ISC 5939
Scientific Communication
Schedule
Summer 2016


Schedule

This class meets 2:00-3:40pm, on Wednesdays, in room 499 DSL.


  1. 11 May 2015 - Personal Web Sites

    Discussion: What kinds of writing have you done?

    Document: syllabus.pdf, the class syllabus.

    Discussion: Scientific communication.

    Document: "Why Every Job Seeker Should Have a Personal Website, and What It Should Include" by Jacquelyn Smith, Forbes Magazine.

    Lecture: A personal web page: Why you need one, and how to make one.

    Document: "Morbo Northbark's Personal Web Page"

    Document: "Personal Website Hosting", by Mike McDonald, FSU Department of Scientific Computing.

    Document: "Building Your LinkedIn Presence" FSU Career Center.

    Assignment: Create a personal web page; when done, ask the departmental webmaster (webmaster@sc.fsu.edu) to add a link from the department's page to your web page.


  2. 18 May 2015 - Outlines

    Due: Your web page. I will look for it from the department's web page.

    Exercise: Take a jumble of ideas or "points" and organize them into groups, and organize the groups into a narrative or sequence. Use the data in polar_points.txt

    Document: George Whitesides,
    Whitesides's Group: Writing a Paper,
    Advanced Materials,
    Volume 16, Number 15, August 2004, pages 1375-1377,
    http://www.ee.ucr.edu/~rlake/Whitesides_writing_res_paper.pdf

    Exercise: Look at the points in qr_points.txt and try to organize them into groups. How would the groups be organized to make a narrative?

    Document: Brian Hayes,
    "Quasirandom Ramblings",
    The American Scientist,
    Volume 99, Number 4, July-August 2011, pages 282-287,
    http://www.americanscientist.org/libraries/documents/2011631353538566-2011-07CompSciHayes.pdf
    Let's look at how this document is constructed. What is its purpose? How is it divided into sections? Why are the sections ordered in this way?

    Exercise: Outline for article on baseball card collecting. Let's look at this outline, see how it helps us to write out a full document. Afterwards, we can compare with the article Baseball Card Collecting by Nick Berry.

    Assignment: Write an outline for your paper. The outline should include an introduction or overview that explains what the paper is going to cover. The outline could consist of a logical structure (indented like Python, say, for subtopics), or it could look more like the actual paper, with headings and subheadings, but only sketchy descriptions where the text will go.


  3. 25 May 2015 - Writing a Technical Paper

    Due: Turn in your outline.

    Document: Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity, by Alan Sokal; Social Text, #46/47, Spring/Summer 1996, pages 217-252.

    Document: Publishers withdraw more than 120 gibberish papers, by Richard van Noorden; Nature, 24 February 2014.

    Documents:
    A Development of Web Services, by Brian Bartoldson;
    Stable, Constant-Time Information for Replication, by Eitan Lees;
    A Case for Link-Level Acknowledgements, by Juan Llanos;
    Contrasting Rasterization and Flip-Flop Gates using TaxisPallor, by Serena Pham;
    An Evaluation of Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, by Chad Sockwell;
    Pur: A Methodology for the Analysis of Online Algorithms, by Amirhassem Tahmassebi;
    Scatter/Gather I/O No Considered Harmful, by Sir Alex Townsend;
    These are "fake" papers generated by SciGen ( https://pdos.csail.mit.edu/archive/scigen/ ). Although they have meaningless content, we can still see the form or structure of a scientific paper.

    Document: valduriez.pdf
    Patrick Valduriez, "Some Hints to Improve Writing of Technical Papers"

    Document: keim.pdf
    Greg Keim, Noam Shazeer, Michael Littman, "PROVERB: The Probabilistic Cruciverbalist"

    Document: mclean.pdf
    James McLean, "Physics Writing Guide: How to Write a Physics Journal Article"

    Document: quaife.pdf
    Bryan Quaife, George Biros,
    "Adaptive time stepping for vesicle suspensions",
    Journal of Computational Physics,
    Volume 306, pages 478-499, 2016.

    Assignment: Work on your document draft #1.


