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Research Process: Part II Personal, Communication and Environmental Aspects

Research Process: Part II Personal, Communication and Environmental Aspects. Jayant Haritsa. The Research Process. REAL WORLD. Part II. RESEARCH COMMUNITY. INSTITUTION. ADVISOR. Part I. THESIS. PERSONAL ASPECTS. Motivation for Research Program. Afraid to face job interviews

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Research Process: Part II Personal, Communication and Environmental Aspects

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  1. Research Process: Part IIPersonal, Communication and Environmental Aspects Jayant Haritsa

  2. The Research Process REAL WORLD Part II RESEARCHCOMMUNITY INSTITUTION ADVISOR Part I THESIS

  3. PERSONAL ASPECTS

  4. Motivation for Research Program • Afraid to face job interviews • Could not gain entry to course program • Everybody else in my family has done it • Cultural capital (add the Dr prefix) • Masochistic mindset (long pain period) • Enjoy discovery / writing / talking

  5. Work Ethic • INDEPENDENT research • It is YOUR thesis, not the Advisor’s! • The advisor is not a NANNY! • CANNOT do PhD as side business • Focus on ONE problem at a time • 2 * 0.5 << 1 * 1 • WELCOME criticism of your work

  6. Intellectual Freedom • Being a faculty in IISc is the most irresponsible job in the world • Being a student in IISc is the second most irresponsible job • IISc gives you the freedom to decide WHAT to work on, not WHETHER to work • Need to be constantly intellectually engaged with the research problem

  7. Survival Pre-requisites • Ability to look at life in a perverse (creative) way • (Mark Twain) Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter ! • Patience and mental strength to negotiate the troughs (inevitable for every PhD) • Trust your gut feelings in spite of negative results • Luck favors the prepared mind (Pasteur/Hamming) • Good sense of humour – you will definitely need it! • Ability to smile (through gritted teeth) at advisor

  8. Busting Myths [1] • Industry experience –Not necessary! • "Real problems" only imply short-term utility • May even be counter-productive since immediate reaction is to start programming, rather than conceptual thinking • PhD/MSc registration  Research Scholar • PhD/MSc is “training to do research” AND “actually doing research” X

  9. Busting Myths [2] • Thesis relevant to society –Not necessary! • Thesis relevant to industry –Not necessary! • Right question: “Did I have fun thinking about the problem and did I devise elegant solutions that I am proud to show my mother (and she didn't find any mistakes in the proofs)?” • Doing a PhD/MSc is hard enough without the burden of additional expectations ... • Allgooddissertations find their way into the real-world sooner or later

  10. Research Thesis [1] • Ideally, should result in “conceptual movement” • Founded on mathematical and engineering principles • Prototypes, experiments, empirical evidence, etc. should serve as “proofs-of-concepts’’, and not be an end in themselves

  11. Research Thesis [2] • Research Life-cycle • New Problem Definition • Creative Solutions • Analysis of Solutions • Indian research largely mired in (3), whereas Western research is successful in (1) and (2) • Failing of our educational system which emphasizes • analysis, not creativity • rote knowledge, not knowledge extension • conformity, not out-of-box thinking • herd mentality, not individuality …

  12. General Test / Comprehensive Exam • Research: • clearly identified/understood the (initial) problem • come up with at least a first-cut solution • developed roadmap for rest of thesis • should go in with “I want to advertise what I have done” mindset • Syllabus: • preparation equivalent to final exam of related courses

  13. GT / CE Reality  • Performance is typically dismal • Research • Only literature survey accompanied by vigorous handwaving • Unconvincing response to questions • Syllabus: • Even “laddu” questions are handled poorly • Highly imprecise statements

  14. ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS

  15. ADVISOR CHOICE [1] • Junior Young Turk • Great enthusiasm and involvement • Current with research topics • Remembers PhD tribulations • Expects the world from you • Micro-management of your work

  16. ADVISOR CHOICE [2] • Senior Big Shot • Broad perspective of research area • Can advertise your work well • Provides academic freedom to explore • Perenially rushed for time • Will not write your thesis

  17. Bottom Line In hindsight, all advisor choices are the wrong ones! Just try to make the minimally damaging choice  Ideally, your self-drive should be strong enough that the research contributions happen in spite of advisor, not because of him/her.

