Participant profile

Doctoral students of the UPV/EHU.

The SoA course is recommended for recently started PhDers but it is also designed for PhDers in any year of PhDing.

Calender

January-February 2023

Duration

13 hours (four three-and-a-quarter hour clases run over four weeks)

Timetable

Time: 10:00 to 13:15

Requirements

Students will be expected to attend 100% of the clases together with submission of all four practical work assignments.

Language

English

Modality

A real-classroom

Location and dates

Speaker, Trainer and Profile

Tim Smithers: I have a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, from Kingston Polytechnic (now University), London, and a PhD from Cambridge University for research on computational techniques for the design of cyclically symmetric structures, which I then used to design the main reflector support structure of the James Clerk Maxwell millimetre wave telescope built on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Following this, I worked for a small company in Cambridge on the design of parallel algorithms and parallel hardware architectures for finite element analysis -- a widely used numerical modelling technique. I then moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, to work in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Department, on intelligent design support systems, and intelligent robotics. I also taught Masters' and PhD courses on Knowledge Representation and Reasoning and Intelligent Robotics, and supervised PhD students. After a two year sabbatical at the VUB AI Lab in Brussels, where I continued my robotics and AI in Design work, I moved to Donostia. Here I have worked in all of the Universities in the region, and several Technology R&D Centres, leading international research projects, directing research groups, designing and running PhD programmes, and teaching undergraduate, Masters' and PhD courses. For the past twelve years I have worked as a freelance Research Practitioner, developing and teaching courses on the Foundations of Research Practices for mixed discipline groups of PhDers, helping research groups design research programmes and strengthen their research practices, and working for the EU Commission. Over the years I have worked with many different reseachers, on a variety of research topics, including with artists, bio-chemists, historians, medical doctors, scocial scientists, and physicists. I continue to design things, make paintings using Logo, and currently work in a small collaboration on a topic in Number Theory.

Group size

There is a maximum of 18 students in Donostia-San Sebastián and in Leioa, and 15 in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Registration

Objectives

The foundation of all good research is a well designed, well built, and well maintained Critical State of the Art (SoA). This is usually the first major task as a PhDer, and one that researchers will continue to need to work on throughout their PhDing, and perhaps beyond. How good the Critical State of the Art is will determine the quality of the research they do, and thus how successful and worthwhile their PhD research will be.

Format

The course is composed of four three-hour classes run over four weeks, with practical work set each week to be completed and presented for the following week. There will be a 15 minute break about mid-way through each class. And the practical work will need between three and four hours each week.

All classes will work as seminars, and include both presented material and open discussion. So, researchers should come prepared to make their own notes, and actively engage in, and contribute to, each class.

All clases will be conducted in English and it will be expected to use and work in English during the classes. A good level of confidence of working in English is therefore recommended. But the English does not need to be perfect, just good enough!

Content

The four classes and practical work of this SoA course will cover the following major aspects of the practice of designing and building a good Critical State of the Art:

• Looking for, selecting, and acquiring your SoA materials;
• Critical reading, understanding, and organising your SoA materials; and
• Designing, building, using, and maintaining your SoA.

See more

Foundations of Research Practices

This course is offered in collaboration with Euskampus Fundazioa.