phd advices

7/29/2019 Phd Advices

1/38

Career advice for PhD students:

How to get the most out of yourtime in the PhD program


2/38

Preamble

Why am I doing this?

Not many resources to learn how to be a successful PhD studenttrying to help you

Faculty create new knowledge and next generation of researchers

A professor is as good as his best student

Why now?

As every September, we got fresh PhD students

I might soon forget my PhD student experiences

Talk applies to any CS PhD student despite influence frompersonal experiences and systems/networking background

Acknowledgment: I admit to stealing advices from manysuccessful people (too many to be listed)

2


3/38

Outline

PhD student stages

Thinking about doing a PhD

Taking classes and getting involved in some research

Choosing research area, topic, and advisor

Doing research Writing the thesis

Getting a job

3

Slightly different view of these stages

1. Student: I know everything; Advisor smiles

2. Student: I dont know anything; Advisor: Lets talk

3. Advisor: Lets do X; Student: Youre wrong because of Y and Z


4/38

Why are you getting a PhD?

Prerequisite to a research career

A PhD degree should ensure that the student can later take onindependent, long-term research commitments

The work required to earn a PhD is not worth the effortif you dont intend to do research

You can do better with an MS degree in such a case How do you know if research is for you?

Have inquisitive mind and critical thinking

Like to understand how things work

Like to identify problems and come up with solutions

Did some research during undergraduate studies and liked it

More philosophical reasons: dream of changing the world, goodway to have a legacy beyond your family

4


5/38

Bad reasons for pursuing a PhD

Afraid of going out in the real world

If you never had a job and not sure about going for a PhD, go andwork one-two years

Ego

Impress your girlfriend/boyfriend/parents

Opportunity to work/emigrate in US OK if your goal is to do research in (still) the best place for that

in the world

Otherwise, working very hard for something that you dont caremuch while living on a PhD stipend will soon make you unhappy

Money (i.e., amount of money you make is more importantthan what you do) While starting salaries of CS PhD graduates are good, can reach

higher salary if you worked since you got your BS/MS degree

Plus money earned during that time5


6/38

What qualities do you need to besuccessful in the PhD program?

Passion and Self-Motivation Doing a PhD is a life changing decision

Be sure that this is the path you want to follow in life (yes, itsnormal to have doubts sometimes)

Perseverance and Self-Confidence It could be heartbreaking to work hard for one-two years and get

your paper rejected

Trust yourself (and your ideas) and dont give up

Independence Its your PhD; you should know what you want to do, how you want

to do it, etc.

Obviously, you need intelligence

Many times you dont know how smart you are until somebodychallenges you 6


7/38

CS department expectations*

Take qualifying exams after first year and pass them all

after second year Proves that you are good enough to continue in the program

Find advisor and choose thesis topic after second year

Defend thesis proposal by the end of third year

Not very strict deadline (depends on progress and advisor)

Defend thesis by the end of fourth year

Can stay longer if necessary if advisor awards you RAship

Take a number of courses and maintain a decent GPA (e.g.,3.5) throughout these years

* refer to full time, department-supported students

7


8/38

Advisor expectations

Every PhD student must have thesis/research advisor

Advisor decides when student is ready to graduate Process very similar to apprenticeship

Thesis committee makes sure advisors decision is correct and givesfeedback to improve work

Each advisor has own requirements, but they can begeneralized as:

Have enough background in CS and depth in your research area

Work on one or multiple projects and publish the results in several

good conference/journal papers Be able to clearly present your ideas and results

Write a good thesis

Your papers and thesis must include your novel ideas

Of course, they include your advisors ideas as well8


9/38

First year

Get involved in research! Ask professors with research interests matching yours

Combine reading with working on a small part of a project

Steal tricks of the trade from advisor and more senior students Classes and the qualifying exam are required, but dont

spend more time than necessary on them

Nobody cares about the grades of someone with a PhD degree

Dont get bogged down with teaching/grading

Need to do a decent job, but make sure you dont work more thanthe required 20 hours/week (many times you can work a lot less)

9


10/38

TAship vs. RAship RAship is better

Can spend time on you research instead of teaching Being awarded an RAship means youre doing well

Since RAship comes from a grant, the advisor will ask you to workon the project defined by that grant

Advisor can ask you to work on demos or robust implementations asrequired by grant (which are not necessarily research)

TAship has some advantages as well

Independent to work with several professors before deciding about

advisor Teaching experience required if you think of academic career

Teaching helps you improve communication skills

Every PhD student should teach at least one semester

10


11/38

Choosing research area

Dont celebrate too much passing the qualifying exams

You are expected to pass

Choose area based on your research interests

Must like it; otherwise, the next few years will be painful

Dont choose it just because you can get an RAship

Need to think strategically as well

Is this a hot area?

