Field of Computer Science Ph.D. Student Handbook, Exercises of Artificial Intelligence

Download Field of Computer Science Ph.D. Student Handbook and more Exercises Artificial Intelligence in PDF only on Docsity! Field of Computer Science Ph.D. Student Handbook The Cornell Ph.D. program in computer science is consistently ranked among the top six departments in the country, with world-class research covering all of computer science. Our computer science program is distinguished by the excellence of the faculty, by a long tradition of pioneering research, and by the breadth of its Ph.D. program. Faculty and Ph.D. students are located both in Ithaca and in New York City at the Cornell Tech campus. The Field of Computer Science also includes faculty members from other departments (Electrical Engineering, Information Science, Applied Math, Mathematics, Operations Research and Industrial Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Computational Biology, and Architecture) who can supervise a student's Ph.D. thesis research in computer science. Research Over the past years we've increased our strength in areas such as artificial intelligence, computer graphics, systems, security, machine learning, and digital libraries, while maintaining our depth in traditional areas such as theory, programming languages and scientific computing. You can find out more about our research here. Department Life The department provides an exceptionally open and friendly atmosphere that encourages the sharing of ideas across all areas. Cornell is located in the heart of the Finger Lakes region. This beautiful area provides many opportunities for recreational activities such as sailing, windsurfing, canoeing, kayaking, both downhill and cross-country skiing, ice skating, rock climbing, hiking, camping, and brewery/cider/wine-tasting. In fact, Cornell offers courses in all of these activities. The Cornell Tech campus in New York City is located on Roosevelt Island. Cornell Tech is a graduate school conceived and implemented expressly to integrate the study of technology with business, law, and design. There are now over a half-dozen masters programs on offer as well as doctoral studies. FAQ with more information about the two campuses. Ph.D. Program Structure Each year, about 30-40 new Ph.D. students join the department. During the first two semesters, students become familiar with the faculty members and their areas of research by taking graduate courses, attending research seminars, and participating in research projects. By the end of the first year, each student selects a specific area and forms a committee based on the student's research interests. This “Special Committee” of three or more faculty members will guide the student through to a Ph.D. dissertation. Ph.D. students that decide to work with a faculty member based at Cornell Tech typically move to New York City after a year in Ithaca. The Field believes that certain areas are so fundamental to Computer Science that all students should be competent in them. Ph.D. candidates are expected to demonstrate competency in four areas of computer science at the high undergraduate level: theory, programming languages, systems, and artificial intelligence. Each student then focuses on a specific topic of research and begins a preliminary investigation of that topic. The initial results are presented during a comprehensive oral evaluation, which is administered by the members of the student's Special Committee. The objective of this examination, usually taken in the third year, is to evaluate a student's ability to undertake original research at the Ph.D. level. The final oral examination, a public defense of the dissertation, is taken before the Special Committee. To encourage students to explore areas other than Computer Science, the department requires that students complete an outside minor. Cornell offers almost 90 fields from which a minor can be chosen. Some students elect to minor in related fields such as Applied Mathematics, Information Science, Electrical Engineering, or Operations Research. Others use this opportunity to pursue interests as diverse as Music, Theater, Psychology, Women's Studies, Philosophy, and Finance. The computer science Ph.D. program complies with the requirements of the Cornell Graduate School, which include requirements on residency, minimum grades, examinations, and dissertation. ● Systems, including concurrency, parallel computing, networks, distributed computing, and data management. ● Programming languages and methodology, including applied logic, automated reasoning, and compilers. ● Scientific computing and applications, including graphics and computational biology. The research styles are the following: ● Theoretical. The theoretical research style is characterized by constructing formal models of computation that are validated primarily by mathematical proof. ● Systems. The systems research style focuses on how to improve computing platforms by making them faster, more reliable, more secure, etc. Validation is primarily empirical or experiential. ● Applied. The applied research style develops new methods for using computers to solve problems of interest. Validation is achieved primarily by demonstrating empirically that these methods are effective for the problem. The following table summarizes the breadth requirement. It represents the classification of CS graduate courses into areas and research styles. Students must take five 5000/6000-level courses, covering at least three rows of this table and all three columns. Research Styles Algorithms/ Theory Systems Applied Areas Algorithms/ Theory 58xx, 68xx AI 5486, 6752, 676X, 6781, 6783 6751 5540, 5670, 5724, 5740, 5780, 5785, 5786, 6360, 6670, 67xx\{6751, 676x, 6783} Systems 6432 5300, 5412, 5414, 5420, 5430, 5432, 632x, 641x, 6431, 6450, 6453, 6455, 6465, 6466, 6480 5435 PL 611x, 6180 5114, 5120, 6120, 6114, 6156 Sci. Comp. & Apps 5220 5625, 5643, 62xx, 65xx, 