DON’T PANICPAULI MIETTINEN

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

I PLAYED RUSSIAN ROULETTE AND WON! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Future Darwin-award winner

NOT THAT USEFUL ADVICE

I PLAYED RUSSIAN ROULETTE AND WON! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Future Darwin-award winner

NOT THAT USEFUL ADVICE

WRON

G

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

DOING A PHD IS TO LEARN TO COPE WITH FRUSTRATION

BAD NEWS

WHY ARE YOUDOING A PHD?

I WANT TO GET RICH!

I WANT TO GET RICH!

WRON

G

DON’T DO A PHD TO EARN A LOT

DOING A PHD WON’T HELP YOU TO EARN MUCH MORE

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50000

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Years of after BA/Bsc

<1 1-4 5-9 10-19 20-29 30+

BA/BScPhD

payscale.com/research/DE/

DON’T DO A PHD TO EARN A LOT

DOING A PHD WON’T HELP YOU TO EARN MUCH MORE

Yea

rly

S

alar

y in

EU

R

0

25000

50000

75000

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Years of after BA/Bsc

<1 1-4 5-9 10-19 20-29 30+

BA/BScPhD

payscale.com/research/DE/

5 YEARS MORE EXPERIENCE WORTH MORE THAN A PHD

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!

I’M GOING TO CHANGE THE WORLD!WRON

G

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 RIGHTREASONS

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

MAKINGSCIENCE

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

▸ We don’t know if the answers even exist

▸ Heck, we don’t even know what are the correct questions

IF YOU’RE AFRAID OF THE DARK, SCIENCE IS NOT FOR YOU

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

(365- 14- 52 · 2- 5Y)�8- X

5

�- 4P - 3 · 16Q

52NM

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

(365- 14- 52 · 2- 5Y)�8- X

5

�- 4P - 3 · 16Q

52NM

▸ N = 5

▸ M = 10

▸ P = 20

▸ Q = 2

▸ X = 5

▸ Y = 4

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

(365- 14- 52 · 2- 5Y)�8- X

5

�- 4P - 3 · 16Q

52NM

▸ N = 5

▸ M = 10

▸ P = 20

▸ Q = 2

▸ X = 5

▸ Y = 4

0.54 h /WEEK

YOU & YOUR ADVISOR

DEALING WITH YOUR ADVISOR

▸ Keep your advisor up-to-date

▸ Don’t expect your advisor to remember the things you say on the hallway

▸ Write emails!

▸ Don’t spam!

▸ Write short and to-the-point

▸ Suggestions, not questions

I’M DOING X. I HAVE PROBLEM Y. COULD WE

MEET TOMORROW?

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.

PAPERSMY SUBMISSION WAS REJECTED!

PAPERSMY SUBMISSION WAS REJECTED!

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

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

▸ By the end of 2008, I had six more

▸ 3 journal papers (TKDE, DAMI, IPL) and 3 conference papers (SDM, KDD, FOCS), incl. one best student paper award

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

▸ By the end of 2008, I had six more

▸ 3 journal papers (TKDE, DAMI, IPL) and 3 conference papers (SDM, KDD, FOCS), incl. one best student paper award

▸ In mid-2009, I defended my thesis

FIVE EASY STEPS FOR PHD

TIPS & TRICKS

▸ Go to office regularly

▸ Not to work but to meet your friends

▸ Don’t program on Mondays

▸ Seriously, you’ll just spend the whole Tuesday debugging

▸ Listen to your advisor like you’d listen to your mom

▸ Stay curious

▸ Don’t panic

RELATED WORK

RESOURCES

▸ Piled Higher & Deeper (phdcomics.com)

RELATED WORK

RESOURCES

▸ Piled Higher & Deeper (phdcomics.com)

RELATED WORK

RESOURCES

▸ Piled Higher & Deeper (phdcomics.com)

▸ Research in Progress (researchinprogress.tumblr.com)

RELATED WORK

RESOURCES

▸ Piled Higher & Deeper (phdcomics.com)

▸ Research in Progress (researchinprogress.tumblr.com)

▸ Jilles Vreeken: “Don’t Panic”

▸ Another version of this talk, see also references therein

RELATED WORK

RESOURCES

▸ Piled Higher & Deeper (phdcomics.com)

▸ Research in Progress (researchinprogress.tumblr.com)

▸ Jilles Vreeken: “Don’t Panic”

▸ Another version of this talk, see also references therein

▸ Sue Moon: “A few tips I wish I had before I met my advisor”

RELATED WORK

RESOURCES

▸ Piled Higher & Deeper (phdcomics.com)

▸ Research in Progress (researchinprogress.tumblr.com)

▸ Jilles Vreeken: “Don’t Panic”

▸ Another version of this talk, see also references therein

▸ Sue Moon: “A few tips I wish I had before I met my advisor”

▸ Yannis Smaragdakis: “PhD Rants and Raves – be afraid, be very afraid”

RELATED WORK

RESOURCES

▸ Piled Higher & Deeper (phdcomics.com)

▸ Research in Progress (researchinprogress.tumblr.com)

▸ Jilles Vreeken: “Don’t Panic”

▸ Another version of this talk, see also references therein

▸ Sue Moon: “A few tips I wish I had before I met my advisor”

▸ Yannis Smaragdakis: “PhD Rants and Raves – be afraid, be very afraid”

▸ Eamonn Keogh: “How to do good data mining research, get it published, and get it cited”

THIS TALK WAS BROUGHT YOU BY GERMAN TAXPAYERS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

▸ My supervisor

▸ For showing me how to supervise

THIS TALK WAS BROUGHT YOU BY GERMAN TAXPAYERS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

▸ My supervisor

▸ For showing me how to supervise

▸ My students

▸ For letting me try how not to supervise

THIS TALK WAS BROUGHT YOU BY GERMAN TAXPAYERS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

▸ My supervisor

▸ For showing me how to supervise

▸ My students

▸ For letting me try how not to supervise

▸ My friends from the grad school

▸ For making it such a great time

THIS TALK WAS BROUGHT YOU BY GERMAN TAXPAYERS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

▸ My supervisor

▸ For showing me how to supervise

▸ My students

▸ For letting me try how not to supervise

▸ My friends from the grad school

▸ For making it such a great time

▸ My wife & daughters

▸ Being in grad school is hard, but nothing compared to being married to someone who’s in grad school