Kambiz Badie

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Research Management An Essential Means for
Creating Knowledge in Research Environments

• Kambiz Badie Maryam Tayefeh Mahmoudi
• IT Research Faculty
• Iran Telecom Research Center
• Emails k_badie, mahmodi _at_ itrc.ac .ir

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Contents

• A Brief Introduction to the Necessity of RM
• A Flow Diagram for RM Activities from Knowledge
  Creation Viewpoint
• Role of Literature Survey Purpose-Oriented
  Processing in RM
• Role of Project Formulation in RM
• Comparative Analysis Modeling to Assure
  Creation of Knowledge
• Role of Constraint Checking in Integration
• Some Examples in the Domain of ICT
• Conclusions and Discussion

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A Brief Introduction to the Necessity of RM

• Research Management has recently been proposed as
  an efficient tool for optimizing the capabilities
  of research teams with respect to research
  development projects. This is mainly because that
  the complexity and diversity of the research
  projects have tremendously increased to the
  extent that manipulating them in the absence of
  meta-level viewpoints in research activities may
  lead to a large amount of excessive costs in
  research organizations. It is exactly due to this
  reason that, a meta-level management of the
  essential concepts in a research domain, should
  somehow be considered to organize the related
  topics in a meaningful way.
• In this way, one can claim that some sort of
  knowledge would eventually be created, which can
  highly serve expanding and integrating the
  results of similar (or relevant) research
  activities for a wide range of applications

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The final objectives of RM can be summarized as
follows

• Knowledge sharing in the space of research
  activities (research space)
• Structuring new effective methodologies for
  performing research activities
• Integrating the results of research projects with
  the aim of realizing the big pictures in
  technological applications
• Assuring the quality of the research products

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Research Mission

• The Institutes Research Mission derives from
  its overall Mission, as expressed in the
  decisions of the Governing Body of the Institute,
  and as outlined in the Institute Mission
  Statement.

Encourage promote research in all areas of
academic activities

• Collaboration with industry
• Increasing access to education
• Commitment to research development
• Staff development

Commits it to an active research and development
role, with regional, national international
perspectives
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Aims of Research

• Encourage and support its staff in the conduct
  of high quality research
• Encourage research that reflects the key
  aspects of the Institutes mission
• Focus research resources and support in key
  areas identified by the Academic Council
• Operate as part of the broader national and
  international research Community
• Encourage and facilitate collaborative research
  between staff in the Institute and researchers in
  other institutions of third level education,
  research bodies, industry, and the community, in
  Ireland and overseas
• Foster the development of an active and
  participatory research culture within the
  Institute
• Foster research in new areas and amongst those
  staff not previously involved in research
• Develop high quality research skills amongst
  postgraduate students

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Develop and maintain a high quality physical
and administrative infrastructure for research
Implement a system of continuing evaluation of
research performance, through development of
appropriate performance indicators and
systematic Review Further improve the quality
of teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate
level Develop and improve the profile of
higher degrees by research Promote the
transfer and dissemination of research
findings Ensure that research is costed in a
transparent and accountable manner Ensure
equity in the distribution of resources to
support research, and to address social and
institutional barriers to research
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Research Objectives Strategies
Ethics
Development of RMS document
Prioritisation of research activities
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Objective Developing maximising the effective
use of resources Strategy Staff recruitment
selection, staff development, reward incentive
structures, equality access, health safety
Personnel
Objective Supporting a planned process of
capital investment for research in buildings,
fittings, equipment, and computer and
communication networks. Strategy Buildings,
communications, other capital requirements
Capital facilities
Objective Supporting the active dissemination of
research findings to funding bodies, the academic
community, government bodies, and the broader
community Strategy Buildings, communications,
other capital requirements
Dissemination of research technology transfer
Objective Providing effective support for
recognition of their central role in the
maintenance of an active research
program Strategy Providing appropriate
training, guidelines, services, facilities
Postgraduate students
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Objective Encouraging researchers to engage in
networking at regional, national and
international levels. Strategy Supporting
interaction of researches in ITS Business
innovation centre, encouraging the researchers to
collaborate in pan-institutional research,
encouraging staff students to participate in
scholarly industry conferences, workshops,
seminars other meetings in inland overseas,
visiting lecturer/researcher programs are
promoted, appropriate means of communication ,
development maintenance, international staff
student exchange networks, providing assistance
to researchers in the project management
Networking
Objective Strengthening the links between
research the quality of teaching of
undergraduate postgraduate students. Strategy
Supporting introduction of research techniques
methods into teaching, encouraging the
development of texts teaching resources,
incorporating research findings into teaching,
promoting a culture of research activity,
providing access to research facilities
Teaching research
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Objective Providing a professional resourced
research management infrastructure in order to
fully implement monitor the RM
strategy. Strategy identifying to staff
available funding opportunities, developing of
regulations to govern the funding of RM,
maintaining realistic transparent costing
policies, dealing with postgraduate student
issues, prioritising policies in data collection,
statistical analysis evaluation of research
activity.
Research management
Objective Providing budgeted financial support
for research. Strategy Providing funds for staff
development, financial support for student
research expenses, funds for seminar programs,
conferences research training,, providing
institute seed funding for research, providing
physical administrative research infrastructure
Financial support for research
Objective establishing the appropriate
infrastructure to assess monitor ethical
guidelines Strategy establishing publishing
ethical guidelines procedures, disseminating
information to staff, students and others
Ethics
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Prioritisation of research activities
Objective identifying future economic, history
of research within ITS, opportunities for
collaboration with other institutions, Strategy
periodically determine at academic council the
priorities for research, systematically evaluate
the prioritisation process,
Development of RMS document
Objective evolving document that requires
periodic evaluation, review development Strategy
RD subcommittee of Academic Council will
review the RMS on an annual basis
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Research Management Space
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1 Literature Survey . Query Related Big
picture, big pictures requirements, topic,. 2
Purpose-Oriented Processing .. Purpose Why,
When, Where, How, Which, 3 Project Formulation
. Project Requirements Stages, Products,
Standards, Duration, 4 Comparative Analysis and
Modeling . Methods Technique Generation,
Concept Composition, Simulation 5 Constraint
Checking .Constraints.. 6 Results
Observation and Performance Analysis .Methods
Simulation, Test 7 Modification
Suggestions ..Modifications
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Role of Purpose-Oriented Processing (POP)

