Re: Is there any repository of unsolved problems?

On 08/03/2011 16:55, Yury Katkov wrote:
> Thanks Richard, Nathan, Mischa, Luis, Markus!
>
> I understand that fist of all I have to make my question more specific
> and define the specific subset of Semantic Web I'm interested in.
>
> I think that the most interesting topic for me is semantic wikis and
> their applications. But I'm not sure that this is a *scientific*
> topic.

Indeed, this is a very applied topic, but this does not mean that there 
is no research to be done in the field. Of course, one will have to 
think beyond the existing concepts (semantic wikis are already in wide 
use, so research activities there are limited). As an example of a new 
idea, the Shortipedia project [1] combines semantic wiki technology with 
linked data to let communities edit and integrate data from the Semantic 
Web. This won the third prize in last year's Semantic Web Challenge, and 
shows that there are still some new things to be done in the space.

However, "semantic wiki" is almost as general a topic as "Semantic Web" 
(wikis are Webs in small, aren't they?). You will still have to be more 
specific. A good tactic might be to ask yourself which scientific 
methods you would like to apply for gaining insights (do you implement 
and evaluate? ask users and do statistics? write down mathematical 
proofs?). Moreover, your supervisor should have something to say about 
what kind of topics are in scope for you (obviously, he or she can only 
supervise topics in his/her area of expertise).

You may want to have a look at the proceedings of the annual Semantic 
Wiki Workshop [2] for inspiration. There is also a related mailing list. 
Students who want to do practical work in the field are encouraged to 
participate in our Google Summer of Code programme [3] -- this is rather 
a (quite cool) internship than a research project, but its a good way to 
get to know semantic wikis from a practical side.

Cheers,

Markus


[1] 
http://korrekt.org/page/Shortipedia:_Aggregating_and_Curating_Semantic_Web_Data
[2] http://semwiki.org/
[3] http://semantic-mediawiki.org/wiki/GSoC_2011

>
> P.S. I also found one kind of answer in the semanticowerflow [1]  -
> those recommendations could be intersting to those who have similar
> questions
>
> [1] http://www.semanticoverflow.com/questions/1408/ideas-about-dissertation-project
>
> On Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 2:12 PM, Markus Krötzsch
> <markus.kroetzsch@comlab.ox.ac.uk>  wrote:
>> On 07/03/2011 22:16, Nathan wrote:
>>>
>>> Yury Katkov wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hello!
>>>> I'm seeking for a good topic for my Ph.D. research in the Semantic Web
>>>> field. Would you mind to help me to find the place where I can see the
>>>> list of unsolved problems? I don't necessarily mean the list of Ph.D.
>>>> topics :) , but that could probably be the list of current directions
>>>> where the help is needed and where many questions are opened.
>>
>> "Semantic Web" is a *very* wide field that involves many special topic areas
>> that require different skills and interests. Problems that people consider
>> range from large scale data storage and processing (focus on computing
>> performance), over knowledge representation (designing formal languages to
>> express and query semantic information, may involve formal logic),
>> information extraction (focus on "understanding" not-so-structured data,
>> e.g. using methods from machine learning), to community and usability
>> aspects (involving user studies and interface design). Moreover, there are
>> numerous adjacent fields of research that are concerned with exploiting the
>> basic ideas of semantic technologies in application fields (e.g. medicine).
>>
>> You can get a good overview of the field by looking at the topics covered at
>> the annual International Semantic Web Conference ISWC. A "good topic" will
>> be one that allows you to take advantage of your existing skills, and in
>> which you can be supported by your academic environment, especially by your
>> supervisor.
>>
>> Good luck!
>>
>> Markus
>>
>>
>> --
>> Dr. Markus Krötzsch
>> Oxford  University  Computing  Laboratory
>> Room 306, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QD, UK
>> +44 (0)1865 283529    http://korrekt.org/
>>
>
>
>

Received on Wednesday, 9 March 2011 08:20:34 UTC