1. Doctoral Seminar 2007 Debrup Chakraborty

2. All proceedings in this class would be in English. It is unfortunate that most scientific proceedings today are conducted in English. If you wish to let other people know and appreciate your work, you need a proper language to communicate with others. This seminar will help you to prepare yourself to communicate your work to others in English. Feel free to interact.

3. The purpose of this class This class serves four important purposes: 1)It helps us to judge the advancement in your research 2)It provides you with an opportunity to present your research in front of a reasonably big audience and thus receive constructive criticisms from your colleagues and teachers. 3)It helps you to learn the ways to present your research. 4)It it a big opportunity to know about what problems your colleagues are working on.

4. This is pretty boring In the whole term I get to speak for may be around one hour. Except this one hour I am a passive listner to things which I am not interested in. This is a waste of time for me.

5. No! This is not boring A successful researcher is one who keeps himself/herself open. It is absolutely necessary to keep yourself well informed about the various scientific activities which are going around the world. The first step towards this would be to know about the research done by your neighbors. This seminar gives you to know at least 19 different areas and problems which would be presented by your colleagues.

6. But I am not an expert of all Computer science of today is very specialized with its different disciplines and sub-disciplines. It is very rare if not impossible to find someone who is an expert of all. Your role as an audience would be that of an open- minded, sensitive, intelligent and active computer science researcher.

7. Your role as a listner You should try to find answers to the following questions from the presentation of your colleagues 1. What problem is (s)he trying to solve? 2. Why is this problem important? 3. Is the problem novel? 4. Are his/her methodologies novel? 5. What are the possible implications of the solution? 6. Can his/her methodologies be useful for solving other problems that you are aware of.

8. Disagreement is necessary!! An imporatant key for scientific development is disagreement between different scientists. Although not all disagreements can be resolved in short time and many exist for ages, but disagreements brings fresh air and are the precurssers of new ideas and improvements Criticise other peoples work constructively. Try to identify short commings and flaws and think about how they can be resolved.

9. Your role as a presenter You are presenting for two main purposes: 1)To make us know your advances in your research 2)To let others know about the problem that you are trying to solve

10. The 1st purpose Explain properly your advances, what you have achieved till today. Explain properly your strategy to carry on with your work till conclusion. Mention about the scientific products that you have produced, like scientific papers, softwares etc.

11. The 2nd purpose Make sure that one can find the answers to most of the the following questions from your presentation: 1.What problem is (s)he trying to solve? 2. Why is this problem important? 3. Is the problem novel? 4. Are his/her methodologies novel? 5. What are the possible implications of the solution? 6. Can his/her methodologies be useful for solving other problems that you are aware of.

12. How will we proceed We will meet on tuesdays from 16:00 to 18:00 There would be two seminars scheduled for each day. Each speaker will get 40 minutes of time to present followed by 20 minutes of discussions. The first talk will start at 16:00 The second presentation will start at 17:05 We should all try to be punctual !!!

13. How will we proceed You will have as audience the following people: 1)The doctoral students of our department 2)Your supervisor 3)Me 4)An invited guest from the department

14. What else do I need to do Apart from presenting your work you need to do the following: 1)Be present for all seminars (exceptional cases should be reported along with a consent from your supervisor in advance) What amounts to an exceptional case: Illness, Family emergencies, attending conferences. 2) Participate actively in the discussions following the seminars. 3) Review two seminars of your choice. 4) Write a familiarity quiz, which would be presented today.

15. How will I be graded? Your seminar will carry 7 points: This would be the average of the 5 reviews that you would receive for your presentation. For your reviews you would get 2 points. And 1 point would be reserved for your participation, attendence, your general awareness etc.

16. The review form You would be graded on the following aspects of your presentation Structure: 1. Was the objective of the presentation established from the very beginning? 2. Was the organization of the presentation clearly understandable? 3. Were the ideas presented coherent? 4. Does the conclusions of the presentation conform with the hypothesis (es) presented? 5. Did the presenter put adequate effort to make his ideas understandable to the audience?

17. The review form Content 6. Did the presentation clearly state the origin of the problem being solved? 7. Was the material presented technically sound? 8. Do you consider that the advance in the work of the student corresponds to the amount of time he has been working on the problem? 9. Do you think that the student has a clearly defined strategy to continue and conclude his research? 10.Do you think the student’s responses to the questions were adequate?

18. The review form Presentation quality and attitude 11. Was the quality of the material used for the presentation adequate? 12. Was the language clear and concise? 13. Was the involvement of the presenter with the audience adequate? 14. Did the presenter adequately use the time assigned to him?