PAULI MIETTINEN DON’T PANIC
HOW TO ENJOY & SURVIVE PHD
DR. PAULI MIETTINEN, MPI INFORMATICS
TEKSTI DISCLAIMER
TEKSTI DISCLAIMER ▸ I survived
TEKSTI DISCLAIMER ▸ I survived ▸ I’m in the business of hiring new PhDs
TEKSTI DISCLAIMER ▸ I survived ▸ I’m in the business of hiring new PhDs ▸ Any advice you’ll get is useless
NOT THAT USEFUL ADVICE I PLAYED RUSSIAN ROULETTE AND WON! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Future Darwin-award winner
NOT THAT USEFUL ADVICE WRONG I PLAYED RUSSIAN ROULETTE AND WON! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Future Darwin-award winner
xkcd.com/552/
MY MAIN ADVICE
BAD NEWS (SLIDE 1/42) BUT WHY WOULD ANYBODY PANIC? ▸ Doing a PhD will help you to find out that
BAD NEWS (SLIDE 1/42) BUT WHY WOULD ANYBODY PANIC? ▸ Doing a PhD will help you to find out that ▸ there are people who are better than you
BAD NEWS (SLIDE 1/42) BUT WHY WOULD ANYBODY PANIC? ▸ Doing a PhD will help you to find out that ▸ there are people who are better than you ▸ you’re not good at everything
BAD NEWS (SLIDE 1/42) BUT WHY WOULD ANYBODY PANIC? ▸ Doing a PhD will help you to find out that ▸ there are people who are better than you ▸ you’re not good at everything ▸ and being good at courses isn’t enough
BAD NEWS (SLIDE 1/42) BUT WHY WOULD ANYBODY PANIC? ▸ Doing a PhD will help you to find out that ▸ there are people who are better than you ▸ you’re not good at everything ▸ and being good at courses isn’t enough ▸ doing what you’re told may not be enough
BAD NEWS (SLIDE 1/42) BUT WHY WOULD ANYBODY PANIC? ▸ Doing a PhD will help you to find out that ▸ there are people who are better than you ▸ you’re not good at everything ▸ and being good at courses isn’t enough ▸ doing what you’re told may not be enough ▸ life is unfair (but you knew that already from kindergarten)
BAD NEWS (SLIDE 1/42) BUT WHY WOULD ANYBODY PANIC? ▸ Doing a PhD will help you to find out that ▸ there are people who are better than you ▸ you’re not good at everything ▸ and being good at courses isn’t enough ▸ doing what you’re told may not be enough ▸ life is unfair (but you knew that already from kindergarten) ▸ others will be luckier and get better results or better jobs
BAD NEWS DOING A PHD IS TO LEARN TO COPE WITH FRUSTRATION
WHY ARE YOU DOING A PHD?
I WANT TO GET RICH!
WRONG I WANT TO GET RICH!
DON’T DO A PHD TO EARN A LOT DOING A PHD WON’T HELP YOU TO EARN MUCH MORE 100000 75000 Salary in EUR Yearly BA/BSc 50000 PhD 25000 0 <1 1-4 5-9 10-19 20-29 30+ Years of after BA/Bsc payscale.com/research/DE/
DON’T DO A PHD TO EARN A LOT DOING A PHD WON’T HELP YOU TO EARN MUCH MORE 100000 75000 Salary in EUR Yearly 5 YEARS MORE EXPERIENCE WORTH MORE THAN A PHD BA/BSc 50000 PhD 25000 0 <1 1-4 5-9 10-19 20-29 30+ Years of after BA/Bsc payscale.com/research/DE/
DON’T DO A PHD TO EARN A LOT HOW ABOUT ACADEMIA?
DON’T DO A PHD TO EARN A LOT HOW ABOUT ACADEMIA?
I’M GOING TO CHANGE THE WORLD!
WRONG I’M GOING TO CHANGE THE WORLD!
WRONG REASONS TO DO A PHD WHY YOU PROBABLY WON’T CHANGE THE WORLD ▸ World-changing results are rare, really rare ▸ If you get one breakthrough result during your career, you’re lucky ▸ Science is postmodern: many small steps rather than few big ones ▸ Big problems are big because they’re hard ▸ If you want to change the world, become a politician ▸ Or a lobbyist
I WANT TO BECOME A PROFESSOR OR I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WHEN I GROW UP
I WANT TO BECOME A PROFESSOR YOU SURE?
THE RIGHT REASONS
THE ONE REASON TO RULE THEM ALL YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ▸ You’re fascinated by the topic ▸ You’re a curious person ▸ You want to know more ▸ Every new problem is a change to learn new things ▸ Every new result, big or small, thrills you ▸ With a bit of luck, I can increase the knowledge of the human kind
THE BENEFITS WHAT’S COOL IN GRAD SCHOOL/ACADEMIA ▸ The freedom ▸ You can control what and when you do ▸ The travel ▸ Join the academia, see the world ▸ The other grad students ▸ Fascinated on the quasi-polynomial graph isomorphism algorithm? You’ll never walk alone!
