a glimpse on the academic scholar
Career, Challenges and Opportunities
Mohamed Seif, BSc
July 13, 2016
Nile University
Research
1
Research
Expectation vs Reality
1
advice to be bad grad student
bad grad student
∙ Concentrate on getting good grades
3
bad grad student
∙ Concentrate on getting good grades
∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian
3
bad grad student
∙ Concentrate on getting good grades
∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian
∙ Postpone research involvement: might
lower GPA
3
bad grad student
∙ Concentrate on getting good grades
∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian
∙ Postpone research involvement: might
lower GPA
∙ No employer cares about GPA
3
bad grad student
∙ Concentrate on getting good grades
∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian
∙ Postpone research involvement: might
lower GPA
∙ No employer cares about GPA
∙ What matters:
3
bad grad student
∙ Concentrate on getting good grades
∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian
∙ Postpone research involvement: might
lower GPA
∙ No employer cares about GPA
∙ What matters:
∙ Letters of recommendation
3
bad grad student
∙ Concentrate on getting good grades
∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian
∙ Postpone research involvement: might
lower GPA
∙ No employer cares about GPA
∙ What matters:
∙ Letters of recommendation
∙ Your research
3
bad grad student
∙ Graduation after +3 years
4
bad grad student
∙ Graduation after +3 years
∙ Contrary to PhD level
4
bad grad student
∙ Graduation after +3 years
∙ Contrary to PhD level
∙ Don’t work on large projects: takes
longer
4
bad grad student
∙ Graduation after +3 years
∙ Contrary to PhD level
∙ Don’t work on large projects: takes
longer
∙ Have to talk to others, have to
learn different areas
4
bad grad student
∙ Graduation after +3 years
∙ Contrary to PhD level
∙ Don’t work on large projects: takes
longer
∙ Have to talk to others, have to
learn different areas
∙ Don’t trust your advisor
4
bad grad student
∙ Graduation after +3 years
∙ Contrary to PhD level
∙ Don’t work on large projects: takes
longer
∙ Have to talk to others, have to
learn different areas
∙ Don’t trust your advisor
∙ Faculty career is judged by
success of students
4
advice for bad career in research
bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
6
bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
6
bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
6
bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
6
bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
6
bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
6
bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide
6
bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide
∙ Never be Proven Wrong
6
bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide
∙ Never be Proven Wrong
∙ Don’t be Distracted by Others (Avoid
Feedback)
6
bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide
∙ Never be Proven Wrong
∙ Don’t be Distracted by Others (Avoid
Feedback)
∙ Publishing Journal Papers IS Technology
Transfer
6
bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide
∙ Never be Proven Wrong
∙ Don’t be Distracted by Others (Avoid
Feedback)
∙ Publishing Journal Papers IS Technology
Transfer
∙ Writing Tactics for a Bad Career
6
bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide
∙ Never be Proven Wrong
∙ Don’t be Distracted by Others (Avoid
Feedback)
∙ Publishing Journal Papers IS Technology
Transfer
∙ Writing Tactics for a Bad Career
6
bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide
∙ Never be Proven Wrong
∙ Don’t be Distracted by Others (Avoid
Feedback)
∙ Publishing Journal Papers IS Technology
Transfer
∙ Writing Tactics for a Bad Career
Equilibrium is the Best Strategy
6
listen from the godfathers
you and your research
∙ Manhattan Project (1945)
∙ Bell Labs (1946 - 1976)
∙ Turing Award (1968)
∙ The IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal is
an award given annually since 1988 for
”exceptional contributions to
information sciences, systems and
technology”.
Figure: Richard Hamming
(1915-1998)
Source:
www2.isikun.edu.tr/personel/onurkaya/hamming.htm
8
a phd is not enough!
∙ Sandia National Laboratories (1974 -
Present)
∙ Davisson-Germer Prize of the American
Physicist Society for outstanding
research in Surface Science (1989)
Figure: Peter J. Feibelman
Source:
http://victormlgh.blogspot.com/2012/04/
phd-is-not-enoughguide-to-survival-in.html
9
how to have a bad career in research/academia
∙ ACM President (2004 - 2006)
∙ ACM Distinguished Service Award
∙ ACM-IEEE Eckert-Mauchly Award
Figure: David Andrew
Patterson
Source:
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~pattrsn/talks/BadCareer
10
phd grind
∙ Assistant Professor at UCSD
Figure: Philip Guo
Source:
www.pgbovine.net/PhD-memoir/pguo-PhD-grind.pdf
11
zero to one
∙ Co-founded: Paypal, Palantir
∙ Funded: SpaceX, LinkedIn
Figure: Peter Thiel
12
zero to one
“ZERO TO ONE EVERY MOMENT
IN BUSINESS happens only
once. The next Bill Gates will
not build an operating system.
