8th TMA PhD School – Hands on Big Data for TMA

Following the success of the previous editions, the 8th TMA PhD School will take place on June 25th and 26th 2018 in Vienna, Austria, at the Tech Gate tower premises, hosted by the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology.

Under the theme Hands on Big-Data for TMA, the 8th TMA PhD School will include 3 tutorials, by 3 distinct lecturers, over a 2 days program. Lectures will focus on the fundamental aspects of big-data analytics and frameworks for the analysis of Internet measurements. Each lecture is accompanied by a related practical lab session, where students have the opportunity to put in practice learned notions.

On the second day of the PhD school, students will join the TMA Experts Summit, which will consist of talks from renown researchers worldwide on different aspects of network measurement and analysis (e.g., SDN/NFV, IoT, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, etc.).

 

PhD School Speakers

The list of speakers for the 8th TMA PhD school includes:

  • Frank Brockners, distinguished engineer at Cisco. He will discuss fundamental aspects of high speed telemetry and network traffic capturing. His talk and lab session are co-organized by Shwetha Bhandari, software engineer at Cisco and by Leonardo Linguaglossa, postdoctoral fellow at Telecom ParisTech

  • Joseph Allemandou, data engineer at Wikimedia Foundation. He will present an overview on the various open big-data platforms allowing to work with massive data volumes, and focus on the application of Apache Spark to analyze network security data through machine learning techniques.

  • Idilio Drago, assistant professor at Politecnico di Torino. Focusing on massive passive network measurements and state-of-the-art big-data processing tools, he will engage students on a mini-hackathon challenge, where participants would compete for the best performing solution to analyze the usage of networked services and their implications for end-users’ privacy. His talk and lab session are co-organized by Martino Trevisan, PhD student at Politecnico di Torino.

The PhD School program will include 5 poster sessions where students can present their own (ongoing) PhD work to other students and to the lecturers, and receive individual feedback from them. Panel sessions will take place during breaks.

The program will also include an informal interactive session between students and the speakers, with the explicit goal of fostering “vertical” interaction between students and the speakers, and “horizontal” interaction between the students themselves. Students will have the opportunity to interview the speakers, asking for their expert opinion on general aspects (non-technical) of the current research dynamics in the field of traffic monitoring and analysis (e.g., how they see the prospective development of a particular research topic in the near future, or what are the key ingredients that drive the success of an experimental measurement platform, etc).

The PhD school program will include social activities on both days, where students, lecturers and attendees of the main TMA conference will have the opportunity to interact informally: guided tour and social dinner on the first day, and TMA Conference welcome cocktail on the second day.

 

Participation to TMA Conference

To foster interaction with the TMA community, students are encouraged to join the TMA Conference in the three days following the PhD School, as well as to present their work at the main conference poster session(s).

 

Travel Grants

Thanks to our supporters, TMA will run a travel grants program. The purpose of this program is to encourage student participation at the TMA PhD School by funding the travel costs (or part thereof) for students who otherwise would be unable to attend. For awarded students, grants will cover travel and accommodation costs, PhD school registration fee, as well as complimentary registration fee to the TMA Conference. Students registering to the PhD school may optionally apply for a travel grant.

 

Registration

We expect to take as many students as possible, based on room availability. We shall consider a first-come, first-served selection basis (for accepted applicants) in case of lack of room to host all registrants. Registrations are now open, you can apply at https://hotcrp.info.ucl.ac.be/tmaphdschool18/

 

How to Apply

Applications to the TMA 2018 PhD School must include:

  • A résumé with complete contact information and email address.

  • A short personal statement (no more than 1 page) including: (i) a description of the research subject followed by the student, and (ii) information that the applicant feels is relevant to support his/her application, e.g., why the PhD School attendance is important to the applicant’s research and career development.

Note that the submission system accepts only one single pdf file where you shall collate all the corresponding documents.

 

How to Apply to a PhD School Travel Grant

Students registering to the PhD School may optionally apply for a travel grant. To apply for a travel grant, applicants must additionally include:

  • A letter from the advisor, which should: (i) confirm the applicant’s good standing in the institution; (ii) explain why the applicant would benefit from attending the TMA PhD School.

  • The estimated expenses for attending the TMA PhD School (total, and breakdown by travel and lodging), and an indication of which cost items would need to be covered by the grant. If he/she will be unable to attend the School without a travel grant, he/she should explain why this is the case.

  • In this case the advisor’s letter should additionally explain the current funding status of the applicant and why the applicant is in need of the travel grant.

  • The advisor’s letter can be sent to this email address if he/she prefers to do so, clearly referencing the candidate’s name.

 

Important Dates

Application deadline: April 1, 2018
Decision notification: April 8 April 16, 2018

Late applications will not be considered. All the above documents must be submitted by the deadline.

 

Additional Notes

Please pay attention to the following details about the student travel grant application and reimbursement process:

  • The School will admit a limited number of students.

  • Students enrolled in PhD study programs will receive preference both in the admission to the School and the travel grant awarding.

  • Students admitted to the school are encouraged to attend the TMA conference.

  • We expect a student travel grant will significantly offset registration, air fare and shared hotel accommodation. However, it may not fully cover these expenses, since our desire is to maximize participation by students.

  • In order to obtain reimbursement, you must provide original receipts for air fare and hotel expenses, along with boarding passes (plane or train) for both outbound and inbound journeys.

  • All students participating in the School are required to present a poster describing his/her research and to actively engage with all activities. Failing to do so will lead to admission rejection.

  • Please provide complete contact information. You will be notified via email, so make sure your email address is correct on your application.

  • The reimbursement process can take some months. The decision on student travel grants is made by the PhD School Organizing Committee. All decisions are final.