Introduction to Research

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Credits
6
Types
Elective
Requirements
This subject has not requirements, but it has got previous capacities
Department
FIB
The aim of this subject is for the student to get started in the technological research tasks specific to Artificial Intelligence. The aim is for the student to become familiar with research by collaborating with the UPC research groups related to Artificial Intelligence. The student will be tutored by a professor of the Degree in Artificial Intelligence. In this process, you will be able to adopt the guidelines specific to the research task, which may include participation in existing projects, the verification of hypotheses, the writing of scientific publications and, in general, those activities that the tutor considers appropriate for to contribute to an initial training in research.

Teachers

Person in charge

  • Ramon Sangüesa Sole ( )

Weekly hours

Theory
1
Problems
0
Laboratory
3
Guided learning
0
Autonomous learning
6

Competences

Transversal Competences

Transversals

  • CT3 - Efficient oral and written communication. Communicate in an oral and written way with other people about the results of learning, thinking and decision making; Participate in debates on topics of the specialty itself.
  • CT4 - Teamwork. Be able to work as a member of an interdisciplinary team, either as a member or conducting management tasks, with the aim of contributing to develop projects with pragmatism and a sense of responsibility, taking commitments taking into account available resources.
  • CT5 - Solvent use of information resources. Manage the acquisition, structuring, analysis and visualization of data and information in the field of specialty and critically evaluate the results of such management.
  • CT7 - Third language. Know a third language, preferably English, with an adequate oral and written level and in line with the needs of graduates.
  • CT8 - Gender perspective. An awareness and understanding of sexual and gender inequalities in society in relation to the field of the degree, and the incorporation of different needs and preferences due to sex and gender when designing solutions and solving problems.

Technical Competences

Especifics

  • CE29 - To elaborate, present and defend before a university committee an original exercise carried out individually, consisting of a project in the field of artificial intelligence, in which the skills acquired all along the courses in the career teaching are synthesized and integrated.

Generic Technical Competences

Generic

  • CG1 - To ideate, draft, organize, plan and develop projects in the field of artificial intelligence.
  • CG2 - To use the fundamental knowledge and solid work methodologies acquired during the studies to adapt to the new technological scenarios of the future.
  • CG3 - To define, evaluate and select hardware and software platforms for the development and execution of computer systems, services and applications in the field of artificial intelligence.
  • CG4 - Reasoning, analyzing reality and designing algorithms and formulations that model it. To identify problems and construct valid algorithmic or mathematical solutions, eventually new, integrating the necessary multidisciplinary knowledge, evaluating different alternatives with a critical spirit, justifying the decisions taken, interpreting and synthesizing the results in the context of the application domain and establishing methodological generalizations based on specific applications.
  • CG6 - To identify opportunities for innovative applications of artificial intelligence and robotics in constantly evolving technological environments.
  • CG8 - Perform an ethical exercise of the profession in all its facets, applying ethical criteria in the design of systems, algorithms, experiments, use of data, in accordance with the ethical systems recommended by national and international organizations, with special emphasis on security, robustness , privacy, transparency, traceability, prevention of bias (race, gender, religion, territory, etc.) and respect for human rights.

Objectives

  1. Knowledge and practice of the scientific method
    Related competences: CT4, CT5, CG1, CT3, CG2, CG4, CG8,
  2. Conocimiento y práctica de los métodos de investigación en IA
    Related competences: CT3, CT4, CT5, CT7, CT8, CG1, CG2, CG4, CG6, CG8,
  3. Ability to reason and give arguments to discuss and validate research methods and results.
    Related competences: CT3, CT5, CT7, CE29, CG1, CG3, CG4, CG8,

Contents

  1. Research Activity: Plan
    Preparation of the research plan: objectives, preparation of the state of the art, selection of experimental method, design of experiments, validation criteria.
  2. Research: development of the activity itself
    Experimentation, development of algorithms and their testing, preparation of hardware or embedded systems, discussion of results with the tutor and review of hypotheses
  3. Documentation preparation
    Preparation of research reports, articles and/or scientific conference type presentations
  4. Presentation and defense of the research process and its results.
    Final evaluation task of the research carried out

Activities

Activity Evaluation act


Preparation oif the Research Project

Information by the tutor about the context, objective and scope of their participation in the research project. Joint agreement on milestones and time alloted, as well as the type of final result to expect from the student participation. Presentation and discussion of the research plan, method to follow, data sources, bibliographic and software sources and, in general, everything you need to know and have at hand to start and follow the research project. Agreement on periodicity and form of review throughout the project. Agreement and definition of internal documentation formats, and publication format and possible participation in scientific conferences. Decision on the type of storage environments for developed software. Sharing criteria and licenses of the developed software. Criteria for protection and sharing of other research results.
Objectives: 1 2
Contents:
Theory
5h
Problems
0h
Laboratory
0h
Guided learning
0h
Autonomous learning
10h

Development of the research project

Development of the research project
Objectives: 1 2 3
Contents:
Theory
5h
Problems
0h
Laboratory
40h
Guided learning
0h
Autonomous learning
75h

Documentation

Preparation of internal reports, software and hardware development documentation, information on all types of resources needed to use and replicate research results: repositories, specific computing systems, hardware and software configurations, specific hardware devices, sets of data used and its place of storage and form of sharing; bibliographies, written articles, possible conference presentations, etc. Preparation of the final report of the research project.
Objectives: 1 2 3
Contents:
Theory
5h
Problems
0h
Laboratory
5h
Guided learning
0h
Autonomous learning
0h

Defense and publication

Oral presentation with supporting resources (audiovisuals, simulators, models, hardware models, etc.) of the work done. Discussion and final evaluation. Possible publication in a scientific journal or presentation at a scientific congress. Delivery of the research report.
Objectives: 3
Contents:
Theory
0h
Problems
0h
Laboratory
0h
Guided learning
0h
Autonomous learning
5h

Teaching methodology

The teaching methodology is eminently practical. It will be necessary to develop practical activities specific to the research, organized in collaboration with the tutor. It is expected that the student will go through, guided by the tutor, a process of understanding research objectives, planning research tasks, preparation and evaluation of the state of the art, original research proposal and development and testing of the specific research tasks agreed with the tutor.

Evaluation methodology

The assessment of the students is organised by the activity tutor.

The assessment seeks to gauge the quality of the work carried out by the student from the point of view of its consistency and agreement with the research methods and the objectives and methodological particularities of the specific research carried out.

To do so, the student must (a) prepare a short report (in the style of a scientific article or presentation at a scientific conference) and (b) present and hold a discussion with his/her tutor who will then evaluate the students work.

It is recommended to structure this report and its in-person discussion as a presentation at a scientific conference. Therefore, it must have clear sections for a summary ("abstract"), introduction, development, conclusion and discussion of the results obtained and their relationship with the objectives of the research, in addition to a bibliography section. It is recommended to make available the data used in the development of the research (using an accessible repository such as Gitlab), so that the scientific community can check how any algorithm developed in the research works.

The assessment of the skills is based on the work done. The grade A B C D is calculated based on a detailed rubric that will be given to the students at the beginning of the course.

Bibliography

Basic:

Complementary:

Previous capacities

Those acquired during the previous courses of the degree.