Keynote Speech
Prof. Baochun Li
Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Toronto
Title:
Writing Perfect Papers (Abridged and Updated, 2023)
Date & Time:
9:00 - 10:00 am, 2 June 2023 (Fri) GMT +8 (Hong Kong Time)
Venue:
AAB205, Academic and Administration Building, Baptist University Road Campus, HKBU
ABSTRACT
For beginners and senior researchers alike, writing academic research papers is hard. Invariably, we ask the same question again and again about writing papers: how do I write a good paper that can be accepted to a good conference or journal? I believe that it is not sufficient to write a good paper — we will need to write perfect papers. In pursuit for such perfection from the title to the references, and from the first to the last page, in this talk, I will share a select few of my past experiences on writing academic research papers, that hopefully can be quite general and be applicable to a wide range of research areas. I have delivered a two-hour version of this talk online in July 2021, and will present an abridged and updated version in this talk.
BIOGRAPHY
Baochun Li received his B.Engr. degree from the Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, China, in 1995 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, in 1997 and 2000. Since 2000, he has been with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto, where he is currently a Professor. He holds the Bell Canada Endowed Chair in Computer Engineering since August 2005. His current research interests include cloud computing, security and privacy, distributed machine learning, federated learning, and networking.
Dr. Li has co-authored more than 440 research papers, with a total of over 24000 citations, an H-index of 86 and an i10-index of 314, according to Google Scholar Citations. He was the recipient of the IEEE Communications Society Leonard G. Abraham Award in the Field of Communications Systems in 2000. In 2009, he was a recipient of the Multimedia Communications Best Paper Award from the IEEE Communications Society, and a recipient of the University of Toronto McLean Award. He is a member of ACM and a Fellow of IEEE.
Important Dates and Schedule
Important Dates
- Student report submission: 23:00, May 26 (Friday), 2023 (submission link: https://www.comp.hkbu.edu.hk/v1/pgday/)
- PG day: June 2 (Friday), 2023
Schedule
2023 COMP PG Day Schedule of Student Presentations (Friday, June 2, 2023) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
09:00-09:05 | Opening speech by Prof. Jianliang Xu in AAB205 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
09:05-10:00 | Invited Keynote Talk by Prof. Baochun Li in AAB205 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10:00-10:10 | Group Photo Taking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10:20-17:15 | Student Presentations in Four Tracks (with Lunch Break) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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17:15-17:30 | Panel Discussion for selection of Best Research/Presentation Awards in AAB504 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
17:15-18:30 | Poster Reception in AAB205 (best poster award selection voted by all panel members and students) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18:30 | Closing ceremony with award presentation in AAB205 |
2023 COMP PG Day Schedule of Outdoor Activities (Saturday, June 3, 2023) | ||||
08:00-09:00 | Transportation (HKBU to Camp) | |||
09:00-16:00 | Day Camp Activities, HKAYP Jockey Club Duke of Edinburgh Training Camp, Tai Po [Detailed Booklet] | |||
16:00-17:00 | Transportation (Camp to HKBU) |
Venue
- Opening, Keynote talk, Poster Reception and Closing Ceremony: AAB205
- Presentation rooms: AAB504 (Track 1) & AAB505 (Track 2) & AAB506 (Track 3) & AAB508 (Track 4)
- Lunch: Renfrew Restaurant, DLB 2/F
Awards
The department will offer Research Excellence Award, Best Presentation Award and Best Poster Award to students who are judged to show best performance in report , presentation or poster. The department will present the recipient with cash award and certificate.Introduction
Postgraduate Research Symposium (PG Day) is targeted to keep track of students’ research progress and enhance their performance, as well as allowing them to share ideas among professors and students. The 2023 26th PG Day will be held on June 2 (Friday), 2023.
In 2023, the event is compulsory for ALL full-time Ph.D. students within normal study period. Each student is required to submit a paper to report her/his research progress, and present her/his research work on PG day in form of presentation.
- Report: the student is required to submit a report to summarize her/his research progress in the past one year. The requirements for students in year 1, year 2 and year 3+ are different. Please find details here.
- Presentation: the student is required to present her/his report on PG day. Notice that this year there will be a Q&A session for each student, which covers around half of presentation time. You will be asked by three panel members. The suggested rundown of your presentation is listed here.
- Poster: after presentation, there will be a poster session public to all faculty members and research students. Each full-time Ph.D. student is required to prepare a poster in advance and present it in during the poster session. The detailed requirements can be found here.