Will you get a good job in this area after graduation? Hard to predict if certain areas that are hot now will still be hot

in 4 years

11


12/38

Choosing advisor

Should be compatible with advisor/get well together

Tenured advisors

Have more experience, could have more money, could have moreconnections

Dont push you hard, dont have time to work closely with you

Tenure-track advisors

Will push you hard (their future career depends on your results),but will work with you (i.e., co-authors of thesis)

Might have more up-to-date information about job searching

12


13/38

Choosing thesis topic

Its your topic, but the advisor must approve it

Its rare to know the topic from the moment you startworking with advisor

If work supported by a grant, the general topic is somewhat clearer

More common to work on several related topics in yourchosen area

First ideas might not work, new ideas could come up

Some will be more successful than others publication-wise

Many times, thesis will define a common framework for topicscovered by publications

13


14/38

Take ownership of your PhD

No one is responsible for getting your degree but you

Faculty set up opportunity, but its up to you to leverage it

14


15/38

Doing research (1)

Be proactive!

Dont wait for advisor to push you Reading papers

Develop critical thinking: identify both strong and weak points

Advisor will point you to important papers as well as conferences

and journals in your area You responsibility to find more papers starting from these pointers

Must read a few papers every week

Read outside your area as well

Follow technology news to know where the world is going Let advisor/colleagues know about interesting things you read

Robin Kravetss advices for reading/presenting papers

http://www.cs.njit.edu/~borcea/reading-papers-talk.pdf

15
http://www.cs.njit.edu/~borcea/reading-papers-talk.pdfhttp://www.cs.njit.edu/~borcea/reading-papers-talk.pdfhttp://www.cs.njit.edu/~borcea/reading-papers-talk.pdfhttp://www.cs.njit.edu/~borcea/reading-papers-talk.pdfhttp://www.cs.njit.edu/~borcea/reading-papers-talk.pdfhttp://www.cs.njit.edu/~borcea/reading-papers-talk.pdf


16/38

Doing research (2)

Identifying important and hard problems

Learn to differentiate between cool problems and junk

Advisor will offer a lot of guidance

By graduation time, acquire good taste for selecting problems

Problem solving/design Always ask yourself: whats the novelty of my solution?

Also: how is it different from/similar to alternative solutions?

Advisor suggests a potential solution Never go back and say doesnt work!

Instead, say X didnt work, but how about Y or Z?

Dont get upset/discouraged if advisor points out drawbacks in yoursolutions its technical, not personal 16


17/38

Doing research (3)

Implementation

Except for purely theoretical CS, will have to implement your ideas Every successful project goes through this unglamorous, hard phase

Design is more fun than implementing it

No magic here: work hard!

Dont suffer in silence if you dont know how to implement somethingor have troubles with a bug ask colleagues or advisor for help

Evaluation Prove that your solution works as claimed

Should know from the design time experiments and metrics

Form a hypothesis: what type of results you expect Experiments contradict hypothesis: think of potential reasons and

discuss them with advisor

Work in the lab a significant amount of time

Learn from interactions with colleagues/advisor 17


18/38

Mutual trust between student and advisor

Trust advisor and earn his/her trust (e.g., through good

work, reliability) Advisors, being human, are not perfect, but try their best to help

Almost everyone goes through periods when doubts advisor(the converse holds as well)

Papers getting rejected Different opinions on how to proceed with a project

Seemingly advisor cares only about his career

During these periods, remember the advisor/student

symbiosis Advisors work hard to get grants to support your work You work hard to produce results that will enable new grants

Typically, what is good for advisor is good for student, and what isgood for student is good for advisor

18


19/38

Communicating your results

Clear communication separates top students from average

An unknown brilliant result is useless Write and publish papers in conferences/journals

If you didnt write it down, it didnt happen

Publish or perish

Reviewed by peers Hard to get accepted (good publication venues have 10-15%

acceptance ratio)

Can start small with conference posters or workshop papers

Talks Presentations of accepted conference papers (or invited talks) Good chance to convince people that you did great research

Successful researchers spend 50% of time writing papers

and preparing talks 19


20/38

Writing papers

A lot harder than you think!

Good results are not published due to sloppy writing Ask advisor for models of good papers

Get feedback from advisor early and often; then re-write

Read Shrunk and White book on writing

One idea per paragraph Do paragraphs follow one another in a logical structure?

