1 / 12

What It Means To Get A Ph.D.

What It Means To Get A Ph.D. Daniel Á ngel Jiménez Department of Computer Science The University of Texas at San Antonio. A Little About Me. Grew up in San Antonio, Texas 1992 – B.S., University of Texas at San Antonio 1994 – M.S., UTSA 1995 – Started Ph.D. program at UT Austin

anne
Download Presentation

What It Means To Get A Ph.D.

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. What It Means To Get A Ph.D. Daniel Ángel Jiménez Department of Computer Science The University of Texas at San Antonio

  2. A Little About Me Grew up in San Antonio, Texas 1992 – B.S., University of Texas at San Antonio 1994 – M.S., UTSA 1995 – Started Ph.D. program at UT Austin 1996 – Left to take research position at UT Health Science Center, San Antonio 1999 – Returned to UT Austin 2002 – Ph.D., UT Austin 2002 – First job – assistant prof., CS Dept. at Rutgers (from Texas to New Jersey!) 2005 – Sabbatical leave in Barcelona, UPC (Kaeli is in this club, too.) 2007 – On leave from Rutgers, joined faculty at UTSA as assoc. prof. 2008 – Got tenure at Rutgers – thought about going back, but no good tacos in Jersey 2009 – Resigned from Rutgers

  3. My Research Study computer architecture and compilers Work on branch prediction Introduced perceptron predictor Lots of follow-up work on this – latest is analog circuits Other microarchitectural predictors Code placement techniques in compiler Large window processors Power and energy in the compiler Also working on improving cache efficiency Publish in ISCA, MICRO, HPCA, PLDI

  4. Moving Back to San Antonio Two kinds of people People who can move far from home to take a job (e.g. Cavazos) People who would rather stay near home I went to UT Austin because it was close to home. My grad school buddies moved to Austin from all over because UT Austin is a top school. First job was at Rutgers Did a lot of good work But very homesick the whole time Still not sure which of the two I am, but pretty sure I’m not the kind that can take harsh winters!

  5. What it means to get a Ph.D. Getting the Ph.D. itself actually doesn't mean all that much You have some intelligence and probably some skills You have perseverance – you didn’t quit You can put “Dr. Foo Bar, Ph.D.” on your business cards A Ph.D. doesn’t give you super-powers Many Ph.D.s are still maladjusted weirdos

  6. What it means to get a Ph.D. Research & publications you produced are more important Show your potential for future research Puts you into a category The details often aren’t too important, but there must be details Did you network while doing your Ph.D.? Fellow grad students Faculty members at your school Bosses & colleagues from internships Other contacts you met at conferences Did you do some teaching while getting your Ph.D.? Did you help write some grant proposals?

  7. What it means to get a Ph.D. • You should be supported as a TA/RA with tuition • You take some important classes the first year • The rest of the journey is a lot like an apprenticeship • You learn how to do research by doing it • You are guided by your advisor(s) and senior grad students • Some take longer than others • The ones who got out earlier might not be better off • Learn all you can!

  8. What it means to get a Ph.D. • Main benefits of a Ph.D. • More likely to have a career you enjoy • If you are passionate about computing research • More likely to have freedom in your career • You learn how to do research by doing it • You will have the tools to satisfy your intellectual curiosity • More benefits depend on advisor • Presentation skills • Paper writing skills • Etc.

  9. What it does not mean to get a Ph.D. A Master's degree plus a little more Most of the work is the dissertation More money than you would have made with a Master's Not necessarily true Easier to get a job Not really – you're competing for a smaller pool of jobs, so it's harder. More respect from your colleagues Not so much. They will have Ph.D.s, too, if you're doing it right

  10. What it does not mean to get a Ph.D. • Your life can finally begin when you get the Ph.D. • Nope. You are living your life right now – enjoy it! • There will always be milestones – graduating, getting a job, getting promotions/tenure, getting that next grant/paper/project/better job • You will be happier if you think of graduate school as part of your life, not an obstacle to getting on with your life • Enjoy the opportunity to travel • Grad school is hard but you will look back on it as one of the best and most enjoyable times of your life!

  11. Final thought: What it means to me I don't really think of my Ph.D. as a great accomplishment I don't think of it as a piece of paper I needed to get a job It represents a time in my life when my eyes were opened to a magnificent world of learning through research, and I was invited to participate in that world. It's a great feeling!

  12. The End

More Related