The next Larry Page or Sergey
Brin won’t make a search
engine. And the next Mark
Zuckerberg won’t create a
social network. If you are
copying these guys, you aren’t
learning from them.” – Peter
Thiel
13
other references
Terence Tao’s Career Advice:
https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/
Career Advice at UT Austin:
http://www.engr.utexas.edu/ecac/yourcareer/resumes/
5-resumewriting/
14
no matter you did!
lowest undergrad gpa of any professor (2.40 / 4.00)
∙ Professor of Computer Science (CS) at
UIUC
“Growth is painful. Change is
painful. But nothing is as painful
as staying stuck somewhere you
don’t belong.” – Mandy Hale
Figure: Jeff Erickson
16
be patient :)
game of the day
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pgX60AAIYo
18
Questions ?
19
Thank You !
Email: m.seif@nu.edu.eg
20
backup slides
22
look a head
23
look a head
24
look a head
25
top 10 tech jobs | 2016
Rank Job Ave. Annual Salary ($)
1 Data Scientist 60,000
2 Solutions Architect 72,000
3 Software Development Manager 84,666
...
...
...
9 Software Developer 40,000
10 Network Engineer 42,500
Useful Link:
http://blog.udacity.com/2014/11/data-science-job-skills.html
26

A glimpse on the academic scholar

  • 1.
    a glimpse onthe academic scholar Career, Challenges and Opportunities Mohamed Seif, BSc July 13, 2016 Nile University
  • 2.
  • 3.
  • 4.
    advice to bebad grad student
  • 5.
    bad grad student ∙Concentrate on getting good grades 3
  • 6.
    bad grad student ∙Concentrate on getting good grades ∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian 3
  • 7.
    bad grad student ∙Concentrate on getting good grades ∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian ∙ Postpone research involvement: might lower GPA 3
  • 8.
    bad grad student ∙Concentrate on getting good grades ∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian ∙ Postpone research involvement: might lower GPA ∙ No employer cares about GPA 3
  • 9.
    bad grad student ∙Concentrate on getting good grades ∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian ∙ Postpone research involvement: might lower GPA ∙ No employer cares about GPA ∙ What matters: 3
  • 10.
    bad grad student ∙Concentrate on getting good grades ∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian ∙ Postpone research involvement: might lower GPA ∙ No employer cares about GPA ∙ What matters: ∙ Letters of recommendation 3
  • 11.
    bad grad student ∙Concentrate on getting good grades ∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian ∙ Postpone research involvement: might lower GPA ∙ No employer cares about GPA ∙ What matters: ∙ Letters of recommendation ∙ Your research 3
  • 12.
    bad grad student ∙Graduation after +3 years 4
  • 13.
    bad grad student ∙Graduation after +3 years ∙ Contrary to PhD level 4
  • 14.
    bad grad student ∙Graduation after +3 years ∙ Contrary to PhD level ∙ Don’t work on large projects: takes longer 4
  • 15.
    bad grad student ∙Graduation after +3 years ∙ Contrary to PhD level ∙ Don’t work on large projects: takes longer ∙ Have to talk to others, have to learn different areas 4
  • 16.
    bad grad student ∙Graduation after +3 years ∙ Contrary to PhD level ∙ Don’t work on large projects: takes longer ∙ Have to talk to others, have to learn different areas ∙ Don’t trust your advisor 4
  • 17.
    bad grad student ∙Graduation after +3 years ∙ Contrary to PhD level ∙ Don’t work on large projects: takes longer ∙ Have to talk to others, have to learn different areas ∙ Don’t trust your advisor ∙ Faculty career is judged by success of students 4
  • 18.
    advice for badcareer in research
  • 19.
    bad research career ∙Be THE leading expert 6
  • 20.
    bad research career ∙Be THE leading expert ∙ Invent a new field! 6
  • 21.
    bad research career ∙Be THE leading expert ∙ Invent a new field! ∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work with others 6
  • 22.
    bad research career ∙Be THE leading expert ∙ Invent a new field! ∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work with others ∙ Research Horizons: 6
  • 23.
    bad research career ∙Be THE leading expert ∙ Invent a new field! ∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work with others ∙ Research Horizons: ∙ Never define milestones 6
  • 24.
    bad research career ∙Be THE leading expert ∙ Invent a new field! ∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work with others ∙ Research Horizons: ∙ Never define milestones ∙ Even if technology appears to leave you behind, stand by your problem 6
  • 25.
    bad research career ∙Be THE leading expert ∙ Invent a new field! ∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work with others ∙ Research Horizons: ∙ Never define milestones ∙ Even if technology appears to leave you behind, stand by your problem ∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide 6
  • 26.
    bad research career ∙Be THE leading expert ∙ Invent a new field! ∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work with others ∙ Research Horizons: ∙ Never define milestones ∙ Even if technology appears to leave you behind, stand by your problem ∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide ∙ Never be Proven Wrong 6
  • 27.
