Overview of Graduate Program at CS SFSU

Fall 2009

Prof. D. Petkovic

09/07/09

Welcome graduate students!• MS degree becoming a key for advancement• Ability to work with geographically dispersed teams and

multidisciplinary teams is increasingly important• Combination of general CS skills, domain depth and “soft”

skills is critical. • Business skills are a also a plus!• Job situation is good

Welcome international students

Outline• SW trends driving markets, jobs and education• Why MS degree• About CS Department• About the graduate program and new initiatives• About the research, theses and culminating experiences• International student specifics• QA

• For specific questions see advisors Profs. Levine, Murphy or ask in the CS Office

CS Department mission

Goals: to be the best in CSU and world famous in selected areas of Computer Science

• Prepare students for careers in industry• Prepare students for further graduate study

CS WWW site www.cs.sfsu.edu

• We offer BS and MS in CS• About 400 undergrads, about 100 grads• Most students have MS as terminal degree, and there are

some going for Ph.D.

MS CS Learning Objectives – in addition to basic ones for BS CS

Degree• Students will demonstrate in-depth knowledge in one of

the offered concentration areas

• Students will demonstrate a breadth of knowledge in computer science, as exemplified in the areas of systems, theory and software development

• Students will demonstrate ability to conduct a research or applied Computer Science project, requiring writing and presentation skills which exemplify scholarly style in computer science

Important WWW linksand info

• CS WWW site www.cs.sfsu.edu

• Here you will find all the info about the program and polices– http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/grad/graduate.html

• Page for new grads– http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/grad/new_grad_helpnotes.html

• NEW page with all the info on culminating experience – http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/grad/new_grad_culminating_req.html

• Read office e-mail and newsletters

Trends in Software Development• Global development of computer software through international

cooperation and outsourcing are the main characteristics of current and future software engineering development process

• Increased emphasis on building SW from components and services developed globally

• Everything is getting connected with WWW and wireless• Critical need for making systems easy to use, on time and budget,

and with adequate performance, with geographically dispersed teams

• Open source software community is another example of global collaborative approach to SW development.

• New areas: games, sensor networks, biotech, personal devices, medical informatics…

Jobs• Jobs situation is good (and much better than in most

other disciplines)• CS careers are great

– http://computingcareers.acm.org/– http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/

107402/most-lucrative-college-degrees.html?mod=edu-collegeprep

BUT– New skills are needed

Computing and Life Sciences• Biotechnology, bioinformatics and related applications are

considered next frontiers for computer science, both technically and in terms of business opportunities

• Bay Area is one of the world centers of bioinformatics and bio technology

• SFSU has outstanding programs related to biology and chemistry/biochemistry and skills and interests from Math

• Every major university is having or will have programs in this area• Increased focus by funding agencies, government, politicians and

university executives• Strong interest among students and facultySFSU Center for Computing for Life Sciences

http://cs.sfsu.edu/ccls/index.html

Key “tracks” or MS Concentrations at CS SFSU

• General

• SW Engineering

• Computing for Life Sciences

• Computing and Business (Started Fall 08)

Graduate program description

• http://www.sfsu.edu/~bulletin/current/programs/computes.htm#grad-cs

• General, SW. Eng and Computing for Life Sciences Concentrations– Breadth 9 units– Concentration core 9 units– Electives 6 units– Practicum option 3 units– Culminating Experience 6 units

• Total 30-33 units

NEW MS Concentration in Computing and Business – with SFSU BUS school – started

Fall 08• 3 core CS courses• 3 required CS courses as designated in the General Concentration• 1 CS elective course • 1 Business elective course, approved by advisor. These are drawn from

700- or 800-level courses in Business, Management, Finance, Decision Sciences, or Marketing (3 units)

• 3 required business courses (8 units) – BUS 780- Accounting– BUS 788 Mng. Principles– BUS 784 Political, Social and legal Environment

OR BUS 787 Marketing

• Equivalent of 2 courses for thesis/project; the thesis/project must have a business component. The student’s culminating experience committee will be composed of 2 CS faculty and one Business faculty.

