This repository contains a collection of advices from the internet for navigating various aspects of graduate school that provided helpful insights for me. I also took the liberty of adding small commentaries and takeaways where relevant.
I am committed to pluralism in the sources I include, so please note that my inclusion of sources doesn't necessarily imply personal endorsement. Furthermore, as a technical HCI researcher, my collection is skewed towards technical and STEM-related fields, and may not represent perspectives from other disciplines.
Please feel free to fork this repository, suggest edits, or contribute additional resources that you'd like to see included.
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On the Value of Doing a PhD in the Age of AI by Phillip Isola
At the end of the day, a sufficient answer can just be this: for the love of the game.
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What should we tell our students? by Álvaro Lozano-Robledo
...the decision to do a PhD should not be based on the current state of the art of technology.
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Seven things that you should know about doing a PhD by Arvind Narayanan. All of these are very good points, here are a couple that resonated with me:
A PhD is a terrible financial decision.
Don't let a few rejections deter you. There are many reasons having nothing to do with you why your application may be rejected, especially in a time of budget cuts.
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Should I Do a PhD? Top 5 Reasons a PhD Is a Good Idea by Rishabh Jain
- How to Email a Professor About Joining Their Lab by Konstantinos (Kosta) Derpanis
- The Real Cost of Following Your Academic Dream by Andrew Akbashev [Takeaways]
- How I Survived a Ph.D. When I Didn’t Have a Clue by Pao Siangliulue
- How to Read a Paper by Srinivasan Keshav
- An Opinionated Guide to ML Research by John Schulman [Takeaways]
- Takeaways from "Some Tips for Ph.D Students (in the field of AI)" by Jinwoo Shin by @nowhere_mulleonal
- Email & Communication Policy by Ian Arawjo, especially on intentionally treating the official deadline as the day before the real deadline.
- Meetings and Notes by Jonathan K. Kummerfeld
- Three Styles for Writing a Paper by Stuart Shieber
- How We Write Papers by Juho Kim and KIXLAB members
- Planning Document Template by Juho Kim and KIXLAB members
- Reviewer Critiques (Qualitative Methods) and How to Respond to Them by Jessica Vitak and contributors
- Writing Tips by Rob Miller and UID members
- CS Jobs at Undergrad Institutions (PUIs)
- Unsolicited advice on HCI (Industry) Job Market by Minsuk Chang
- Industry Job Search Retrospective by Kevin Feng
Caution
This section contains vivid discussions on mental health. I'm including this content in order to raise awareness about the challenges and experiences related to mental health in academia. If you are currently in crisis, please seek help immediately from a mental health professional or a crisis hotline (e.g., Mental Health America).
- 200Bn Weights of Responsibility by Felix Hill
- On Mental Health, Psychedelics and Life by Felix Hill