GRADCOHORT

Finding a Research Topic

Lori PollockProfessor, Computer and Information

SciencesUniversity of Delaware

GRADCOHORTThe 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

GRADCOHORTWhat is (CS) Research?

• the systematic investigation into and study of materials, sources, etc., in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions

Oxford dictionary

– Theoretical scientific research:• Identify an open question• Formulate a hypothesis• Prove hypothesis

– 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

• Research is not knowing the answer or how to get it

GRADCOHORT

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

GRADCOHORT

So, what isn’t PhD research?

• Help me out here…

GRADCOHORT

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

GRADCOHORTMore 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

GRADCOHORT

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)

GRADCOHORT

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 -

GRADCOHORT

7 Ways to Identify a Good Research Problem

GRADCOHORT1) 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

GRADCOHORT2) 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

GRADCOHORT

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

GRADCOHORT4) 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

GRADCOHORT5) 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

GRADCOHORT6) 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

GRADCOHORT7) 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!

GRADCOHORT

… 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!

GRADCOHORT

Sharing Experiences/Concerns

Flash of Brilliance

The Stapler

The Synthesis Model

Extended Course Project

The Apprentice

Data Analysis Redo/ReImplement

GRADCOHORTTips and Suggestions

• Topic + advisor are both important• Keep a research ideas “journal” (wiki)• Keep an annotated bibliography (bibtex)• Follow your interests 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?

GRADCOHORTWhen 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

GRADCOHORTWhen 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

GRADCOHORTWhen 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?

GRADCOHORT

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

GRADCOHORTTaking 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

GRADCOHORT

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?