THE BENEFITS WHAT’S COOL IN GRAD SCHOOL
THE BENEFITS WHAT’S COOL IN GRAD SCHOOL
MAKING SCIENCE
THE PROCESS OF MAKING SCIENCE ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? ▸ To do science is to be in the dark
THE PROCESS OF MAKING SCIENCE ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? ▸ To do science is to be in the dark ▸ We don’t know the answers we’re looking for
THE PROCESS OF MAKING SCIENCE ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? ▸ To do science is to be in the dark ▸ We don’t know the answers we’re looking for ▸ We don’t know if the answers even exist
THE PROCESS OF MAKING SCIENCE ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? ▸ To do science is to be in the dark ▸ We don’t know the answers we’re looking for ▸ We don’t know if the answers even exist ▸ Heck, we don’t even know what are the correct questions
THE PROCESS OF MAKING SCIENCE ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? ▸ To do science is to be in the dark ▸ We don’t know the answers we’re looking for IF YOU’RE AFRAID OF THE DARK, SCIENCE IS NOT FOR YOU ▸ We don’t know if the answers even exist ▸ Heck, we don’t even know what are the correct questions
WHO KNOWS WHAT YOU SHOULD DO?
YOU & YOUR ADVISOR
HOW MUCH TIME YOUR ADVISOR HAS THE ADVISOR EQUATION ▸ You are 1 of N students ▸ Your paper is one of M papers ▸ (S)he reviews P papers a year ▸ (S)he teaches Q courses a year ▸ (S)he attends X committee meetings a week ▸ (S)he travels Y times a year
HOW MUCH TIME YOUR ADVISOR HAS THE ADVISOR EQUATION ▸ You are 1 of N students ▸ Your paper is one of M papers ▸ (S)he reviews P papers a year ▸ (S)he teaches Q courses a year ▸ (S)he attends X committee meetings a week ▸ (S)he travels Y times a year
HOW MUCH TIME YOUR ADVISOR HAS THE ADVISOR EQUATION ▸ You are 1 of N students ▸ Your paper is one of M papers ▸ (S)he reviews P papers a year ▸ (S)he teaches Q courses a year ▸ (S)he attends X committee meetings a week ▸ (S)he travels Y times a year 8 − X � � ( 365 − 14 − 52 · 2 − 5Y ) − 4P − 3 · 16Q 5 52NM
HOW MUCH TIME YOUR ADVISOR HAS THE ADVISOR EQUATION ▸ You are 1 of N students ▸ N = 5 ▸ Your paper is one of M papers ▸ M = 10 ▸ (S)he reviews P papers a year ▸ P = 20 ▸ (S)he teaches Q courses a year ▸ Q = 2 ▸ (S)he attends X committee meetings a week ▸ X = 5 ▸ (S)he travels Y times a year ▸ Y = 4 8 − X � � ( 365 − 14 − 52 · 2 − 5Y ) − 4P − 3 · 16Q 5 52NM
HOW MUCH TIME YOUR ADVISOR HAS THE ADVISOR EQUATION ▸ You are 1 of N students ▸ N = 5 ▸ Your paper is one of M papers ▸ M = 10 ▸ (S)he reviews P papers a year ▸ P = 20 0.54 h / ▸ (S)he teaches Q courses a year ▸ Q = 2 WEEK ▸ (S)he attends X committee meetings a week ▸ X = 5 ▸ (S)he travels Y times a year ▸ Y = 4 8 − X � � ( 365 − 14 − 52 · 2 − 5Y ) − 4P − 3 · 16Q 5 52NM
YOU & YOUR ADVISOR DEALING WITH YOUR ADVISOR ▸ Keep your advisor up-to-date I’M DOING X. I HAVE PROBLEM Y. COULD WE ▸ Don’t expect your advisor to MEET TOMORROW? remember the things you say on the hallway ▸ Write emails! ▸ Don’t spam! ▸ Write short and to-the-point ▸ Suggestions, not questions
YOU’RE STUCK
WHO YOU’RE GONNA CALL WHEN THE PROBLEMS COME? YOU’RE STUCK – WHAT TO DO ▸ Ask your advisor?
WHO YOU’RE GONNA CALL WHEN THE PROBLEMS COME? YOU’RE STUCK – WHAT TO DO ▸ Ask your advisor?
WHO YOU’RE GONNA CALL WHEN THE PROBLEMS COME? YOU’RE STUCK – WHAT TO DO ▸ Ask your advisor? ▸ Ask your fellow students & postdocs!
WHO YOU’RE GONNA CALL WHEN THE PROBLEMS COME? YOU’RE STUCK – WHAT TO DO ▸ Ask your advisor? ▸ Ask your fellow students & postdocs! ▸ Keep banging your head?
WHO YOU’RE GONNA CALL WHEN THE PROBLEMS COME? YOU’RE STUCK – WHAT TO DO ▸ Ask your advisor? ▸ Ask your fellow students & postdocs! ▸ Keep banging your head? ▸ Sometimes its best to just take a break. No need to keep your chair warm. Do other things or call it a day. Who knows, you might even figure it out that way.
MY SUBMISSION WAS REJECTED! PAPERS
MY SUBMISSION WAS REJECTED! PAPERS
I NEED N PAPERS (FOR N → ∞ ) PUBLISH OR PERISH? ▸ Papers get their time to happen ▸ Most papers are rejected most of the time ▸ Acceptance rates are < 20% ▸ Read the reviews, and improve your paper based on them ▸ Try to understand why the reviews are what they are ▸ Reviewers can be harsh, but they’re rarely malicious
A PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR AS A YOUNG PHD STUDENT A PERSONAL STORY ▸ I started my PhD 2006
A PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR AS A YOUNG PHD STUDENT A PERSONAL STORY ▸ I started my PhD 2006 ▸ By the begin of 2008, I had one paper published
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