DorkRawk Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 So I'm trying to find programs/professors doing working in evolutionary computing/genetic algorithms or computational creativity but I haven't found too much work done on either of these topics recently. Is this type of research out of fashion? Should I be using different terms when looking for this type of work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazel Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 So I'm trying to find programs/professors doing working in evolutionary computing/genetic algorithms or computational creativity but I haven't found too much work done on either of these topics recently. Is this type of research out of fashion? Should I be using different terms when looking for this type of work? Generally speaking, I do think this kind of research has gone a bit "out of fashion." That said, some people still work in the area. A few places you might find reasonable leads are GECCO (the conference), UNM, and the Santa Fe Institute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramgorur Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Generally speaking, I do think this kind of research has gone a bit "out of fashion." That said, some people still work in the area. A few places you might find reasonable leads are GECCO (the conference), UNM, and the Santa Fe Institute. That's partially true. But here are a list of labs doing similar research -- the main problem with field is that CS people are gradually depleting from it and supplanted by Mechanical, OR related people. so if you are from CS background, it is really hard to find a good position (specially in US). I am a also a victim of this condition, done my ugrad theis and masters in evocomp and still no luck for a phd admit -- planning to change my research focus, which is a hard and heart-breaking option for me. http://www.cs.gmu.edu/~eclab/index.html (George Mason Uni) http://www.cs.iastate.edu/~honavar/alife.isu.html (Iowa State Uni) http://eece.ksu.edu/~sdas/bic/bic.htm#projects (Kansas State Uni) http://ccsl.mae.cornell.edu/ (Cornell-Mechanical Engg.) http://medal.cs.umsl.edu/index.php (Uni of Missouri) http://groups.csail.mit.edu/EVO-DesignOpt/evo.php (MIT) http://garage.cse.msu.edu/ (Michigan State) http://devolab.msu.edu/ (Michigan State) http://www.mae.buffalo.edu/research/design_op.php (SUNY-Buffalo Aerospace Engg.) http://www3.uta.edu/faculty/subbarao/aslmainbody.html (UTArlington-Aerospace) http://nn.cs.utexas.edu/ (UTA) http://ti.arc.nasa.gov/tech/asr/aces/ (NASA) here is more -- list of researchers doing GA/GP -- http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/W.Langdon/homepages.html list of researchers doing optimization -- https://wiki.ece.cmu.edu/ddl/index.php/Researchers In europe, you will find a good number of labs doing GA/GP etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DorkRawk Posted April 14, 2011 Author Share Posted April 14, 2011 Wow! That list was exactly what I was looking for! Thank you so much! I totally understand that a lot of computational creativity stuff won't necessarily be done as a main focus in CS programs. Many of the papers I found on the subject came from Music related conferences (I was looking at music as a specific domain). I think if I could find some place that would allow me to study AI/evolutionary systems I could focus my own work on creativity if I wanted later on in my research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starmaker Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 A couple of other places to check out: http://eplex.cs.ucf.edu/ (University of Central Florida - Evolutionary Complexity Research Group) http://www.cs.ucf.edu/~ecl/ (University of Central Florida - Evolutionary Computation Laboratory) http://demo.cs.brandeis.edu/ (Brandeis University - Dynamical & Evolutionary Machine Organization) http://ase.tufts.edu/bdl/ (Tufts University - Biomimetic Devices Laboratory) As you mentioned Computational Creativity, UCF's Evolutionary Complexity Research Group did Picbreeder. http://picbreeder.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DorkRawk Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 Cool, thanks! I've heard some other people say that this type of work isn't much of an academic/research focus because while it can be tweaked for decent "real world" work, it just isn't taken very seriously in a lot of academic AI circles. Would I be better off talking about other areas of focus in a SoP and if I'm really interested in the work, using some GA/Evo stuff as a tool if it's applicable to a certain problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazel Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 (edited) Would I be better off talking about other areas of focus in a SoP and if I'm really interested in the work, using some GA/Evo stuff as a tool if it's applicable to a certain problem? That would be my advice. I've done a bit of work in the area myself, and I've found that when I talk about it, people tend to react with suspicion. For whatever reason, the subfield seems to have (a bit unfairly) attracted an oddball reputation. For instance, upon hearing that I'd done some work with GAs, one professor launched into stories about a "crazy" EvComp zealot the department had a while back. So YMMV, but I'd tread a bit cautiously if you are not sure that GA/Evo stuff is what you want to do. Edited April 19, 2011 by Azazel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starmaker Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I've heard some other people say that this type of work isn't much of an academic/research focus because while it can be tweaked for decent "real world" work, it just isn't taken very seriously in a lot of academic AI circles. Would I be better off talking about other areas of focus in a SoP and if I'm really interested in the work, using some GA/Evo stuff as a tool if it's applicable to a certain problem? It is slightly a fringe area, but there are still plenty of people doing it. I think, though, that if you want to work with a particular prof who does GA/Evo, it is reasonable to talk about GA/Evo in your SOP, and mention the relevant prof by name (you are better off if there are at least two profs in the department who do it, though). Academic AI can be very political sometimes, although I think it's gotten better as it's gotten bigger. On the whole, I think GA/Evo's status is mostly benign, as a rather marginal but thriving subfield. Now, the debates between people who like GOFAI vs people who hate it, those can get contentious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DorkRawk Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 It is slightly a fringe area, but there are still plenty of people doing it. I think, though, that if you want to work with a particular prof who does GA/Evo, it is reasonable to talk about GA/Evo in your SOP, and mention the relevant prof by name (you are better off if there are at least two profs in the department who do it, though). Academic AI can be very political sometimes, although I think it's gotten better as it's gotten bigger. On the whole, I think GA/Evo's status is mostly benign, as a rather marginal but thriving subfield. Now, the debates between people who like GOFAI vs people who hate it, those can get contentious. I think you're right. I'll need to sort of shape my SoP to fit the professors/research areas of each school I apply to and come at my interests with different language or from a different angle, depending on the program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now