This is the third in a series of posts to unwrap my thoughts on this oft-asked, simple, but notoriously difficult question. The question is framed dichotomously, but what it really is getting at is something deeper: You’ve deferred being an adult for a while now, but what do you want to do with your life? […]
Category: Grad life
Academia or Industry? The “Dichotomy”
So, academia or industry? In a previous post, I explained what that meant and unwrapped all of the hidden options [1]. I feel as though that post was incomplete, though. It was impersonal: just a summary of the choices and how those choices differed along a few dimensions: amenability to Research, pay, intellectual freedom, work/life […]
Academia or Industry? A Brief Guide to Jobs After the Ph.D.
As a Ph.D. student, one of the questions I hear most is: academia or industry? Every time I meet someone new and they realize that I’m close to graduating, that’s the question I hear. Every time I meet an old friend at a conference, that’s the question I hear. Even when I meet people in […]
A Guide to Fellowships for Computer Science Ph.D. Students, Part 2
Applying for graduate fellowships is a great use of your time as a computer science Ph.D. student, even if you do not have a strict financial need. Here are a few reasons why. Note that this post is the second of a two-part guide on graduate fellowships for computer science Ph.D. students. In a previous […]
A Guide to Fellowships for Computer Science Ph.D. Students, pt. 1
As a Ph.D. student, your job is multi-faceted. At any given time, your time is divided between: classroom study, Research [1], writing, “networking”, teaching, applying for fellowships, curating your online identity / promoting your online presence, reviewing papers, serving on committees, and wondering why you can’t do any Research. There are probably a few other […]
NSA’s Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper Competition, Part 2
One of my papers was recently recognized as an honorable mention for the NSA’s Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper Award. As an honorable mention author, I was given the opportunity to present my work to an audience of NSA security researchers. In a previous post, I briefly described the award and my paper that got the […]
A Letter to My Younger Self About Dealing with Rejection in Academia
Hi, younger me. You don’t know this yet, but the path you’ve chosen is one of brutal, unrelenting rejection. You’ve coasted through everything you’ve done in life so far. But you’ve met your match in academia. Everyone here is just as smart, if not smarter. They’re just as hard working, if not more so. Hence […]
NSA’s Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper Competition, pt. 1
I just returned from the NSA, where I gave an invited talk and received an honorable mention for their annual Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper competition. If I had to summarize: it was a humbling and educational experience. I’m happy to have participated, and am smarter for it. I thought I’d recap my experience for those […]