –Important dates (submission, and letter of intent) –C all for proposals (research areas) –Review topics and keywords (research topics) –Proposal guidelines (contents and format) –Evaluation criteria (what the reviewers will look for) –Eligibility criteria (will your application be considered?) Do you have the necessary background? Do you need to find collaborators to fill gaps? Review funded proposals (for scope, expectations, mindset) Review completed research reports and their websites (to gain understanding of expectations in practice) 17

Presentations You will get practice making research presentations We will help you learn about presentation construction and delivery –Initially we will provide templates to help with Presentation organization Presentation style Time management Presentation style will differ by venue, audience, goals, etc. Initial focus will be a friendly research audience 18

Grants Two types –Solicited The sponsor asks for proposed solutions to a problem Some types (US gov’t): Request for Proposals (RFP) Broad Area Announcements (BAA) –Unsolicited A proposal is sent for consideration when it wasn’t asked for. Agencies, such as NSF are open to unsolicited proposals and budget for them, topic is open. negative: may not be considered positive: not likely to have direct competition 19

National Science Foundation - EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) -- Funding Mechanism Grant Proposal Guide, January Supports exploratory work in its early stages on untested, but potentially transformative, research ideas or approaches PI(s) must contact the NSF program officer(s) whose expertise is most germane to the proposal topic prior to submission of an EAGER proposal. This will aid in determining the appropriateness of the work for consideration under the EAGER mechanism; this suitability must be assessed early in the process.

NSF EAGER Grants (continued) Brief Project Description (5-8 pages) Clear statements as to why appropriate for EAGER funding –Why it does not “fit” into existing programs –Why it is a “good fit” for EAGER. Only internal merit review is required –External review at the Program Director’s discretion Merit review criteria apply (two standard criteria) Up to $300K and up to two years duration. Renewal submission subject to full external merit review.

Preparing Proposals Obvious –The technical stuff (research/science related) Not obvious –The practical stuff (everything else) The agency’s requirements: –Proposal Preparation (font size, budget) –Submission (Specific electronic system, + registered on it) –Cognizant Program Officer (relationships) Your institution’s requirments –Lead time (for approvals) –Overhead costs that affect your budget –Plan LOTS of extra time for the unanticipated

NSF – Example

Grant Proposal Reviews –Review Criteria – MUST READ! A. Review Criteria –All NSF proposals are evaluated through use of two National Science Board approved merit review criteria. In some instances, additional criteria required. The two merit review criteria are: –What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity –What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity? –Review Panel (e.g. NIH AND NSF) 24

Journal and Conference Paper Reviews Paper Reviews - two parts (sometimes forms are provided – usually in conferences/workshops) –Confidential comments addressed to editor Not forwarded to the authors. if you did not actually check equations in the paper, this is the place to say so. –General comments sent to the authors Big picture, before the details. Note the paper’s weaknesses – are if serious Be constructive in your criticism: –technical, organization and clarity. Table of typos and grammatical errors, and minor textual problems. 25

Your experience - Publications What have you done? –Have you written up research beyond just a homework assignment, …? –Has it been submitted for review to a workshop, conference, journal, …? –Have you been first author? Only author? … What would you like to learn / focus on? –Workshop, Conference, Journal submission… 26

Your experience - Presentations What have you done? –Have you presented your research to a research group/class, …? –Have you presented at a workshop, conference, significant venue, …? –Have you been first author? Only author? … What would you like to learn / focus on? –Short presentations, time management, professional slide / presentation, … 27

Your experience - Reviewing What have you done? –Have you done critical reviews of research? –Have you written any papers for submission to a workshop, journal, or other place where you received comments back from someone other than your teacher? –What was the nature of the feedback you received? –Have you had the opportunity to review any papers? –Do you felt you received adequate instruction for review? –How many papers have you reviewed? –Have you ever served on a program committee for a conference or workshop? What would you like to learn / focus on? –Conference review style, … 28

Your experience - Proposals What have you done? What do you know about writing or obtaining funding through grant proposals? Have you been funded on a grant proposal? Have you worked on any aspect of a grant proposal? If so, what aspect? Have you had to prepare a budget? Have you met any program directors or funders of any type? Have you spoken to anyone in the office of sponsored reearch? Have you ever heard of it? What would you like to learn / focus on? –Small proposal? Big team, … 29

What is expected Attend class, complete assignments Participate Ask questions – be honest with yourself and others about what you do and do not know Work individually and when you are stuck, ask for help Work constructively in group and class sessions 30

Schedule - Wiki Reading assignments Homework Assignments –Individual Written assessments – your presentations and any 1-page submission Presentation assessments Sign up will be available on the wiki during the week – for the 10min talks next week and during the term 31

Logistics Summary This weeks assignment – NOT GRADED! Practice Only: –Writing Assignment Use the template on the web site (that was just uploaded) to include the content as requested on the web site –Presentation Assignment prepare a title and slides for a research proposal of your choice: –Introduction, Research Question, Approach, Research Plan, Timeline and Tasks. Plan to present for 10 minutes. –Reading Assignment Read Chapters 1-4 of The Craft Of Research by Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams (second edition is available on line here: Next class (week 2 – February 1): –10 minute presentations each on research agendas Questions? 32