Artificial Intelligence

Jorge Lobo

Presentation and Associated Skills
This course covers the major considerations and tasks involved in conducting scientific research, with special emphasis in those aspects related to the context of Information and Communication Technologies.
Students are expected to develop the following skills: formulation of research questions; ability to search and distinguish the types of information sources and their impact; selection of the techniques and methods that can be applied to different types of research work; communication skills in the context of research; understanding the context and role of professional researchers, including the tasks of writing and reviewing papers and projects.
Topics covered
Introduction: course set-up, group gauge and introduction to the concept of "research".
Reality and consensus: science, paradigm, scientific community, scientific revolutions, trends. The nature of "truth", credibility, frauds in research, responsible research and innovation.
Information sources: types of information sources, access to articles, ranking/impact. Managing and citing references.
How to formulate research questions: reasons for doing research. Possible outcomes of research. Finding research topics. Writing a literature review.
How to answer research questions: playing with theory, induction, deduction and abduction. Science and creativity. The scientific, the engineering, the empirical and the analytical methods. Experimental validation methods. Data collection instruments and analysis.
Writing and presenting research work: technical writing. Presentations, posters and exhibitions.
The tasks of professional researchers: submitting and reviewing papers. Academy, research centres, R&D in Industry. Some aspects of intellectual property. Open Science. Social Impact of Science. Meta-Research.