The PhD in Visualization Starter Kit (PVSK)

by
Robert S. Laramee

We have created a YouTube Playlist for all PhD students in science! Enjoy the training lectures !

The PhD in Visualization Starter Kit (PVSK) was presented at the IEEE VisWeek 2010, Tuesday 26 October 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

The PhD in Visualization Starter Kit (PVSK) was presented at the Information Visualization (IV) 3rd Doctoral Research Workshop, Monday 26th July 2010, London South Bank University, London, UK. All doctoral students (in the area) are welcome!

Abstract:

Writing a PhD is difficult. And those that are just starting a PhD in visualization have not usually acquired all of the key skills necessary for completion since they are not normally taught as part of an undergraduate curriculum. For example, how does a researcher navigate through the vast amounts of previously published literature related to their topic? Furthermore, for some, this may be their first time implementing a larger, long-term project. Developing a large software application requires more knowledge than implementing a small one. Given, a larger sized visualization application, how can bugs and problems be tracked down and eliminated? And what is a good starting point when it comes time to writing a research paper?

We present some of the essential skills that a PhD candidate in Visualization acquires during their study including (1) reading and (2) writing research papers as well as (3) implementing and (4) debugging software. We hope that the guidelines presented here will help jump-start the new researcher's journey towards a PhD in visualization. ( intro slides )

Step 0: If your meetings don't follow a protocol, here is one you can use.

Bob's Minutes of Meeting Protocol ( PDF file , video presentation )

Step 1: Get an overview of the visualization resources available to you.

Visualization Resources: A Survey, by Xiaoxiao Liu, Mohammed Alharbi, Jian Chen, Alexandra Diehl, Elif E Firat, Dylan Rees, Qiru Wang, and Robert S Laramee, Information Visualization, forthcoming, ( PDF file, web page, )

The extended version is based on the shorter conference version:
Visualization Resources: A Starting Point, The 25th International Conference on Information Visualization, (IV) 2021, 5-16 July 2021, Sydney, Australia ( PDF file, web page, IV 2021 Conference Presentation, )

Step 2: Use this manuscript to help navigate through the vast amount of research literature.

How to Read a Visualization Research Paper: Extracting the Essentials, in IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (IEEE CG&A), Vol. 31, No. 3, May/June 2011, pages 78-82 ( PDF file, slides, video presentation )

"How to Read a Visualization Paper: Extracting the Essentials" is featured on the front cover of IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications (IEEE CG & A) Volume 31, Number 3 May/June 2011 (pages 78-82). This article is also highlighted on Non Profit News.org, a respected sources of news, information, and opinion for the online nonprofit community. It provides a stream of news and resources related to emerging issues in the nonprofit world, with a particular emphasis on communication and new technology. Here's the link to the article.

Step 3: Use this manuscript to jump-start your literature survey and publish it.

How to Write a Visualization Survey Paper: A Starting Point , in Eurographics Education Papers 2019, 6-10 May 2019, pages 23-36 ( PDF file , video presentation )

Step 4: Follow these guidelines while you implement your ideas.

Bob's Concise Coding Conventions (C³) , in Advances in Computer Science and Engineering (ACSE), Vol. 4, No. 1, February 2010, pages 23-36 ( PDF file , slides , video presentation )

Step 5: These techniques will help you debug your software.

Using Visualization to Debug Visualization Software, in IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (IEEE CG&A), Vol. 20, No. 6, Nov/Dec 2010, pages 67-73 ( PDF file, slides, video presentation , ) "I enjoyed reading this paper... I will strongly recommend it to all my students." -Jarke J. van Wijk, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/E).

"Using Visualization to Debug Visualization Software" is highlighted in the December 2010 issue of Computing Now-( computingNow.computer.org ) a web site featuring content from the IEEE Computer Society's peer-reviewed publications. The article is referenced in the Computing Now newsletter (computingNow.computer.org/newsletter) which reaches more than 76,000 subscribers.

Step 6: Read this manuscript when it's time to write your first research paper.

How To Write A Visualization Research Paper: A Starting Point in Computer Graphics Forum (CGF), Vol. 29, No. 8, 2010, pages 2363-2371 ( PDF file )

The CGF version of the manuscript is based on one that appeared at EG 2009:
How to Write a Visualization Research Paper: The Art and Mechanics, in EUROGRAPHICS 2009, Education Papers, pages 59-66, 30 March - 3 April 2009, Munich, Germany (selected as one of the two best education papers) ( PDF file, slides, video presentation part I , video presentation part II )