  4. 01 June 2015 - The Curriculum Vitae

    Due: Document Draft #1

    FSU Career Center, "Writing a Curriculum Vitae"
    http://www.career.fsu.edu/content/download/328023/2204933/Writing a Curriculum Vitae.pdf

    CV for Hans-Werner van Wyk
    class04/cv_vanwyk.pdf

    Ann Pitts, "What Recruiters Really Want to See on Your CV"
    http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/recruiters-cv/

    LinkedIn CV for Ben McLaughlin
    class04/cv_ben.pdf

    "Tips for a good graduate technical CV"
    https://targetjobs.co.uk/career-sectors/it-and-technology/285657-tips-for-a-good-graduate-technical-cv

    CV for Michael Anical
    class04/cv_michael_anical.pdf

    Andrew Fennell, "CV template for school-leavers and graduate jobseekers"
    http://www.theguardian.com/careers/2016/feb/22/creating-a-killer-cv-a-guide-for-school-leavers-and-graduate-jobseekers

    Meyer-Baese, Wismueller, Lange,
    "Comparison of Two Exploratory Data Analysis Methods for fMRI: Unsupervised Clustering Versus Independent Component Analysis",
    IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine,
    Volume 8, Number 3, September 2004, pages 387-398,
    meyer_baese.pdf

    Assignment: Write a curriculum vitae and make it available on your website.


  5. 08 June 2015 - Academic Jobs

    Due: Your CV

    Completion of high school or college, 1940-2009
    class05/education_history.png

    Brenda Iasevoli, "A glut of PhD's means long odds of getting jobs"
    http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/02/27/388443923/a-glut-of-ph-d-s-means-long-odds-of-getting-jobs

    Rebecca Schuman, "Why your cousin with a PhD is a basket case"
    http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2014/09/how_do_professors_get_hired_the_academic_job_search_explained.html

    JOBS.ACM, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Job and Career Site:
    http://jobs.acm.org/

    Leo Rebholz,
    "Thoughts on the process of applying for PhD level jobs in mathematics",
    class05/academic_job_rebholz.pdf

    ALL-ACAD, Academic jobs, in Mathematics and Statistics, Physics and Engineering, Computer Science, Life Science, Medicine and Chemistry, Economics, Law, Arts, Humanities and Social Science.
    http://all-acad.com/

    Michael Ernst,
    "Getting an academic job",
    https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~mernst/advice/academic-job.html

    MATHJOBS, a website where you can find job opportunities in academics, industry, and national laboratories:
    https://www.mathjobs.org/

    Richard Reis, The Basics of Cover Letter Writing:
    http://chronicle.com/article/The-Basics-of-Cover-Letter-/46259/

    Steven Henke, Sachin Shanbhag,
    "Mesh sensitivity in peridynamic simulations",
    Computer Physics Communications,
    Volume 185, 2014, pages 181-193,
    class05/henke.pdf

    Assignment: Find an academic job online that you find attractive. Assume that you have finished your intended degree, and make up a few reasonable accomplishments, so that you qualify for this job. Write a 3-paragraph cover letter to accompany your (imaginary) application. Email to me the job posting and your cover letter.


  6. 15 June 2015 - Jobs at National Labs

    Due: Your cover letter for an academic job application.

    Albert Einsten,
    "Dear President Roosevelt...",
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein%E2%80%93Szil%C3%A1rd_letter

    DOE Laboratory System Map,
    http://science.energy.gov/laboratories/

    Government Labs and Centers,
    class06/lab_list.txt

    Department of Scientific Computing Interactions with Labs,
    class06/lab_students.txt

    FSU links with Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
    https://www.research.fsu.edu/research-fsu/partnerships/oak-ridge/

    Oak Ridge National Laboratory: Solving Big Problems
    https://www.ornl.gov/content/ornl-brochure-solving-big-problems

    The Prodigal Academic, "Life at a National Laboratory",
    http://theprodigalacademic.blogspot.com/2010/05/life-at-national-lab-as-young-scientist.html

    Ray Wang, "National Lab, Love it? Or Not?",
    http://biocareers.com/bio-careers-blog/national-lab-love-it-or-not

