Transcript The Nature of the Beast Field guide to computer scientists slide 1

The Nature of the Beast
Field guide to computer scientists
slide 1
Computer Scientists
They come in two flavors
• Industrial
• Academic
Many similarities
Key differences: How they are evaluated
The Ecology of Academia
Two kinds of faculty
Tenure track
• Assistant Professor
• Associate Professor
• Full Professor
Non-tenure track
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Lecturers
Adjunct Professor
Research Professor
Visiting Professor
Tenure Track Faculty
How do you become one?
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Get a PhD
Submit an application
Get an interview
Wow them on the interview
Congratulations! The tenure clock starts ticking . . .
About Me (pre-PhD)
Grew up in a country that
does not exist anymore
1994: undergraduate degree in
mathematics and computer science
from the University of Washington
• Prior to that, a few years at Moscow University
2000: PhD in computer science from
Stanford
About Me (post-PhD)
2000: Bell Labs Silicon Valley
• Fired 3 months after joining
(Lucent shut down the lab)
2001-04: SRI International
• Researcher at a “think tank”
• Active in research, kept publishing
Since 2004: assistant prof. at UT Austin
• Just received tenure
• Promoted to associate prof. effective September
How Did I Get a Faculty Position?
UTCS is a top-10 computer science department
Why did they hire me?
Must have done something right
• Publication record
• Important people said good things about me (more
about this later)
Some amount of luck
• Worked on interesting problems in the “right” area
• Was in the right place at the right time
What is Tenure?
A system with a long probationary period
Two outcomes:
• Tenure:
• No tenure:
A job for life
Good luck! Have a good life
The tenure decision:
evaluation of teaching, research, and service
Life of a Tenure-Track Professor
Teaching
• Teach (and design) organized classes
• Advise students (very time-consuming)
Research
• Do research (usually with graduate students)
• Write papers
• Attend scientific meetings
Obtain grants to fund more research
(10% hit rate at NSF)
Success Factors
(at a research university)
1.RESEARCH
2.RESEARCH
3.RESEARCH
4. Teaching
5.
Service
“Evaluation by Rumor”
External letters are extremely important in the
tenure review process
The department asks prominent researchers in
your field for their opinions about your research
• Typically, senior faculty at leading universities in the
field (MIT, Stanford, Berkeley …)
Your letter writers know you by your reputation
• If they do not know you, you are in trouble!
Logical conclusion: the goal of a tenure-track
faculty member is to acquire a stellar research
reputation
Acquiring Research Reputation
High-impact publications in top-notch venues
Impact = excitement of other researchers in the
field
• Did you solve a long-standing open problem?
• Do other researchers cite your work and build on it?
Top-notch venues = where is the best work in
your field typically published?
• CS is unique: conferences (with brutal peer review)
matter more than most journals
But Wait, There’s More!
Service
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To the department
Graduate admissions
Faculty recruiting
Undergraduate curriculum
Run honors program
Develop departmental policies
...
To the college and university
To the academic community
External Service
Organize and run scientific meetings
• Evaluate submitted research papers
Serve on editorial boards
• Evaluate submitted journal papers
Make funding decisions
• Evaluate submitted grant proposals
You affect people’s tenure cases and their lives
When I Am Not In My Office…
Non-Tenure Track Faculty
Typically focus on teaching and service rather
than research
Take Home Points
The faculty love their job
They have high expectations
They expect some of these traits in the students
who they work with
Be somewhat prepared before you approach
them