tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post3751638294190381246..comments2024-01-25T01:05:59.968-05:00Comments on WebDiarios de Motocicleta: Labs vs AcademiaMihaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11599372864611039927noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-21652657006167496782009-09-28T19:50:32.294-04:002009-09-28T19:50:32.294-04:00The other thing that I heard about was that nobody...<i>The other thing that I heard about was that nobody actively pushed my case. It is apparently related to my area of research not being too popular.</i><br /><br />IMHO, that is also related to the herd mentality of schools, when it comes to faculty hiring. When a certain topic is popular, everybody wishes to hire in that topic; 5 years later, the fad is gone, and nobody gives a damn. <br /><br />I hope that you will not let this influence your choice of research area...it is seriously not worth it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-32637325302101413812009-09-26T16:11:19.682-04:002009-09-26T16:11:19.682-04:00mihai,
i really wonder now who from MIT u asked t...mihai, <br />i really wonder now who from MIT u asked to write a letter ... i would never have guessed you get anything dubious but only stellar references. seems very strange.lunanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-62949029787792591392009-09-23T18:55:08.036-04:002009-09-23T18:55:08.036-04:00I think a Professor in his/her own Lab is "th...I think a Professor in his/her own Lab <b>is</b> "the BOSS". A "Researcher" in a industry lab <b>has</b> a BOSS. <br /><br />Do you want to be a boss?Sagahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14747749109061739929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-76158475012144114672009-09-22T13:13:52.501-04:002009-09-22T13:13:52.501-04:00@ryanw,
I like Kamenitza, but I don't know h...@ryanw, <br /><br />I like Kamenitza, but I don't know how to get it here. I get some bulgarian stuff from this online shop: www.malincho.com. I am going to Bulgaria for few days soon, so I will take advantage. :)<br /><br />@Mihai,<br /><br />If you visit Waston/NY, ping me, and we will go. On a different note, we can discuss some of the problems I had with concurrent data structures and concurrent transitive closures. Some time ago, I read some papers on transitive closures from Henzinger et. al, and was trying to see how they relate to concurrent TS computed in practice (by the concurrent GC in language runtimes).Martin Vechevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01061620323436819222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-87970043155084693302009-09-21T09:46:27.029-04:002009-09-21T09:46:27.029-04:00Anyway, I'd be happy to argue over a beer (ide...<i>Anyway, I'd be happy to argue over a beer (ideally, a Bulgarian one :), on the lower bounds that a good lab should satisfy. :)</i><br /><br />Can easily be arranged :)Mihaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11599372864611039927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-91436186666626752242009-09-20T22:28:33.480-04:002009-09-20T22:28:33.480-04:00On a lighter note... Martin, what's your favor...On a lighter note... Martin, what's your favorite Bulgarian beer? I favor Shumensko, but I believe I'm a minority. Also, how on earth do you get these beers in the US? (I think I've seen Zagorka in the US, but that's it.)ryanwhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09644595632189419277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-57677514860312052872009-09-20T20:53:17.619-04:002009-09-20T20:53:17.619-04:00Mihai,
I think for most cases, it is indeed the c...Mihai,<br /><br />I think for most cases, it is indeed the case that knowing the mechanics of the given group is important. Groups differ vastly in their focus: some are product oriented, others are academically oriented (publish a lot, supervise student's theses, etc). If one's expectations are that they will publish a lot but go to a group of the former type, there could be issues, and vice versa. <br /><br />Re: local collaborators in labs vs. university students, they are mostly complementary in my experience. I really enjoy working with (good) students myself.<br /><br />Anyway, I'd be happy to argue over a beer (ideally, a Bulgarian one :), on the lower bounds that a good lab should satisfy. :)Martin Vechevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01061620323436819222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-69293249509816037882009-09-20T20:07:23.354-04:002009-09-20T20:07:23.354-04:00@Martin: I assume the anonymous means "better...@Martin: I assume the anonymous means "better than ATT."<br /><br /><i>The main criteria for joining _any_ organization (assuming the rest of the dimensions are not a disaster), is the working environment: the group you are joining, the people that work there and the people that you will be working with most of the time.</i><br /><br />I have certainly heard many people complain that the stinginess of some research labs is irrational, in the sense that it creates a bad working environment. Look, when you force people to attend some conferences on their own money, you are certainly sending a bad message to your people. I have no idea what the situation is at Watson; I've never visited.<br /><br />As for the reason to join being the other people, I strongly disagree. I doubt there is a single place in the world which could lure me with the perspective of working with the people there (remember that I work on lower bounds). <br /><br />If anything, the universities are better, because you can hope to get like-minded students.Mihaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11599372864611039927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-55169392231081293952009-09-20T19:59:56.000-04:002009-09-20T19:59:56.000-04:00@Standa:
