Getting the most out of the
relationship with your reseach advisor or boss
Meet regularly - you should insist on meeting once a week or at least
every other week because it gives you motivation to make regular progress
and it keeps your advisor aware of your work.
Prepare for your meetings - come to each meeting with:
List of topics to discuss
Plan for what you hope to get out of the meeting
Summary of you have done since your last meeting
List of any upcoming deadlines
Notes from your previous meeting
Email him/her a brief summary of EVERY meeting - this helps avoid misunderstandings
and provides a great record of your research progress. Include (where
applicable):
Time and plan for next meeting
New summary of what you think you are doing
To do list for yourself
To do list for your advisor
List of related work to read
List of major topics discussed
List of what you agreed on
List of advice that you may not follow
Show your advisor the results of your work as soon as possible - this
will help your advisor understand your research and identify potential
points of conflict early in the process.
Summaries of related work
Anything you write about your research
Experimental results
Communicate clearly - if you disagree with your advisor, state your objections
or concerns clearly and calmly. If you feel something about your relationship
is not working well, discuss it with him or her. Whenever possible, suggest
steps they could take to address your concerns.
Take the initiative - you do not need to clear every activity with your
advisor. He/she has a lot of work to do too. You must be responsible for
your own research ideas and progress.
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Getting the most out of what you read
Be organized
Keep an electronic bibliography with notes & pointers to the paper
files
Keep and file all the papers you have read or skimmed
Be efficient - only read what you need to
Start by reading only the conclusion, scanning figures & tables,
and looking at their references
Read the other sections only if the paper seems relevant or you think
it may help you get a different perspective
Skip the sections that you already understand (often the background
and motivation sections)
Take notes on every paper you find worth reading
What problem are they trying to solve?
What is their approach?
How is it different from other approaches?
Summarize what you have read on each topic - after you have read several
papers covering some topic, note the:
key problems
various formulations of the problem they are addressing
relationship among the various approaches
alternative approaches
Read PhD theses - even though they are long they can be very helpful
in quickly learning about what has been done is some field. Especially
focus on:
Background sections
Method sections
Your advisor's thesis - this will give you an idea for what he/she expects
from you.
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Making continual progress on your research
Keep a journal of your ideas - write down everything you are thinking
about even if you think it is stupid. It will help you keep track of
your progress and keep you from going in circles. Do not plan to share
it with anyone, so you can write freely.
Set some reasonable goals with deadlines
Identify key tasks that need to be completed
Set a reseasonable date for completing them (on the order of weeks or
months).
Share this with your advisor or enlist your advisors help in creating
the goals and deadlines.
Set some deadlines that you must keep (e.g., volunteer to give a student
seminar on your research, work toward a conference paper submission
deadline, etc.)
Keep a to do list - Checking off things on a to do list can feel very
rewarding when you are working on a long-term project.
List the small tasks that can be done in about an hour
Pick at least one that has to be completed each day
Continually update your:
Problem statement
Goals
Approach (or a list of possible approaches)
One-minute version of your research (aka the elevator ride summary)
Five-minute version of your research
Discuss your research with anyone who will listen - use your fellow
students, friends, family, etc. to practice discussing your research
on various levels. They may have useful insights or you may find that
verbalizing your ideas clarifies them for yourself.
Write about your work
Early stage: Write short idea papers and share them with your advisor
and colleagues.
Intermediate stage: Find workshops and conferences for submitting preliminary
results. This can also help you set deadlines.
Advanced stage: Target relevant journals.
Avoid distractions - it is easy to ignore your research in favor of
more structured tasks such as taking classes, teaching classes, organizing
student activities, creating web pages like this, etc. Minimize these
kinds of activities or committments.
Confront your fears and weaknesses
If you are afraid of public speaking, volunteer to give lots of talks.
If you are afraid your ideas are stupid, discuss them with someone.
If you are afraid of writing, write something about your research every
day.
Balance reading, thinking, writing and hacking - often research needs
to be an iterative process across all of those tasks.
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Finding a thesis topic or formulating a research plan
Pick something you find interesting - if you work on something solely
because your advisor wants you to, it will be difficult to stay motivated.
Pick something your advisor finds interesting - if your advisor doesn't
find it interesting he/she is unlikely to devote much time to your research.
He/she will be even more motivated to help you if your project is on
their critical path (although this has down sides too!).
Pick something the research community will find interesting -if you
want to make yourself marketable.
Make sure it addresses a real problem
Remember that your topic will evolve as work on it
Pick something that is narrow enough that it can be done in a reasonable
time frame
Have realistic expectations (i.e. Don't expect the Nobel Prize)
Don't worry that you will be stuck in this area for the rest of your
career. It is very likely that you will be doing very different research
after you graduate.
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Characteristics to look for in a good advisor, mentor, boss, or committee
member
It is unreasonable to expect one person to have all of the qualities
you desire. You should choose thesis committee members who are strong
in the areas where your advisor is weak.
Willing to meet with you regularly (about 1 hour every week or every
other week)
You can trust him/her to
Give you credit for the work you do
Defend your work when you are not around
Speak well of you and your capabilities
Tell you when your work is or is not good enough
Help you graduate in a reasonable time frame
Look out for you professionally and personally
Is interested in your topic
Has good personal and communication skills
You can talk freely and easily about research ideas
Tells you when you are doing something stupid
Patient
Never feels threatened by your capabilities
Helps motivate you and keep you unstuck
Has good technical skills
Can provide constructive criticism of papers you write or talks you
give
Knows if what you are doing is good enough for a good thesis
Can help you figure out what you are not doing well
Can help you improve your skills
Can suggest related articles to read or people to talk to
Can tell you or help you discover if what you are doing has already
been done
Can help you set and obtain reasonable goals
Will be around until you finish
Is well respected in his/her field
Has good connections for the type of job you would want when you graduate
Willing and able to provide financial and computing support
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Avoiding the research blues
When you meet your goals, reward yourself
Don't compare yourself to senior researchers who have many more years
of work and publications
Don't be afraid to leave part of your research problem for future work
Exercise
Use the student counseling services
Occassionally, do something fun without feeling guilty!
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