Andreas

Dewanto

TOWARD YOUR FIRST RESEARCH

andreas.dewanto@sps.nus.edu.sg

S12-02-09

6516-2817

Andreas Dewanto

ANDREW

Your First SPS Research in

SP2171: INDEPENDENT FOCUS

SPS Lingo
IS: InteracKve Session, SPSians cool way of referring
to tutorial
IF: Independent Focus, referring to the SP2171
literature review project in semester 2
IDS: Idea Discussion Session
A2M: Atoms to Molecules. Subsequently we call SPS
modules by Cell, Earth and Universe
7X is our shortcut to refer to SPS modules code (e.g.
73 refers to SP2173, etc)
Wolfram: SPSs self-acclaimed mascot

SP2171 Assessment Breakdown

ConKnual Assessment
MathemaTca Test (x 2)
Independent Focus proposal
Mid-semester progress
presentaTon
Independent Focus ConTnual
Assessment
Viva
Congress
Report
Total

Percentage (%)
20 (semester 1 &2)
10 (semester 1)
5 (semester 2)
10 (semester 2)
15 (semester 2)
15 (semester 2)
25 (semester 2)
100

80%

This is where we are now!!

Proposal (10%)

MathemaTca
(20%)

Progress + CA
(15%)

Independent Focus
(80%)

Report (Review)
(25%)

SP2171

Viva
(15%)
Congress
(15%)

What Shall You Do Next?

Year 1
Put down
a drae
proposal

Talk to the
mentors
and/or
sta

Submit the nal proposal to Dr.

Radhika (hardcopy) and IVLE
(soecopy) on Monday, 20 Oct
2014, 1200 hrs (12 noon)

Brainstorm
some idea (be
realisTc!)

Semester 1
Semester 2
Form a group of 2 to 3. Get
ready for Independent
Focus project in semester 2

SPS Mentors will

select the top
13-15 most
feasible projects

Dr. Radhika will

grade your
proposal (10%)

Put you Literature Review into hands-on project in SP3172

Year 2

A Brief Survey of

SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS

Means of ScienTc PublicaTons

Content

Readership

Examples

Journals

Technical/non-technical.
Specic to eld of study.
Based on latest
discoveries/studies.

ScienTsts, or
Nature, Science,
member of public Physics Review Leker,
with special
etc
interest
This is what we are interested in

Magazines

Non technical. Discuss

hokest (may not be the
latest) issues.

Public. No or likle Popular Science,

background in
ScienTc American,
science
American ScienTst, etc

Non-cTon
Book

Non technical. Based on

relaTvely well-
established knowledge.

Public. No or likle Stephen Hawkings

background in
Brief History of Time,
science
etc

Textbook

Technical. Reasonable
amount of background is
required. Based on
relaTvely well-
established knowledge.

Somebody who
wants to master
the topic (e.g.
students like
you!!!)

IntroducTon to
Quantum Mechanics
3rd ed, by David J.
Griths

Dierent Type of Journal Papers

CommunicaTon
ArTcles

Editorial News/Feature

Lekers

Review

Length

Content

Readership

Editorial

-1 page

Come from the editors. Non-

technical, and mostly meant
to generate awareness

ScienTsts/member of
public with interest

News/ Features/
Focus

-1 page

Slightly more technical than

ScienTsts/member of
editorial. Briey explain the
public with interest on the
latest and hokest discoveries subject

(Brief)
CommunicaTons

1-2 page

Technical. Breakthrough
result that needs fast
publicaTon, or rebukal.

Lekers

< 5 pages

Technical. Breakthrough/ new ScienTsts working acTvely

result. More details than
in the eld
CommunicaTons.

ArTcles

< 20 pages

Technical. Describe the

ongoing research in greater
details.

ScienTsts working acTvely

in the eld

Review

10 100++

Technical. Overview of
established research eld,
with challenges and future
works ahead.

ScienTsts who wants to

join the eld. May have
some background

ScienTsts working acTvely

in the eld

This is what you are going to produce in SP2171 Independent Focus!!!!

