School of Information Theory

1. School of Information Theory A proposal to pay it forward to our society’s future generations Aylin Yener, Penn State Gerhard Kramer, Bell Labs-Alcatel

2. Outline • Motivation and Objective • Plan • Envisioned format • Logistics • Preliminary preparations • Dedication

3. Motivation and Objective • Information Theory is attracting new young researchers, now more than ever. • Many of these are students in US and Canadian institutions. • We would like to provide students exposure to the latest and greatest in IT in a ‘school’ format. • Based on European “Winter School”-like tradition

4. Proposal • We propose an annual “School of Information Theory” to be held in the US and/or Canada. • Students interact with their peers. • Students interact with senior scientists and get feedback on their work. • Students get exposed to contextand “big picture” early on. • Foster friendships and collaboration for future academic and industrial scientists. • Promote IT.

5. Format • Plan as a 4 day event. • Days 1-2: Day long lectures by 2 or 3 instructors. • Days 3 and 4: Short (e.g. 10 minute) student talks • Day 4: Keynote, panel, and student posters

6. Time/place • Campus environment. • A separate event than the rest of the society events. • Location rotates between Eastern, Central, West US, and Canada. • Locations with low costs for accommodations, housing, cafeteria, e.g., university campus. • March to May time frame.

7. Cost • Instructor/invited panelist travel & lodging expenses, fees • Organizational costs: meeting rooms, breaks, meals • Publicity, web design • Student travel & lodging • Miscellaneous • Lower costs by taking advantage of campus infrastructure, e.g., classrooms and/or dorms.

8. Funding Sources • IT Society (we hope) • External funding pays for students travel and perhaps more. • Potential external sources: NSF, DARPA, local industry • NSF proposal- 5 year

9. Potential for success • Instructor recruitment essential (suggestions welcome!) • We need to advertise • (Short-term) Measure for success? • Number of attendees • Exit survey • Balanced budget

10. Preliminary Preparations • Suggested location for 2008:Penn State Campus, State College, PA • Alternatives: Poly, NY, Princeton, NJ • 2009 Central US • 2010 West US • 2011 Eastern Canada

11. 6h 3.5h

12. 2008 Plans • For a total of 60 attendees: 50 students, instructors, keynote speaker, organizers, student committee coordinators • 4 days: (topics tentative only, suggestions welcome, unified theme with both Theory & Coding/Algorithms)

13. Budget • Instructors + keynote $ 2,500 (2 x $1k + $500) • Student travel grants $20,000 (50 x $400) • Food (meals, breaks) $12,000 (4 x 60 x $50) • Misc. (e.g. advertise) $ 1,500 • Contingency $ 4,000 $40,000 Notes: • Classrooms are free of charge • Using a hotel for meeting roomsand catering adds another $10k.

14. Date • Use classrooms to lower cost, but (at least at PSU) this limits the dates. • A classroom has been reserved during the spring break, March 10-14. • Later dates also possible.Is this a desirable date? • May/Summer?

15. External Funding • DARPA: We requested $10-15k for the 2008 event. • NSF: Preliminary discussions with the TF program have taken place. A proposal will be submitted to TF and NSF-wide and/or CISE-wide educational initiatives, e.g. REESE, Expeditions in Science and Engineering Education, for long term (5-year) support. For 2008, we may be able to get a modest amount for student travel.

16. Support • We request a $15-20k level support from the IT Society for the 2008 event. • We ask also a commitment for the long term (3 years) for continued support, at a level of $15k, conditioned on the success of the school.

17. Dedication • We would like to dedicate the First School of Information Theory to our late colleague Sergio Servetto.

18. Feedback on … • The concept/format • Dates • Location(s) • Budget