Weekly Schedule

The following is a tentative schedule. Against each weekly topic is a list of competencies matching the NSF/NIH Responsible Conduct in Research (RCR) requirements. All students supported on an NSF or NIH grant must satisfy the RCR requirement. The aim is for this course to meet this requirement.

Week #

Topic

RCR Competencies*

Discussion Leaders

Facilitator
Week 1
 Introduction: On being a graduate student in computer science
  [1-8]
 Instructors
 RW, EC
Week 2
 Choosing and managing a relationship with your advisor
  [1], [5]
RW
Week 3
 Identifying and reading research papers
  [1]
EC
Week 4
 Reviewing research papers
  [1], [4], [8]
RW
Week 5
 Writing research papers, and being and effective writer
  [1-8]
EC
Week 6
 Presenting research work: how to be a good communicator  [1-3], [6-7]
RW
Week 7
 Tools of the Trade: resources to help prepare papers and conduct research [2]
EC
Week 8
 Experimental design and data analysis
 [2], [6-7]
RW
Week 9
 Academic conduct: truth in reporting and conflict of interest
 [1], [6-7]
EC
Week 10
 Whose idea is it? Acknowledging and building on other work, or just plain plagiarism? Include discussion of software licensing (copylefted vs permissive licensing, etc)
 [1], [5-8]

RW
Week 11
 Finding resources: BU library facilities, online materials, and the greater research community
 [2]
EC
Week 12
 Life after your PhD: Finding a job, academic careers versus industry and research labs
 [1], [6]
RW
Week 13
 Time management as a PhD student
 [1-8]
EC
***
 RCR CASE STUDIES:
  • Research misconduct and mentorship -- roles and responsibilities in reporting allegations of research misconduct (whistle blowing)  
    • See: p. 20 of ORI Introduction to Responsible Conduct of Research (Updated Edition August 2007)
  • Authorship credit
    • See: p. 36 of On Being a Scientist (3rd edition, 2009) -- Who Gets Credit



NB: Professor West will facilitate even weeks (2, 4, 6, etc) and Professor Chien will facilitate odd weeks (3, 5, 7, etc) as shown above.

*RCR Competency Key:
[1] Mentor/Trainee Responsibilities
[2] Data acquisition, Management, Sharing and Ownership
[3] Publication Practices and Responsible Authorship
[4] Peer Review
[5] Collaborative Science
[6] Research Ethics and the Role of the Scientist
[7] Research Misconduct
[8] Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment

Additional Information

The course requires 14 weeks of classroom discussions. All students are required to be in attendance. Your grade will
be based on your participation. Each of the 14 weeks is broken down into the following:
Students are required to be in regular discussion with the course instructors about progress on a technical paper for a chosen research topic. Similarly, students are required to meet with the course instructors ahead of each class to prepare discussion notes (e.g., Powerpoint slides or
equivalent materials, group questions, and classroom activities). Discussion notes must meet the approval of the instructors before the class meets to discuss the chosen topic. As class sizes can vary, teams of students are assigned to tackle each of the 14 week topics, with emphasis placed on RCR competencies.

Aside from the classroom meetings, we expect students to commit to at least 2 hours of effort each week, in combination with
meeting the course instructors, other CS faculty, and working on their required assignments.


*** For the RCR Case Studies we might combine the listed topics into appropriate discussion weeks, described above. Depending on the duration of discussion, we may choose to expand Weeks 9 and 10 ("Academic conduct" and "Whose idea is it?"). Everyone is required to participate in the case study discussions.

Finally, as part of your RCR requirements, every student must complete the Advanced RCR Online Introduction. You can take this online introduction before starting CS697. Upon completion of both the online preparation and the Graduate Initiation Seminar, you will be eligible for a Certificate of Completion from the Office of Research Compliance. Please see the attached welcome message for more details.