• Motivation for POP
• An important stage in RM is to become aware
  of the existing knowledge on the topics related
  to a certain subject, which can later be
  propounded in terms of a research project. In the
  meantime, searching over the existing databases
  is an indispensable means for surveying the
  essential literature for a research management
  activity. The very purposes behind RM activities
  can thus be significant in this regard.
• Approaches to POP
• To retrieve useful information out of the
  existing databases, queries should be built in a
  way as comprehensive as possible. This will lead
  to an optimal utilization of the powerful search
  engines existing on Internet, such as Google,
  Clusty, etc. Query analysis, building and
  expansion can thus be viewed a significant
  approach to POP.

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• Aspects of Knowledge Creation in POP
• As discussed above, POP can be viewed as an
  approach to retrieving useful information for RM
  activities, based on the very purposes behind
  formulating the projects, as well as comparative
  analysis and modeling of the findings, and
  integrating the results obtained from different
  activities belonging to the same big picture. The
  knowledge creation aspect of POP, is mainly
  "introspection", due to its emphasis on "memory
  search" as its focal issue.

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Role of Research Project Formulation (RPF)

• Motivation for RPF
• Environmental needs are so complex and
  dynamic, to the extent that definition and
  characterization of appropriate research projects
  to cover these needs, becomes problematic. In
  contrast with the main stream of a research
  activity, which emphasizes on the way its goal(s)
  may be achieved, the main emphasis in RPF is to
  define the activities whose goal(s) can be
  particularly meaningful with respect to the
  environmental needs.
• Issues in RPF
• / Specifying what certain projects with which
  scales are to be defined in order to satisfy the
  environmental needs. In this respect, the
  experiential results of the research activities
  in the past, as well as the trend related to the
  similar research projects, are significant.

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• / Specifying the major phases in a research
  project and the very methodologies, which are
  essential to performing each phase, including the
  required frameworks, as well as the models and
  techniques, together with the essential standards
  and protocols, which are to assure the validity
  or rightness, and in the meantime to evaluate
  their performance / efficiency.
• / Specifying the very outputs, which are
  expected for each phase, including the items such
  as chunks of knowledge as well as software or
  hardware models (or components), which can later
  be incorporated in the final output of the
  research projects.
• Approaches to RPF
• All the approaches in the realm of Formal
  Reasoning, as well as those in the realm of
  Statistical Reasoning and Operation Research such
  as Scheduling, Time-Motion Study and Cost-Benefit
  Analysis, can be suitable in this regard.

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• Aspects of Knowledge Creation in RPF
• As discussed above, RPF can be viewed as
  an approach for mapping from the environmental
  needs onto the basic requirements of a research
  project, and in this regard it can be equally
  viewed as an approach for creating chunks of
  knowledge for further formulation of research
  projects in future. The knowledge creation
  aspects of RPF, covers all "introspection",
  "aesthetics" and "thought experiment", due to its
  emphasis on all the aspects of "memory search",
  "composition of previously-known items" as well
  as "scenario-making".

