Weekly Schedule

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The following is a tentative schedule. Against each weekly topic is a list of competencies matching the NSF/NIH Responsible Conduct in Research (RCR) requirements. All students supported on an NSF or NIH grant must satisfy the RCR requirement. The aim is for this course to meet this requirement.

Date

Week

Topic

RCR Comp.*

Discussion Leaders

Assignments
Week 1
 Introduction: On being a graduate student in computer science
  [1-8]
 Instructors
Week 2
 Choosing and managing a relationship with your advisor
  [1], [5]
 Nathan, Siqi
Week 3
 Identifying and reading research papers
  [1] Piotr, Rathin
Week 4
 Reviewing research papers
  [1], [4], [8]
 Siqi, Lei
Week 5
 Writing research papers, and being and effective writer
  [1-8]
 Rathin, Stachit Submit your selection for which paper to review + brief justification
Week 6
 Presenting research work: how to be a good communicator  [1-3], [6-7]
 Katerina, Nathan Assignment 3A: Submit title and abstract
Week 7
 Experimental design and data analysis [2]
 Muhammad Faisal, Piotr Assignment 2A: Submit review
Week 8
 Academic conduct: truth in reporting and conflict of interest
 [2], [6-7]
 Yusuf, Lei
Week 9
 Whose idea is it? Acknowledging and building on other work, or just plain plagiarism?
 [1], [6-7]
 Maan, Zhiyuan
Week 10
 Time Management [1], [5-8]
Zhiyuan, Fabian
Week 11
 Opportunities during a PhD: internships, scholarships, grants and funding [2]
 Satchit, Katerina
Week 12
 Life after your PhD: Finding a job, academic careers versus industry and research labs
 [1], [6]
Maan, Fabian
Assignment 3B: Submit your technical papers (then, 2 reviews assigned to each for peer-evaluation)

Discussion with senior students
 [1-8]
 Muhammad Faisal, Yusuf Assignment 3C: Submit peer evaluation of papers
***
 RCR CASE STUDIES:
  • Research misconduct and mentorship -- roles and responsibilities in reporting allegations of research misconduct (whistle blowing)  
    • See: p. 20 of ORI Introduction to Responsible Conduct of Research (Updated Edition August 2007)
  • Authorship credit
    • See: p. 36 of On Being a Scientist (3rd edition, 2009) -- Who Gets Credit




Material from Spring 2019 and Spring 2020 (can be edited and re-used with due credit attributed)

*RCR Competency Key:
[1] Mentor/Trainee Responsibilities
[2] Data acquisition, Management, Sharing and Ownership
[3] Publication Practices and Responsible Authorship
[4] Peer Review
[5] Collaborative Science
[6] Research Ethics and the Role of the Scientist
[7] Research Misconduct
[8] Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment

Additional Information

The course requires 14 weeks of classroom discussions. All students are required to be in attendance. Your grade will
be based on your participation. Each of the 14 weeks is broken down into the following:
Students are required to be in regular discussion with the course instructors about progress on a technical paper for a chosen research topic. Similarly, students are required to meet with the course instructors ahead of each class to prepare discussion notes (e.g., Powerpoint slides or equivalent materials, group questions, and classroom activities).

Discussion notes must meet the approval of the instructors before the class meets to discuss the chosen topic. As class sizes can vary, teams of students are assigned to tackle each of the 14 week topics, with emphasis placed on RCR competencies.

Aside from the classroom meetings, we expect students to commit to at least 2 hours of effort each week, in combination with
meeting the course instructors, other CS faculty, and working on their required assignments.


*** For the RCR Case Studies we might combine the listed topics into appropriate discussion weeks, described above. Depending on the duration of discussion, we may choose to expand Weeks 9 and 10 ("Academic conduct" and "Whose idea is it?"). Everyone is required to participate in the case study discussions.

Finally, as part of your RCR requirements, every student must complete the Advanced RCR Online Introduction. You can take this online introduction before starting CS697. Upon completion of both the online preparation and the Graduate Initiation Seminar, you will be eligible for a Certificate of Completion from the Office of Research Compliance. Please see the attached welcome message for more details.

Assignment Details

Paper Review
The review should be typeset. A good length target is 1-2 pages in 12pt font with 1-inch margins. The review should have the following components: Be positive and constructive—write the review you would like to receive as an author! As discussed in class, you should evaluate strengths and weaknesses in several dimensions: problem interest and motivation, conceptual innovation, technical innovation, quality of presentation, and appropriate discussion of related work.
Paper writing
The paper should be typeset. A good length target is 4 pages minimumin 12pt font with 1-inch margins. The paper should follow mostly the conventions you have in your research area but we expect all the paper to include: Please try to make sure that the presentation is of high quality.