How to succeed in the AU REU program taneja
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The document provides advice for succeeding in an REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) program from the perspective of Shubbhi Taneja, a graduate student who participated in an REU program. Some of the key advice includes: (1) manage your time well and set goals, (2) develop intellectual discipline through reading, thinking critically, and evaluating ideas, (3) be proactive and take initiative rather than waiting to be told what to do, (4) communicate effectively both verbally and in writing, and (5) choose a good research problem that is neither too hard nor too easy. The document emphasizes networking, developing an intellectual community, understanding faculty, and maintaining a work-life balance.
How to succeed in the AU REU program taneja
- 1. Shubbhi Taneja Graduate student Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering Auburn University Some slides are modified from notes by Dr. Xiao Qin and Dr. Matthew Turk How to Succeed in the AU REU Program?
- 2. Caveat emptor • These are my opinions, not departmental policies • Talk to others to get their views • These comments are intended for those who want to do research – All REU students, MS students, and PhD students doing thesis and projects
- 3. About me My Journey • Undergraduate Student at Maharishi Dayanand University, (2012) • A doctoral student at Auburn University(2013-2018) – Thermal aware distributed systems (Focus of my research)
- 4. What I do at Auburn? Instructor for COMP 1000 Departmental Senator in GSC Coordinator and instructor for CS4ALL K-12 camps Started & chaired AOL yoga club for 2 years at Auburn Work(ed) as web developer for COMP 5000 course (GTA), Mechanical engineering department, DOSA, etc.
- 5. Some memories from K-12 outreach camps
- 6. • The REU program is an apprenticeship – not a job – You’re here to accomplish something and to become something – Choose future career path • Undergraduate research assistant is not like being a traditional undergraduate student – What you learn in our REU program comes outside of classes • No exams; no quizzes – Requires a different set of skills • Research skill; Communication skill; Presentation skill – Results count (not time, not effort) What is the REU program all about?
- 7. Why are you here? • Possible reasons: – I couldn’t find an internship. – I don’t know what I want to do in this summer, so I hope REU will help me figure it out. – I want to make money. – My parents thought it would be good to do. – Making friends in Auburn – … Why are you here?
- 8. • Better reasons: Why I hope you’re here Gain knowledge and expertise Work with accomplished researchers Earn stipend, scholarship, or credit Think through (and even solve!) challenging problems Prepare for graduate school Learn life-long skills Build professional relationships Improve your communication abilities Contribute to a specific area of knowledge Apply and discover new ideas and methodologies
- 9. • 10 pieces of advice guaranteed to make you a successful undergraduate research assistant. How to succeed in REU?
- 10. • I had the opportunity to be a mentor for Nathaniel Lowmiller during summer 2015. • “I wanted to do research as an undergrad to gain real-world experience in the field that my major will be. I also saw research as an opportunity to refine what I had learned in the classroom and as a way to better prepare myself for the future.” – His motivation to do research in his undergraduate years A success story Nathaniel Lowmiller C/Capt, AFROTC IMT Bravo Flight Commander
- 11. 1. Manage Yourself • Goals, priorities, and planning – Set goals, and keep them updated – Make a plan for each day, week, month, quarter • “Failing to plan means planning to fail” – Prioritize – do important things first – Don’t waste time – kill your TV, xBox • Keep track of how you spend your time • Computer Science Web Browsing Engineering • “Is this activity helping me to achieve my REU goal?” – Keep a notebook, write these things down
- 12. Example 1 – Keep Track of Your Time
- 13. Better ways to keep track of your time: Apps This is the interface of a time management app called My Study Life for college students
- 14. Example 2: How to reply emails? • Google: “How to Read 100 Emails, Fast” • Check email once a day • Group emails • Reply to all the short emails - first with "yes" or "no" as an answer • Write brief emails • Long emails -> tasks -> must be prioritized
- 15. 2. Develop Intellectual Discipline • Think! – Always be on the outlook. Keep a list of potential future research ideas. • Read! – How does your research fit into a bigger vision? Trends? • Act! – Don’t feel like you have to know everything first – Don’t worry about being wrong • Evaluate! – Solicit feedback – most ideas aren’t so good…
- 16. Example 3 – Keep a logbook
- 17. 3. Be proactive • Don’t wait to be told what to do – Don’t be passive; in fact, be aggressive! – Make things happen • You will not be spoon-fed – What you get out of the REU program is a non-linear function of what effort you put into it. • REU research program can be very unstructured – Unlike undergraduate programs – So it’s up to you (not your advisor)
- 18. Example 4 – Discussion Minutes
- 19. Example 5 – Use cloud services to share documents
- 20. 4. Learn to communicate well • Speaking – Communicate clearly • Writing – Organization and clarity • Presenting – Not just “talking,” but communicating – Even a lecture is a two-way interaction • These are skills that can be learned! – Practice talks (videotaped), write short papers, ask friends and colleagues to help you, … Your intelligence and ideas will be judged by your ability to communicate in English
- 21. 5. Develop an intellectual community • Among your peers at Auburn, create something different and special – Ask questions – Discuss ideas – Brainstorm – Argue, challenge – Collaborate
- 22. 6. Network, network, network • Get to know the people in the department (faculty and grad students), and other people in your field – Don’t wait – introduce yourself! • Go to conferences and meet other REU students and “famous” researchers – Be aggressive! • Talk with visitors: “pick their pockets” – You never know who will someday offer you a job, write a reference letter, review your paper, give you invaluable feedback or insight….
