1. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA Department of Computer Science and Engineering CSCE 190 Computing in the Modern World Research Methodologies in Computing Spring 2010 Marco Valtorta mgv@cse.sc.edu

2. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA Department of Computer Science and Engineering Computer Science as a Discipline Science –The study of information processes Not (necessarily) related to physical computers Engineering –The study of computers –The study of computer applications Mathematics –The engineering of mathematics Taking mathematical objects, especially algorithms, and making them do useful things, as computer programs Therefore, different ways of doing research! Investigate the criteria for research evaluation in your field!

3. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA Department of Computer Science and Engineering Systems and Theory Systems: Programming Languages, Compilers, Operating Systems –Modeling –Simulation –Analysis –Experiments Theory: Algorithms, Theory of Computation –Definitions –Conjectures –Proofs –Complexity Ph.D. qualifier exams traditionally include these two parts

4. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA Department of Computer Science and Engineering A Model of the Research Process Exploration, usually driven by specific problems in specific domains, leads to clear definition of tasks (problems to be solved) Development of algorithms and methods to solve the problems Empirical evaluation of the methods that have been developed Comparison of algorithms and methods under controlled situations Theoretical analysis of the task (problem) and the methods Theoretical foundation for the field Thomas Dietterich, Exploratory Research in Machine Learning, Machine Learning 5, 5-9 (1990), http://www.springerlink.com/content/j71540561152g746 /fulltext.pdf http://www.springerlink.com/content/j71540561152g746 /fulltext.pdf

5. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA Department of Computer Science and Engineering Publication Types of publication –(archival) journals E-journal –(archival) conferences –workshops –technical reports –patents –informal communication (not a publication?) Peer review –Regular, blind or double-blind –Conflicts of interest –Refereeing

6. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA Department of Computer Science and Engineering Funding Competitive grants from funding agencies –NSF Most common source for our department: http://www.cse.sc.edu/news/ –DARPA Often larger grants than NSF Often more applied than NSF –DOD, IARPA, NIH, etc. Non-competitive sources –Industry Often equipment donation Sometimes graduate student support –Government SC DoJ Military, e.g. SPAWAR

7. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA Department of Computer Science and Engineering Proposal Writing Highly stylized form of writing Sometimes pre-proposals are required Sometimes RFI are issued, e.g. https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode =form&tab=core&id=50468b8c167fb9d601520 85803622f55 Proposal evaluation process is very long and uncertain