CSE590X: How to Navigate the PhD program

Lecture 0: Pitch for the class

Lecture 1: Developing research ideas

Assignment 1: write a research proposal

Lecture 2: Writing feedback

Assignment 2: revise your research proposal.
Reading: Advice from other first-year grad students

Topics

Writing

• Writing a research paper
• Editing and rewriting
• How to read a research paper
• Submitting a paper & logistics
• Reviewing papers
• Responding to reviews ("rebuttals")
• Creating a poster

Speaking

• Writing talks
• Presenting talks
• Elevator pitches

Pitching

• Writing a personal statement
• Writing a research proposal
• Applying for funding
• Whether and how to get an internship

Research projects

• Choosing a research topic
• Discovering your research personality and your secret weapon
• Terminating a project; how to fail fast; perspective on project failure; assessing progress

Relationships

• The advisor-advisee relationship (managing your advisor)
• Networking
• Advising (e.g., undergraduate students)
• Running a research project
• Attending conferences

"Soft skills"

• Time management, hard work, and work-life balance
• Self-confidence, impostor syndrome, rejection and more
• Handling feedback
• Procrastination; breaking researcher's block and writer's block; maintaining focus
• Ethics in research & in society

Careers

• Whether and how to get an internship
• Industrial vs. academic jobs

Wrap-up party

• It's a party