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Please summarize your laboratory experience, research interests and goals. Make sure you articulate your reasons for applying for research funding.
- Describe your experience and interests, your undergraduate work and professional goals
- Explain why you want to pursue a programme of research and why you have chosen the Masters or Doctorate programme? Elaborate on how the research will assist you in reaching your academic and professional goals.
- Describe any prior research experience (if any). What were the most important lessons you learned from this research experience?
- Describe your present level of commitment to earning a further qualification by research. Would you prefer to follow an academic/education path or to pursue research goals?
- Discuss any aspects you feel will provide a better picture of your capability, motivation, and interests.
Experience, Interests and Goals
Over the years I have gained considerable practical work experience. In the summer after my first year at university, I worked as a consultant's assistant with Plan Computers. My responsibilities there included writing software and dealing directly with customers. The following summer I decided to defer the third year of my degree to save money and to travel. I worked for ten months for Mobileaware as a programmer within their user interface development team. My time there allowed me to make practical use of many of the principles I had learned about in college. In the summer of 2002 I had the opportunity to assist in the teaching of programming at the NUI Maynooth Summer Science camp for children. The following summer (2003) I held a similar position at this camp, but was promoted to a more supervisory/administrative role. During the course of my final academic year I was employed by the NUI Maynooth Maths department as a tutor.
In terms of study, I am specifically interested in the theoretical aspects of software systems and their development, particularly the use of formal methods. My interest in computer science tends to overlap with the humanities, as I am primarily concerned with conducting research and producing data and/or software that is beneficial to society. The embark initiative, with its emphasis on people and ideas rather than commercial potential, is ideal for a researcher with my priorities.
My final year project involved an in-depth analysis of electronic voting (evoting); both its technological intricacies and its sociological and democratic implications. Some ground work was also laid for the formal development of a satisfactory evoting system. This is the area in which I plan to concentrate my future research.
In the short term, I intend to conduct novel research within the field of evoting, and to increase public awareness of the potential dangers associated with evoting systems. My ultimate professional goal is to teach computer science at university level, while conducting research within theoretical computer science.
Doctorate Pursuit
There are two main reasons why I intend to conduct Doctorate research as opposed to completing a Masters degree. Firstly, a doctorate program offers a significantly longer research period than a Masters. I intend to produce novel results in the field of evoting systems development. This is a new and important field, and my research will certainly take longer than one or two years. A Doctorate is also a necessary step in reaching my professional goals; a Masters qualification is inadequate for teaching at university level.
Prior Research
At NUI Maynooth, third year Computer Science and Software Engineering students are required to participate in a work experience program. As my third year was spent at Université Henri Poincaré, Nancy, France (through the Socrates-Erasmus program) I fulfilled this requirement in the MODEL research group at LORIA, under the supervision of professor Dominique Méry. The research I was involved in there sparked my specific interest in formal methods.
As previously mentioned, the subject of my final year project was evoting. Unlike the majority of projects conducted by my classmates, mine was not focused on the production of a specific piece of software. Instead, it was focused almost entirely on research and included the development of some formal specifications. The main topics were the following: the Irish electoral process; democracy in general; the current state of the art in evoting; the opinions of experts in the field. This extensive research has laid the foundations for further development of an adequate evoting system for use in Ireland.
I have learned several lessons through these experiences. Communication has proved to be a key factor in the success of any research project. At LORIA, being part of a team highlighted the need for consistent interpersonal communication, and during my final year project, it became clear to me that it is vitally important to communicate effectively the results of research.
Another interesting realisation for me is the fact that new information can change your research goals, adding a need for flexibility on the part of the researcher. This was unexpected, but welcome.
Commitment to Research
Because of my extensive research, I am convinced that the evoting system being introduced in Ireland is thoroughly unsafe. This is an issue that I feel strongly about, and which I feel needs to be immediately addressed. Therefore, I am completely committed to research in this area for two reasons:
1) Its results will mean a safer model for evoting in Ireland and
2) It will be the first step towards the fulfilment of both my short and long term academic and career goals.
My personal efforts to bring this topic to public attention (please see below) speak for my enthusiasm about the subject.
Other Relevant Points
1) In my first year of university at NUI Maynooth, I was a founding member of the computer society called MiNDS> (Maynooth Networking and Development Society). The society is committed to providing many useful services to members, including the use of an internal server running FreeBSD and tutorials on relevant topics such as HTML and Perl. During that year I was part of the systems administration team for the society server, and in my second year I took over as chairperson.
2) This year I have been involved in the formation of a project called TechLab, with IRCSET scholar, Aidan Delaney. The main aim of this project is to foster positive relations between staff and students in order to create a sense of community within the computer science department at NUI Maynooth. This will provide a unique service whereby staff and students can experiment on TechLab's computers without jeopardising the university network.
3) In the module Neurocomputation this year I have achieved a grade of 72% in continuous assessment. Also, in the continuous assessment for the cryptography module, I placed joint 3rd in a class of 63. I feel that this demonstrates that I have the ability to work consistently well.
4) As mentioned above, I would maintain that the evoting system being introduced in Ireland is not an adequate replacement for the existing paper ballot system. Since I completed my final year exams, I have been running a campaign to prevent its use in the upcoming national and EU elections. I have been interviewed for articles for the Sunday Tribune and the Irish Times, as well as participating in two radio programs on Newstalk 106 to discuss evoting, the second of which included a debate with the minister for Environment and Local Government, Mr Martin Cullen. It is also noteworthy that my undergraduate thesis has been cited in Dáil Eireann.
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