66xx\{6670} As with the competency requirement, the breadth requirement must be fulfilled with acceptable performance, as judged by the Field. A grade of B or better is generally acceptable. The list of courses that satisfy the area and research style requirements of the breadth requirement are subject to change as faculty develops new courses. The Project Requirement Ph.D. students are required to satisfy the project requirement by writing a significant piece of software. One way to satisfy the project requirement is by taking a course with a significant coding component and having the instructor for the course certify that the project satisfied the project requirement. The student is typically expected to get a grade of B- or better in the course. The project requirement can also be satisfied by projects outside of classes, for example, as part of independent research, your thesis research, or as part of a summer job. In these cases, the chair of your special committee needs to certify that you satisfied the project requirement. The Teaching Requirement Ph.D. students must serve as a teaching assistant for at least two semesters or teach a course for at least one semester. Contact with students is valuable both as preparation for a possible academic career and for the experience in communicating ideas to groups, which is important in any setting, academic or otherwise. Exceptions We recognize that the Field requirements as stated above may not be universally appropriate, especially in nontraditional areas such as computational biology that may require significant coursework outside of computer science. In such exceptional cases, students are encouraged to formulate an alternative course of study in consultation with the special committee and to present a proposal to the Field for approval. Graduate School Requirements ● residency ● special committee ● minor requirement ● A exam ● B exam Residency ● Committees can be changed any number of times later - all you need is a signature from everyone on your committee stating that they are OK with the change. Although it becomes a bit more difficult to change your committee after your A exam ● You may also have members of your committee who are not field members. You need to have 3 who are field members, so a non-field member would be a 4th. You may want to add a Cornell researcher, who is not a field member, or even someone not from Cornell (if you are working with someone long distance). This is called an ad-hoc committee member. Please reach out to Becky Stewart for instructions on how to add an ad hoc member if you decide you would like to do this. The Minor Requirement The minor requirement is a Graduate School requirement. All Ph.D. students at Cornell must have two minors. For Ph.D. students in Computer Science, the Field requires one of these to be external to Computer Science and one to be internal. The external minor must be in a field other than CS. The external minor requirements are up to the minor field. Related fields such as Operations Research, Applied Mathematics, Cognitive Science or Electrical and Computer Engineering are common choices. However, any minor field is acceptable. When you choose your minor field, you must also choose an area of concentration in that field and a minor advisor who is a member of that field. The minor advisor serves on your special committee and will work with you in setting your minor requirements. Typically, this involves knowledge of 3-4 graduate courses in the field, but expectations can vary depending upon the field. Before settling on a minor field, a student should find out about that field's requirements. There are no additional requirements for the internal minor, except that the minor area of concentration must be different from the major area of concentration. The A Exam The A exam (Admission to Candidacy Exam) is an oral exam. It is a final test of your preparedness for undertaking thesis research. The content and coverage of the A exam is determined by the special committee and discussed with the student beforehand. Often, the student at an A-exam will describe the problem to be attacked in the thesis and give some preliminary research results. But an A-exam might instead have the student present an in-depth survey of a research area. Occasionally the A-exam serves as an opportunity to present completed research that is unrelated to the thesis topic. Some committees expect the student to prepare a written document prior to the exam, which might cover content that will be discussed at the exam or complement that content. Students normally aim to take the A exam in their third year of graduate study. Students are required to have completed the competency requirement and to have at least two units of residency prior to the A exam. In addition, students must attempt the A exam before beginning their seventh semester of study. (More details of the university's requirements can be found in Cornell's Guide to Graduate's Study.) Although students have normally made substantial progress towards completing the breadth requirement before taking their A exam, it is not necessary to have completed this requirement before the A exam. (Note that your minor advisor may require you to have taken some courses in your minor before your A exam; you should check with them) The B Exam The B exam is your thesis defense. It is strongly recommended that a draft of your thesis be provided to your committee three to four weeks prior to the B exam. In most cases, it should require only minor editing after the exam. However, during a B exam, the committee may ask for revisions, in which case it is possible that the student will pass the B exam but not yet have full approval of the thesis itself. The Ph.D. degree is awarded after you have passed the B exam and filed an approved dissertation with the University, and completed all the other requirements above. The University requires a minimum of two