    Mary Beckman, "Working in a Government Lab",
    http://chronicle.com/article/Working-in-a-Government-Lab/45212/

    "Jobs (and Internships) at the National Labs"
    http://energy.gov/jobs-national-labs

    Argonne National Laboratory magazine
    http://www.anl.gov/downloads/argonne-now-spring-2016

    Livermore National Laboratory magazine
    https://str.llnl.gov/

    Los Alamos National Laboratory magazine
    http://www.lanl.gov/discover/publications/1663/index.php

    National Renewable Energy Laboratory magazine
    http://www.nrel.gov/continuum/analysis/

    Oak Ridge National Laboratory magazine
    http://web.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/

    Sandia National Laboratory magazine
    http://www.sandia.gov/news/publications/research_magazine/

    Kevin Fogarty, "When Background Checks Make for Tough Interview Questions"
    https://cdn.theladders.net/static/images/editorial/weekly/pdfs/tough_interview_questions090729.pdf

    "US Government Clearance Form (Nonsensitive)"
    https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf85.pdf

    Assignment: Find an internship or job at a National Lab that you think you would be interested in. Write a 3-paragraph cover letter to accompany your (imaginary) application. Email me the job or internship posting and your cover letter.


  7. 22 June 2015 - Industrial Jobs

    Due: The cover letter for your National Lab job or internship application.

    Peter Fiske, "The Commandments of Cover Letter Creation":
    http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/1996/12/commandments-cover-letter-creation

    Some personal recollections of an industrial job at Bell Helicopter:
    http://www.bellhelicopter.com

    MONSTER, a general job site (1000 jobs):
    http://www.monster.com/jobs/search/?q=computer&where=&where=&&client=classic

    CRA, the Computing Research Association website (57 jobs, academic only!):
    http://cra.org/

    Peter Fiske, "Jobs in Industry versus Jobs in National Labs":
    http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/1999/07/jobs-industry-vs-jobs-national-labs

    FSU Engineering Day, current list of employers:
    http://career.fsu.edu/Students/Events/Engineering-Day

    Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab Jobs:
    http://www.jhuapl.edu/employment/

    Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab Internships:
    http://www.jhuapl.edu/employment/brochures/SummerInternship.pdf

    SIAM Internship and Career Information in Industry, Research Institutions, and Government Labs:
    http://www.siam.org/careers/internships.php

    Julio Peironcely, "Leaving Academia: How to Get a Job in Industry After Your PhD:"
    http://www.nextscientist.com/job-in-industry-after-your-phd/

    K. C. Sockwell, "Should I Stay or Should I Go? Checking Out the Job Market:"
    http://people.sc.fsu.edu/~kcs12j/
    Bettis Labs job posting:
    class07/bettis_job.pdf
    D E Shaw job posting:
    class07/deshaw_job.pdf

    Assignment: Finish your second draft and submit it to me electronically.


  8. 29 June 2015 - Resumes, Interviews

    Due: Document Draft #2

    Susan Ireland, "10 Steps: How to Write a Resume":
    http://susanireland.com/resume/how-to-write/

    Jung ChemEng, "Resume": class08/resume_chemeng.pdf

    Peter Chu, "Resume": class08/resume_chu.pdf

    Debarghya Das, "Resume": class08/resume_das.pdf

    Maria MarineScientist, "Resume": class08/resume_marinescientist.pdf

    John Smith, "Resume": class08/resume_mith.pdf

    Dora Farkas, "I just got my PhD: Am I ready for an industrial job?"
    http://thepostdocway.com/content/i-just-got-my-phd-am-i-ready-industrial-job

    Dora Farkas, "Enhance Your Career Planning Through Networking and LinkedIn"
    http://finishyourthesis.com/career-planning/

    FSU Career Center, "The First Interview:"
    http://career.fsu.edu/content/download/325499/2196396/The%20First%20Job%20Interview.pdf

    Zachary Ives, "Interviewing in a Tight Job Market"
    http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~zives/research/job-article.pdf

    Joe Fruscione, "You Have an Interview, Now What?"
    http://theprofessorisin.com/2014/05/06/you-have-an-interview-now-what-fruscione-3/

    The Interview Guys, "Top 10 Job Interview Questions"
    http://theinterviewguys.com/top-10-job-interview-questions/

    Some Interview Questions
    class08/questions.txt

    Assignment: Look at the job descriptions posted for next week's class. Create a resume specifically designed to apply for one such job. You are permitted to assume you have graduated, and to add a few plausible skills and other items to your resume. Send me your resume and mention the job you are after.