- 23. 7. Choose a good research problem • This is the hardest, and most important, part of research! • The Goldilocks problem: – Not too hard, not too soft, not too hot, not too cold, not too big, not too small • Think, read, act, evaluate – And talk to everyone – not only your advisor • Passion or duty?
- 24. An Example- Thermal efficiency of Hadoop clusters A google engineer working on monitoring an overheated node of a cluster in their data center. Image source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article- 2219188/Inside-Google-pictures-gives-look-8-vast-data- centres.html
- 25. • The MapReduce programming model is growing in popularity. • Hadoop is used by Yahoo, Facebook, Amazon. • My story: I was looking for an idea to improve the thermal efficiency of Hadoop clusters. An Example- Thermal efficiency of Hadoop clusters (cont.)
- 26. How I came up with an idea?
- 27. 8. Understand the faculty
- 28. 9. Study successful people • Senior grad students, faculty, pioneers, leaders in your field, … – Read biographies – Who are your heroes, mentors? • Seek advice – But modify it to your particular situation • Great source of interesting talks: https://www.ted.com/talks
- 29. 10. Have a Life • Amidst the chaos of the REU program, it is very important that you do not lose sight of who you are and what makes you tick. – Have a social life – Don’t neglect your family and friends, your health, your sanity – Develop and maintain your other interests.
- 30. Summary • What is the REU program • 10 pieces of advice • Choose a good research problem • Download my slides from: https://www.slideshare.net/secret/vRCKJYOY6ZW8 CG • Get in touch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shubbhi- taneja-916b0b71 Summary
- 31. Questions?
Editor's Notes
- #2: References: 1. How to Succeed in Graduate School? 2. How to be a good graduate student1? I:\Papers\Talks\How to Do Computer Systems Research\References REU Program -> graduate school
- #3: 1-2 minutes
- #4: 1-2 minutes
- #5: 1-2 minutes
- #6: 1-2 minutes
- #7: You’re not here to put in your 8 hours a day, or to get a 4.0 in your courses. In fact, probably no one will ever care what your GPA was in your REU program. (Not that courses are unimportant.) You will be known for the ideas and the body of work that you generated. This is different and special – it’s not just a job. 2 minutes
- #8: 1 min
- #9: Minsky story – “If you’re here in order to get a job, then you shouldn’t be here.” My story: going to graduate school. Adapted from CRA-W http://cra.org/cra-w/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2015/05/Final-Copy-GHC_SOL_REUs_2015.pdf 2-3 minutes
- #10: Image source: http://unhingedmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/blaming-for-advice.png Less than a minute
- #11: Nathaniel is a Cadet in the Air Force. When asked what motivated him to do research in his undergrad years, he said … 3-4 minutes 15 minutes used.
- #12: Be organized and systematic about setting and achieving goals. Image source: https://darknight01.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/manage.png 2 min
- #13: Be organized and systematic about setting and achieving goals. Less than a min
- #14: Be organized and systematic about setting and achieving goals. http://www.topuniversities.com/blog/top-time-management-apps-students-2015 http://www.fastweb.com/student-life/articles/amazing-student-apps https://www.mystudylife.com/
- #16: Research is basically idea generation (plus lots of sweat and tears) Show them your research paper folder
- #17: Be organized and systematic about setting and achieving goals.
- #18: REU->graduate school YOU are in charge of your graduate education. It is primarily up to YOU to make it a great experience. Develop a “Can Do” attitude
- #19: Google doc for discussion minutes
- #20: Image source: my computer and https://www.recovery-android.com/images/android-tips/dropbox-drive-onedrive-features.jpg
- #21: Especially for non-native English speakers, but also for everyone If you live and socialize with people who speak your (non-English) language, you will be at a disadvantage. Force yourself.
- #22: Image source: http://s3.amazonaws.com/libapps/customers/1594/images/Brainstorm2.jpg Okay, be polite and appropriate, but don’t hesitate to ask questions, challenge a speaker, request clarification, etc. (Be nice but firm.) MIT and CMU cultures – confrontational, not polite (but let’s be constructive and purposeful about it) Again, it is up to YOU do make this happen.
- #23: Share my experience about SIGCSE and CRA-W here.
- #24: You’ll be working on this for a long time, and it will be difficult at times. You’d better like it, and truly be interested in it, passionate about it. Image source: http://xkcd.com/1425/
- #25: Research is basically idea generation (plus lots of sweat and tears) Image source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2219188/Inside-Google-pictures-gives-look-8-vast-data-centres.html
- #26: Research is basically idea generation (plus lots of sweat and tears)
- #27: Research is basically idea generation (plus lots of sweat and tears)
- #28: In particular, your advisor We are very busy. That’s no excuse. We do have time for you. We know more than you do. At least for a little while. But not as much more as you might think. We are not superior beings. Most of us have first names. Give us feedback too! We are part mentor, part colleague, part human.
- #30: Work hard, networking, think, read, program, experiment, build, study, practice, …. So little time and so much to do!! This may seem to contradict everything else I’ve said, but…. This is not your whole life. Keep grad school in perspective: Passion and drive, but not obsession Work hard, networking, think, read, program, experiment, build, study, practice, …. So little time and so much to do!! Remind yourself from time to time why you’re doing this. Also remind yourself from time to time what in life is important to you.