HOW TO GET A PH.D.: Methods and Practical Hints

1. HOW TO GET A PH.D.: Methods and Practical Hints Aarne Mämmelä 16.9.2003

2. HOW TO GET A PH.D.Methods and Practical Hints Dr. AARNE MÄMMELÄ Research Professor (VTT), Docent (HUT) VTT ELECTRONICS Kaitoväylä 1, P.O. Box 1100, FIN-90571 Oulu, Finland Email: aarne.mammela@vtt.fi, http://www.vtt.fi/ele Tel. 08-5512111, 08-5512482 (direct), 040-5762963 (GSM) Fax 08-5512320

3. CONTENTS OF THE COURSE • Lectures 16.9., 23.9., 30.9. and 7.10. • Exam 7.11. • lectures and M. Davis, Scientific Papers and Presentations, Academic Press, 1997, 296 pp. • Course work • proposal for requirements 8.12.2003, feedback 31.12.2003 • final report 30.9.2004 • Tutor system • details during the last lecture • Grades: failed, passed, passed with honors

4. COURSE WORK Three alternatives according to the student’s background as agreed individually with the student: 1) Review of the literature 2) A proposal for a Ph.D. thesis including a review of literature 3) Scientific publication plus a proposal for a Ph.D. thesis and a review of literature. Final report about 10-20 pages. More detailed instructions on the course page (http://www.infotech.oulu.fi/GraduateSchool/ICourses/to_phd_2003.html).

5. PROGRAM I Session 16.9.2003 at 2-5 pm 1. Aarne Mämmelä, Research Methods: From Problem and Hypothesis to Experiments 2. Tapio Seppänen, Characteristics of a Researcher II Session 23.9.2003 at 2-5 pm 3. Aarne Mämmelä, Literature Reviews: Existing Knowledge from Data Bases 4. Pekka Heinonen, Industrial Experiences on Ph.D. Students

6. PROGRAM III Session 30.9.2003 at 2-5 pm 5. Erkki Oja, Experiences of a Senior Researcher 6. Olli Silven, Peer Review Process: the Task of a Referee 7. Jani Mäntyjärvi, Experiences about Preparing a Doctoral Thesis IV Session 7.10.2003 at 2-5 pm 8. Aarne Mämmelä, Final Result: a Scientific Publication 9. Kari Leppälä, Theory of Science for Engineers

7. RESEARCH METHODS: From Problem and Hypothesis to Experiments

8. OUTLINE • Introduction • Learning process • History • Basic problems • Research methods • Conclusions • Appendices • References • Bibliography

9. JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION: COLUMBUS • Problem: a new way to India, competing hypotheses: Spain and Portugal, map, funding

10. KNOWLEDGE AND LITERATURE

11. EXAMPLE LANDMARK PAPER

12. SOME DEFINITIONS • Research: Careful study or investigation to discover new knowledge • basic research (no specific application in mind) • applied research (ideas into operational form) • Development: Systematic use of the existing knowledge • Note. Research and development are closely related. In research a prototype is often developed.

13. LEARNING PROCESS How do students learn? • Professors try to teach principles first and applications later (if ever). • It is easiest to start from simple examples (= induction, “words and example sentences”). • General principles are emphasized later to really master the subject (= deduction, “grammar”). • It is helpful to know at least some simple principles in the beginning.

14. HOW DOES A RESEARCHER WORK? 1. Make always notes in a notebook (day book) 2. Make plans for the future all the time (outlines, roadmaps) 3. Discuss, ask questions and argue (criticism)

15. THE NEW WORLD OF MR TOMPKINS

16. ANALOGIES IMPROVE CREATIVITY

17. COMMUNICATIONS IMPROVE CREATIVITY

18. CLASSIFICATION (REDUCTIONISM) IMPROVE CREATIVITY

19. DYNAMIC AND GENERATIVE ORDER

20. BIG ISSUES GUIDING OUR WORK

21. RESEARCH IDEAS To find research ideas, use your own intuition/expertise and.. • know the literature, especially original landmark papers (write brief well-organized summaries) • do experiments early in your studies, use your colleagues’ experience • discuss with colleagues and students and teach them (seminars)

22. RESEARCH PROPOSAL • Abstract • Introduction • problem and hypothesis • Review of the literature • good organization, concept analysis • Materials and methods • system requirements, system specifications • plan for operation, experimental procedures • analytical and other tools • Results • results (for example experimental data) to be expected • publication and other dissemination of research results • Discussion and conclusions • originality, open questions, limitations • validation, significance, applications • Time frame, budget • intermediate objectives • Bibliography • list of references

