Updated: 12/13/15
Maintained by E. H. Spafford
This course is structured as a series of presentations by faculty and staff that are intended to provide the students with perspectives on how to be successful in their careers. The primary focus is on how to succeed at graduate studies in CS, with many of the presentations providing hints and material that may be useful throughout the students' careers.
Catalog description: There is no catalog description for this course.
1 class hours, 1 credit hours
Graduate standing or permission of the instructor.
All of my courses operate under the same general policies and standards. My students are expected to study and understand these policies. Potential students are encouraged to check these out before signing up for one of my classes. Be sure to read and understand the material in the statement on academic integrity.
Monday & Wednesday 3:30-4:30 in LWSN B155 starting October 19.
Eugene H. Spafford (Spaf)
Some classes will be taught by other faculty when Spaf is out of town.
Marlene Walls, Spaf's assistant, can help with scheduling, delivery of messages, etc.
For office hours, telephone/email, etc., see Spaf's homepage.
In the event of a major campus emergency, course requirements, deadlines and grading percentages are subject to changes that may be necessitated by a revised semester calendar or other circumstances. Information about any such changes in this course will be posted here.
Grading is pass/fail and based on attendance. Students are expected to attend all lectures. Students coming to the lecture more than 10 minutes late will be counted as absent.
If a lecture is missed, the student may make up the class by viewing the archived video of the lecture then writing a one-page summary of the lecture contents. This should include a statement about the overall theme of the video, and an explanation of at least 3 major points made by the speaker. This document should be emailed to Professor Spafford as either a text or PDF -- do not send a Word document. Students may also submit a printed copy dropped off at his office in Lawson. Note that you may not make up more than 2 classes in this fashion without explicit approval of the instructor.
This is approximate, and will be adjusted based on current events and the availability of guest speakers.
| Date | Speaker | Topic | Convener | Archived Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/21 | Professor E. H. Spafford (video) | Introduction to the class & general info about graduate work | Mallus | video, website |
| 10/26 | Professor E. H. Spafford | What is Research? Proof? | Spaf | video, slides |
| 10/28 | Professor K. Park | The importance of real-world workloads in systems research | Mallus | video |
| 11/2 | Professor H. Maji | Preparation and Searching for An Academic Position | Mallus | video, slides |
| 11/4 | Professor M. Witt |
How to Use Purdue Library Resources Remember to bring a laptop or tablet to class! |
Mallus | video, slides |
| 11/9 | Professor E. Bertino | Publishing research work | Mallus | video |
| 11/11 | Professor E. Grigorescu | Research topics in theoretical CS | Mallus | no video |
| 11/16 | Professor V. Popescu | How to Write a CS Paper | Spaf | video, slides |
| 11/18 | Professor N. Li | How to conduct research | Spaf | video |
| 11/23 | Brendan Saltaformaggio | Experiences of a CS grad student | Mallus | video |
| 11/25 | Thanksgiving Holiday | Turkey w/stuffing | ||
| 11/30 | Professor E. H. Spafford | Ethics & Integrity | Spaf | video |
| 12/2 | Professor H. E. Dunsmore | Software Engineering Research | Mallus | video |
| 12/7 | Professor D. Comer | Research Careers In Academia and Industry | Mallus | no video |
| 12/9 | Professor Bharat Bhragava | How to Write a Preliminary Proposal and get a Ph.D. | Mallus | video |