Transcript IT Research and Publication: My Experience

IT Research and
Publication: My
Experience
Hsinchun Chen
• My Background:
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St. Ignatious Catholic High School, Taipei, 1977
BS NCTU Management Science, 1981
MBA SUNY Buffalo Finance, MS, MIS
Ph.D. NYU Information System, Minor: CS, 1989
Dissertation: “An AI Approach to the Design Of
Online Information Retrieval Systems”
• Assistant/Associate/Full/Chair Professor, University
of Arizona, MIS Department, 1989• Scientific Counselor, National Library of Medicine
USA), National Library of China, Academia Sinica
• IEEE Fellow
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• My Background:
• Founder/Director, Artificial Intelligent Lab, 1990• Founder/Director, Hoffman E-Commerce Lab, 2000• Director, NSF COPLINK Center, 2002• Founder, Knowledge Computing Corporation, 2000• PIs: NSF CISE DLI-1 DLI-2, NSDL, DG, DARPA, NIJ,
NIH, CIA, DHS
• Received 80+ grants, $20M+ in federal funding
• AI Lab with 40+ researchers, Ph.D. students, and MS/BS
students
• UA professor since 1989; UA MIS ranked top-five by US
News and World Report for the past 17 years
• Chen ranked #8 in MIS research (CAIS 2005)
• COPLINK system revolutionalized public safety IT;
adopted by 150 police and intelligence agencies –
Google for Cops (NYT, Newsweek)
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• My Background:
• Associate Editors for major journals: JASIST, DSS, ACM
TOIS, IEEE SMC, IEEE ITS
• IEEE ITSS and SMCS Technical Committee chair (in
homeland security research)
• Conference/program Co-hairs: ICADL 1998-2005, China
DL 2002/2004, ACM/IEEE JCDL 2004, IEEE
NSF/NIJ/CIA/DHS ISI 2003-2006
• Pioneer in Digital Library research; fostering Asian digital
library community building (ICADL steering committee
chair); Chen ranked #1 in digital library research (IP&M
2005)
• Pioneer in Biomedical Informatics research; author of
acclaimed “Medical Informatics” book, Springer 2005.
• Pioneer in Intelligence and Security Informatics research;
fostering ISI research and development (IEEE ISI chair
and TC chair); author of acclaimed “Intelligence and
Security Informatics” book, Springer 2005
• Industry Consulting: HP, IBM, AT&T, SGI, Microsoft, SAP
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Outline
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High School and Before
College
Pursuing an Advanced Degree Abroad
MS Degree
Ph.D. Degree
Getting an Academic Job
Junior Faculty
Senior Faculty
Getting Funding
Professional Activities and AEs
Making an Impact
Making a Contribution
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High School and Before
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Establish reading habit
Curiosity and asking questions
Maintain interest in English and math
Extracurricular activities and leadership
Making friends
Get into top colleges and good departments
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College
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Select the right major (of interest)
Do well in math classes, especially statistics
Interests and practices in English
Leadership and extracurricular activities: learn
time management
Presentation skills, debate, public speeches
For IT career: strong background in Java
programming + SQL DBMS skill (both hands-on)
Exposure in “soft” subjects, e.g., sociology,
psychology, marketing, economics, etc.
Maintain 3.3+ GPA and top-10 in class
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Pursuing an Advanced Degree
• Prepare TOFEL, GRE, and GMAT during junior year:
need to be top-20% for good schools; prepare well and
take multiple times
• Target at top schools based on ranking, reputation and fit
• Study each school and faculty
• Personal appeal (email and faculty reference) to faculty
with funding
• Seeking own faculty contacts and recommendations
• UA MIS (top 5 for 17 consecutive years) welcome
Taiwan applicants!
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MS Degree
• A good time to identify/confirm research interest
and to improve grade (GPA 3.7+, GMAT, GRE)
• MS often requires self funding
• UA MIS MS students typically receive TA funding
at the second year ($12,000/year)!
• Important IT courses: Java programming + SQL
DBMS + advanced research courses (to identify
research interests)
• Establish professional relationships with
selected faculty mentors (e.g., thesis, project)
• Identify target schools and programs for Ph.D.
