1 Research Centers in Computer Science: A New Way of Doing Science Fred Roberts, DIMACS, Rutgers University

2 Why Centers? Today’s research challenges in CS often require large teams of researchers with many different backgrounds. Increasing recognition that research and education should be integrated. There are opportunities for new kinds of collaborations among universities, industry, and government.

3 Many Kinds of Centers There are many models of centers. Many are limited to one university. At Rutgers, there are over 50 “centers, bureaus, and institutes” in many topics. Major federal programs in US encouraging ambitious centers: Science and Technology Centers program started in 1988 (initially 2 in CS) Engineering Research Centers started even earlier Mathematical Sciences Research Institutes

4 New Kinds of Partnerships Some centers have partners across sectors: Several universities Industry affiliates Government partnerships Industry and government can be real partner or serve advisory role.

5 New Kinds of Partnerships: DIMACS Partners Partner Universities: Rutgers University, Princeton University Partner Industrial Research Labs: AT&T Labs, Bell Labs, NEC Laboratories America, Telcordia Technologies Affiliated Universities: Georgia Tech, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Stevens Institute of Technology Affiliated Industrial Research Labs: Avaya Labs, HP Labs, IBM Research, Microsoft Research

6 What do Centers Do?

7 Research! Projects that would be hard for individual investigator or small group of investigators Often interdisciplinary. Often working on “high risk, high reward” problems Some work on fairly narrow but complex problems Center mode of operation especially relevant to outreach from CS to other disciplines

8 Centers and Research Outreach Computational Biology

9 Centers and Research Outreach Security Face detection Health Data Privacy Communication security

10 Centers and Research Outreach CS and the Social Sciences Game theory Auctions

11 Centers and Research Outreach Digital Government Electronic Voting

12 Centers and Research Outreach Computational Epidemiology AIDS

13 What Else Do Centers Do? Conferences & Workshops Tutorials & Shortcourses Some specialized, some not Some small, some large Typically open to others outside the center National and international scope

14 What Else Do Centers Do? Integration of Research and Education Educational Programs at All Levels Postdoctoral training Graduate students Undergraduates Research Experiences for Undergraduates Very important in focusing talented students on graduate education

15 What Else Do Centers Do? Integration of Research and Education Educational Programs at All Levels Precollege programs For students For teachers Introduce teachers and students to excitement of modern CS Kindergarten through high school

16 What Else Do Centers Do? Visitor Programs Short term stays Longer-term exchanges of senior and junior faculty and students

17 What Else Do Centers Do? Dissemination of Results Technical Reports Book Series Educational “modules”

18 What Else Do Centers Do? Public Outreach Lecturers popularizing CS Working with museums Working with zoos

19 What Else Do Centers Do? Technology Transfer Working closely with industry and government Training courses for industry and government researchers Industry and government researchers as visitors

20 What Else Do Centers Do? International Partnerships Joint workshops/conferences Joint research projects Faculty and student exchanges

21 Centers are a New Way of Doing Science Centers are a new way of doing science. They can play an important role in the future of Computer Science