Xue Li

"The University of Edinburgh also provides hundreds of clubs and societies, where you can develop your interests and meet like-minded people from all over the world."

My PhD project is to develop a domain-independent algorithm for repairing faulty Datalog-like logical theories by combining belief revision and conceptual change. Belief revision repairs theories by deleting or adding beliefs and maintaining a consistent belief system.  Conceptual change uses reformation for blocking unwanted proofs or unblocking wanted proofs. Reformation is a technique changing the language in which the theory is written.  These two kinds of changes are complementary: the former one changes a belief as a whole, and the latter one changes the language of the theory, but they have not previously been combined into one mechanism. We will develop a framework for aligning these two algorithms in one system, which would significantly increase the quality of evolution.  Additionally, heuristics should be developed and evaluated in order to reduce the search space. Although the representation of theories is based on Datalog in this project, the proposed algorithm has the potential to be adapted to other logics.

Why AIAI?

AIAIis an inclusive and open, multi-cultural institute having a favourable atmosphere for work.  It provides students with excellent support for working.  There are various admin teams and necessary facilities covering almost all the aspects of daily work.  Besides, many academic events are held here so that you have many opportunities to communicate with best researchers.  One of the most important things to PhDs is the relation with supervisors.  All the reserachers in AIAIare so nice and helpful , you can discuss with them equally with no burden at all.

Besides work, you could have a wonderful life living in Edinburgh, where AIAIis located.  It is a beautiful city, and the locals are lovely.  If you like outdoor activities, it would be a good choice for you.  The University of Edinburgh also provides hundreds of clubs and societies, where you can develop your interests and meet like-minded people from all over the world.

Any advice for other PhD applicants?

Before applying for a PhD project, it would be good that you know what good and what bad could happen in a PhD project. Getting to know the general ways of a PhD work would help you to see whether being a PhD fits you or not. On the other hand, choosing a topic that is interesting to you is also very important. It is normal that sometimes your work may not go as well as you expected, but if you do like your topic, these obstacles would not be a problem, and you would find great joy when there is progress. Working on a PhD project brings me the overall increase in my abilities. During my time in AIAI, the main driving forces behind my improvements are the help from my supervisors and other AIAI's researchers and my interest in my project.