overview of graduate program at cs sfsu september 2006
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Overview of Graduate Program at CS SFSU September 2006. Prof. D. Petkovic. SFSU CS Department Objectives. Prepare students for job market Prepare students for Ph. D. studies MS is becoming a necessity in today job market Education goals: Fundamentals - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
SFSU CS Department Objectives• Prepare students for job market• Prepare students for Ph. D. studies
• MS is becoming a necessity in today job market
• Education goals:– Fundamentals– Discipline specialty (CLS, SW Eng, general)– Project, industry cooperation, teamwork– Individual research– Thesis is mandatory
Overview of Graduate program
• New program started Fall 2004– New degrees (MS with Conc. In CLS, SW Eng,
General)– More emphasis on research and team projects– Many new courses– http://cs.sfsu.edu/grad/graduate.html
• Program doing well!
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
• Interconnected: Everything is being connected• Open: Increased emphasis on building SW from components and
services developed globally and being Open Source• Collaborative: SW built with multidisciplinary teams • Easy to use: Critical need for making systems easy to use, on time
and budget, and with adequate performance
• SW Engineering voted the best job by Money Magazine– http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/
New Research Areas and Technologies
• Computing for Life Sciences, biotech• Sensor networks• Personal devices• Serious games (education, training…)• ….
Computer Scientist of the future
• Knowledge of technical material (up to date)• Knowledge of some specific domains 9finacials,
biotech, games…)• Project and teamwork skills• Verbal and written communication and
presentation skills• Ability to work in a global and open SW
environment• MS preferred
New Graduate Program Description – curriculum structure
Breadth requirements One from each area: Computing Foundations; Computer Systems; SW Development
CLS Conc. SE Conc. GEN Conc.
ElectivesUpper division OR any graduate OR 897/9 OR one course from other SFSU Departments
Culminating Experience897/9 followed by 895/8
9
9
6
6
(3 courses) (3 courses) (3 out of 5 courses)
Total 30 Units
Center for Computing for Life Sciences: Role and Activities
• Provides SFSU focus in Computing for Life Sciences:– Place for students to find and do culminating experience and other projects
in CCLS area, following individual department policies– Feedback to curriculum development– Hosts projects with local industry
• Provides focus on funding and increases chances for getting grants • Complements other degree programs at SFSU ( I.e. MSCS with
Concentration in Computing for Life Sciences) • Incubator for commercialization efforts• Consists of faculty, students and external partners (industry
collaborators, visitors) from all relevant departments, part or full time, working together
• http://cs.sfsu.edu/ccls/index.html
Recommended sequence of study
• Check this NEW link, should be very useful– http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/grad/grad_recom_sequence.html
• Talk to grad advisor• Ask advice on time• Let us know early if you want to go for a Ph. D.
Thesis and research• Actively seek the advisor (e.g. take the class, meet the
advisor in your area of interest, talk to grad advisors or Chair…)
• Thesis vs. Project• In the new program two 899s are allowed. Both or only
one can be used as part of the thesis• Expected time about 3 semesters (with writing and
defense). This is serious work!• Resources:
– http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/forms/aboutculminatingproject.html– http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/grad/new_grad_culminating_req.html– http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/grad/Master-Thesis_Steps.html
How to write Culminating Experience report (CER)
• We observed coming problems• New instructions posted
– http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/grad/writing_cpr.html
Graduate seminar series – formerly PERNET
• Focus on taking this in one semester (your first or second)
• Excellent way to broaden up, learn, get an idea for MS thesis and meet/hear great people
• Need 10 stickers (can compensate with attending graduate seminars talks in other semesters)
• Very exciting speakers coming
694/893 – co-op• For foreign students: counts as an elective• Foreign students have limit of 30 units, so be
careful how you use them – 694/893 counts• 694/893 can not be taken if:
– All electives are compelled– Student working on a thesis– 694/893 would delay the graduation– Policy updated to limit work to 20 h/week during
Fall/Spring semesters http://cs.sfsu.edu/forms/student%20forms/893-694%20Course%20Requirments.pdf
Practical training – foreign students
• Must have GPA > 3• Must not delay graduation• Thesis practical training will be harder to justify• Post-completion practical training can start only
when the thesis is completed• Starting work under practical training before
graduation is not advisable and not good for you!• New process:
– http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/forms/student%20forms/opt_cpt_letter_instructions.html
CSC 895/898
• Please follow the schedule for all the related forms, like GAP, Human Subjects etc. – they need to be done well before you are registering for 895
• Foreign students – watch the reduced load etc. – need to get a form approving reduced load
• OIP issues – we do not easily approve starting outside jobs before the thesis is complete
• One page with all the info– http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/forms/
aboutculminatingproject.html
English requirements
• Important to have English proficiency for both engineering and R&D careers
• We improved ways to satisfy it (did not make it easier to pass the exams…) – http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/grad/grad_program.html
Study Abroad with Fulda University
• Very important for your careers
• Fun…
• Please apply– http://cs.sfsu.edu/news/SFSUFulda.htm
Other stuff
• “Biology for CS” is now is prereq for “Bioinformatics Computing”
• Policy on cheating and plagiarism will be strictly enforced – (students are getting inventive…)– http://www.cs.sfsu.edu/plagarism.html
• Get involved with ACM– http://acm.sfsu.edu/joomla/
Two new faculties
• Prof. Hui Yang, Ohio State: Data Mining
• Prof. Kaz Okada, Siemens Research (Ph. D. from USC): imaging, AI– http://cs.sfsu.edu/news/TwoNewAssistProfFall2006.htm
Some project ideas/people• DB/UI/Applications in biology and bioinformatics and CLS
area: Profs. Singh, Yoon, Petkovic)• DB Tools, Multimedia databases: profs. Murphy, Singh,
Petkovic• Visulisation/Graphics: prof. Yoon• WWW Applications, Community applications: Prof. Levine• Performance, WWW, Info Retrieval: Prof. Dujmovic • Algorithms, compilers, WWW search: Profs. Wong, Dujmovic• Distributed Systems, Open Source: Prof. Puder• Multimedia sound, music: Prof. Hsu• Data Mining : Prof. Yang• Imaging, AI: Prof. Okada• Machine learning, AI for Bio: prof. Buturovic (Adjunct)