Current Trends in
Databases
Second
semester 2008/09
K.U. Leuven, Department of Computer Science
University Hasselt, Department of Sciences and Informatics
University of Antwerp,
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
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Welcome
to the course homepage!
Time
plan,
the
packages for the
themes, and
the
reference papers for the themes
>>> New: detailed
schedule for the 3 mini-conferences
Please read on for background and concept:
Concept
of the course:
The course is an
advanced, research-oriented course to be taken as
"Databases 3" (it requires prior completion of Introduction to
Databases and Advanced Databases, or equivalent knowledge).
The course will make students familiar both with selected current
topics in
Database research and with scientific
methods of
working - relevant both for students
interested in (continuing) research and for everybody who wants
to read and write critically!
The course will profit from the expertise of
the 3 sites (Antwerp, Hasselt, Leuven) and cover current research
papers in 3 themes:
- K.U. Leuven: Web mining, including XML Retrieval
- U. Antwerp: Peer to peer and data exchange systems
- U. Hasselt: Querying sequence data
Who
are we? (in alphabetical order)
Learning
outcomes:
Students
will gain in-depth knowledge of selected topics in Databases, and they
will practice scientific reading and writing (including reviewing other
people's work), and scientific collaboration.
Mode:
The course
is planned as a one-semester course with 4 interactive sessions:
- introduction (local at each of
the three sites)
- mini-conference I (at one of
the 3 sites) - presentation and discussion of introductory papers in
the 3 themes ("papers" can also be book chapters)
- mini-conference II (at a second of the 3 sites) -
presentation and discussion of intermediate papers in the 3 themes
- mini-conference III and wrap-up (at the third of the 3
sites) - presentation and discussion of advanced papers in the 3 themes
Please note that the distinction
introductory/intermediate/advanced refers very much to content. It
does not necessarily
mean that
the work is "easy", "middle" and "hard", or that it will be "simple" to
get a good grade on the first one and "impossible" to get a good grade
on the last one!
Evaluation is
ongoing - you will work on tasks and present
your results in writing and oral presentation. Specifically, each
student will be
- a presenter of a chosen topic
and
- an "opponent" of another student's topic.
Together (with clearly distributed tasks and some common tasks), the
two who work on one topic will
- review the paper(s) presenting the topic
- present the results in class
- prepare questions for the discussion in class
- lead the discussion
- write a protocol of the presentation session
- collect new questions and criticism that arises, and
prepare a final report resolving those issues
In addition, everyone will take an active
part in the research discussions.
We look forward to creating a great course together with you!
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