    bad research career ∙Be THE leading expert ∙ Invent a new field! ∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work with others ∙ Research Horizons: ∙ Never define milestones ∙ Even if technology appears to leave you behind, stand by your problem ∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide ∙ Never be Proven Wrong ∙ Don’t be Distracted by Others (Avoid Feedback) 6
  • 28.
    bad research career ∙Be THE leading expert ∙ Invent a new field! ∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work with others ∙ Research Horizons: ∙ Never define milestones ∙ Even if technology appears to leave you behind, stand by your problem ∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide ∙ Never be Proven Wrong ∙ Don’t be Distracted by Others (Avoid Feedback) ∙ Publishing Journal Papers IS Technology Transfer 6
  • 29.
    bad research career ∙Be THE leading expert ∙ Invent a new field! ∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work with others ∙ Research Horizons: ∙ Never define milestones ∙ Even if technology appears to leave you behind, stand by your problem ∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide ∙ Never be Proven Wrong ∙ Don’t be Distracted by Others (Avoid Feedback) ∙ Publishing Journal Papers IS Technology Transfer ∙ Writing Tactics for a Bad Career 6
  • 30.
    bad research career ∙Be THE leading expert ∙ Invent a new field! ∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work with others ∙ Research Horizons: ∙ Never define milestones ∙ Even if technology appears to leave you behind, stand by your problem ∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide ∙ Never be Proven Wrong ∙ Don’t be Distracted by Others (Avoid Feedback) ∙ Publishing Journal Papers IS Technology Transfer ∙ Writing Tactics for a Bad Career 6
  • 31.
    bad research career ∙Be THE leading expert ∙ Invent a new field! ∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work with others ∙ Research Horizons: ∙ Never define milestones ∙ Even if technology appears to leave you behind, stand by your problem ∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide ∙ Never be Proven Wrong ∙ Don’t be Distracted by Others (Avoid Feedback) ∙ Publishing Journal Papers IS Technology Transfer ∙ Writing Tactics for a Bad Career Equilibrium is the Best Strategy 6
  • 32.
    listen from thegodfathers
  • 33.
    you and yourresearch ∙ Manhattan Project (1945) ∙ Bell Labs (1946 - 1976) ∙ Turing Award (1968) ∙ The IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal is an award given annually since 1988 for ”exceptional contributions to information sciences, systems and technology”. Figure: Richard Hamming (1915-1998) Source: www2.isikun.edu.tr/personel/onurkaya/hamming.htm 8
  • 34.
    a phd isnot enough! ∙ Sandia National Laboratories (1974 - Present) ∙ Davisson-Germer Prize of the American Physicist Society for outstanding research in Surface Science (1989) Figure: Peter J. Feibelman Source: http://victormlgh.blogspot.com/2012/04/ phd-is-not-enoughguide-to-survival-in.html 9
  • 35.
    how to havea bad career in research/academia ∙ ACM President (2004 - 2006) ∙ ACM Distinguished Service Award ∙ ACM-IEEE Eckert-Mauchly Award Figure: David Andrew Patterson Source: http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~pattrsn/talks/BadCareer 10
  • 36.
    phd grind ∙ AssistantProfessor at UCSD Figure: Philip Guo Source: www.pgbovine.net/PhD-memoir/pguo-PhD-grind.pdf 11
  • 37.
    zero to one ∙Co-founded: Paypal, Palantir ∙ Funded: SpaceX, LinkedIn Figure: Peter Thiel 12
  • 38.
    zero to one “ZEROTO ONE EVERY MOMENT IN BUSINESS happens only once. The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won’t make a search engine. And the next Mark Zuckerberg won’t create a social network. If you are copying these guys, you aren’t learning from them.” – Peter Thiel 13
  • 39.
    other references Terence Tao’sCareer Advice: https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/ Career Advice at UT Austin: http://www.engr.utexas.edu/ecac/yourcareer/resumes/ 5-resumewriting/ 14
  • 40.
  • 41.
    lowest undergrad gpaof any professor (2.40 / 4.00) ∙ Professor of Computer Science (CS) at UIUC “Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong.” – Mandy Hale Figure: Jeff Erickson 16
  • 42.
  • 43.
    game of theday Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pgX60AAIYo 18
  • 44.
  • 45.
    Thank You ! Email:m.seif@nu.edu.eg 20
  • 46.
  • 47.
  • 48.
  • 49.
  • 50.
  • 51.
    top 10 techjobs | 2016 Rank Job Ave. Annual Salary ($) 1 Data Scientist 60,000 2 Solutions Architect 72,000 3 Software Development Manager 84,666 ... ... ... 9 Software Developer 40,000 10 Network Engineer 42,500 Useful Link: http://blog.udacity.com/2014/11/data-science-job-skills.html 26