Note for Prospective Students
10K feet view: If you want to work with (not under) me, please go through blogs and tips to get a feel about computer architecture/systems research. At a 10,000 feet view, Computer Architecture research is experimenal/empirical in nature and most of the time we try to find answers to a set of silly questions: (i) if something works, why? (ii) if something does not, why not? If you are excited/passionate about these silly questions then Welcome. However, I would expect the following qualities from you for a joyful research journey
- What and how? commitment, grit, and ownership towards your work with ethics and honesty. You should respect your words with no excuses and should be honest towards your work. If you do not have these qualities then you will find it extremely difficult working with me and vice versa. The only way you can work with me is by (i) crediting my course(s) and doing well and/or (ii) doing a seminar/RnD course with me. There is no other way. This process is important to understand the non-technicalities and if we do not like each other's way of doing research/teaching/learning then it is a good filter for both you and me. You should be in love with what you do and passionate/excited about your work . You should set yourself a high bar and focus on learning through various means. I strongly believe in peer learning. So I would expect you to learn from others including me (with a thick skin towards feedback/suggestions) and teach your peers including me. Remember your peers and I will have feedback on your work and not on you as a person.
- For M.S. and Ph.D. You should aim for high quality (not mediocre) research and do not follow the herd (if all are doing it then "why me" instead of "why not me"?). We will only target top/good forums for publishing our work. So unless you love what you do, it is just impossible to do good/great/impactful work. For a Ph.D., I usually provide the initial set of research problems/ideas and then expect students to lead after their first published work. However, if you are already aware of the state-of-the-art and you have the ideas, then I provide the freedom to decide the research problem(s) you want to explore. For M.S., it is a mini Ph.D. and time is the essence. So I do not expect M.S. students to come up with research problems. Instead I provide research problems and initial insights and then expect the student to take over. The same is applicable for the M.Tech. students. As M.tech. is a lightweight M.S. program, the bar for M.Tech. research outcome is relatively lower than an M.S. program.
- My role: I will hone your skills: programming/reading/reviwing/thinking(critically)/writing/presentation. I would expect you to be proactive and meet me regularly for these skills. If you won't meet me for these skills then I will assume you are good at it and you are ready to teach your peers. I believe in weekly meetings irrespective of your research progress. You should communicate everything/anything that you have done over a week so that I will have a complete picture. I will push you to become the best version of yourself;you have to reciprocate (open to feedback) with no excuses. I will be open to your feedback(s) and respect it. However, at the end of the day, you should own/lead your work. If you are a slow learner, then it is perfectly fine. However, you cannot be a no-learner with excuses just before the D-day :( Needless to say, I will endorse you strongly in your future endeaveors.
- Finally: If your agenda/goals/expectations align with the points mentioned above then welcome, looking forward to work with you. If your agenda does not align with the points mentioned above, then it is a good indicator that we should not work together. Thanks for reaching out.
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