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Comparative Analysis Modeling (CAM) to Assure
Creation of Knowledge

• Motivation for CAM
• Each framework, model or technique is
  just suitable for certain contexts, and it would
  therefore be crucial to see (i) what these
  contexts are, and (ii) which framework, model, or
  technique can best fit a particular context,
  which is not necessarily among those, that have
  been identified for the existing frameworks,
  models, or techniques.
• Approaches to CAM
• / Case-Based Reasoning (CBR), which
  provides a chance to configure a framework,
  model, or technique through adaptation of the
  frameworks, models or techniques that have been
  demonstrated to function well for some similar
  contexts.
• / Neural Reasoning (NR), which provides
  a chance to map from a context onto a framework,
  model or technique that can best fit this
  context. Mapping is performed through
  interpolating the trajectories of mapping already
  used as the training patterns. In this sense,
  past experiences of associating contexts with
  frameworks, models or techniques, can be useful.

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• Aspects of Knowledge Creation in CAM
• As discussed above, CAM is viewed as an
  approach for creating new frameworks, models, or
  techniques for an unfamiliar context, and in this
  regard, it can be equally viewed as an approach
  for creating new chunks of knowledge which can
  later be used (referred to) in organizational
  research supports. Paying attention to the
  alternatives for CAM, the knowledge creation
  aspects of it can be mainly summarized in
  "introspection" and "aesthetics", due to its
  emphasis on "memory search" and "composition of
  previously-known items" as the major mechanisms.

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Role of Constraint Satisfaction (CS)

• Motivation
• The outputs of the intermediate phases
  in a research activity, as well as the
  intermediate outputs obtained from the research
  projects within the realm of a similar big
  picture holding shared objectives, are to be
  checked so as to see whether or not they satisfy
  the required (essential) constraints. In case of
  any inconsistency ( or conflict), a set of
  modifications or refinements are to be suggested
  with respect to the previous decisions that had
  been taken in the research process. CS is
  particularly significant due to the fact that
  many kinds of inconsistency ( or conflict) may
  come out due to the heterogeneous characteristics
  of the research problem. CS can in this manner be
  regarded as a helpful means for integrating the
  intermediate results obtained at different stages
  of a research and development activity.

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• Approaches to CS
• All the approaches in the areas of
  simulation and interfacing, as well as those
  related to constraint satisfaction in design/
  planning issues let say at a broader level
  mathematical and heuristic programming, can be
  well used in this respect.
• Aspects of Knowledge Creation in CS
• As discussed above, CS can be viewed as an
  approach for mapping from the essential
  constraints onto a set of modifications ( or
  requirements) that are to be suggested with
  respect to the previous decisions in the research
  process. In this view , it can be equally viewed
  as an approach for creating chunks of knowledge
  for integrating the intermediate results ( at
  different levels) in the research process. The
  Knowledge creation aspects of CS, thus covers all
  introspection, aesthetics, and thought
  experiment, due to its emphasis on all the
  aspects of memory search , composition of
  previously-known items as well as
  scenario-making.

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Some Examples in the Domain of ICT
IT Faculty of ICT
Content generation
E-Organization
Interaction management
E-Health
E-Commerce
E-Learning
Idea generation
Resource management
ITS
Portal
Evaluation
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1 Literature Survey . Query (Content
generation, Knowledge creation,) Approach,
Technique, Algorithm, Model, Function, Criteria,
Tools 2 Purpose-Oriented Processing ..
Purpose Why, When, Where, How, Which, (Why
content generation for knowledge creation?) 3
Project Formulation . Project Requirements
Stages, Products, Standards, Duration, (Determina
tion of organization status ,determination of
content attributes with respect to decision
making, modeling, software design based on user
model semantic net), (XML, RUP,), (28 months)
4 Comparative Analysis and Modeling . Methods
Technique Generation, Concept Composition,
Simulation 5 Constraint Checking .Constraints
( XML-based, Budgeting,) 6 Results
Observation and Performance Analysis .Methods
Simulation, Test 7 Modification
Suggestions ..Modifications ( completion of
content generation part beside decision support
part)
Content generation
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Conclusions Discussion
It was discussed in the paper that, creating
knowledge is an essential part of a research
management framework. In this regard a framework
was proposed, which is capable of creating
different sorts of knowledge through tasks such
as purpose-oriented processing, project
formulation, comparative analysis modeling,
constraint satisfaction and learning as well. The
knowledge created in this way, can subsequently
serve expanding and integrating the results of
the resulted research activities for future
applications. It is expected that, through
applying this framework, centers of excellence
for research planning research program
generation will get the chance to actively
participate in the process of producing
scientific knowledge in the society.
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Thank you for your attention