General Questions
Q: What is TTI-C?
A: The Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago (TTI-C) is a philanthropically endowed degree-granting institution dedicated to basic research and graduate education in computer science.
Q: What is the main mission of TTI-C?
A: To achieve international impact through world-class research and education in fundamental computer science and information technology.
Q: How is TTI-C funded?
A: TTI-C has use of the interest accrued on a fund of just over $105 million. Over 40% of this fund is an endowment owned by TTI-C and about 60% is owned by TTI in Japan but earmarked for TTI-Chicago.
Q: Why was TTI-C created?
A: TTI Japan decided that the best way to attract world-class faculty in computer science was to open a computer science institution in the U.S. We expect close collaboration between TTI-C and TTI Japan.
Q: How large is TTI-C Expected to be?
A: TTI-C plans to grow quickly to twelve regular faculty (tenured and tenure track) and eighteen research assistant professors. The research assistant professor positions are described below.
Q: What sort of relationship exists between TTI-C and the University of Chicago?
A: Formal agreements provide for the following mutually-beneficial arrangements:
- TTI-C's offices and classrooms are located on the University of Chicago campus.
- TTI-C's Faculty and students enjoy full privileges of the University library system, athletic facilities and other services.
- TTI-C enjoys close academic ties with various departments of the University of Chicago.
- TTI-C students may enroll in University of Chicago courses and University students may enroll in TTI-C courses.
- With the powerful collaboration of TTI-C and University of Chicago faculty, it is our joint goal to be competitive with the top ten computer science departments in the U.S.
Q: What areas of research is TTI-C addressing?
A:TTI-C is currently focusing on algorithms and complexity, machine learning, computer vision, computational linguistics, computational biology, and programming languages.
Questions about Faculty
Q: Do TTI-C faculty have tenure?
A: Regular faculty positions at the higher professorial ranks (Professor and Associate Professor) carry tenure.
Q: What is the teaching load at TTI-C?
A: There is no teaching requirement for research faculty. The teaching requirement for regular faculty is one course per year.
Q: Are TTI-C faculty expected to get external research grants?
A: Both regular and research faculty get endowment provided research funding sufficient for equipment and normal academic travel. Research faculty are not expected to raise external funding. However, regular faculty (tenured and tenure track) are expected to eventually raise their summer salary and to support their students with external funding.
Q: What is a Research Assistant Professor?
A: Research Assistant Professor is a non-tenure track position and carries a term of three years. There are no teaching requirements. This is similar to a postdoctoral fellowship position but comes with endowment-provided independent research funding.
Questions about Students
Q: Does TTI-C have its own graduate program?
A: Yes. TTI-C currently has eight students in its Ph.D. program. TTI-C is seeking accreditation with the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
Q: How many Ph.D. students will TTI-C have?
A: This depends on the level of external funding generated by the faculty, but at least five fellowships will be available on a regular basis for Ph.D. students as part of the base budget. The number is expected to reach thirty eventually.
Comparable Institutions
Q: What other institutions are similar to TTI-C?
A: TTI-C is unique but has qualities in common with some other institutions. TTI-C is like the CS Department at the Oregon Graduate Institute in its focus on graduate instruction and research. It is similar to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton in that it has a small faculty with endowed salaries. It is similar to the Max Plank Institute in Germany in that it has faculty on limited term non-renewable contracts. It differs from these institutions in its affiliation with a Japanese institution.