(I wrote these
highly awkward and personal notes mostly for graduate students who
consider me as a potential adviser. They may also be of interest
to colleagues and collaborators.)
- When I think of my job I think of two things: research and students. I solve
research problems as I work with students. I cannot, and do not
want to, do one of these things without the other.
- I do not like to label my work as theoretical, experimental or
systems-building. I think of theory, modeling, experimentation,
measurements, simulation, prototyping, as tools that enable research. They
are not the objectives of my
research. The objective of my research is to solve problems or answer
questions that real people care about.
- The researchers I admire most were both scientists and engineers. They
both discovered hidden truths and they invented important artifacts.
Think of Tesla for instance. I think of "pure theory" as a bit of
intellectual narcissism. And I think that a big part of "systems
research" is mundane and incremental.
- I do like to collaborate with other people. However, I need to
admit that I am not the easiest
person to work with. I put all my energy in what I do, and I
expect that my collaborators will share the same level of passion.
Also, I do not like fragmented
collaborations, meaning, "you will do this part of the
paper/proposal, I will do this other part ..." When it comes to
research, fragmented collaborations do not work, at least in my
experience.
- Many people in Computer Science like to produce "research results" within
just 2-3 weeks. Prove a couple of theorems, run some simulations, write a
sexy introduction, and here is your next paper. I believe that
good research requires many months of hard work, perspiration as
much as inspiration, experimentation under conditions that do not
agree with your model's assumptions, and relentless testing of your ideas.
If you are in a hurry to write your next paper, we will not be a very
good match. The corollary here is that doing something few weeks before the
conference deadline does not qualify for reseach.
- I do not like salesmen,
politicians and authorities. Especially in research.
Unfortunately all three types are common in academia.
- I feel very strongly that I am still a student. I like to attend
a new class every semester, and to study new disciplines (biology is my
latest passion). I think it was Roland Barthes that said, "I teach what
I find, not what I know".