PhD Research: Elements of Excellence

Professor Ness B. Shroff
The Ohio Eminent Scholar Chaired Professor of Networking and Communications at The Ohio State University;
Principal Investigator and Institute Director of the NSF AI Institute on Future Edge Networks and Distributed Intelligence

Description

WILLIAM MONG DISTINGUISHED LECTURES: RPG SHARING SERIES:

In this talk, the speaker will outline a number of elements that he believes are necessary for conducting high quality research. He will begin by briefly describing his expectations for granting a doctorate degree. He will then talk about integrity in research, which will involve discussions on plagiarism, proper etiquette for citing others’ works, what constitutes a mistake versus a fraud, and how to best present one’s results. Next, He will discuss some strategies for success. These strategies will include (i) a self-examination to assess your own readiness for embarking on a PhD; (ii) how to choose and interact with your advisor, (iii) some strategies for building your tool-set in order to prepare yourself before and during the research process; (iv) a discussion on how to choose a good problem; (v) strategies for solving difficult problems that he has observed to work well, and what to look for in a solution; (vi) how to write a good paper, mistakes to avoid, and some resources that you should always have in your personal library; and (vii) how to create an intellectual environment that will enable you to graduate into a scholar rather than only being a specialist technician. This talk is based on the speaker’s observations, mistakes, and interactions with a variety of PhD students and colleagues over the past thirty years.

About the Speaker

Ness B. Shroff received his Ph.D. from Columbia University and is currently the Ohio Eminent Scholar Chaired Professor of Networking and Communications at The Ohio State University. He is the Principal Investigator and Institute Director of the NSF AI Institute on Future Edge Networks and Distributed Intelligence.

Professor Shroff’s research focuses on machine learning, network optimisation, stochastic control, and algorithmic design. He has served as Editor in Chief of IEEE/ACM Trans. on Networking and as Steering Committee Chair of ACM Mobihoc. His papers have received numerous awards at top-tier conferences, including best paper awards at IEEE INFOCOM and runner-up awards at IEEE INFOCOM. Professor Shroff is a Fellow of the IEEE and has been recognised as a highly cited researcher. He received the IEEE INFOCOM achievement award for his contributions to wireless networks scheduling and resource allocation.