This generator was written by Distinguished Professor Douglas E. Comer in 2001. I have copied it here and cleaned up the presentation, but not changed the content. The original version included a literature search enhancement by Ian Stark, The University of Edinburgh.
As of early 2026, there are other interesting essays on Professor Comer's web page related to research and Ph.D.s.
—spaf
The Problem
Computer Science is facing a major roadblock to further research. The problem is most evident with students, but afflicts many researchers as well: people simply have a tough time inventing research topics that sound sufficiently profound and exciting. Many Ph.D. students waste needless years simply coming up with a thesis topic. And researchers often resort to reading documents from government grant agencies so they will know what to work on for the next proposal!
Good news for the CS community: the problem has at last been solved. The table below provides the answer.
Buzzword Table
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|
The Method
To generate a technical phrase, randomly choose one item from each column. For example, selecting synchronized from column 1, secure from column 2, and protocol from column 3 produces:
A synchronized secure protocol
Best of all, two phrases can be combined with simple connectives, making the result suitable for the most demanding use. Possible connectives include:
For example, one could generate a thesis title by selecting a second phrase and a connective:
A synchronized secure protocol for an interactive knowledge-based system
The technique described here for selecting a research topic is far superior to the method currently in use because it can be automated—a computer program can be written to select a phrase at random whenever one is needed. Furthermore, thanks to an enhancement by Ian Stark at The University of Edinburgh in Scotland, it is possible to automate an additional step in the research process by performing an automated literature search. Try the system by first generating a random topic and then performing an automated literature search.
Topic Generator
Opens Google Scholar in a new window with the generated topic as the search query.