Finding a Research Topic

1. Finding a Research Topic Lori Pollock Professor, Computer and Information Sciences University of Delaware

2. The Next Hour… • What is CS research? • What should I consider when choosing a topic? • How do I identify a research topic? • Focusing from area to topic • What do I do if I am stuck? • Taking risks • Sharing personal experiences

3. What is (CS) Research? • the systematic investigation into and study of materials, sources, etc., in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions • Experimental scientific research: • Observe a problem • Formulate a hypothesis • Develop a strategy to solve problem based on hypothesis • Perform experiments and demonstrate conclusive evidence • Interpret results Oxford dictionary • Theoretical scientific research: • Identify an open question • Formulate a hypothesis • Prove hypothesis • Research is not knowing the answer or how to get it

4. What is CS Research? Example from Compilers • Observe a problem: Loop code is costly because repeated many times; some statements have same effect on every iteration. • Hypothesis: Performance gains if such code can be hoisted out of loop bodies without affecting correctness. • Strategy: Develop automatic analyses to determine when safe and transform. • Evaluation/Evidence: Implement in a compiler & measure performance • Interpret results: Observed performance gains => invariant code motion as standard compiler optimization

5. So, what isn’t PhD research? • Help me out here…

6. How do I choose a topic area for my research? • Whose interest do you need to grab? • You • Your advisor • Your research community • Gain breadth to broaden choices • Love your topic! • Sets the course for your next 2-3 years • Determines, in part, opportunities offered to you upon graduation • May work in same/related area for years

7. More Things to Consider • What are your strengths? weaknesses? • Programming, design, data analysis, proofs • Key insights vs. long/detailed verification/simulation • What drives you? bores you? • Technology, puzzles, applications, interdisciplinary • Do you (i.e., your advisor) have funding for you to work in the area? • Working as a TA • Working as an RA • Having university/college, government, industry, etc… fellowship/scholarship/grant

8. Which comes first?Advisor or Topic Area? • For many people “advisor before topic” • Meet faculty member with compelling research interests • For some people “topic before advisor” • Need a guide in an area already of great interest to you • Want an advisor • Knowledgeable about your topic • Interdisciplinary topics may require >1 advisor • With compatible working style (e.g., solo vs team) • With lots of research ideas • With strong interest in working with PhD students • ….(more this afternoon)

9. Focusing from Area to Topic • Area - Too broad to be a thesis topic • Topic/Problem - set of related open questions formulated as a well-defined problem in an area • Characteristics of a good research problem -

10. 7 Ways to Identify a Good Research Problem

11. 1) Flash of Brilliance • You wake up one day with a new insight/idea • New approach to solve an important open problem • Warnings: • This rarely happens if at all • Even if it does, you may not be able to find an advisor who agrees

12. 2) The Apprentice • Your advisor has a list of topics • Suggests one (or more!) that you can work on • Can save you a lot of time/anxiety • Warnings: • Don’t work on something you find boring, fruitless, badly-motivated,… • Several students may be working on the same/related problem

13. 3) The Extended Course Project • You take a project course that gives you a new perspective • E.g., theory for systems and vice versa • The project/paper combines your research project with the course project • One (and ½) project does double duty • Warnings: • This can distract from your research if you can’t find a related project/paper

14. 4) Redo … Reinvent • You work on some projects • Re-implement or re-do; Evaluate • Identify an improvement, algorithm, proof • You have now discovered a topic • Warnings: • You may be without “a topic” for a long time • It may not be a topic worthy of a doctoral thesis

15. 5) Analyze Data • You participate in more senior student’s evaluation study: • Help with data collection and analysis • Identify open challenges • You have now discovered a topic • Warnings: • You will have to agree on who works on identified open challenges • It may not be a topic worthy of a doctoral thesis

16. 6) The Stapler • You work on a number of small topics that turn into a series of conference papers • E.g., you figure out how to apply a technique to several key problems in an area • You figure out somehow how to tie it all together, create a chapter from each paper, and put a BIG staple through it • Warnings: • May be hard/impossible to find the tie

17. 7) The Synthesis Model • You read some papers from other subfields in computer science/engineering or a related field (e.g., biology) • Look for places to apply insight from another (sub)field to your own • E.g., machine learning to compiler optimizations • E.g., natural language processing to software analysis • Warnings: • You can read a lot of papers and not find a connection • Or realize someone has done it already!

18. … Combine, Compose… but also Propose! • Try any combination of these ideas • It’s good to make sure you’re passionate about a problem • BUT focus on tangible progress too • Are you converging to a problem? • Have you ruled out a problem? • Warnings: • Trying these techniques can take a lot of time without any results!

19. Sharing Experiences/Concerns Flash of Brilliance The Apprentice Extended Course Project The Stapler The Synthesis Model Data Analysis Redo/ReImplement

20. Tips and Suggestions • Topic + advisor are both important • Keep a research ideas “journal” (wiki) • Keep an annotated bibliography (bibtex) • Follow yourinterests and passion • Key driver for success and impact • Are you eager to get to work, continue working? • If not really interested, adapt • Is it tedium or actual lack of interest and motivation?

21. When You’re Stuck • In the beginning… • Read/present papers regularly to find open research issues • Practice summarizing, synthesizing & comparing sets of papers • Write your own slides for presentations • Work with a senior PhD student on their research • Actively participate in research meetings • Get feedback and ideas from others • Attend a top research conference in your area of interest • Listen for open problems • Talk to attendees about research • Attend your dept colloquia series and ask q’s • Do a government or industrial lab internship

22. When You’re Stuck… • Read a PhD thesis in your area • Often contain an ‘open problems’ or ‘future work’ section • Read your advisor’s grant proposals • Attend PhD oral exams and thesis defenses • Understand how to formulate problems • Understand what constitutes a problem solution • Assess your progress, with your advisor • Set goals per semester - Have you ruled out an area? converged on an area? Chosen a topic for an exploratory research project? • Focus on measurable ‘good progress in an interval’ not ‘in k months’ goals

23. When You’re Stuck • Once started… • Divide your topic into milestones, and develop a plan to work on them one-by-one • Reward yourself when you finish a milestone  • Publications and/or posters as milestones • Vary what you do during the day, but set aside blocks of time for each activity • Assess your progress regularly, with your advisor • Have you submitted a workshop paper? A term project with documentation? A poster at a conference? A talk at a regional conf?

24. When Really Really Stuck • Change research topics? • May move you out of your advisor’s comfort zone of expertise • Have to learn the related work in a new area • Starting from ‘scratch’ • Change research advisor? • May have to go through ‘shakedown’ period again • May or may not be better off • But change can be invigorating • What’s hard? Need to recognize when things are not working out and take action • Must weigh consequences of changing and not changing

25. Taking Risks • Choosing a ‘hot’ area with lots of competition in research community • Good results ensured of impact • May be easier to get funding • But you may be ‘scooped’ • Make a context-dependent decision • Need to take some risk • Should choose significant problem • Reward for solution, but higher risk to obtaining solution • High risk problems may not have solutions • Difficult to publish negative results • Overall need to balance and to specialize choices for your situation and your interests

26. Identify a research topic and get started! Great relevant article in ACM Crossroads, “How to Succeed in Graduate School: A Guide for Students and Advisors”, (part I, Dec 1994; part II, Feb 1995), available in ACM Digital Library Questions? Comments? Discussion?