Typical structure: abstract, introduction, related work,design, implementation, evaluation, conclusions

Have clear abstract/introduction If vague or poorly written, reviewers will just look for reasons to

reject afterwards

Dont claim more than you did

Distinguish between will do and have been done 20


21/38

Conference talks

Goal is to make audience read your paper and talk with you

Emphasize the main idea, skip some details Shouldnt follow too closely the structure of the paper

Pay special attention to motivation

The more illustrations, the better

A picture is worth 1000 words Dont take this talk as model

The more you practice, the fewer surprises during theactual talk

Time management is your responsibility; be prepared to skip slides Show excitement

If you are not excited, then why would anyone else be?

Be clear, firm, and polite when answering questions

Show belief in your work 21


22/38

Attending conferences

Typically, you go when have an accepted paper

Could ask advisor to pay or get travel grants to go to topconferences even if you dont have paper there

Check technical program ahead of time and identifypapers/people of interest

Goal is to do networking, not just hear technical talks Take advantage of coffee breaks/lunches/receptions to talk with

people

Be prepared to initiate conversations and introduce your work(prepare an elevator pitch)

Get contact information from people you want to stay in touch

Learn how top researchers present their work and answer questions

People you meet there can hire you, review your papers, orbecome future collaborators

22


23/38

Summer internships

You should go once or twice

Get real-world experience, make connections Must do it if plan to work in research labs/industry

Go in research oriented places

Doing an internship just for money is not worth the time

Decide together with advisor when and where to go Advisor can help you go to good places (e.g., IBM Research,

Microsoft Research)

Better go once you have at least one publication; can select

internship that allows you to work on related topics Be aware that they can delay graduation as summers can be

very productive research-wise

Cant have the cake and eat it too

23


24/38

How much should you work?

Students in high-ranked schools work between 60 and 80hours per week

Faculty spend a similar amount of time Dont get fooled that you do better than some colleagues while

spending a lot less time

You will compete for jobs with students form other schools as well

Citing my advisor: school breaks are for undergradstudents

Good time to work in case you have teaching duties

The advisor has more free time to help you

24

Work only the number of hours you are paid!

Dont let the master class exploit the workers!


25/38

Dont have time to finish all your tasks?

Must acquire time management skills

Write down your tasks (both work-related and personal),set deadlines, and categorize them function of importance

Randy Pauschs graph for task time management:

25

Importance

Urgency

Obviously, finishthese tasks first

Continue withthese tasks


26/38

More on time management

Dont have time for personal life?

Some personal tasks must have high importance

Family/friends help you avoid going nuts

According to previous slide, you might end up not doing urgent, butnot important tasks; its ok, the world goes on

Know yourself and manage advisors expectations

Learn to estimate accurately the time it takes to do certain tasks

Learn to say no if its not possible to do a task before a deadline

Try hard to respect deadlines once you agreed to them

Inform your advisor as soon as you are getting behind the schedule

26


27/38

When to graduate?

Graduating as fast as possible might not be the best idea

This is not the Olympics where the best finishes first Should become a well-rounded researcher, not just someone very

narrow expertise

Working on larger/higher impact project might take longer, but helpyou become a better researcher and get a better job

Taking classes outside your area and attending seminars/talks canimprove your overall background

Doing paper reviews or helping advisor with grant proposals can taketime, but are invaluable learning experiences

Job market conditions may delay graduation

Taking longer than 6 years not good either

Potential employers dont like it

Even advisor might lose interest in you 27


28/38

Thesis (1)

Thesis: one sentence to describe your contribution to theprogress of humankind

Dissertation: the 100s pages that prove the thesis

Dissertation is very much a collection of your publications

Of course, need to link them well under one clear thesis

Also, need extensive related work and potentially more experiments

Thesis proposal

~= thesis without a chapter or two

Not as important as you may think because early validation of your

research comes from good publications Form thesis committee and get feedback from committee members

Both student and advisor must agree on committee members

Contract between you and committee: agree on content to be added

in the final thesis 28


29/38

Thesis (2)

Finish writing during your final year

In parallel with job searching Models: theses that received ACM awards

Thesis defense is reason to celebrate Advisor/committee wont allow you to defend if not ready

Not a good idea to defend if you dont have a job(especially for foreign students who plan to stay in US) Unless you dont receive support any longer

You could get job before thesis defense

Risk: you might never get the drive to finish Useful things to know about PhD thesis research by H.T.

