Getting started with research but overwhelmed by THOUSANDS of papers each year? How could one stay sane keeping track of the literature? π±
Here are some tricks I found useful. π§΅
*Track the people, not the papers*
There are far fewer key people who are driving the field forward than the number of papers. Check out who the authors are when you read papers. Overtime you will recognize the important ones.
*Read papers with good related work*
A good related work section saves you so much time by providing a clear, organized view for prior work.
Side note: Please save others' time by writing a good related work
Don't read papers individually. Think about how are they related (similar in some aspects, but different in others). It often helps to build a table with columns specifying ATTRIBUTES.
With this table, reading new papers becomes easy (just add more rows).
*Avoid reading the paper*
Instead of spending time reading the actual paper, find resources that are much easier to digest, e.g., a talk, a youtube video, teaser results, introductory video, or an overview figure.
Very often understanding the gist of the paper is all you need.
*Read with a purpose*
Before investing time on reading a paper, think about WHY you are reading it. Are you reading for the experimental setup, the organization, the story, the style, the method, or the visualization?
You almost never need to read a paper from top to bottom.
Do NOT spend too much time maximizing your GPAs (e.g., by taking easy courses) or the Greatly Ridiculous Exam (GRE) scores. Show your potential of doing good research!
Not sure if you love doing research yet? Then why are you applying?
Excited about starting doing research but have no clue?π€·ββοΈπ€·π»ββοΈ Here are some simple methods that I found useful in identifying initial directions.
Check out the thread below π
*Find a different dimension*
Just learn a cool idea from others? Think about how you could extend it to another dimension.
Ex: Text / audio / image / video / graph
*Relax assumptions*
Identify the underlying assumptions of existing work and try relaxing them to make it work in more unconstrained settings.
Writing emails to a stranger could be daunting, but it's a great way to build connections, explore opportunities, and even advance your career.
How do we write an effective cold email?
Check out 𧡠below for some ideas.
*Content*
Your email should contain the following four elements.
β’ Greeting: "Hello"
β’ Introduction: "My name is Inigo Montoya."
β’ Context/Connection: "You killed my father."
β’ Call for action: "Prepare to die."
*Greeting*
Understand basic email etiquette. Do not use Miss / Mrs. particularly if you know the recipient has a PhD. Respect their expertise.
I get this question frequently in my open office hours. I am still learning as well but I hope sharing my βπ° may be helpful to some.
Key idea β‘οΈ **Help them help you!**
How? Check out the thread π§΅
*Frequent update*
Setting up weekly meeting with your mentors is great. But, do NOT stay silent during the week. Nothing is more frustrating to learn that the student got stuck 20 mins after the meeting last week in a meeting.
Your mentors want you to succeed! Help them do so!
*Manage meetings*
Before: send results/agenda whenever they are available. Give your mentors time to digest them.
In the meeting: progress update. Reserve the last 10 mins to discuss next steps.
After: Send a summary and an actionable plan to keep everyone on the same page.