Total 38-41 units

Benefits of new MS Concentration in Computing and Business

Graduates with this concentration will have the skills to • Perform R&D in the computing field • Possess the skills and knowledge to manage software development

teams or start their companies• Assume management responsibilities in organizations that require

managers who understand both the computing and business aspects of information technology.

• Assist with high-tech entrepreneurship ventures - assist in understanding and relating the technical feasibility of new ideas

• Speak to both high-tech groups, and communicate technical ideas and concepts to non-technical groups in the business organization

• Contribute to organizations that provide strategy consulting services to high technology companies (staff at these companies needs to have strong backgrounds in both technology and business)

Planning for BUS classes

• BUS classes get full – plan ahead

• Talk to our advisor Prof. Levine who will talk to BUS graduate advisor before you plan to take the cla1sees

• Try summer classes too

Center for Computing for Life Sciences (CCLS)

• CCLS is an official multidisciplinary SFSU Center for addressing problems in broad area of Computing for Life Sciences such as: bioinformatics, imaging, collaborative tools, UI, visualization, databases, computational biology and chemistry, applications in drug discovery, collaborative tools, algorithms etc.

• Goal is to develop CCLS into signature “marquee” program of SFSU

• CCLS is joint collaboration between Computer Science, Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Math, Physics and Astronomy– http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/ccls/index.html

CLS projects• Bioinformatics• DB for large bio data sets• UI for biology and medicine• Biomedical imaging• Data Mining for bio data• WWW for biologist and doctors• Games for medical education• Medical informatics• …..

• Many projects have funding. Can get space in CCLS• Professors: Sing, Okada, Young, Murphy, Petkovic

Graduate seminar • Brings outstanding speakers from academia an industry.

Every Wednesdays 5:30 in TH 331. Exposes students to great topics and great speakers, helps give ideas for projects and jobs

• Each graduate student must collect 10 stickers (attendances) over several semesters

• First two seminars by Prof. D. Petkovic: about graduate program and about department research

• CS faculty will overview their projects – excellent place to get ideas for culminating experience Starts mid September – check CS WWW page

• http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/news/Fall-2004-Pernet-Requirments.html

Thesis and Culminating project

• Mandatory• Why Culminating Project?

– Forces students to do independent work and complete a substantial project or scientific work

– Requires writing and presentation skills also– Sets you apart from those who have not done it– Enables you to publish papers and go to conferences

• Enables CS Department to do research and attract top notch faculty –important for you too

• Makes our school much more fun• Main page

http://cs.sfsu.edu/grad/new_grad_culminating_req.html

Advising - NEW• Must see advisor upon start of the program• Must attend first Graduate Seminar during the first

term (CS Chair will overview grad program) – Wednesdays 5:30 in TH 331

• Should attend Chair’s welcome group meeting at the beginning of each semester

• Get timely advising as often as you need• Those planning for Ph. D. program see CS Chair in

the first semester• Advising page http://cs.sfsu.edu/advising.html

How to complete Culminating Experience and have fun doing it

Outline

• What is culminating experience• Why is it good for you• Formal requirements and paperwork• How to find the project and advisor• What is good research/project for culminating experience• How to do it?• How to write the Culminating Experience Report• How to prepare oral presentation• Overview of research in CS Department and CCLS• MUST read main page on CE

http://cs.sfsu.edu/grad/new_grad_culminating_req.html

Culminating Experience

• Thesis (CSC 898) vs. Project (CSC 895)• One or two semesters prep (897 or 899) and one

semester thesis or project write-up and completion (898 or 895)

• Those going for Ph. D. talk to CS Chair asap. Advised to take two semester prep and more advanced culminating experience, with external publications

Why is Culminating Experience good for you

• It is Mandatory• Why?