Kung http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~htk/thesis.htm

29

J b hi
http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~htk/thesis.htmhttp://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~htk/thesis.htm


30/38

Job searching

Once advisor confirms you will be ready to graduate thatyear, prepare:

CV (long, not the typical 2-page resume)

Research statement (at least 2 pages) outlining your researchcontributions and future plans

Teaching statement (if applying to academia) outlining your

teaching experience, teaching philosophy, etc List of references

Have them ready by early December

Most academia and research jobs are posted by January

Must submit the above-mentioned documents by their deadlines

Have your job talk ready by January

Learn about research interviews by January

Wait for call/email and hope 30

d


31/38

Job in academia

Research universities have similar starting salary withresearch labs (but doesnt increase at the same rate)

Teaching university have significantly lower salary (and noresearch)

Flexibility to choose research topics

Can work on fundamental research and explore higher risk ideas

Need to get them funded through grants

Can publish and go to conferences more often than inresearch labs

Can make your own schedule In the beginning, you work more than in industry

Can influence people directly through education

Safer job (after tenure)

31

b h l b


32/38

Job in research lab

Over a number of years, salary will be slightly higher thanacademia (could go for management positions as well)

Can have impact on real world through productsincorporating your ideas

Research topics need to be in line with companys goalsand approved by managers

Short-term profit-oriented research may preclude you fromworking on fundamental or high risk topics

Working in an R&D department is even more about practicalresearch that can quickly turn into profit

Still need to worry about funding (convince your managers toinvest in your ideas)

Cant publish everything

Patents first, publication later (if at all)

Job safety depends on company health & market 32


33/38

What do interviewers look for in your CV?

Thesis title, research interests, and name of advisor

The advisors reputation matters a lot Research contributions

Projects you worked on and their main results

Software distributions

List of papers & talks (& patents if any) Teaching experience (for academia)

List of references Reference letters are very important

CS community service (e.g., conference/journal reviewer) NO!

GPA

Programming languages, tools, etc (you have a PhD in CS! Youre

supposed to either know or be able to learn everything) 33


34/38

Job talk

Single most important part of your interview

Two main purposes Sell yourself

Sell your research

Write down 3-4 ideas youre going to say per slide

Practice and remember those ideas Do dry runs with advisor, colleagues, friends

Videotape yourself and try to improve after the shockof watching the recording has passed

Practice questions and answers More information on job talks and interviews from

Jeanette Wing http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wing/www/tips.pdf

34
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wing/www/tips.pdfhttp://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wing/www/tips.pdfhttp://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wing/www/tips.pdfhttp://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wing/www/tips.pdf


35/38

One-to-one interviews

Typically, 30 minutes about your research and everything

else They look for

Creativity

Brainpower

Independence Technical skills

Leadership

Energy

Fitting in

Be prepared, articulated, honest, genuinely curious Ask questions about the persons research

Ask questions about the place to see if its right for you

OK to engage in less technical discussions (e.g., benefits, housing)35


36/38

Selecting a job

Congratulations, you got several job offers!

Many factors to consider besides money Reputation of the place

Can you grow there? Possibilities for promotion?

Will you get along well with your colleagues/bosses?

Geography

Two-body problem

Cost of living

Quality of schools Are you a city person or more of the outdoor-type?

36


37/38

More readings instead of conclusion

How to Be a Good Graduate Student by Marie desJardins

http://www.cs.indiana.edu/how.2b/how.2b.html

So long, and thanks for the Ph.D.! by Ronald T. Azuma

http://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/hitch4.html

You and your research by Richard Hamming http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.html

Technology and courage by Ivan Sutherland

http://research.sun.com/techrep/Perspectives/smli_ps-1.pdf

How to have a bad career in academia by David Patterson http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~pattrsn/talks/BadCareer.ppt

Paper writing and presentation by Armando Fox

http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~fox/paper_writing.html

37
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/how.2b/how.2b.htmlhttp://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/hitch4.htmlhttp://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.htmlhttp://research.sun.com/techrep/Perspectives/smli_ps-1.pdfhttp://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~pattrsn/talks/BadCareer.ppthttp://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~fox/paper_writing.htmlhttp://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~fox/paper_writing.htmlhttp://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~fox/paper_writing.htmlhttp://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~fox/paper_writing.htmlhttp://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~pattrsn/talks/BadCareer.ppthttp://research.sun.com/techrep/Perspectives/smli_ps-1.pdfhttp://research.sun.com/techrep/Perspectives/smli_ps-1.pdfhttp://research.sun.com/techrep/Perspectives/smli_ps-1.pdfhttp://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.htmlhttp://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/hitch4.htmlhttp://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/hitch4.htmlhttp://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/hitch4.htmlhttp://www.cs.indiana.edu/how.2b/how.2b.htmlhttp://www.cs.indiana.edu/how.2b/how.2b.html


38/38

Your time in the PhD program is a uniqueexperience: Enjoy it!

Good luck and make us proud!

phd advices

Documents