Student Report and Presentation
Your report and presentation must be of high quality. Each report and presentation will be reviewed by THREE panel members. For year 1 students, the presentation lasts for 20 minutes (including 10 minutes Q&A); for year 2 and 3+ students, the presentation lasts for 25 minutes (including 12 minutes Q&A). The detailed requirements and assessment criteria are listed below.
The report should include:
- Literature survey: a clear description of the most relevant background material you have learned so far;
- The tentative research questions to be explored;
- Description of the methods that will be used;
- Results obtained, even if preliminary ones;
- Future plan;
- References;
- Your co-authored publications if any (listed at a separate page).
- Introduction/Motivation: 2 minutes
- Literature survey: 3 minutes
- Research questions: 2 minutes
- Proposal/plan: 3 minutes
- Q&A: 10 minutes (must)
- Students should demonstrate their understanding of the field of study;
- Student have made a reasonable start to the specific project;
- Students can demonstrate an understanding of the direction of their project;
- Students should have the potential to pursue research.
The report should include:
- Clear statement of your research problem and objectives;
- Detail the research methodology being used/proposed;
- Discuss the implications of any results obtained and how they relate to previous work;
- If the project has not reached the stage of generating significant amounts of results, more emphasis needs to be placed on the relevant design/building/theoretical issues;
- What you need to do to complete the work;
- References;
- Your co-authored publications if any (listed at a separate page).
- Introduction/Motivation: 2 minutes
- Related work: 3 minutes
- Proposed methodology: 4 minutes
- Results: 3 minutes
- Future plan: 1 minute
- Q&A: 12 minutes (must)
- Students should have understood the research problem;
- Students should have acquired the skills required to solve the problem;
- Students can write clearly about an scientific topic in their report;
- Students can explain and defend their work in the oral presentation;
- Students’ plan for completing the work within the deadline is realistic;
- Ideally the report can be turned into a published paper, or into a chapter of the student’s thesis.
The report should include:
- Clear statement of your research problem, which is to form the core of your thesis;
- Present relevant theoretical and methodological issues;
- Original contribution to knowledge in the field of study. The originality shall be shown by the discovery of new facts or theories, or the development of new methods;
- Technical and procedural aspects of data collection and analysis;
- Any significant results obtained and how they relate to previous work;
- What you need to do to complete the work;
- References;
- Your co-authored publications if any (listed at a separate page).
- Introduction/Motivation: 2 minutes.
- Related work: 2 minutes
- Proposed methodology: 4 minutes
- Results: 4 minutes
- Conclusion: 1 minute
- Q&A: 12 minutes (must)
- Students should demonstrate an advanced level of knowledge and understanding in the field of study;
- Students should have taken the initiative to develop and structure a research problem, rigorous solution, and analysis;
- Student should show high integrity in all tasks of collecting, analyzing, and presenting research data;
- Students can explain and defend their work in the oral presentation;
- Students’ plan for completing the work within the deadline is realistic;
- Students can write-up the research in a clear, organized and concise manner.
Template
- For year 1 students: minimum 6 pages (2 columns) + 1 page of your publications (since the start of your PhD study);
- For year 2 and year 3+ students: minimum 8 pages (2 columns) + 1 page of your publications (since the start of your PhD study).
Submission link
The report must be in PDF format, and size should be less than 50 megabytes. Please submit here by 23:00, May 26 (Friday), 2023 .
Poster Session
In poster session, each student gets chance to show your research progress to all academic staff and the other research students. The format is designed to simulate a conference poster session.
- The poster should contain a brief introduction to the work and details of the research you have completed. The aim is to produce something that will both convey the key elements of your work and serve as an aid for you during more in-depth discussions. You should also be prepared to discuss the next stages of the research.
- Assessment: Your poster will be assessed by all panel members and attendees.
- Size: A2 paper size in portrait mode (420 × 594mm).
- Print: You should submit the poster (less than 50 megabytes) to this link before 23:00, May 26 (Friday), 2023, for printing. Otherwise, you need to print the poster by yourself and claim the cost to the department later.
- Set up: Please set up your poster at least 30 minutes earlier than the start of poster session.
Panel Members and Coordinator
Panel Members (for 2023 PG day)
- Prof. XU, Jianliang (Department Head)
- Prof. CHEUNG, William Kwok Wai
- Prof. CHOI, Byron Koon Kau
- Dr. CHEN, Jie
- Dr. CHEN, Li
- Dr. DAI, Henry Hong Ning
- Dr. HAN, Bo
- Dr. HUANG, Xin
- Dr. LIU, Yang
- Dr. MA, Jing
- Dr. WAN, Renjie
- Dr. WANG, Qichen
- Dr. YANG, Renchi
- Dr. ZHANG, Eric Lu