About Web Science and Graduate School in England

Despite the fact that Web science (web science) was officially proclaimed back in the "bearded" 2006th, this topic almost bypassed Habr party, not counting the fleeting news about its very appearance.

Taking this opportunity, I want to tell what the science of the Web is, why do it and why it is a science in general. At the same time I will try to tell about new opportunities in this direction and how to use them.

I had the chance to be personally acquainted and work with those who are at the origins of Web science and personally observe its development, so the information can be said, “first-hand.” All interested - welcome under Habrakat.
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What is this?

Nothing like the Web has ever happened in the history of humanity. The scale, audience reach and speed of development of the Web can not be compared with anything. At the moment, the information published on the web covers almost every aspect of our life and contains almost all the knowledge ever known to humanity. Despite this, the Web as a phenomenon (and as an entity) is practically unexplored. In most cases, the study of Web technologies, programming languages, web design, standards, and the like. At the same time, rarely anyone thinks about the network architecture, internal relationships at the technological and social levels. Without an understanding of how the Web functions globally, it is difficult to create new technologies and make some predictions.

Many people see the Web as just one of the technologies that operate on the Internet, like email, FTP or ICQ. This, of course, is true, but the Web is much more than just technology! Hardly anyone would argue that the web is now an integral part of our culture. However, we simply don’t know the answers to a great many questions related to the Web. What is the size of the web? How fast is the web changing? How to measure or model the web? What does the whole web look like? How to determine the network structure, behavioral models? What technologies are needed? These and many other questions should be answered by the Web science, or the science of the World Wide Web.

The creators of science compare the current situation with the presence of an elephant in the room. It is so big that it can not be seen. But we see it so often that we don’t even wonder what it is and why we need it.

Separate science?

All research related to the Web could simply be allocated to a small area of ​​computer science or something like that. And yet, it is a separate science. Why? Just studying the network does not fit into any of the existing sciences. It is rather a union of several disciplines, where each examines individual aspects of the network, but they all generally analyze the big picture. This structure of Web science looks like this:



That is, the science of the Web includes many disciplines, some more, others - to a lesser extent, with many of them intersect. All this is simply impossible to cram into any of the existing fields of science. And the very phenomenon of the Web is too unique and large-scale to study it in one discipline.

Who are all these people?

Most likely, the very idea of ​​studying the Web as a phenomenon and a separate subject has already occurred to many people. But without an organized approach, all this would have remained an idea. For the first time, Web science was widely talked when in November 2006, Tim Bernes-Lee , the creator of URL, HTTP and HTML, and Wendy Hall , currently the president of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), announced the creation of the Web Science Research Initiative ( Web Science Research Initiative, WSRI), which later became Web Science Trust .

Currently, the main activity of Web Science Trust is aimed at identifying key areas in research and curriculum development. In addition, Web Science Trust regulates financial investments in Web science and manages sponsorship investments. The organization includes several educational institutions in the UK and the USA, namely:

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT), USA - in particular, W3C
• University of Southampton, UK
• University of Oxford, United Kingdom
• University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
• Northwestern University (USA)
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA

Doctor of Web Sciences?

The title of “Doctor of Web Sciences” sounds slightly ... unusual ... But, damn it, why not! All of the above universities, part of the Web Science Trust now offer educational and research programs of masters and doctors of web science. Each university is distinguished by its specificity and concentrates on specific aspects of science. Unfortunately, your humble servant cannot describe each university individually, but fortunately has a direct relationship to the University of Southampton, where Web Science Trust was created and is now based.

What's on the menu?

The University of Southampton currently offers the following programs:

• Master of Web Science (MSc Web Science)
• Master of Web Technology (MSc Web Technology)
• Doctor of Web Science (PhD Web Science)

The first two courses take place as standard training programs and take 1 year. That is, you start in October and go to lectures for two semesters (approximately until mid-May), and in the third semester (in summer) write a dissertation, which is submitted by September. If everything is successful - you get the title of master.

The doctor's program is a research course and is completely different from the first two. Duration depends mainly on you, but usually it is 2-4 years. During this time, you will need to determine the research topic, study a huge pile of literature and eventually write a dissertation. Also, if everything is successful, then after defending a thesis you get the title of doctor (PhD, in the west it is the highest academic degree, although in Russia it is equivalent to a candidate of science).

The process of writing a doctoral one approximately coincides with obtaining a PhD in Russia, that is, you get a supervisor, participate in various projects, seminars and conferences. The distinctive point is the financial part.

Who pays for the banquet?

The financial question in this whole undertaking is usually a stumbling block. Tuition fees are £ 12,500 a year for masters, and £ 14,000 a year for doctors. In other words, with an average PhD course of 3 years, you will have to pay £ 42,000. Slightly less or the same amount is required for living and daily expenses. It turns out a very large amount, which is hardly permissible for the average person.

But there is always a way out! The fact is that in the west, and in particular in the UK, education is very well sponsored and works quite closely with large companies in the industry. None of my friends PhD-students do not pay for their studies on their own, although they all come from different parts of the world. The university, using various sponsorship programs, fully covers the cost of tuition and even pays a stipend (about £ 13,500 per year). That is, it turns out the university takes you to work. For your part, the university hopes to get valuable research work. You also receive financial support and the title of doctor in the final. By the way, they can even give you a free laptop (usually a freshly bought Mac) and periodically offer various conferences around the world (if you are very good).

What to do?

As you probably already guessed, it’s just that they will not give it all up, otherwise many would have taken advantage of it for a long time. What is required? First of all, you need English, confirmed by a formal test with a good result (at least 6.5 for IELTS or 580 for TOEFL ). Still need a diploma of higher education, with a good result and from a good university. Ideally - a red diploma from a famous university. Finally, the story of one or several successfully completed projects, work experience and obtained qualifications will be an additional advantage. To get to the course of the doctor, there are two ways: to invent your own theme or to join a ready-made project. You will most likely have to do the first, since the university usually chooses the people themselves in the finished projects. Therefore, it is highly desirable to have at least a rough understanding of what you want to do and be able to make a good research proposal, which shows your knowledge of the target industry. The last thing you will need to write is a personal statement (personal statement) - a sort of mini-story about you, your accomplishments and how you ended up where you are now.

The better the overall package of documents looks, the more chances you have to get financial support. It is important to understand that it is beneficial for a university to get as many PhD students as possible, so you will most likely get a place on the course without difficulty. It is much more difficult to get sponsorship, especially if you are not from the European Union (for EU citizens the number of sponsorship programs is higher). Here we will have to work hard and prove with all our might that it is you who are one of the best in this area and have enormous potential. A big plus will be if you already have a successful research (thesis) project, about which there is something to tell and something to boast about.

Summarizing, we can say that of course there is no free cheese. You will have to sweat well to achieve your goal. But is not 3 years of life in England, a unique scientific work and the title of doctor not worth it? And then, you still have plenty of time - the reception of applications for the next year (2011/2012) is open until May 2011 (although the sooner the better, you can not rush until January).

I hope I managed to discover new opportunities in the scientific community and talk about the emerging science of the Web. Sorry, that a little messy, I tried to fit all the most important details. I sincerely wish good luck to all who set a goal and decide to action!

You can read more about Web Science in this article from ACM Communications or watch a video from a conference at the Royal Scientific Society.

PS If someone suddenly thought - no. I do not receive any personal benefit from this article, and I am associated with the university only as a former bachelor's student and, possibly, a future PhD student. I just tried to open a new topic on Habré, which was previously somehow lost. If there is interest, I can separately describe new, interesting projects in Web Science.