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Find Ideas, Do Research, Publish Papers, Earn Degree!
Charles Ling ( 凌晓峰 ), ProfessorPhD (U of Pennsylvania)
University of Western Ontario, Canada( 加拿大 西安大略大学 )
http://cling.csd.uwo.ca
Charles X. Ling
To Become a Researcher To Become a Researcher
Research careerScientific discovery
– Not commercialization – Different from engineering
The life as a researcher – are you suitable– Creative & critical, focus, diligent, persistent, …
Graduate students PhD researcher (large companies) or professor (universities)
Charles X. Ling
First Step: MSc/PhD CandidatesFirst Step: MSc/PhD CandidatesYou are becoming a researcher (with support)
1. Finding research topics and ideas2. Doing good research3. Writing and publishing papers (peer-reviewed)4. Earning MSc/PhD thesis; applying for grant
Two things help young researchers to start– Internet– Anonymous authorship in paper submission
Probably best to obtain PhD in North America
Charles X. Ling
1. Finding Research Ideas1. Finding Research Ideas(Theoretical) Research: discover new knowledge
– New, sound, significant and better, high impact (Applied research: killer applications) Read latest proceedings and journalsInternet makes things much easy
– Google Scholar, authors’ homepage, email authors– www.videolectures.net
Attend latest conferences, chat with peopleRelax: walk on beach, drink some beer…
Charles X. Ling
Finding Research IdeasFinding Research IdeasThe “attitude” when you read papers
– 拜读,跟踪 30% understanding, 70% critical/creative thinking
– What is wrong? [Example]– What else? Why not? How to do better?
Many possibilities (creativity – no unique correct answer) From small to major extension “Surprising effect” (simple but creative) [Example] High impact: affecting future research & applications
Charles X. Ling
Finding Research IdeasFinding Research IdeasReading group: read abstract, then brainstorm
– What is wrong?– What would I do?– How would I do better?
Different levels of discussions Taking notes on new ideas; do not criticize
Charles X. Ling
From Ideas to Thesis TopicsFrom Ideas to Thesis TopicsStart with some small and interesting ideasExpand to a broad topic with related problemsBoth supervisor and student play a rolePay attention to “hot topics”: invited speech in
conferences, special issues of journalsMake a plan (like a thesis outline)
– Be flexible with the plan– Stay focus with the plan
Charles X. Ling
An Example: Measures for MLAn Example: Measures for MLReview: previous measure
- accuracy, AUC, ROC - measures for orders - profit, cost sensitive learning - Recall, precision, combination- many others in NL retrieval, engineering
AUC: a single number measure - criteria for comparing measures - prove theorems for AUC and accuracy (IJCAI’03)- relation between C and D (5 % measures) **** - Experimental verification (CAI’03) - Comparing algorithms with AUC (ICDM’03)- AUC vs profit: **** (TKDE05)
Charles X. Ling
Optimizing AUC *** - AUC oriented decision trees - AUC oriented SVM - AUC oriented neural networks (submitted) - General theorems about optimizing AUC
Other measures and comparison **** - (new) Super AUC measure (sub ’06)- compare and connect others measures - rank measures (ECML’05) - Proof or experiments with other measures (NL, …)
Discussions and Conclusions
Charles X. Ling
2. Doing Good Research2. Doing Good ResearchNot an easy task: must make new contributions
– Know well the state-of-the-art (write a survey paper)– Many people may have tried your (new) ideas but
failed (not usually published)– Usually take a great effort to get it to work – Must be very diligent and thorough
Implement yours and others’ algorithms Develop new theory and run many experiments Very from different aspects: how others challenge me?
Charles X. Ling
3. Writing and Publishing Papers3. Writing and Publishing PapersConferences papers: yearly, so fast, with
submission deadline Journal papers: archive, so more complete
– Dealing with rejection and major revision
Paper writing (another talk) – English is not our worst enemy– Convincing results, clear presentation – Work with your supervisor…
Charles X. LingCharles X. Ling
Convincing: Logic of a paper:Convincing: Logic of a paper:– Problem X is important– Previous work A, B, … have been done, but
they have certain weaknesses – We propose a new method Z…– We conduct experiments comparing Z to A
and B, and show Z is better – Why is Z better? Why didn’t C, D work?