– Forces students to do independent work and complete a substantial project or scientific work

– Requires writing and presentation skills also– Sets you apart from those who have not done it– Enables you to publish papers and go to conferences– Prepares you for jobs and Ph.D. studies

• Enables CS Department to do research and attract top notch faculty –important for you too

• Makes our school much more fun

Formal requirements and paperwork

• Please follow the process and observe the schedules

http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/forms/aboutculminatingproject.html

Follow the suggested course of study:http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/grad/grad_recom_sequence.html

How to find advisor and project

• Check CS WWW site for faculty pages and their work http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/People/people.html

• Check CS accomplishments and published papers to get an idea what work is going on and who is doing it, then talk to them

http://cs.sfsu.edu/RecentAccomplishments.htmhttp://cs.sfsu.edu/externalpubs/2004pubs.htm• Attend Graduate Seminar Series and other seminars at SFSU• Check CCLS page for current projects http://cs.sfsu.edu/ccls/index.html• Do your own research for topics (WWW, friends, technical press)• Take the course form the professors teaching your favorite topics

favorite professor• Ask professors, meet with the Chair• Check previous theses and projects

http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/techreports/ce_list.html

How to find an advisor

• Faculty will participate in Graduate Seminars series and present their work

• Prof. Petkovic will meet once a semester with all grads who do not have an advisor and should have it (second semester or later).

• Main responsibility is on the student• If nothing works see the Chair• Let CS Chair know if you want to go for Ph. D.

What is good research for culminating experience

• Novel algorithm solving something useful • New user interface or visualization• New application (use of complex machine vision, AI, visualization,

search…)• Substantial SW project (complex WWW site, useful application etc.) • Data management and analysis system for some application (e.g. drug

development)• Performance study (networking, search, storage, cluster computing)• Computing for life sciences: intersection of CS and biology and chemistry• ……………..In all cases one has to prove the usefulness: theoretically, experimentally, user

studies etc. – whichever applies

Culminating experience examples: http://cs.sfsu.edu/techreports/ce_list.html

How to do the research

Requires independence, focus and follow up• Understanding of the problem• Literature review (what did others do)• Design, analysis, prototyping• Experiments• Implementation• Writing

It requires much more independence then class work

It is student responsibility to follow up, not the instructor!

Graduate student responsibilities• Supervised courses are 3 unit course, they require work and focus equal or

more to 3 unit class• Agree on project plan early (required in first or second 899)• Follow up the commitments you made• Code, experiments, data must be provided for review and grading• Participating in work leading to a publication and in writing technical

papers is strongly encouraged. Once committed must keep the commitment. Same for posting your work in open source, on the WWW etc.

• Be cognizant of your advisors external commitments, he/she depends on you!

• Change of topics require a paperwork, new committee and repeat of the whole sequence of courses

• Adhere to cheating, plagiarism and proper observance of IP and copyright

Project Proposal

• Submitted as part of your culminating experience package Needed for enrolling into 895/898

• It is a “contract” between you and advisor on what you want to do, scope, methods, tools used etc. Has to be approved by the advisor.

• Suggested Content: Motivation, planned approach, benefits of the approach, method/tools to be used, reverences PLUS milestones and schedule (the best you can) – for exact outline check with your advisor

• Some suggestions: https://dbsgrad.sfsu.edu/~mmurphy/suggestions.htm

• About 2-4 pages

How to write culminating experience report

• There is some structurehttp://cs.sfsu.edu/grad/writing_cpr.html• Usual length about 60-70 pages (no code)• Code on a CD• Requires time• Expect multiple iterations with the instructor

• It becomes your “portfolio” for the rest of your life• Make every attempt possible to write a scientific paper

form this (must for those going to Ph. D).

How to prepare oral presentation• Being able to present well is critical for your career• Culminating experience presentation: plan to talk 30 min.

Count 1 slide = 2 min.• Test the presentation on the very same laptop you will use• Get feedback from advisor• Do early motivation and demo, then details• Talk to the audience, not the screen• Practice for time and delivery• Resources:http://cs.sfsu.edu/forms/student%20forms/prep_oral_presentations.htm

Overview of research and CS Department and CCLS

• CS Department: check papers, faculty pageshttp://cs.sfsu.edu/externalpubs/2004pubs.htm

http://cs.sfsu.edu/People/people.html

• CCLS: Check projectshttp://cs.sfsu.edu/ccls/projandgrants.htm

Some project ideas/people• DB/UI/Applications in biology and bioinformatics and CLS area: Profs. Singh,