units of residency between the A exam and the B exam. Most students complete their B exam within four to six years after their arrival at Cornell. Exam Scheduling Guidelines ***A exams should be scheduled by 7th semester (4th year). The graduate school will place a hold on your registration if you have not met this milestone before the 7th semester. Scheduling your A or B exam You are responsible for submitting your schedule form WITH approvals 7 days prior to the exam. The Graduate school is VERY STRICT with this DEADLINE. If it’s a weekend, plan accordingly. If you do not make this deadline you will need to reschedule the exam for a later date! Please send your announcement of your exam 7 days prior to Jessica so that she can announce to the cs field members and phd students. Exams may be given either in-person or remotely. Students giving exams in-person must provide a zoom link in the exam announcement so that anyone unable to attend in person may do so remotely. Format of the A exam: ● Approximately 45 Minute Oral Presentation sharing dissertation proposal with work completed so far and a plan for going forward to B exam. ● Followed by Questions Forms for Scheduling either A or B Exam ● A Exam Form(Online)** ● B Exam Form (Online)** Forms to take to exam A Exam: ● Field Summary Form A and B Results: ● An example of not being in good standing is failure to meeting a Graduate School Milestone without an approved general petition (Special Committee Formation; A exam Schedule; Time to Degree) ● Another example is failure to be a good TA for the course you are assigned as a TA for. ● You will receive a letter from the DGS/Assistant Director if you are not in good standing. If you are not in good standing, you will have at least one semester to get in good standing. ● Support will be provided in the form of a teaching assistantship (TA), graduate research assistantship (GRA), or fellowship. Appointment Periods: Fall: Aug 21 - Jan 5 Spring: Jan 6 - May 20 Summer*: May 21 - Aug 20 *If you choose to not take a summer internship, GRA or TA opportunities are available. TA positions are limited in the summer. Please reach out to Becky early with interest. Please note that summer TA positions do not provide a full summer’s worth of support. More information on summer courses can be found here. University Policy 1.3, Graduate Student Assistantships Support Letters** GRA Support letters are sent two times in the fall and spring semesters: Aug 15 Fall/Dec 15 Spring: Generic GRA Letter (Available in Workday). Mid-Semester: Confirmation GRA Letter*, includes sponsored funds information GRA support letters are sent one time in the summer: May 8: Generic GRA Letter (Available in workday) TA Support Letters are sent at the start of each fall and spring semester. Aug 10 Fall Dec 10 Spring **Starting in Fall 2020, support letters will be automatically generated in Workday when your appointment is entered into the system. *Confirmation letters cannot be processed until all faculty have certified their funding sources with SRAC (Sponsored Research Administration Center) Vacation Policy: Cornell Policy 1.3 TA Assignment Process ● Solicit financial support picture from faculty; advisors determine who they can fund on RA positions. ● Solicit TA preferences from students. ● Determine which courses require TA support given enrollments. ● Assistant Director (Becky) matches students with courses taking into account courses with TA needs and expertise of students in the TA pool. ● We try to honor requests and to match people with courses in their own areas - but this is not always possible. ● Many courses also have other resources such as MS, undergraduate, or M.Eng. Ta’s, so the whole burden will not fall on you. Considerations when creating assignments: ● Not all students get top preferences. Students generally ask for the same courses to TA, and this cannot be accommodated, which is why multiple preferences are requested. ● Hard to fill courses: hard to fill courses change from semester to semester and year to year, dependent on the skillset of the students in the TA pool. In these instances, sometimes students are moved from a potential GRA to the TA pool. ● Last minute changes to the TA pool, which can be confidential. ○ Goal for last minute changes is to make a small localized swap, not to disrupt all of the assignments ○ We try to be respectful of these changes. Student Review Process September Review graduating students. Inform CS Field Faculty of students graduating and who will be on job market to help promote. October 2nd year and beyond students fill out Student Progress Review (SPR). Once student submits, faculty fill out SPR on progress. Student and faculty should meet after the process to discuss. *Note: what student enters into SPR may/will be shared with CS Field at Annual Review (barring anything prevented by FERPA) December 2nd year and Beyond students reviewed by CS Field. Students may receive a field letter if the CS Field has any concerns. Again, students will have ample warning if there are any concerns to course correct. December Request comments from 1st year students on progress. Competency, faculty talking to about research, etc. January 1st year students reviewed by CS Field January Re-Orientation for first year students Petition Process When a Ph.D. student petitions to delay an academic milestone, the petition must be approved by the DGS and Assistant Director, and if the student has formed a special committee then the committee members need to approve as well. The decision whether to approve delaying an academic milestone is made on a case by case basis, taking account of the particular circumstances of each student, so there is no formal criterion that students can use to pre- compute whether their petition will be approved. An exception was the 2020-21 academic year, Moving to Cornell Tech ● Must have advisor at Cornell Tech ● Approval from Cornell Tech Advisor to move to NYC ● Satisfactory progress on competency requirements ● Inform CS Graduate Office and Cornell Tech of your intention to move to the Tech campus. Suggested timeline is early spring semester. Please also include the date of your intended move. ● Once you have informed Cornell Tech of your arrival date, you will receive further technical details with regard to your move from Jackie Klein (access to the Tech Campus Building, computer, space, etc). ● Please be sure to remove all personal belongings from your graduate office on the Ithaca campus. A shared desk space is available to Tech students that visit the Ithaca campus. Access to the space will be granted to you. ● The computer that you were issued when you arrived to the Ithaca campus does not move with you to the Tech Campus. A new computer will be issued to you at the Tech campus. ● PhD students moving to the Cornell Tech campus should coordinate with their advisor regarding the purchase of computer ● Please work with your advisor to discuss computer specs. Travel Funding Opportunities The Field of Computer Science and the Graduate School provide the following funding opportunities to enhance your research. Eligible students are encouraged to apply for funding to travel to CU Tech, professional conferences and research travel. ● Department of Computer Science Inter-Campus Travel Fund ● Cornell Graduate School Doctoral Student Inter-Campus Travel Grant (This can be used in addition to the CS Inter-Capus Travel Fund above) ● Cornell Graduate School Conference Grant ● Cornell Graduate School Research Travel Grant Curricular Practical Training International students wishing to partake in an internship during a semester (Fall, Spring, or Summer) will need to apply for Curricular Practical Training (CPT). CPT can be either part-time or full time. ● Typically students participate in part-time internships during either the Fall or Spring semester while also supported on a GRA. The part-time internship would be an additional 5 hours per week on top of the GRA. ● Full-time CPT can be taken during Fall, Spring, or Summer for 40 hours a week. Students must register LOA for the semester while on CPT. The International Services Office of Global Learning has moved their CPT Forms Online 1. Obtain an offer letter for your CPT 2. Enter your request for CPT online. Link found here: https://international.globallearning.cornell.edu/employment-and-taxes/f-1-cpt 3. If your internship will be remote, please note on the form the address in which you will be working from 4. Please enter Becky Stewart’s name and email (rss7@cornell.edu) as advisor information so that Becky can finalize the process with supporting documentation. Special Masters in Computer Science for Ph.D. Students In Other Fields A Master's degree in Computer Science (CS) is available to students enrolled in a PhD or MS/PhD program in the following fields: ● Mathematics ● Applied Mathematics ● Information Science ● Statistics (A Master's degree in Mathematics is also available to students enrolled in the PhD program in Computer Science; consult the Field of Mathematics for information.) Requirements 1. 4 residence units 2. A Computer Science field member on the special committee 3. Passing an A-exam in the student's major field of study 4. Knowledge of CS 2110, CS 3110 and CS 4410/4411 (e.g., by having taken these courses at Cornell, or equivalent courses at other institutions) 5. Two of the following courses: CS 6410, CS 6110, CS 6320, CS 6820 6. In addition to 4 and 5, any two CS courses numbered 5000 and above (lecture/practicum pairs such as CS 5120/5121, CS 5320/5321, and CS 5620/5621 count as one course). All courses taken in fulfillment of these requirements must be taken for grade credit, and grades of B– or better in all coursework are required. Minor amendments to these requirements for a particular student, such as the substitution of one course for another, may be made on a case-by-case basis with the unanimous approval of the special committee and the DGS of CS. Please note all course requirements must be completed within two semesters of taking the A exam. Administration A PhD candidate wishing to receive a master's degree from CS must apply formally. The student must obtain approval from all members of the special committeeand apply to the Graduate School for this degree. There is an application form available for this purpose (link below). The application must be submitted at the time of admission to candidacy (that is, at the time of the A-exam), and should be submitted to the CS Graduate Office in Upson Hall (110d Gates Hall), where it will be kept on file and communicated to the Graduate School. ● Special Masters Application Form Formal registration in CS is not required. The member of the student's special committee representing CS is primarily responsible for supervising the content of the program of study as it pertains to the master's degree. That member must be present at the A-exam. It is expected that substantial progress toward fulfilling the requirements for the master's degree will have been made by the time of the A- exam, and a suitable demonstration of understanding at the A-exam will be expected. It is not necessary for all requirements to have been met at the time of the A-exam, but the degree will not be awarded until all requirements are satisfied. When all requirements have been satisfied, a copy of the application form should be signed by all members of the special committee and DGS of CS and submitted to the CS Graduate Office in Upson Hall for communication to the Graduate School. Special Circumstances If the student should leave the PhD program or transfer to a different major field that is not one of the approved major fields, the student may still receive the master's degree in CS if all other requirements have been met. Financial Support Financial support will still be the responsibility of the major field. Cornell Bowers CIS Computer Science