1. Interdisciplinary Computational Graduate Purdue: A Proposal for Growth Ananth Grama Computational Science and Engg.

2. Background Interdisciplinary Computational Programs include
Computational Science and Engineering
Computational Life Sciences
Computational Science and Engineering is one of the most highly ranked academic programs at Purdue (top 5 by the most recent Chronicle ranking).
Computational Life Sciences is more recent, in comparison, and targets a rapidly growing area.

3. Background
There are other graduate programs that have potential overlap with computational programs, for e.g., PULSE.
As the computational landscape evolves, other programs are being proposed.

4. Background An important emerging area is Data Science.
There is strong interest on campus to initiate a graduate program, along the lines of CSE, in Data Science.
There is interest within the PULSE community to initiate a training group in Computational Biology.

5. Questions.
How do we coordinate all of these important activities across campus to:
Best leverage limited resources
Ensure success for each of the programs, as opposed to competing against each other
Provide a mechanism by which new programs can be initiated/ seeded for success
Represent the needs of these programs effectively to the administration
Coordinate with other campus initiatives such as hiring and large interdisciplinary research projects
Provide best student experiences

6. Interdisciplinary Computational Programs
Resources for Graduate Programs
Graduate fellowships
Support for seminars
Support for student activities
Administrative support
Researchers in residence

7. Proposed Model for ICGP
Develop an administrative structure for various programs, allowing for flexibility both in terms of new programs, as well as within existing programs.
Develop policies for proposing new programs, standard set of guidelines, and processes for approval.
Develop a uniform curricular framework for all Interdisciplinary Computational Programs.
Allocate adequate resources for all programs in terms of Graduate Fellowships, Seminar Series, and Visitor Programs.
Provide a single unified administrative support structure that would avoid duplication of services across the programs.

8. Proposed Administrative Structure
Director of Interdisciplinary Computational Programs
Interdisciplinary computational programs graduate committee (comprised of coordinators of all specializations)
Coordinator for each specialization
Graduate committees for each specialization

9. Proposed Administrative Structure
Interdisciplinary Computational Programs (ICP) Graduate Committee
Responsibilities of this committee include:
Creation of new programs, assisting existing programs
Allocating resources across programs (graduate fellowships, seminars)
Ensuring consistency of curricular requirements
Leveraging resources across programs (including administrative and secretarial support)
Liaison with distance education programs and various departments
Organizing various interdisciplinary events (including recruitment, outreach)
Executing interdisciplinary educational projects (GAANNs, IGERTS)

10. Proposed Administrative Structure
Graduate Committees for Various Specializations
Each specialization will have its own graduate committee. These committees with be charged with the overall success of the associated programs. Specifically, responsibilities of these committees include:
Curriculum development, maintenance
Administering allocated resources (fellowships and seminars)
Ensuring that core and elective courses are offered in a timely manner
Maintaining an active seminar/ speaker series
Ensuring timely progress of students towards their specializations
Arbitrating student exceptions, appeals
Working with graduate school to enhance student experiences, from application to graduation

11. Resources and Commitments
We propose a number of steps for establishing the program:
Once the two existing computational programs (CSE and CLS) and the newly proposed program (Data Sciences) agree with the basic framework, the graduate school should establish the ICP Graduate Committee and appoint a Director.
The University/ Graduate School must commit adequate resources to various specializations. These must ensure viability of programs and must balance resources with respect to other existing programs with the graduate school. To this end, we propose four fellowships for each of the specializations (a total of twelve fellowships for the three programs, combined).

12. Resources and Commitments
The University/ Graduate School much commit adequate administrative support for the program. The current work of Ms. Anita Park and Ms. Natasha Bosanac is much appreciated. We request the graduate school to provide Ms. Park with full time secretarial support (instead of a part time graduate research assistant).
The University/ Graduate School must provide adequate support for a minimal set of seminars for each of the specializations. We believe this number should be six seminars/year for each specialization. The total of 18 seminars (across all specializations) would require a budget of roughly $18K (assuming a conservative allocation of $1K/seminar).
The Graduate School should negotiate release time for the Director with her/his home department. This is a significant commitment on the part of the individual, and it must be recognized by the department.

13. Resources and Commitments
In an ideal world:
The program would have the ability to support creation of new programs. This typically requires creation of one to two bridge courses. Faculty time for designing these courses would be very helpful.
The program would have a physical presence. This would include offices for the Managing Director (Ms. Park), a secretary, the Director, and offices for medium term academic visitors (this may be asking too much?)

14. State of the Program: Computational Science and Engineering @ Purdue

15. Current State of Program
One of the premier programs in the country (ranked #5 by the Chronicle of Higher Education, 2007; most recent ranking available)
One of the largest programs world-wide with over 100 affiliated faculty and 140 graduate students
CSE faculty contribute in leadership roles to some of the largest research efforts on campus (NEES, DoE PRISM, CSoI NSF STC), along with many other interdisciplinary efforts
CSE faculty have been supported by two US Department of Education GAANN grants over the past eight years.
CSE students provide critical expertise to a broad set of projects

16. Current State of Program
Since the inception of the program (in mid 90s), the program has not changed structurally. This is in spite of significant changes in the computational and applications landscape.
The program is largely viewed as an education program (as distinct from research Centers, for e.g., the Computational Research Institute)
The primary role of the Program is to coordinate a set of courses across disciplines and to recruit students through a small set of fellowships (three).

17. CSE Related Peer Programs
views programs at University of Texas (ICES), Stanford (CAAM), University of Illinois (CS&E), University of Maryland (UMIACS), and Georgia Tech as its peers.
Each of these institutions has broader agendas, significantly larger pool of resources (dedicated faculty lines, research support, atleast 4x to 10x the budget), or fully dedicated Departments (GaTech).
In view of this, it is unlikely that will maintain its premier position, unless critical steps are taken.

18. CSE – Strategic Opportunities
Research is an integral component of graduate education. Is it beneficial to isolate education (CSE’s perceived mission) and research?
All peer institutions have physical and academic presence for their programs. These are used to house researchers, development teams, visitors, etc., in addition to full-time academic personnel.

19. CSE – Broadening Horizons
The application scope of CSE has broadened considerably since its inception.
Among major new applications are life sciences (bioinformatics and computational biology), social sciences (social media and networking), economics and game theory, and cyber-physical systems.
These applications are served by a fragmented set of stake-holders on campus. There is a critical need for strategic thinking and making more effective use of limited resources.

20. CSE Path Forward
Purdue cannot compete within the current three fellowship + administrative support model. The charter and goals of CSE programs nationwide are much broader and deeper.
CSE must have a coherent strategy for broadly recruiting the best graduate students and researchers, providing a home for visitors and support staff, and must compete for and support large interdisciplinary computational efforts.
Can CSE adopt a PULSE-like model?

21. CSE Path Forward
The resources for necessary strategic retooling of currently exist within Purdue, but are dispersed in ways that are not efficient.
CSE faculty have excelled in their mission thus far, have a demonstrated track record of success, and are able and willing to provide critically needed leadership.
CSE is one of the highest ranked programs at Purdue and must be fostered.

22. Near Term Efforts Reaching out to graduate students
I am available to present the program to your graduate students (perhaps, in your seminar series), to get them excited.
Building educational collaborations
Help with IGERTS, GAANNS
Integrating with research projects
Reaching out to administrators