teittinen@cc.helsinki.fi (03/19/91)
Recently I promised to personally post my summary of HCI grad programs to anybody who wanted it. The result has been a flood of requests for the summary, but I've tried to answer to everybody. But since the messages don't seem to stop coming, I decided to post the summary here, so that nobody needs to ask it from me any more. Anyway I haven't been able to reach all the addresses, so to those of you who have been waiting for this list from me: I'm sorry, but I couldn't get mail to you. But here's the list for all of you (and for possible archives). Marko (full signature at the end of this message) ------8<------ cut here ------8<------ cut here ------8<------ Previously I asked about good HCI graduate programs. Here's my original question: >I need your recommendations on good graduate programs in Computer >Science in the area of user interfaces. > >I am finishing up my MSc in Computer Science here in Finland and now I'm >looking for a PhD program in Computer Science abroad. My main interests >are user interfaces (my main interest), scientific visualization and >cognitive science. Since Finland is on the far side of Europe it takes >very long to contact anybody using material mail. So I'd be most >delighted if you could give me some E-Mail addresses to contact for more >information about the universities you recommend. > >Marko Teittinen Here's a quick summary of the responses: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ University Professors ---------- ---------- Univ. of Maryland Ben Shneiderman Univ. of Colorado, Boulder Clayton Lewis Gerhard Fischer Peter Polson Univ. of Pittsburgh Robert Korfhage C. Michael Lewis George Mason Univ. Deborah Boehm-Davis (Psych.Dept.!) Loughborough Univ. of Tech. Helmut Bez (in UK!) From other sources I have found out the following universities: Carnegie Mellon Univ. Brad A. Myers Allen Newell George Washington Univ. ? Univ. of Toronto Bill Buxton Ron Baecker Georgia Tech. James Foley ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I don't think the list above is even close to complete, so additional recommendations are very welcome. For more detailed information, here are the responses I got: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >From: sears@cs.UMD.EDU (Andrew Sears) >Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742 Well, I'm currently studying for my PhD at the University of Maryland. I work in the Human-Computer Interaction Lab under Ben Shneiderman. You may be interested in getting more information about our lab and the University in general. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you have if you want to send them to me. If you would like to ask Ben Shneiderman any questions, since he is the head of the lab, and the main professor working in the area, his email address is ben@cs.umd.edu Feel free to email any questions you have to me, and if you want the department to send you information let me know. Good Luck with the decision, Andy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >From: eyu@umd5.umd.edu (Ellen Yu) >Organization: University of Maryland, College Park They have a good program here at the University of Maryland. There's a Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCIL) here that is doing some interesting research. For more information, contact Professor Ben Shneiderman (Head of HCIL) at internet: ben@cs.umd.edu. -Ellen Yu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >From: Curt Stevens <stevens@sigi.Colorado.EDU> >Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder Send email to dotty@cs.colorado.edu and she will send you info about the graduate program in CS here at the University of Colorado at Boulder. There is a good amount of user interface work going on here. Especially with Professors Clayton Lewis and Gerhard Fischer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >From: Steve Hirtle <hirtle@unix.cis.pitt.edu> >Organization: University of Pittsburgh The Information Science Department here at the University of Pittsburgh has a Ph.D. program with each of these subspecialities. We are connected with another program in Intelligent Systems and are across the street from Cargnegie-Mellon. We just started a large interdisciplinary project on visualization with the computer science department. Our faculty includes Robert Korfhage (visualization; editorial board of Visual Langauges), C. Michael Lewis (human factors; machine learning; visualization and metaphor), Doug Metzler (AI, Cognitive Science), Paul Munro (neural networks, cognitve science), and Stephen Hirtle (spatial knowledge, cognitive science). In addition, we have an exchange program with Molde College in Norway, and Bob Korfhage and myself have spent time in Sweden -- not that Finland is like either place, but we do have some Scandinavian connections. This is off the top of my head, if you would like more details, let me know. You can request an application from Susan Strauss (strauss@lis.pitt.edu). --stephen h. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >From: carm@cs.UMD.EDU (Richard Chimera) >Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742 We at the University of Maryland at College Park have a very strong HCI program, not with lots of professors, but with very solid/internationally recognized faculty and research approaches. The main figure is Dr. Ben Shneiderman, Professor of Computer Science and Head of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory. I work as a faculty research assistant for the HCIL, but have never been a grad student (got my B.S. in CS from Carnegie Mellon). You should send him and/or the grad students here email asking them personally what it's like to be a grad student here. Later on, you can ask about scholarships, etc. Dr. Ben Shneiderman ben@cs.umd.edu PhD students Brian Johnson brianj@cs.umd.edu Rich Potter potter@cs.umd.edu Andy Sears sears@cs.umd.edu Good luck, -Rick ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >From: news@linus.mitre.org (News Service) Have you tried contacting the Human Factors Society in California? They have a listing of "approved" graduate programs in Human Factors (and related fields). The current president of the HFS is Tom Sheridan, but he does not list an e-mail address in the current HFS directory. The preseident elect, Ken Laughery is on e-mail at LAUGHERY@RICEVM1. You might want to give him a try and tell him what you are looking for. I hope this helps. From: bkillam@ccels3 (bill killam) Path: ccels3!bkillam Bill Killam Human Factors Engineer ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >From: cohill@vtserf.cc.vt.edu (Andrew M. Cohill) >Organization: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA I would urge you strongly to consider *not* getting your PhD in CS if your primary interest is the user interface. Few CS programs over here are able to offer more than one or two courses in UI design. Most PhD level CS programs place a very heavy emphasis on the computational aspects of computing--formal languages, symbolic logic, finite state theory. Many of these courses are required, and have little or nothing to do with interface design. George Mason University in Washington, D.C. has a PhD in information technology that encourages a cross-discplinary approach, and they have some good UI people involved with the program. You might write to them. I have not kept up with other programs that might be similar. Try Professor Deborah Boehm-Davis Psychology Department George Mason University 4400 University Drive Fairfax, VA 22030 USA dbdavis@gmuvax.bitnet I have a BS in computer science, an M.I.S. (Masters in Information Systems), and am completing a PhD in design from the College of Architecture here. I found both CS and human factors programs to be inadequate for serious study of interface design, and ended up "making" my own program of study. The College of Architecture is very tolerant of that; it also helped that I had an interest in architecture, but my main research focus is interface issues. Hope that helps, Andy Cohill ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >From: John H Connolly <J.H.Connolly@lut.ac.uk> Hello. I'm John Connolly, course tutor for the M.Sc. in Interactive Computing System Design at the Department of Computer Studies, Loughborough University of Technology, U.K. You might like to contact my colleague Dr. Helmut Bez, who deals with Ph.D. applications. This Department is one of the U.K.'s leading research centres for Human-Computer Interaction, and you may well find that you could pursue a Ph.D. program here which would provide you with both academic interest and contact with stimulating colleagues, as we have quite a sizeable number of research staff and research students active in H.C.I. Dr. Bez's email address is: H.E.Bez@UK.AC.LUT Good luck! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ E-Mail: teittinen@finuh.bitnet ! "Studying is the only way teittinen@cc.helsinki.fi ! to do nothing without Marko Teittinen, student of computer science ! anyone blaming you" -me