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Ph.D. Degree
• Need excellent GPA (3.5+), GMAT/GRE (top
5%)
• Pursue advanced research interest
• Pursue top schools and programs
• Pursue research-active faculty as advisor and
mentor
• Ph.D. student is often funded via TA or RA:
$16,000/year, 4-5 years
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Ph.D. Degree
• First Year, Core Exam: Core courses only
• Second Year, Written Exam: Research project, publication,
and presentation
• Third Year, Minor Exam: Minor courses only
• Fourth Year, Oral-Preliminary Exam: Major and minor
faculty; research proposal + course Q/A
• Fifth Year, Final Oral Defense: Major only; Complete
dissertation
• Need to conduct research persistently for 4-5 years. Target
1-2 journal papers per year.
• Teach 1-2 courses in 3rd or 4th year.
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• 1-2 conference presentation opportunities
Getting an Academic Job
• Prepare an excellent application packet
• Good teaching record (4.2+ out of 5)
• 2-3 journal papers already (published or
forthcoming); 1-2 papers under review
• Target and study top schools and faculty
• MIS job conferences: AIS (August), DSI
(November), ICIS (December)
• Prepare, practice, and polish job talk
• Aim high but accept reality!
• Relax. Enjoy the process!
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Junior Faculty
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Publish, publish, publish!
Work like crazy in the first 6 years!
Focus on top journals, not conferences.
Time management: teaching (20%), research
(80%)
• Seek collaboration and mentoring from selected
productive senior faculty.
• Collaborate with junior colleagues and graduate
students.
• Year 2: 3-4 journal papers; Year 4: 6-8 journal
papers; Year 6: 12-18 journal papers  Good 13
enough for tenure in top MIS programs!
Senior Faculty
• What’s life after tenure? Sea urchin in ocean?
• Continue research momentum? Administration?
Consulting? Start-up company?
• Need to be a recognized scholar or researcher
in the world to be promoted to full professor.
• Need to be an exceptional scholar or researcher
and make significant contribution to be
bestowed chair professorship.
• Getting funding to establish lab/center
• Becoming leaders in professional activities and
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AEs
Getting Funding
• Need to conduct advanced, cutting-edge, and
high-impact research
• US funding acceptance rate: 5-10%
• Know the funding programs and program
managers; seek advice and consultation
• Become a reviewer
• Attend workshops and conferences to identify
new, emerging research opportunities
• Explore research applications and partners
• Start with small funding with senior collaborators
($100K)
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Getting Funding
• Establish research excellence in sub-areas: best
3-5 in the world
• Develop sustainable programs and partnerships
with target agencies
• NSF: peer review, CISE/IIS, program managers,
science and engineering focus
• NIH/NLM: study session, informatics,
partnership
• DOD, DOJ, CIA, DHS: security focus,
partnership
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Getting Funding
• Establish lab and project teams, and
supervise research staff and students
• Intellectual merit: innovation and
publication! (Science, Nature, PNAS)
• Broader impact: user adoption and
success story! (NYT, USA Today)
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Professional Activities
• Be a good reviewer for senior colleagues.
• Begin with journal special issues.
• AE opportunities: Publish in the selected
journals and know the key personnel (EIC and
senior AE); Volunteer through proper
introduction (senior faculty and close
colleagues)
• Professional activities and services: Volunteer
through proper introduction (senior faculty and
close colleagues)
• Many opportunities with IEEE, ACM, AIS
• Be a professional AE!
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Professional Activities
• Participate in selected professional meetings
consistently.
• Volunteer with proper introduction.
• Begin with Program Committee.
• Volunteer in workshop, symposium, and subcommittee.
• Be professional and reliable.
• Plan and volunteer for major conferences – PC
chair, conference chair. Have a team!
• Plan and build a community – be a pioneer and
cultivate the field.
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Making an Impact
• Select new, high-impact research topics, e.g.,
bioinformatics, medical informatics, security
informatics, etc.
• Build partnership with domain experts and
communities.
• Know the community problems and cure their
pain – what can I do for you?
• Be patient!
• 50% Research + 50% Impact
• Build a team and execute – algorithm, system,
database, HCI, user study, organization study.
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Making a Contribution
• Making an impact on society!
• Educating and influencing young students!
• Serving the needs of under-privileged
communities!
• Making a contribution to local communities, e.g.,
Tucson, Hualien!
• Making a contribution to Taiwan!
• When do you retire? (No mandatory retirement
age in US!)
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