Seeking advice for undergraduate(s) with ambition for computational creativity

[Christian Kokott]

Dear CC researchers and enthusiasts,

I hope this is the right place to ask.

What kind of academic route would you suggest for current undergraduate students that want to pursue an academic career in computational creativity? Considering that there are no fully realized CC courses yet (I am following the teaching discussions here with great interest) one has to find a path with the currently available education.

I am assuming that a master with a specialization in machine learning and language processing would be the best way to go about this right now. There are a lot of AI specialized masters in the Netherlands (and some of them have strong machine learning content) and there seem to be a couple of general computer science master courses that offer great machine learning content and are even active in this community (e.g.University of Helsinki)

I think there are a lot of undergraduates closely watching this topic / community and would appreciate some general advice how to enter, prepare for and contribute to this relatively young field.

My question is based on my current thoughts about my upcoming academic choices. A little about me: (maybe somebody of you has the time to offer me some personal advice as well)

I am a game programming undergraduate student (2 semesters left) currently residing in the Netherlands. I have been fascinated with the field of creative computation (both Assisted Creation and Generative Creation) and the practice of creative coding in general.

I have a strong practical programming background due to my previous software engineering work experience and my current game programming work. I think my practical programming (and design) knowledge in a variety of topics (game AI, GPU, real time interaction, networking etc.) can help me a lot realizing and facilitating my CC career however I am afraid that I am missing a lot of basic computer science / math theory to jump into a AI / CS master.

Considering that there is not a full CC course yet I am currently evaluating master courses that would bring me the closest to an academic career in the field of computational creativity. (Currently only considering Europe for financial reasons)

I would be grateful for any advice for undergraduates or me personally, or even personal stories on how you got into this field!

Best regards,

Christian Kokott

[Leonid Berov]

Dear Christian,

as someone who got interested in CC very recently (during my masters studies) I can provide only a bottom-up view on your questions, but maybe that can help as well!

The best way to get immersed into any field of study is to be there, and that would mean to simply come and visit one of the CC events that are out there.

A good opportunity would be the International Conference on Computational Creativity (ICCC 2016) that takes place end of June in Paris. Apart from the general talks, during the first day you'll have the option to attend one of two tutorials on CC -- the one offered by PROSECCO apparently also has stipends available that would ease the financial burden of being in Paris for a week.

There are also events like the IEEE Computational Intelligence and Games Conference 2016 in September, or the 5th International Workshop on Computational Creativity, Concept Invention, and General Intelligence in August, among others, that could be interesting for you to attend.

Also definitely watch out for the PROSECCO coding camps, which have been organized since 2015. They are a fun way to get your hands dirty with some creative work, and undergrads have already been spotted at this year's camp. They also have cookies... ahm... stipends!

Every one I've met so far was very friendly, open and interested to chat about their research so have no worries about being booed out of the room, or anything like that! :)

After you have acquired some idea of what brand of CC you like, you can safely get back into your most comfortable reading chair and check out recent publications . Usually the first one will have enough references to keep you going for a while, and that will give you a good overview of whats happening.

The next step could be to arrange for an internship with the (senior?) author of your favourite paper and/or write your thesis on a related subject. In fact, these two things are quite compatible!

A good trick is to have your own funding for the stay, which in Europe could be done through the Erasmus+ program. 

Thus armed with knowledge and one or two strategically placed acquaintances from your internship and the events you have visited, you are very well equipped for the start of a scientific adventure. In fact, you can repeat this procedure during your masters to multiply the perks! ;)

As for the choice of an appropriate masters program I should probably leave the answer to the people who are offering PhD positions, since it's their opinion that counts.

For me, Cognitive Science worked very well! You can for instance have a look at the program in Osnabrück, which readily takes people from different backgrounds and "offers" Kai-Uwe Kühnberger, an AI professor who also works on CC.

Also I've met CC students pursuing a double degree, combining computer science and a field of the arts. From my humble perspective this a very worthwhile approach! Have a look at the work of Harold Cohen to see what an artist armed with programming skills can accomplish.

If you have any questions regarding this all feel free to get back to me!

Resources:

ICCC    http://www.computationalcreativity.net/iccc2016/

CIG      http://cig16.image.ntua.gr/

C3GI    http://c3gi.inf.unibz.it/index.html

Prosecco Network    http://prosecco-network.eu/

[Chris Martens]

Hello Christian,

Doing a masters in an AI-related field would certainly work as an inroad. But plenty of people come at CC from the other direction, as artists interested in expressing themselves computationally. And there are, these days, masters programs in fields like computational media, tangible interfaces, expressive intelligence, and so on -- most examples I know are in the US, but surely some European colleagues can point you in the right direction. They exist in computer science departments as well as MFA programs.

Personally, I had a fairly bog-standard computer science trajectory until partway through my Ph.D. on programming languages in which I decided I wanted to apply the techniques I was learning to game design and interactive storytelling. Since I already had a strong background in the computer science I needed, it wasn't too hard to get support from my advisors for such a project. I did need to find an external committee member to assure everyone that my work was novel and valid from the CC side, too. :)

Chris

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[geraint...@me.com]

Christian and others,

One option open to you, given that there is currently no computational creativity masters' course, is to tailor your own masters' course. this is not usually possible in an standard MSc, but many UK institutions offer MSc by Research. I don't know if that route is available in other countries.

