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 2008 CS grad orientation - Fall 2008

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 2008

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 2008

4. Upcoming grad student meetings & event • “Hello” meeting: September 15, 11 am • Introductions • Grad student town-hall meting: TBA CS grad orientation - Fall 2008

5. Social life in CUCS • Departmental BBQ in fall and spring • Grad student outings • Family picnic September 27, 2008 • Coffee hour on Thursdays at 4 pm in CS lounge • Activities organized by ACM, WICS, Department and graduate school • roughly once a month CS grad orientation - Fall 2008

6. Volunteering or How to Become a Czar(ina) Department needs your help to make it a nice place to study and work PhD volunteer positions include photo czar help with departmental BBQ grad student representative ACM and WICS Contact PhD representatives: Arezu Moghadam Bert Huang CS grad orientation - Fall 2008

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 2008

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 2008

9. Important people to know: staff • Alice Cueba • receptionist: mail, fax, packages • Lily Bao Secora, Remi Moss, Twinkle Edwards • graduate program and records • Patricia Hervey • department administrator • Cindy Walters • GRA appointments • Elias Tesfaye • facilities (space, repairs) • keys, purchase orders, travel reimbursements • Daisy Nguyen • CRF (Computing Research Facility): heads systems support (sys admin) group • swipe card issues CS grad orientation - Fall 2008

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 2008

11. MICE CS grad orientation - Fall 2008

12. Getting into the building • Need to get swipe card access enabled to get access to CEPSR and CS building • Usually, no need to apply • Special cases: apply in MICE (under “Access”) • Some labs have keys  contact your advisor for details CS grad orientation - Fall 2008

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 2008

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 2008

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 2008

16. CRF (Computing Research Facilities)http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~crf/ • Director: Daisy Nguyen • System administrators • Paul Blaer • Tom Lippincott • Quy O • Hi Tae Shin • Dan Benamy CS grad orientation - Fall 2008

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 2008

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 2008

19. CUCS Computer Labs and Facilities • Compute servers for remote login (ssh): • cluster (Solaris) • cluster-pc (Linux) • No VPN needed – just use ssh • 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 2008

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 2008