Overview of pareod on PostgraduateForum.com

Overview of pareod

Signup date: 22 Dec 2018 at 5:09am

Last login: 31 Mar 2020 at 5:18am

Post count: 5

Recent Posts

Advice transitioning from courses to research?

pareod 5 posts
4 years ago

Quote From pm133:
I would imagine that you need a strong background in Linear algebra, discrete maths and algorithm development to start with.
Are you solid on these things? I would have thought a CS course would have given you a decent background in these things but you obviously feel a bit vulnerable there.

I found that lectures were almost completely useless once I started my PhD. I found them too slow and prefer to learn at my own pace with online videos and problem solving from books.

As for planning, I would identify the subjects you want to learn, make a reading list, allocate 3 to 4 hours per day perhaps and keep a diary of progress.

I am definitely strong in the areas you mentioned. However, a lot of the research in my area uses topology, algebraic geometry, matroid theory, and many other topics that I don't have a deep knowledge of. I know a lot of the basics though.

Advice transitioning from courses to research?

pareod 5 posts
4 years ago

Hey all,

I have found this forum very helpful over the past two years of my PhD, so I am hoping to get advice on how to transition from a schedule of two courses plus research to full research. I am one of the few computer science students in my program who studies theory. I will just list a few of my concerns that I would greatly appreciate advice on.

- As a theory researcher, I will not have the structure of going into a lab or regularly collaborating with colleagues. Any advice on keeping with a research schedule and monitoring self-progress?

- My adviser says that anything I need to learn at this point I should just teach myself. Is there an effective way to split time between learning new topics and focusing on research? Should I just learn things as I encounter them in research?

- Although I have an undergrad background in math, I feel behind students of math. Part of me wants to take a math course just to see how I compare with other students, but this seems like a bad reason to spend so much time in a class. Am I right to be concerned that I am under-prepared going into a math-dominated area as a comp sci researcher?

- If I want to pursue a professor position in math or comp sci with an equal focus on research and teaching, what are some goals to keep in mind before graduating?

Thanks for any advice you can give!

How do you keep to a research timeline?

pareod 5 posts
5 years ago

Quote From kikothedog:
Don't kid yourself that you have time. You don't, you need to have a review done by yr1, experiments carried out and result to present yr2, further direction yr3, publish, publish, publish

I am working in the theory realm, so I do not have experiments to perform. I have papers to read and open problems to work on. I am still in the learning all of the background step. My current plan is to work on research for 2 hours in the morning and night whenever possible. Does that sound reasonable?

How do you keep to a research timeline?

pareod 5 posts
5 years ago

Bump since the post was pending approval.

How do you keep to a research timeline?

pareod 5 posts
6 years ago

Hey all,

I just joined the forums and I have questions about research (sorry if this is a duplicate thread, I could not find an answer). I just finished the first semester of my PhD program in computer science. I did well in my classes, but I am not sure how I am doing in my research. I already have a research adviser and they have been introducing me to their work and giving me papers to read. My concern is that I am now on break for the holidays and I have very little motivation to do much work. During the semester, I have no problem studying all day for classes, but I do not feel the same urgency for my research. The topic is interesting, but I have no deadlines or consequences -- other than failing to get a PhD, but that is too far off to seem real. Obviously, I need to transition from my undergraduate mindset of exams and assignment deadlines to pacing myself with my research. My questions are: has anyone else struggled with this and how do you overcome it?

Thanks!