Agent Development Project

1
CS 7850 Fall 2004
Agent Development Project
1. Problem
Gheorghe Tecuci tecuci_at_gmu.eduhttp//lac.gmu.edu
/
Learning Agents Center and Computer Science
Department George Mason University
2
Domain for hands-on experience
Choosing a Ph.D. Dissertation Advisor is a
crucial decision for a successful dissertation
and for ones future career. An informed
decision requires a lot of knowledge about the
potential advisors. In this course we will
develop an agent that interacts with a student to
help selecting the best Ph.D. advisor for that
student.
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Domain for hands-on experience
What facts to consider when choosing a Ph.D.
Dissertation advisor?
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Facts to consider when choosing a dissertation
director
1. What is the reputation of the director within
the professional community at large? 2. How
responsive is the director? How long does it take
to return written material with comments? Is the
director a good editor? 3. How accessible is
the director for discussion? 4. Is the director
likely to remain on the faculty for the durationg
of your degree program? 5. How many students
does the potential dissertation director work
with? If none, why? If a large number, does
this affect the attention that is paid to
individual students? 6. How much time is spent
away from campus during the semester? Is the
potential director available during the summer?
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Facts to consider when choosing a dissertation
director

• 7. How long do students take to complete their
  degrees with this director?
• 8. What fraction of this director's students
  migrate elsewhere?
• What is the placement record of this director's
  students?Where do they get jobs?
• How much freedom will you have in your choice of
  dissertation topic with this director?
• How expert is the director in your areas of
  interest?
• Does the director publish with students?
• How many publications does the typical student
  accumulate with this director?
• Does the director have a research group, or
  merely a string of individual students?

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Facts to consider when choosing a dissertation
director
15. Is the director's research work funded?
16. What are the funding prospects for the
director's studentS? 17. Do the director's
students get any summer support? 18. Does the
director assist students in obtaining their own
funding from such outside sources, such as
fellowship programs? 19. Do the director's
students go to conferences? 20. Do the
director's students make presentations of their
work at conferences? 21. Does the director have
good relations with other faculty? 22. Does the
director have a reputation for ethical behavior?
23. Are the director's work habits and
expectations compatible with your own?
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Assignment Understanding the expertise domain
Perform a literature search on the subject of
choosing a Ph.D. Dissertation Advisor to
understand the expertise domain. Attempt to add
new facts to the list from the previous
viewgraphs. Attempt to add new references to the
list on the next viewgraphs. Due date September
9th, 2004.
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Understanding the expertise domain references

• Adams H. G. and Ram A., How to Choose an Advisor,
  Georgia Tech, http//www.cc.gatech.edu/faculty/ash
  win/wisdom/how-to-choose-an-advisor.html
• Association for Support of Graduate Student,
  Dissertation Advisor User's Manual,
  http//www.asgs.org/AdvManl.htm
• Association for Support of Graduate Student,
  Doc-talk Archive Advisors, http//www.asgs.org/Ad
  visors.htm
• Azuma R. T., Everything I wanted to know about
  C.S. graduate school at the beginning but didn't
  learn until later, University of North Carolina
  at Chapel Hill, http//www.cs.unc.edu/azuma/hitch
  4.html
• Callan P., Questions to Ask When Choosing an
  Advisor, Harvard University, http//phys4.harvard.
  edu/gradweb/resources/callan.html
• Dermer M. L., An Insiders Guide to Choosing a
  Graduate Advisor and Research Project in
  Laboratory Science, University of
  WisconsinMilwaukee, http//www.cs.umbc.edu/www/gr
  aduate/choosing.an.advisor
• desJardins M., How to Be a Good Graduate
  Student/Advisor, University of Maryland,
  http//www.cs.umbc.edu/www/graduate/advice/advice.
  html
• Graduate Students' Union, Graduate supervision,
  University of Toronto, http//www.utoronto.ca/gsu
  nion/supervision.html
• Indiana University Departmental Handbook,
  Choosing a Graduate Advisor, http//www.cs.indiana
  .edu/docproject/handbook/section1.9.0.2.html
• Jensen S., Choosing an Advisor,
  http//www.dissertationdoctor.com/advice/advisor.h
  tml
• Lamanna, M., The Thesis Committee, University of
  Nebraska Omaha, http//www.unomaha.edu/wwwsa/comm
  ittee/committe.htm
• Loui M. C., How to Choose a Thesis Advisor,
  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
  http//wocket.csl.uiuc.edu/loui/advisor.html

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Understanding the expertise domain references

• Matayas M. L., Good Questions to Ask,
  http//astro.uchicago.edu/education/gradpgm/goodqu
  estions.html
• McElroy J. and Altarriba J., The Advisor-Student
  Relationship The Cornerstone of a Successful Psi
  Chi Chapter, http//www.psichi.org/content/publica
  tions/eye/volume/vol_5/5_2/mcelroy_altarriba.asp
• National Academy Press, Advisor, Teacher, Role
  Model and Friend, http//search.nap.edu/readingroo
  m/books/mentor/
• Pratt W., Graduate School Survival Guide,
  Stanford University, http//www-smi.stanford.edu/p
  eople/pratt/smi/advice.html
• Ranjith V. J., Choosing an Advisor, University of
  Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, http//www.gradnews.
  net/issue1/advisor.htm
• Redish D., How to survive as a grad student,
  Carnegie Mellon University, http//www.cs.cmu.edu/
  afs/cs/user/bnoble/Web/survival/adrsurv.pdf
• Student Government Association, Hints for the PhD
  advisor search, Georgia Tech, http//cyberbuzz.gat
  ech.edu/sga/gsg/phdhints2.html
• The Australian National University, Guidelines
  for Supervision and Candidature of Doctoral
  Research Students, http//www.anu.edu.au/graduate/
  info_staff/phd_supervision.html
• The Australian National University, Postgraduate
  Research Guide, http//www.anu.edu.au/graduate/pub
  s/resguide/resguide-Research.html
• Ward N., How to be a terrible thesis advisor,
  University of Maryland, http//www.cs.umbc.edu/www
  /graduate/badadvisor.shtml