Since you are going to read a lot of papers

TYPICAL COMPOSITION OF A
JOURNAL PAPER

Title, authors & their aliaKons. Perhaps

you can recognize those big shots in the
eld to add credibility to the paper.
Abstract. Make or break!! You have a few
sentences to essenTally tell potenTal
readers why they should read your paper.
Be succinct!!
IntroducKon
- An overview of what has been
done and the drawbacks or
missing-links
- How can your work improve/
contribute to this study
- Outline the ow of your arTcle

Content.
Materials and method
(experimental research)
MathemaTcal derivaTon, proof or
calculaTon (theoreTcal research)
Result and discussion
Data analysis
Figures and graph
EssenTally, this is the part where
interested readers will delve into.

Conclusion. Summarize your work,

discuss future direcTon of the
research. SomeTmes authors give their
gut-feeling here

Acknowledgment. Acknowledge those

who deserve it: funding agency,
somebody who exchanges idea with
you (but whose contribuTon is not
signicant enough to warrant him/er as
the author of the paper), etc.
Tips: Readers tend to read the abstract,
skim through the introducTon and jump
to the conclusion. Only if they think the
paper is relevant, they will go through
the main contents J

References/Bibliography. If you do cite the paper, you should include it here. Its normally
arranged according to the order of appearance in the arTcle. But some referencing style
arrange it in the authors names alphabeTcal order. (e.g. APA style)

How to Get These Papers?

Google Scholars &
Wikipedia J
ScienTc search-
engines (PubMed, Web
of Science, etc)
Most of these arTcles
are NOT FREE!!! :P
Manual search in NUS
Libraries??? >_<

hkp://libportal.nus.edu.sg

1. Click here

2. Click this opTon

3. Type the name of the journal here

4. Click on the journal youre looking for

5. Login with your NUS Account

You can use this as a short-cut method!!

 libguides.nus.edu.sg/proxy_bookmarklet

How to Write

SCIENTIFIC PROPOSAL

What Science Can Learn from Business?

Think of markeTng!
You are selling your idea
to potenTal funding
agencies (buyer), in
return for $$$!
Vicious cycle: you need
good research record to
get $$$, but you need
(good idea, and also) $$$
to produce good record.
QuesTon: Why should
they pay for your idea?
Nature Materials, Vol. 11, April 2012

Funding Sources: Whom Do You Write To?

UniversiTes (through various awards)
A-STARs Public Sector Funding
NaTonal Research FoundaTon (NRF)s grant
Governments: MoEs (Academic Research
Fund), MINDEFs (Defence InnovaTon
Research), etc
Joint-funding from external governments (e.g.
Singapore-China Joint Research Programme)
Private Companies/Corporates

CharacterisTcs of Funding Sources

Public/Government Fund:
Support basic research (e.g. CERN)
May be oriented toward governments long-term
goal (e.g. biomedical science)

Private/Corporate Fund:
Prot-driven, patent-driven, marketable product
ApplicaTon-driven
Tend to be more generous J

The funding sources determine how you

should write your proposal!!!!!

Example: NUS Graphene Research Center

(Source: hkp://graphene.nus.edu.sg/content/glance-over-nus-research-landscape)

What are typically in the grant proposal?

IF Proposal

Principal InvesTgator (PI)

Problem: what do you
want to research on
Methodologies
Timeline
Deliverables
PotenTal applicaTon and
patent
Budget

What are Required in the IF Proposal?

CollaboraTon through

SPS GOOGLE APPS

Why ScienTsts Need to Work Together?

Problems are becoming more complex.
Limited resources (e.g. funding & faciliTes): it is
more ecient to share resources.
Gain experience and recogniTon, by tagging
along a more established scienTst or simply
beeng up each others proles.
Increase opportunity: external research grants,
potenTal funding sources/collaborators, etc.
Remain compeTTve in the science marketplace
(i.e. whos doing what where & how ^_^)

Nature Materials, Vol. 11, April 2012, p262

Google Docs: your Oce in the cloud

Google Calendar:
organize you schedule
and nd common
Tme for group
meeTng

GChat

Google Form:
generate and
manage your
online survey

Gmail: please
ensure that you
check your SPS
Gmail on daily basis

Google Site: beef up your porzolio through your personal page

Should I Become A Professor?

Nature. Vol. 485. May 2012

From the same editorial

Learn with an Open Mind

Think of other potenTal career paths.
Learn with an open mind.
Ask! Ask! Ask!
Travel! Explore the world!!

Thank You