Introduction

From February 9-11, 2004, the School for Information and Knowledge Systems (SIKS) organizes a new Basic course "Research methods and methodology for IKS". The location will be Conference center Het Bosgoed in Lunteren.

The course will be given in English and is part of the new Basic Course Program for SIKS-Ph.D. students, that started in 2003. Although the course is primarily intended for SIKS-Ph.D. students, other participants are not excluded. However, their number of passes will be restricted and depends on the number of SIKS-Ph.D. students taking the course.

"Research methods and methodology for IKS" is relevant for all SIKS-Ph.D.-students (whether working in computer science or in information science), The primary goal of this hands-on course is to enable these Ph.D. students to make a good research design for their own research project. To this end, it provides an interactive training in various elements of research design, such as the conceptual design and the research planning. But the course also contains a general introduction to the philosophy of science (and particularly to the philosophy of mathematics, computer science and AI). And, it addresses such divergent topics as "the case-study method", "elementary research methodology for the empirical sciences" and "empirical methods for computer science".

Program

is now available

This course demands an active role for all participants!

All student enrolling for the course are requested to submit a summary of their research proposal. For students working not for more than 9 months yet and still exploring their research plan, the summary can be restricted to one paragraph. All others are asked to submit a summary between 100 and 1000 words. Try to be concise on the background of the research and focus on the design of the project (what you want to learn or achieve and how).

Please add the following items to your summary explicitly:

• research objective (one sentence)
• research area (AI, Software Engineering, Databases, IS design, ..)
• research strategy. Choose one or more of the following research strategies that you have used or plan to use to achieve your research objective
  • Literature survey
  • Empirical survey
  • Case study
  • Action research
  • Computer simulation
  • Software experiments
  • Lab experiments with users
  • Model development (mathematical, logical, statistical)
  • Other, namely: ....

Your summary should be submitted before January, 24 as Word or pdf-file to H.Weigand@uvt.nl

Nota bene: your research plan will not be "marked" or evaluated. With the feedback you get in the form of questions plus the experience you will gain in the course, you may be able to improve your research plan on certain points. That is the goal.

Course coordinators

Hans Weigand(UvT), Roel Wieringa(UT), John-Jules Meyer(UU), Richard Starmans(UU)

Costs

full arrangement: 2 nights-stay, meals and course material included

Fully registrated SIKS-Ph.D.-student:	no charge
SIKS-research fellow/associated member:	300 EURO
Ph.D.-students from IPA, ASCI,OZSL, TRAIL, BETHA or JF Schouten Institute:	300 EURO
Other academic participants:	450 EURO
Non-academic participants:	600 EURO

same arrangement, but bed and breakfast excluded

Fully registrated SIKS-Ph.D.-student:	no charge
SIKS-research fellow/associated member:	150 EURO
Ph.D.-students from IPA, ASCI,OZSL, TRAIL, BETHA or JF Schouten Institute:	200 EURO
Other academic participants:	300 EURO
Non-academic participants:	450 EURO

Registration

In the conference center there is a limited number of places and there is interest from other groups in the topic as well. Therefore, an early registration is required.

Deadline for registration for SIKS-Ph.D.-students: January 26 2004

After that date, applications to participate will be honoured in a first-come first-serve manner. Of course, applications to participate from other interested groups are welcome already. They will receive a notification whether they can participate as soon as possible.

Information for non-SIKS Ph.D.- students
SIKS needs a confirmation from your supervisor/office that they agree with the arrangement and paying conditions.

For registration you are kindly requested to fill in the registration form