In a typical MSc by Research, you follow a small number of advanced taught modules, usually worth 30 or 60 credits of a total of 120. (That's a quarter or a half, respectively, of the usual MSc taught credit in UK computer science.) The rest is devoted to a (large and deep) master's project. The advantage, obviously, is that this gives you lots of time to get into the CC literature as part of the project, and then do something substantive in CC as part of it, while improving your advanced computer science in the taught modules..

Evidently, this can only be done at an institution that both offers MSc by Research and has a computational creativity research group (because you'd need a project supervisor). As it happens, Queen Mary University of London is one such, and I would be glad to receive applications for this route from well-qualified candidates. See http://www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduates/course/view/90 for details of the modules available and how to apply.

Geraint

(Prof. of Computational Creativity, Queen Mary University of London)

[Christian Kokott]

Thanks for all the very helpful replies. I definitely have clearer view now on how to approach this direction.

I would love to attend this years ICCC however the scholarships seem to require previous research activity / evidence that I do not have. I will therefore focus my last undergraduate year on making actual CC projects that will hopefully grant me a scholarship next year.

@Geraint: Your proposed path of a custom tailored masters sounds perfect. Unfortunately I do not have the financial means to attend a University in the UK, however I should be able to follow a similar path here. 

I would like to keep this thread going for other interested undergraduates! Geraint you mentioned that your university has a computational creativity research group. I know that the University of Malta and the University of Helsinki have something similar. Maybe I can compile a list of universities that have these kind of research groups for future reference (for me and other undergraduates). So if anybody knows of any other facilities that offer CC research groups or facilitation please let me know!

Thank you very much again, your advice has been very helpful! :)

[Wirawit Rueopas]

Dear Christian and others,

I'm a recently graduate with B. of Comp Eng and also looking for similar programs in the field of computational creativity. Currently, I'm quite baffled by the diversity of this program since each schools have different names for it, and even different kinds of degree. I've managed to come up with a few (not sure if it's similar):

- Goldsmiths' computational creativity (http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk)

- NYU's ITP (http://itp.nyu.edu)

- Georgia Tech's Design & Intelligence lab (http://dilab.gatech.edu)

If you have compiled some list of schools, I would be greatly appreciate it if you could kindly share your list.

Thank you very much,

Wirawit Rueopas

[Chris Martens]

Hi all,

I have just started a new lab at NC State University intersecting with research topics in computational creativity:

https://sites.google.com/ncsu.edu/poem

I am seeking Ph.D. students. Please consider applying!

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[Nick Montfort]

There is a difference between a degree-granting program and a research lab
or particular group. If you are seeking a degree you would typically apply
to the former, although expressing your interest in a particular group,
and the former would determine the curriculum and degree requirements.

Of your list the first and last are research groups, the middle one a
program.

I know a few faculty at NYU's ITP but don't know of any specific CC
research going on there. I would describe it generally as a digital media
program with an emphasis on practice. Also along these lines are MIT's
Media Lab (the lab overall does have a degree program, Media Arts and
Sciences), Parson's The New School Design Technology, and NYU's
Technology, Culture and Society. All worth a look, perhaps?

But if you are interested in CC particularly I would mainly look for a
faculty member to study with and some evidence of good research projects
involving students, or thesis projects, or direction -- as in Chris
Martens's reply -- rather than focusing at the program level.

-Nick

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[Julian Togelius]

For those who are interested in computational creativity applied to
games (and game-like things) especially, we have the Game Innovation
Lab at NYU; the way to get in there as a PhD student is to apply to
the PhD program in Computer Science and Engineering at NYU Tandon.

Otherwise, let me echo the advice of Chris and Nick: focus on finding
a good faculty member to study with rather than on the program or
university.

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Julian Togelius
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Department of Computer Science and Engineering
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[Gillian Smith]

For those interested in computational creativity as applied to games and/or digital fabrication and crafting, I am looking for PhD students. I can supervise PhD students in Northeastern's College of Computer and Information Science CS program.

I also echo Chris, Nick, and Julian's advice: look for faculty doing work in an area that interests you. You can look through papers from computational creativity venues like ICCC or ACM C&C to find people working in this area to begin the search.

Gillian

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[Wirawit Rueopas]

Dear all,

Thank you very much for your clarifications, suggestions and especially for guidances as I knew very little about these fields and relates. I really appreciate it. I'm going to think more about what in specific I want to pursue. More resources, advices, suggestions or anything are very welcome.

Regards,

Wirawit Rueopas

[Amílcar Cardoso]

Dear Wirawit, dear all,

The University of Coimbra, Portugal, has a long and rich research record in Computational Creativity and several lecturers with experience in the supervision of PhD sudents in the area.

We are organised in the Cognitive and Media Systems research group (https://www.cisuc.uc.pt/groups/show/cms).

Students willing to make a PhD with us should apply to the Doctoral Program in Information Science and Technology (http://www.uc.pt/en/fctuc/dei/ensino/doctoral_program)

Amilcar

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