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General information about Research in Computational Linguistics

To teach about, encourage, and give students time for research. Also to establish vertical cohorts among students interested in the same subfield.

There are six constituencies who will not be treated exactly equally in the course because their needs are different:

first-year students: need general context and help on first research projects and first-year papers
second-year students: need feedback on the research they have done, prepare for further research, and write second-year papers
third-year students: need to write their QPs, write grant proposals
post-candidacy pre-proposal students: need to write and present their dissertation proposals
post-candidacy dissertation students: need to write dissertations, get feedback
students from other departments: needs will vary

Fundamentals: Faculty-led discussions of matters such as tools, ethics, preparing proposals and finding funding, applying for jobs and giving job talks
What’s Happening Series: Faculty-led discussions on current trends in our field including the history that leads up to the current trends.
Presentations: Several kinds, such as:
- Show and Tell: short presentations about research or workshop participation
- Get Acquainted Talks: talks by new people on their research
- On-going Research Talks: students, faculty, auditors if they wish
- Dissertation Proposal Presentations
- Dissertation Progress Talks
Outside Speakers or Activities: (for instance, conferences, workshops, short courses)
Ask the professors anything: If time is remaining, participants can ask the professors any questions they have or solicit feedback on ideas, papers and presentations.

First-year students: Attend all classes/activities, prepare first-year paper (topic and reader first semester, paper second semester) – may be on research or preparatory for research, give short talk on research if they have done some.
Second-year students: May skip fundamentals meetings that are exactly the same as those in their first year (with faculty approval); prepare second-year paper on research (topic, reader, outline in first semester, write paper second semester). Give presentation on research.
Third-year students: Attend all presentations/activities, need not attend fundamentals meetings unless they wish to. Give brief progress reports on QP during second semester. Work with supervising faculty on grant proposals.
Post-candidacy, pre-proposal students: Present dissertation proposals fairly early in first semester. Attend all presentations, need not attend other meetings.
Dissertation-writing students: Attend all presentations, give at least one presentation during year on doctoral research (possibly give one each semester).
Students from other departments: Requirements will be set on an individual basis.