The Department of Computer Science at Columbia University

1. The Department of Computer Science at Columbia University Henning Schulzrinne, Chair Dept. of Computer Science Columbia University 2006 CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

2. Anatomy of a research group • Typically, each faculty heads a research group consisting of • 1 faculty • sometimes 1-2 postdocs • research visitors (industry, sabbatical) • 1 to 10 PhD and MS graduate research assistants • typical: 5 • a number of undergraduate and MS project students • COMS 3998, 4901, 6901 • sometimes an administrative assistant (AA) CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

3. Participating in research • Take 4000 or 6000-level classes • MS: take 4901 or 6901 project course with faculty • MS: do 9-credit thesis • 4995 and 6998 are “topics” courses  often offered only once, on research topic of local faculty or adjunct from local research labs (IBM, Bell Labs,…) • Attend departmental talks • typically, Mo or We, 11—12.30 • faculty talks (research summaries), invited distinguished speakers and faculty candidates (spring) • Attend research group talks in vision/robotics, networking, theory, … • Participate in research group meetings • often, students and visitors discussing current research • sometimes pizza CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

4. Upcoming grad student meetings & event • “Hello” meeting: September 6 • Introductions • Grad student town-hall meting: TBA CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

5. Social life in CUCS • Departmental BBQ in fall and spring • Family picnic September 30, 2006 • Coffee hour on Thursdays at 4 pm in CS lounge • Activities organized by ACM, WICS, Department and graduate school • roughly once a month • Movie nights in lounge CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

6. Volunteering or How to Become a Czar(ina) Department needs your help to make it a nice place to study and work Volunteer positions include photo czar copier czar help with departmental BBQ grad student representative ACM and WICS Contact PhD representative (Knarig Arabshian, Edward Ishak) for details CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

7. Student groups • Women in Computer Science (WICS) • http://www.cs.columbia.edu/wics/ • ACM • http://www.cs.columbia.edu/acm/ CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

8. Faculty to know • Prof. Gail Kaiser • PhD program director (phdczar@cs) • Prof. Mihalis Yannakakis • MS program director (mihalis@cs) • Prof. Tal Malkin • TA issues (tal@cs) CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

9. Important people to know: staff • Alice Cueba • receptionist: mail, fax, packages • Lily Bao Secora, Remi Moss, Twinkle Edwards • graduate program and records • Mary van Starrex • department administrator: GRA appointments • Patricia Hervey • swipe card problems; budgets and finances, e.g., travel reimbursements • Elias Tesfaye • keys, purchase orders • Daisy Nguyen • CRF (Computing Research Facility): heads systems support (sys admin) group CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

10. MICE (Managing Information in Computer SciencE) • https://www.cs.columbia.edu/mice • Services: • Find people and their contact information, office hours • Select MS advisor • Track your MS and PhD progress: courses, publications, exams, community service • PhD Black Friday • Get notified of packages and faxes • Jobs (posting and listings) • Equipment tracking for research groups • You will get password once you obtain a CS account • but different password! • if you forget password, MICE will send you a new one CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

11. MICE CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

12. Getting into the building • Need to get swipe card access enabled to get access to CEPSR and CS building • Apply in MICE (under “Access”) • Some labs have keys  contact your advisor for details CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

13. PhD student resources • http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~phdczar • Program details • Hints on writing and other “how to succeed in graduate school” items CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

14. Projects (MS) • Can do research projects with most faculty • CS 4901, 6901 • Usually, unpaid (but there are exceptions) • Good way to get to know a research area and faculty ( recommendation letters…) • One (typically) or two semesters in length • May lead to publication or CS technical report • 1-6 credits, with 3 typical • Should be equivalent to one or two courses in effort, e.g., 9 hours/week for 3-credit project CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

15. Registration Hints • MS/PhD students should register for 15 points exactly. Up to 6 points, in very rare cases up to 9 points, should be in regular courses (4000 or 6000 level only), with the rest in E9911 Graduate Research II (ignore E9910 Graduate Research I). • PhD students (post-MS) should register for one RU. No points are necessary, unless taking regular courses (4000 or 6000 level). Again, usually at most 6 and rarely up to 9 points in regular courses. • MS GRAs must consult with their faculty advisors before registering, for 12-15 points, in most cases restricted to max 6 points in regular courses and the rest in some combination of 6900/6901/6902 (or up to all 6 points may be taken in E9910) • Get faculty advisor approval for all regular course registrations! • PhD students without advisors should contact Prof. Kender (phdczar@cs.columbia.edu) CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

16. CRF (Computing Research Facilities)http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~crf/ • Director: Daisy Nguyen • System administrators • Paul Glick • John Petrella • Dennis Shim • Mark Yeun CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

17. Desktops: Windows Linux dual boot Windows + Linux Solaris on Sun workstations we do not support Macs Servers: file servers (NFS, Samba) mail (IMAP, POP, Unix mail) DNS web print services Sun and Linux research servers Windows Domain Controller SMS Mail readers: pine, mh, Netscape, Mail, mail, mulberry, etc. Software: Matlab, Mathematica, Splus, CVS, Acrobat Reader, Distiller, ghostview, Winzip, MS Office, Virus checker, ssh, X environment, Emacs, etc. CRF supports CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

18. CRF systems NIS web mail server Linux compute server Research Machines diamond flame cluster-pc dynasty Solaris cluster Domain Controller DNS SMS disco play RAID file servers CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

19. CUCS Computer Labs and Facilities • Compute servers for remote login (ssh): • cluster (Solaris) • cluster-pc (Linux) • No VPN needed – just use ssh • CRF does not offer modem dial-in  use Columbia facilities or commercial ISP • Two laboratories for classes and projects: • CLIC (CSB 486) • 30 Linux workstations • MRL (across from receptionist) • 30 Windows XP workstations • Teaching laboratory for networks • INTEREST lab • routers, nodes, Ethernet switches CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

20. Contacting CRF • Send request (“ticket”) to crf@cs.columbia.edu • Check status of tickets on CRF web page: http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~crf • Normal ticket: daily requests • install new software or machine • non-critical software or hardware problems •  send ticket, will get response and updates • Urgent ticket: requests that need attention ASAP • your machine is down •  send ticket, then call CRF • Emergency ticket: • mail down • power lost • entire computing system down •  call us immediately anytime CS grad orientation - Fall 2006

21. CRF contact information Hotline (working hours): x7174 Daisy: x7140, x7039, 347-782-2345 (cell), 908-286-1139 (home) Mark: x7036, 917-449-4139 (cell) Dennis: x7035, 646-286-9769 (cell) CS grad orientation - Fall 2006