What are strengths and weaknesses of Z– Conclusions and future work of Z
Charles X. LingCharles X. Ling
Clarity: Structure of a PaperClarity: Structure of a PaperTitleAbstractIntroduction(Review of Previous Work)Our WorkExperiments and ComparisonsRelation to Previous WorkDiscussionsConclusionsReferences, Appendix
A 200-word paper: very high level. Emphasize contributions and significance. Omit details and avoid technical terms
A 2-page paper: high level. Emphasize background and motivation
A 200-word paper: Summary & future work
Expand on various parts (also top-down structure)
A 10-word paper
Charles X. Ling
4. Towards a PhD Thesis…4. Towards a PhD Thesis…Start early: survey the area, design a planSubmit at least 2 conf papers and 1 journal
paper each yearPhD thesis: a collection of these papers!
Charles X. Ling
PKDD 03
IJCAI 04
ICML 04 KDD 04
CAI 03
ICML 05 IJCAI 05
On-line system IEEE TKDE
JMLR 04
Survey
IJCAI 95-02 JMLR 95-02
KDD 95-02 ECML 95-02
AAAI 95-02
MLJ 95-02 JMLR 95-02 Survey paper
2002.9
PhD Thesis2006.6
Charles X. Ling
Applied Research/Building SystemsApplied Research/Building Systems Find a killer application!!! Keep in mind the grand vision and end users Divide and conquer: sub goals and milestones Application-driven research: new algorithms, exp,
scaling up, user study, … Still publishing, and allowing others to use your system
– Should you worry about being copied? In general, no. You are always the best expert, one-step ahead• For research purpose only, getting feedbacks• You gain reputation and recognition
• You may want to start up a new company !
Charles X. Ling
SummarySummaryResearch: new, significant, high-impactMsc and PhD candidates: supervised researchers Think critically and creatively Start with small idea, survey the area, build it upThesis: have a plan early and focus on itPublish yearly in best conferences and journalsApplied research: killer applications Internet and anonymous authorship make it fair Researchers/professors are a great career
Wish you success in research!!
Thanks!
Charles X. Ling
Advance Data Mining and Advance Data Mining and Applications Applications
Prof. Charles X. LingPhD (U of Pennsylvania)
University of Western Ontario, Canada( 西安大略大学 )
[email protected]; [email protected]
http://cling/csd.uwo.ca
Charles X. Ling
Course PlanCourse PlanWed: Charles Ling, WEKA algorithms and
softwareThurs: Qiang Yang, DM algorithms and
applications Fri: Qiang Yang, DM algorithms and applications Monday: Charles Ling/Qiang Yang: Applications Tues: Wrap up and exam!
Charles X. Ling
WEKAWEKATextbook: Data Mining: Practical Machine
Learning Tools and Techniques (Second Edition), by Morgan Kaufmann, 2005.
Software (v4.11): http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/ml/weka/
Lecture notes
Charles X. Ling
Keys in DM ApplicationsKeys in DM ApplicationsMany simple algorithms work quite wellCrucial: converting real-world problems into
DM problems– Use WEKA directly– Modify/improve WEKA
DM: a lot of science and a bit of art – Must understanding the working of algorithms
Charles X. Ling
Charles X. Ling
Research MethodologiesResearch Methodologies
Prof. Charles X. LingPhD (U of Pennsylvania)
University of Western Ontario, Canada( 西安大略大学 )[email protected]
http://csd.uwo.ca/faculty/cling
Charles X. Ling
Becoming a Researcher & Becoming a Researcher & Research MethodologiesResearch Methodologies
Professor Charles X. LingPhD (U of Pennsylvania)
University of Western Ontario, [email protected]
http://csd.uwo.ca/faculty/cling
Charles X. Ling
What Researchers/Scientists do?What Researchers/Scientists do?Create new ideas, invent, discover…
– Potentially useful in a long run– Not merely engineering or applications– Not for short term profit (not products)
Charles X. Ling
Research SupportResearch Support
Mostly government grants and funding (NSF, NSERC, NASA, etc.)
Based purely on merit of your research
Charles X. Ling
Research EnvironmentResearch Environment
University and research institutes Teaching is light
– Graduate teaching is useful for research Academic freedom: you are your own “boss”Supported mostly by government fundingTenure system: a lot of free time to exploreSupervise graduate studentsPublish papers