  18. FRIENDS CHOICE [1] • ondu idly-vada / by-two coffee dost • Unless your thesis topic is “Topological sorting arrangements of circles and donuts” • Indian philosophy buff • Indian philosophy is an intellectual mechanism for providing extremely sophisticated reasons as to why work cannot be done • Lazy genius • Will drag you into the mud

  19. FRIENDS CHOICE [2] • Technically competent and ambitious • a healthy spirit of both cooperation and competition • Willing to call “a spade a spade” and criticize you to your face • Brings out the best research in you

  20. RESEARCH COMMUNITY • Grab every opportunity to meet with the “movers and shakers” in the field • attend local international conferences such as COMAD, HiPC, FSTTCS, IndoCrypt, … • attend summer schools (Yahoo, Microsoft, …) • apply for six-month internships in research labs after you are about half-way through your thesis • Attend talks in IISc, even those that appear only peripherally related • don’t just clap, ask questions! • good research often has serendipitous origins

  21. REAL WORLD • Family • starts calling you a “visiting professor” • question your sanity with cold-blooded regularity • Well-wishers • take great delight in asking you “Is the thesis done yet?” “Can we call you Doctor now?”“Do all PhDs take this long?”

  22. COMMUNICATIONASPECTS

  23. WRITING and PRESENTATION IMPERATIVES • It is your duty as a scientist to share your discoveries with others • Your work is understoodonly from what you present / publish • You are evaluatedonly based on what you write in your reports, etc.

  24. Acquiring Writing Skills [1] • http://dsl.serc.iisc.ernet.in/~haritsa/geninfo/techwrite.ppt (by Vikram Pudi) • Essential for both publications and thesis • Spelling: Automated Spellcheckers • Style: Elements of Style by Strunk & White • Clarity, elegance and flow • Technical precision is paramount • e.g. rampant misuse of “optimal” and “ideal” • Avoid ornate language – this is not a literary exercise • e.g. The linked list appeared like a chain of jasmine flowers 

  25. Acquiring Writing Skills [2] • Organization • Modular (like programming) • Linear narrative (no “item songs” ) • Minimize redundancy • Choose good titles/acronyms (like variable names) • Time Will Tell: Leveraging Temporal Expressions in IR • Real-time commit protocol called PROMPT(Permits Reading Of Modified Prepared-data for Timeliness) • Read and revise word-by-word! • 10 page paper usually takes a month to write satisfactorily

  26. PUBLICATIONS [1] • ESSENTIAL to submit/publish at least ONE (MSc) and TWO (PhD) papers before submitting thesis • Progress milestones  confidence buildup • Honest feedback from anonymous experts • Early warning of potential disaster situations • Ideas for future work • Thesis gets written/revised at a steady pace, not delayed to the end, when it can prove to be an overwhelming task • Makes the resume speak for itself

  27. PUBLICATIONS [2] The thesis should be a byproduct of your papers, serving only as your ticket out of IISc, and not the rationale for your being here. Papers  Thesis, but Thesis Papers X

  28. PUBLICATION FORA • Unique feature of CS: The top conferences and journals are viewed as equivalent fora. • Evaluating Computer Scientists and Engineers for Promotion and Tenure • David Patterson (Univ. of California, Berkeley) • Lawrence Snyder (Univ. of Washington, Seattle) • Jeffrey Ullman (Stanford University) “In those dimensions that count most, conferences are superior.” “Conference publication is both rigorous and prestigious.”

  29. CS Conference/Journal Quality • Most reliable, comprehensive and recent are the rankings by Australasian CORE • ~1500 conferences and ~2000 journals • Ranks them into A+, A, B, C categories • Website: http://www.core.edu.au/ • Goal should be to publish in A+ and A categories • ICDE database conference (A+): ~15% accepts

  30. Acquiring Presentation Skills • Slides should be in large font / visible colors • Ideas should be conveyed through pictures / animation as far as possible • Focus on conveying the main idea, and not every single detail • Rehearse the entire talk a few times • Memorize the inter-slide transitions • Carry out dry-runs with your peer group

  31. Further Reading • How to Get a PhD: A Handbook for Students and Their Supervisors • E. Phillips and D.S. Pugh, OUP • Getting a Phd: An Action Plan to Help You Manage Your Research, Your Supervisor and Your Project • John Finn (Routledge Study Guides) • Authoring a PhD: How to Plan, Draft, Write and Finish a Doctoral Thesis or Dissertation • Patrick Dunleavy (Palgrave Study Guides) • http://www.phdcomics.com/

  32. Take Away

  33. END PRESENTATION

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