your long list of publications seems ver...@Standa: <br /><i>your long list of publications seems very strong, so would you say that you didn't get even an interview at the top universities you applied for mostly because there weren't interested in a theorist that year, or just your CV wasn't strong enough, or something else</i><br /><br />I am not 100% sure what happened. I was certainly expecting better interviews.<br /><br />One thing that I do know about is that one of my letter writers wrote "dubious" things in the letter (the letter itself is confidential, but I got several descriptions from friends). It appears that in the US letters are the main component in the application, and having a bad letter is a killer. Fortunately, I only asked that person to write a letter for half the places I applied to :)<br /><br />The other thing that I heard about was that nobody actively pushed my case. It is apparently related to my area of research not being too popular.<br /><br /><i>Also, did you apply for an assistant professorship (which I assume is not a permanent job in US)</i><br /><br />Yes. Assistant Prof in the US means "tenure track," i.e. you will get tenure (a promotion to Associate Prof = a permanent job) unless you screw up badly.Mihaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11599372864611039927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-44456867444738400322009-09-20T18:41:05.943-04:002009-09-20T18:41:05.943-04:00Anon (from Sept 18),
Can you clarify what do you ...Anon (from Sept 18),<br /><br />Can you clarify what do you mean by "no better", better than who ?<br /><br />As far as begging to attend conferences: I have been there for 2 years now, and I do not remember begging to attend anything at any point, even in these financially challenging times. From my experience, what you are saying is incorrect. <br /><br />As far as your conclusion (assuming that indeed IBM would pay for 0 conferences per year), if this is your main driving criteria for joining a research organization, then you are confused. <br /><br />The main criteria for joining _any_ organization (assuming the rest of the dimensions are not a disaster), is the working environment: the group you are joining, the people that work there and the people that you will be working with most of the time. They should be people that are good technically, have similar taste in problems, and you get along with them personality-wise. <br />As you can suspect, this is individual and will vary wildly in any of the top labs. Whether the lab is old or new, is completely irrelevant.Martin Vechevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01061620323436819222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-53257338016872524232009-09-18T10:03:57.485-04:002009-09-18T10:03:57.485-04:00The situation at IBM Watson is no better. You have...The situation at IBM Watson is no better. You have to beg to attend even the topmost 1-2 conferences, if you have accepted papers there. Forget about attending if nothing gets in. <br /><br />These old labs still manage to attract talented people based on their past glory. Not many would join if they knew the current reality.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-75187852286601500112009-09-15T14:30:34.278-04:002009-09-15T14:30:34.278-04:00Thanks Mihai for an interesting post! I don't ...Thanks Mihai for an interesting post! I don't know much about the American academic market, but your long list of publications seems very strong, so would you say that you didn't get even an interview at the top universities you applied for mostly because there weren't interested in a theorist that year, or just your CV wasn't strong enough, or something else (of course, modulo other things you can never influence, like good luck, other strong candidates etc.)? Also, did you apply for an assistant professorship (which I assume is not a permanent job in US) or an associate professorship (which I assume is a permanent job - I guees this might be different at various universities). Thanks and best of luck. Standa.Standanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-79776057262002859462009-09-15T09:55:29.297-04:002009-09-15T09:55:29.297-04:00Love the post! I'll be graduating in 2010 and ...Love the post! I'll be graduating in 2010 and so have been looking for perspective from experienced people on this matter. Thanks a lot!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-85470009020158928582009-09-12T18:13:05.634-04:002009-09-12T18:13:05.634-04:00Indeed, a wonderful and insightful post. Nicely do...Indeed, a wonderful and insightful post. Nicely done.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-41894443356334830412009-09-12T10:41:50.029-04:002009-09-12T10:41:50.029-04:00Having spent two years @IBM Research now, I think ...Having spent two years @IBM Research now, I think this blog post pretty much summarizes my views on this matter as well. Very nice post.Martin Vechevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01061620323436819222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786333285568106173.post-54900705302086858872009-09-11T09:03:32.493-04:002009-09-11T09:03:32.493-04:00Thanks Mihai for this in-depth look at things. It...Thanks Mihai for this in-depth look at things. It also points out the large contrasts between possible states at research labs (compared with, say, danah boyd's take on Microsoft). Best of luck where you are!Michael Mitzenmacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02161161032642563814noreply@blogger.com