Yoon, Okada, Yang, Petkovic• DB Tools, Multimedia databases: Profs. Murphy, Singh, Petkovic• Bioinformatics: Prof. Singh• Visualization/Graphics: Profs. Yoon, Okada• WWW Applications, Community applications: Prof. Levine• Performance: Prof. Dujmovic • WWW info retrieval, WWW 2.0: Profs. Singh, Wong• Algorithms, compilers, WWW search: Profs. Wong, Dujmovic• Distributed Systems, Open Source: Prof. Puder• Multimedia, sound, music: Profs. Hsu, Singh• Games: Profs. Yoon, Okada• AI, Computer Vision: Prof. Okada, J. Dujmovic• Data Mining: Prof. Yang• Decision Systems: J. Dujmovic• SW Engineering, Business aspects of SW Eng., SW Metrics: Profs. Petkovic,

Levine, Dujmovic

Employment• During the school: very important part of your education,

BUT education is your primary goals at SFSU• Always do your own search and networking, SFSU is only

one resource• Check department employment page

http://cs.sfsu.edu/jobs.html– Resources (inclosing D. Petkovic’s slides on jobs search)– External job listings (use old listings and apply anyway)– Grant supported work with faculty B(can get units and some money)

– TAships – talk to professor if you did well in his/her class• Apply for internships early January/February• Special rules for International Students (see later)

International students

Welcome international students!

• Learn about USA: customs, culture, geography

• Bay Area is one of the bets areas in USA: geographically, culturally, for education and technology

• Get internships with local industry

• Visit places, talk to people from different cultures

• Learn English (reading, writing)

• Have fun!

Welcome international students!• Keep GPA and class load above the minimum - Overall GPA 3.0, class

load 9 units

• Practicum option for summer internships: Max 3 one unit 893 can be taken that do not count toward electives and allow you permit to work outside of SFSU. Mostly for Summer work. Total units in MS program are then are 33. Need to be at SFSU two semesters prior to this.

• Internships during the Fall and Spring only rarely approved, must be part time, GPA > 3.4 and must have OK of the advisor and CS Chair

• Post completion training allowed only when thesis is more than 90% complete, need confirmation by the advisor AND letter signed by student about the rules (NEW). http://cs.sfsu.edu/forms/student%20forms/opt_cpt_letter_instructions.html

Update on Written English proficiency - Level I Requirement:

• Computer science students admitted to the M.S. program are required to satisfy English Level One prior to the end of their first year of study at SFSU. As a departmental policy, no waivers are given. Level One is satisfied by obtaining either a) a score of 4 or better on the GRE Analytical Writing Exam or b) a score of PASS on the Graduate Essay Test (GET, administered by the SFSU Testing Center) or c) a passing grade in SCI 614 or CHS 514 (international graduate students are strongly encouraged to enroll in Eng 670, if it is offered). Students may enroll in CHS 514 if all sections of SCI 614 are full. SCI 614 is strongly recommended for all students who wish to develop their skills in professional writing. Students are allowed to take the GET only once, preferably prior to their first semester of enrollment.

Background

Important stuff• Visit WWW site often and read office, CS Chair e-mail• Program description http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/grad/grad_program.html• Graduate page http://cs.sfsu.edu/grad/graduate.html• New grads page http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/grad/new_grad_helpnotes.html• Importance of early advising. New students MUST see advisor

http://cs.sfsu.edu/advising.html• All about culminating experience

http://cs.sfsu.edu/grad/new_grad_culminating_req.html • Recommended sequence of study, selection of concentration – second

semester; finding the advisor http://cs.sfsu.edu/grad/grad_recom_sequence.html

• Graduate seminar series requirement http://cs.sfsu.edu/news/Fall-2004-Pernet-Requirments.html

• Internships – new polices on 893 (practicum) – important for international students http://cs.sfsu.edu/forms/student%20forms/893-694%20Course%20Requirments.pdf

More…• All steps in preparing culminating project forms

http://cs.sfsu.edu/forms/aboutculminatingproject.html• How to write culminating project report

http://cs.sfsu.edu/grad/writing_cpr.html• Cheating and plagiarism

http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/plagarism.html• International program – Fulda, Germany http://cs.sfsu.edu

/news/SFSUFulda.htm