NOTE: All student in CSCI 5010G are required to attend the 2022-23 Computer Science Seminars in addition to regular lectures.
- Week 1: Program Introduction & Getting Involved in the Research Community
- Week 2: Oral Communication
- Week 3: Publishing Research + Guest Lecture
- Week 4: Student Presentations
- Week 5: Library Research Methods + Guest Lecture
- Week 6: Selecting a Topic and Writing a Thesis Proposal + Guest Lecture
- Week 7: Writing & Defending a Thesis + Guest Lecture
- Week 8: Peer Reviewing Research Papers + Guest Lecture
- Week 9: Guest Lectures
- Week 10: Managing a Research Project + Guest Lecture
- Week 11: Writing Papers with LaTeX + Guest Lecture
- Week 12: Professional Skills Development + Guest Lecture
- Final Presentations
Week 1: Program Introduction & Getting Involved in the Research Community
- 11:10am-12:30pm: This week we will discuss the course outline as well as the Computer Science MSc degree requirements and PhD degree requirements. We will discuss how to conduct a survey and what topics a survey of Computer Science should include. Finally, we will focus our discussion and review the areas of Computer Science researched at the Ontario Tech University.
- 12:40pm-2:00pm: As a graduate student you are not only a member of your research lab and graduate program, you are also a member of a larger national and international research community. Today we will discuss how to get involved with the larger research community through organizations (e.g., ACM, IEEE Computer Society), online social communities (e.g., ResearchGate) and research meetings/conferences. We will also discuss how to approach other researchers (both students and faculty) and how do I get a response to your questions.
Week 2: Oral Communication
- 11:30am-12:30pm: We will learn how to create a great research presentation including the importance of knowing your venue, knowing your audience and knowing your presentation goals.
- Slides: [PDF]
- 12:40pm-2:00pm: Elevator talks – 90 second talks on your research topic/area and why it is important.
Week 3: Publishing Research
- 11:10am-12:30pm: We will discuss different types of publication venues (e.g., workshops, conferences, journals, books) and the difference between peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed publications. We will also discuss publication quantity versus publication quality and look at different publication metrics including citation count. Other topics related to publishing will be discussed including predatory publishers, Web of Science and impact factor rankings.
- Slides: [PDF]
- 12:40pm-2:00pm: Guest Lecture by Prof. Patrick Hung
Week 4: STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
- 2:10pm-5:00pm: Student presentations.
Week 5: Library Research Methods
- 11:10am-12:30pm: Today we will welcome a guest lecturer from the UOIT Library to explain how the library can help you succeed in your graduate degree, how to search for papers, how to create an annotated bibliographies and how to manage citations/bibliographies using reference managers (e.g., Mendeley). We will also spend some time discussing different kinds of survey research papers including literature reviews, classifications and taxonomies.
- 12:40pm-2:00pm: Guest Lecture by Prof. Ken Pu
Week 6: SELECTING A TOPIC AND WRITING A THESIS PROPOSAL
- 11:10am-12:30pm: Selecting a good thesis topic can be a challenging process. Today we will learn how to identify potential research topics, how to select the best topic using topic analysis and how to write a thesis proposal. Group discussion on how to create a good annotated bibliography. Don’t forget to bring an example annotated bibliography entry for critique.
- Slides: [PDF]
- 12:40pm-2:00pm: Guest Lecture by Prof. Peter Lewis
Week 7: Writing and Defending a thesis
- 11:10am-12:30pm: Technical writing is unique and is not the same as writing general prose. In this week we will learn best practices as well as tips & tricks for becoming a good technical writer. We will also learn about Latex – one of the most popular type setting tools. Finally, we will discuss the format of a typical research thesis and how to navigate the thesis defense process.
- Slides: [PDF]
- 12:40pm-2:00pm: Guest Lecture by Prof. Emil Pricop (guest of Prof. Khalil El-Khatib)
Week 8: TBD
- 11:10am-12:30pm: An overview of the peer review process, blind vs. double-blind reviews and how to review a paper will be covered in today’s lecture. When discussing how to review papers we will discuss the following sources of advice:
- The Task of the Referee, Alan Jay Smith
- Peer Reviewing Tips, F1000Research
- Conducting Peer Reviews, Writing Center, University of Wisconsin
- 10 tips from an editor on undertaking academic peer review for journals, Brian Lucey
We will also discuss some of the ethical issues surrounding peer review including bias in single blind review, for-profit expedited peer review and corruption in the review process.
- 12:40pm-2:00pm: Guest Lecture by TBD
Week 9: Managing a Research Project
- 11:10am-12:30pm: Guest Lecture by Prof. Shahram Heydari
- 12:40pm-2:00pm: Guest Lecture by TBD
WEEK 10: Peer Reviewing Research Papers
- 11:10am-12:30pm: A research/thesis project can take months or years to complete and during the process it is important that you properly manage your time, your effort and the research material you produce. Topics covered will include: research logs/journals, best practices for research meetings (including agendas, note taking), time management skills and the importance of backing up your data! In the context of data backup we will also discuss the benefits of version control systems.
- 12:40pm-2:00pm: Guest Lecture by Prof. Steven Livingstone
WEEK 11: Writing Papers with LaTex
- 11:10am-12:30pm: An overview of LaTeX for writing research papers. Topics include: latex style files, basic markup, use of labels, references, citations, source code packages, figures, tables and references.
- 12:40pm-2:00pm: Guest Lecture by Prof. Miguel Vargas Martin
Week 12: Professional Skills DevelopmenT
- 11:10am-12:30pm: Overview of the conference management system we will use for the final paper. Course wrap-up.
- 12:40pm-2:00pm: Guest Lecture by Prof. Kourosh Davoudi
Final Student Presentation
- All students will give a final presentation on a research topic in their field of study followed by a few minutes for questions. The student presentations are open to all faculty and students in the Computer Science graduate programs.
- Location: TBD
- Schedule: TBD