23. TIMING OF DOCTORAL THESIS (4 years)

24. EXAMPLE: HISTORY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

25. FUTURE CELLULAR SYSTEM

26. ROADMAP AND VISION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS (1)

27. ROADMAP AND VISION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS (2)

28. SOME FUNDAMENTAL ENGINEERING PROBLEMS

29. FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS IN INFORMATION ENGINEERING

30. TECHNOLOGY: NATURAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

31. BASIC TYPES OF RESEARCH METHODS • Observation(Aristotle) • environment is observed and conclusions are made • modern use in literature reviews and for example in astronomy • Analysis or hypothetico-deductive method (Platon, Eucleides) • a hypothesis (i.e., a conjecture) is made, deduction (i.e., analysis) is used to find special cases which can be better understood or directly tested in the experimental method • in an axiomatic system axioms or postulates are used to deduce theorems • Experimental method (Francis Bacon, Galilei, Descartes, Newton): • the problem is reduced into smaller problems, experiments are made and induction is used for generalization to find a theory • most common method in science and engineering when combined with analysis

32. EXPERIMENTS (1)

33. EXPERIMENTS (2) • Mathematical analysis (presentation of formal theory) • creates best scientific papers • simple, mathematically tractable problem, must be often linear (numerical results needed) • Simulations (empirical research) • complicated systems can be developed rapidly, but slow to simulate • basic idea: lower level blocks are simplified and idealized (hierarchy) • key problem: realistic models for the environment (e.g. channel) • Prototyping (empirical research) • more convincing than “pure” simulations, not so flexible, slow and expensive to develop complicated systems • environment (channel) simulators still needed (approximations!), field tests expensive, repeatability?

34. LEGENDS (SEE NEXT PAGES)

35. ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS

36. REASONING: INDUCTION AND DEDUCTION

37. RESEARCH METHODS: GENERAL

38. HOW A SCIENTIST WORKS

39. HOW AN ENGINEERING SCIENTIST WORKS

40. GENERAL HINTS • always start from simple models (= induction, “example sentences”) • use idealizations, black boxes • example: first scalars instead of matrices • reduce idealizations step by step • integrate the ideas into a system model (= deduction, “grammar”) • consider optimal systems and their approximations • compare to fundamental limits • good organization • block diagrams, graphical examples, hierarchy, modularity, etc. • try to find independent (orthogonal) blocks! • careful testing & documentation (reports, comment lines, etc.)

41. HOMEWORK PROBLEMS • Draw a diagram about the history of engineering (start from wheel, more detailed diagram since steam engine) • Draw a diagram about the history of electronics (start from the electronic tubes) • Draw a diagram about the history of storage (hint: start from the invention of writing)

42. CONCLUSIONS: RESEARCH PROPOSAL Abstract Introduction • problem and hypothesis Review of the literature Materials and methods Results Discussion and conclusions Time frame, budget Bibliography

43. CONCLUSIONS: IMPORTANT TRADE-OFFS

44. APPENDICES

45. COMMENTS TO ROADMAP AND VISION • direct MMI refers to a direct wired interface to human brains • haptic interaction refers to the sense of touch, multi-sense interaction refers to all the five senses • holodeck refers to telepresence and virtual reality combined: all involved are in a virtual environment • nanobot is a small robot moving in human brains and controlled wirelessly, it makes wireless direct MMI possible • telepresence refers to presence in an existing environment for example as a hologram; it does not need glasses, but it needs a material (for example water vapor) to which the hologram is projected • teleportation: the theoretical portation of matter through space by converting it into energy and then reconverting it at the terminal point • virtual reality: computer-generated simulation of three-dimensional images of environment or sequence of events that someone using special equipment (glasses, dress) may view and interact with a seemingly physical way • worm hole: a hypothetical space-time tunnel or channel connecting a black hole with another universe • quantum communications refers to teleportation of quantum states

46. ABBREVIATIONS • ANSIBLE = instant delivery of information • BLAST = Bell Labs adaptive space time • DVB = digital video broadcasting • FWA = fixed wireless access • MRC = maximal ratio combining • OFDM = orthogonal frequency division multiplexing • MIMO = multiple input multiple output • MMI = man-machine interface • STC = space-time coding • TCM = trellis-coded modulation • UWB = ultra wideband • WPAN = wireless personal area network • WLAN = wireless local area network

47. RESEARCHER AND ORGANIZATION

48. SCIENCE • Science: knowledge ascertained by observation and experiment, critically tested, systematized, and brought under general principles; a branch of such knowledge; natural science, systematized knowledge of nature and the physical world • Scientific method: a method of research in which a hypothesis is tested by means of a carefully documented control experiment that can be repeated by any other researcher • Information: facts told, heard or discovered about something or somebody, for example news • Knowledge: an organized body of information accumulated by mankind or shared by people in a particular field • Data: information prepared for or stored by a computer (plural form of datum, a single piece of information; the word data now usually used with a singular verb)

49. CLASSIFICATION OF SCIENCES Note. Natural science is usually referred to as “science.”

50. CLASSIFICATION OF ENGINEERING • Technology: the scientific study and use of applied sciences, for example engineering; application of this to practical tasks in industry • Engineering: practical application of science and mathematics, as in the design and construction of machines, vehicles, structures, roads, and systems • Industrial engineering • Civil engineering • Mechanical engineering • Chemical engineering • Electrical engineering: practical application of the theory of electricity to the construction of machinery, power supplies, etc.