Transcript Introduction to the PhD Program of the Department of Computer Science and

Introduction to the PhD Program
of the Department of Computer Science and Technology
at Tsinghua University
Prof. Chuang Lin
Department of Computer Science, Tsinghua University
2006.5.23
Outline
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Brief introduction
Present situation
Student enrollment
Basic requirements
Principal problems
Initiatives to improve the quality
Future perspectives
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Brief introduction (1)
• Founded in 1958
– At that time, its name was “Automatic Control depart.”
• 41 Professors, 35 Associate Professors
• 3 fellows of the Chinese Academy of Science/
Engineering
• Chair professors
– Andrew Yao
– Thomas S. Huang
• http://www.cs.tsinghua.edu.cn
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Brief introduction (2)
• 36 PhD Supervisors who must fulfill
the following conditions
– Full professors
– Currently have ongoing projects
– Have published academic papers in last
two years
• It’s different than US universities
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Present situation (1)
• Ranked first in the national academic
estimation of computer science in 1996, and
was one of the first 3 departments to obtain
the authorization for PhD degree in
computer science
• Ranked first in three indices (academic
faculty, student cultivation, and academic
reputation) among the total of four in the
national academic evaluation of computer
science in 2002
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Present situation (2)
• Since 1978
– 307 students have obtained the PhD degree
• Four national excellent doctoral thesis awards
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Zhigang zhu (Advisor: Chunyi Shi, Guangyou Xu)
Fuchun Sun (Advisor: Bo Zhang, Zengqi Sun)
Junhai Yong (Advisor: Jiaguang Sun, Shimin Hu)
Yuan Feng (Advisor: Mingsheng Ying)
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Present situation (3)
• Doctoral students at present
– 395 students
• Enrolled PhD students in recent years
– 51 students, 2003
– 64 students, 2004
– 56 students, 2005
– 49 students, 2006 (planned)
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Present situation (4)
• Graduated PhD students in recent years
– 42 students, 2003
– 43 students, 2004
– 44 students, 2005
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Present situation (5)
• More and more excellent doctoral students
– Yuan Feng
• Published high quality papers
• IEEE Transactions on Information Theory
• Physical Review
– Yuchun Ma
• Published high quality papers
• IEEE Transactions on CAD of Integrated Circuits
and Systems
• ACM Transactions on Design Automation of
Electronic Systems
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Student enrollment (1)
• Excellent students who earned their
bachelor’s degree in our department
may enroll without entrance exam
– 21 students in 2003
– 25 students in 2004
– 23 students in 2005
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Student enrollment (2)
• Excellent students who earned their
bachelor’s degree at other key universities
may enroll without entrance exam
• They must be ranked in the top 3% in their
university
– 19 students in 2003
– 22 students in 2004
– 17 students in 2005
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Student enrollment (3)
• Students with a master’s degree enrolled
with entrance exam
– 11 students in 2003
– 17 students in 2004
– 16 students in 2005
• The face-to-face interview is the most
important item in the doctoral entrance
exam
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Basic requirements (1)
• Terms of Study
– 3 to 5 years for doctoral students who
hold a master’s degree
– 4 to 6 years for doctoral students who
hold a bachelor’s degree
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Basic requirements (2)
• Courses
– At least 34 credits for doctoral students
who hold a bachelor’s degree
• Typically 9 to 11 courses
– At least 18 credits for doctoral students
who hold a master’s degree
• Typically 3 to 4 courses
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Basic requirements (3)
• Courses
– Including both basic theory courses and
advanced research courses
– Basic theory
• 10 courses on mathematics and other basic theory
• Students can take some courses in the mathematics
department
– Advanced research courses
• Over 50 advanced research courses cover most
research areas in our department
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Basic requirements (4)
• Graduation requirements of the State
– Come from “National Academic Degree statute”
– Solid and wide basic theory, and systematic and
deep major knowledge
– The ability to independently conduct scientific
research
– Obtain creative fruits in science or special
technology research
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Basic requirements (5)
• Graduation requirements of the university
– To publish at least 4 papers and meet the
following requirements
– At least one paper published in an international
journal indexed by SCI, or
– At least two papers published in international
conferences indexed by SCI, or
– At least two papers published in international
conferences or journals indexed by EI, and at
least one journal paper between them
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Basic requirements (6)
• Graduation requirements of our department
– There is no minimum number of papers required if the
following requirements are satisfied
– Publishing one paper in international journals that are
indexed in ISI Web of Science and the impact factor is
more than 1.0, or
– Publishing several papers in international journals that
are indexed in ISI Web of Science and the total impact
factor is more than 1.5
• Goal: to encourage the publishing of high quality
papers
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Principal problems (1)
• The overall quality needs to be improved
– Obvious gaps compared to the top-class
universities in the world
• The academic time for doctoral students is
relatively insufficient
– Universities are demanded to play an important
role in national construction since China is a
developing country
– A lot of time is spent in the engineering projects
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Principal problems (2)
• There are not so many high-quality
papers
– Limited by the English level
– Not enough international communication
• The ability of professors also needs to
be improved
– Obvious gaps compared to the top-class
universities
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Initiatives to improve the quality (1)
• Setting up a more reasonable
educational system
• Providing more chances for
international intercommunion
• Encouraging the publishing of highquality academic papers
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Initiatives to improve the quality (2)
• Setting up a more reasonable educational system
– Qualified examination of doctoral students
• Department is the organizer
• Including both the course grade and the face-to-face interview
grade
• The bottom 20% of students will fail, and have to take another
exam
– Anonymous review of doctoral thesis
– Annual academic report
• Doctoral students should submit their annual academic reports
every year
• Department will review these reports and will give some
feedback to both student and advisor
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Initiatives to improve the quality (3)
• Providing more chances for international
intercommunion, going out
– Encouraging doctoral students to do
collaborative research with top-class
international universities
– Supporting doctoral students for vacation
internships in prestigious academic institutes
– Funding doctoral students to participate in
high-level international conferences
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Initiatives to improve the quality (4)
• Providing more chances for international
intercommunion, coming in
– Chair professors
• Andrew Yao
• Thomas S. Huang
– Short-term courses by professors from
overseas universities
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Initiatives to improve the quality (5)
• Encourage publishing of high-quality
academic papers
– No paper number requirement if students
have one high-quality paper published in
high-level international journals
• IEEE Transactions…
• ACM Transactions…
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Initiatives to improve the quality (6)
• Some considerations
– Cultivating top students vs. covering all students
– Improving construction of educational
mechanisms and assuring the cultivating quality
– Introducing psychological estimation in the
entrance examination
– “Exit” mechanism for doctoral students
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Future Prospective
• After 5-10 years of effort, the quality
of education for doctoral students is
expected to catch up with or get closer
to the top 30 computer departments in
US
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University
Thank you!
Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University