Swimming in Shallow Waters (experiences from a PostDoc year at MIT)

Aditya Parameswaran

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Disclaimers

I know very little.

View this as a conversation, not as a sermon.

This is not a polished talk.

My slides are ugly.

Ask questions!

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My Story

2007: Started my PhD at Stanford

2011-12: Asked to interview at UW; interviewed at MIT (wasn’t ready, should have waited.)

2012-13: Applied to ~20 places, interviewed at 13, accepted the job at UIUC

2013-14: Spending a year at MIT

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To Do or Not To Do: A PostDocIf you haven’t gotten a faculty job yet, then YES if:

your advisor encourages it

if not, trouble awaits: he/she will be writing your most important letter

you believe two more years can

allow you to explore an area in more depth: especially if you identified your “research area” relatively late

add a new skill set (e.g., adding some theory to a systems-heavy PhD, or adding Data Mining to a DB-heavy PhD)

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To Do or Not To Do: A PostDoc

If you already have a faculty job after a PostDoc, then WHY?? You had your chance.

If you already have a faculty job after a PhD, then ABSOLUTELY!

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PostDoc After Getting a Faculty Job: Why?

INDUSTRY: Get motivation from the real world. Stop working on “non-problems”

ACADEMIA: Bootstrap the faculty job without being hit by a ton of bricks. But, be careful not to do “more of the same”

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Industry Postdoc

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PROS CONS

Real Problems + Ideas No Papers for a year

Real $$$ No Grants (you won’t have the time)

Industry Connections No “thinking big”

Especially great if you haven't interned

Still an employee rather than a manager

Academic Postdoc (My Experience)

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PROS CONS

Write Grants! Get Money (??) Paid a lower salary

Start working with students; multiplex your ideas

Not quite a professor, so people don’t take you 100% seriously

Think “big thoughts” Credit?

Slow transition into academic life: all but the teaching

Do the projects leave with you?

Work with semi-trained students rather than complete newbies

Wait longer for tenure, but a better chance of getting it (??)

Why I did itWould not have done it if not for a two-body problem.

Postdoc with Sam Madden

I was a bit worried: Stanford vs. MIT Databases group:

Stanford: theoretical / algorithmic

MIT: build, build, build

Turns out, it was a good match, as long as both parties appreciate other’s pov

Early on, lucky that Amol Deshpande, UMD, was visiting

Identified a set of new areas I wanted to explore: Crucial to go in with an agenda (otherwise don’t do a PostDoc): Sam was SUPER understanding/enthusiastic.

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Timeline

Month 1: Fact-finding missions. Talked to ~15 profs/students. Useful to get the lay of the land, identify student’s interests.

Month 2: Started working with 2-3 students. Decided (with Amol) to write an NSF grant

Month 3: Started working with 2-3 more students. Roped Sam in, wrote an NSF Large ~1M/PI. Also invited to participate in a bio-center proposal at UIUC (1 pg) ~200K. Got my name listed.

Month 4: Got wed. Started working with a UIUC student. Got my name on the list of potential faculty advisors for PhD/MS admissions

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TimelineMonth 5: Wrote an NSF Small grant ~0.5M in 15 days.

Month 6: Identified/Recruited potential PhD and MS students

e.g., Do you guys know what the top university is in Lebanon/Bangladesh/Mexico/Hong Kong?

Takes a ton of time the first time around

Month 6—9: Juggling ~10 projects.

~8(??) papers (4MIT+1UIUC+2Stanford+1UMD), 2 top notch PhD students recruited, 3 grants written, new areas explored:

possibly my most productive year ever!11

What I did/didn’t do

Did Didn’tWrote 3 Grants. Money (??) Teach

Started working with students Engage in “Administrivia”

Thought “big thoughts”

Got my webpage up, recruited students, started my H1B

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Hence, swimming in shallow waters

If you skipped a Postdoc

You’ll jump right into the deep end:

Write grants, teach, recruit, advise, …, all in one year

Wouldn’t have recruited, so some thumb-twiddling will happen

If you manage to get students, you will pay for them from your startup (not fun!)

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What would I have done differently?

Dual appointment with a Company: best of both! Didn’t know folks in the Boston Area.

Work with more senior PIs. I was driven by my personal agenda, so only worked with ~4 senior PIs.

Gotten my hands more dirty. The last chance to do that before becoming a professor.

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SummaryThinking of doing an industrial postdoc? DO IT!

Realize that you’re getting experiences in the real world in exchange for little to no academic activity

Thinking of doing an academic postdoc? DO IT!

“Swimming in shallow waters”: ~faculty life without the stress

you’re getting this year “for free”: not counted towards tenure

But be prepared (e.g., get your floats on, get a clear understanding of what your host expects of you, …)

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