  9. 06 July 2015 - Tag-Team Interviews

    Tag-Team Interviews: Students will have mock-interviews for an academic, lab, or industry job. They will be questioned about their resume, suitability for the job, personality, programming skills, and logical thinking. Students should come to class with a resume targeted for one of the following jobs:

    Bard College at Simon's Rock:
    https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/jobs/8844

    Computational Science and Engineering at Lawrence Berkeley Lab:
    https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/jobs/8445

    Gaming Laboratories International:
    https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/jobs/8728

    IXL Learning and Math, Engineering Education:
    https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/jobs/8767

    Mobility Ware:
    https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/jobs/8444

    National Institute of Standards and Technology:
    https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/jobs/8434

    Teach Mathematical Biology at St Olaf's College:
    https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/jobs/8642

    Postdoc in Medical Imaging and Machine Learning:
    https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/jobs/8599

    Assignment: On a single sheet of paper, draw or type an outline of a poster to accompany your presentation of your document at the final class.


  10. 13 July 2015 - Posters; Recommendations;

    Due: Your poster outline.

    Colin Purrington, "Designing conference posters",
    http://colinpurrington.com/tips/poster-design

    A gallery of 10 posters to judge:
    class10/poster_gallery.pdf

    The Ten Commandments of Poster Design, as decreed by our class:
    class10/poster_commandments.html

    Matt Might, "How to get a Great Letter of Recommendation"
    http://matt.might.net/articles/how-to-recommendation-letter/

    Jud Northbark, "Recommendation For Noah Bottie"
    class10/recommendation_sample.pdf

    Assignment: Create a poster to accompany your presentation. You should find an appropriate poster format, and the result should be a PDF file.


  11. 20 July 2015 - Bye Week (Half the class will be in Miami)

  12. 27 July 2015 - Presentations; Getting Skills and Credentials; Career Choices

    Due: The PDF of your poster for the Conference on Scientific Communication

    Jonathan Shewchuk, "Giving an Academic Talk",
    https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~jrs/speaking.html

    Colin Purrington, "Giving Science Talks",
    http://colinpurrington.com/tips/science-talks

    Michael Ernst, "Giving a technical presentation",
    https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~mernst/advice/giving-talk.html

    Ian Parberry, "How to present a paper in theoretical computer science: A speaker's guide for students",
    http://larc.unt.edu/ian/pubs/speaker.pdf

    A Periodic Centroidal Voronoi Tessellation
    class12/cvt_periodic_2016_fsu.pdf

    Coursera
    https://www.coursera.org

    The New York Times, "Harvard and MIT Team Up to Offer Free Online Courses
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/education/harvard-and-mit-team-up-to-offer-free-online-courses.html?_r=0

    EdX
    https://www.edx.org

    The New York Times, "Udacity says it can teach skills to millions, and fast"
    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/17/technology/udacity-says-it-can-teach-tech-skills-to-millions.html?_r=0

    Udacity, "Checklist for Data Scientist"
    class12/data_analyst_checklist.pdf

    SIAM: Thinking of a Career in Applied Mathematics?:
    http://www.siam.org/careers/thinking.php

    Exercise: The "Pick a Packet" Puzzle
    class12/packets_puzzle.html

    1. I give you the rules, ask you to figure it out and do it;
    2. I let you watch me do it, ask you to do it.
    3. I watch you do it, and make occasional comments.
    4. I help you do it.


  13. 03 August 2015 - The Conference on Scientific Communication

    Poster for the conference
    class13/scicom.pdf

    Due: Final document version.

    Contributed presentations:


  14. You can return to the CLASSES web page.


    Last revised on 28 July 2016.