CPS 300 (Fall 2011):
Introduction to Graduate Study

Index

• Advice Collections
• Advice on Writing
• Advice on Giving Talks
• Advice on Reading/Reviewing
• Advice on Being a Graduate Student
• Advice on Research in General
• Readings for Computer Scientists

[[[Advice from Jun on broken links you might find below: Try the very cool Wayback Machine!]]]

• Jeff Vitter's CPS 300 (2000).
• Alex Hartemink's CPS 300 resources (2001).
• Jeff Chase's CPS 300 resources (2002-2007).
• Michael Ernst's advice for researchers and students.
• Jason I. Hong's grad school advice.
• Tao Xie's massive advice collection, including his own: on research, paper writing, common issues in technical writing, and tools and tips for writing.
• Mark Leone's collection of advices.

• Mathematical Writing by Knuth et al., an excellent book for computer scientists. You can also find a downloadable technical report version here with Google Scholar. [[[Jun highly recommends this book!]]]
• Strunk and White's classic, The Elements of Style. It is also available online. [[[Everybody's favorite.]]]
• Jeffrey Vitter's Miscellaneous Tips for Writing and Formatting.
• Jennifer Widom's Tips for Writing Technical Papers.
• How (and How Not) to Write a Good Systems Paper, by Levin and Redell, PC co-chairs of SOSP 1983.
• Jeff Chase's Writing Commandments.
• Doug Comer's advice on writing a dissertation on experimental computer science.
• Gail E. Kaiser on finding materials to include in the "Related Work" sections of conference papers.
• Stephen D. Senturia, How to Avoid The Reviewer's Axe: One Editor’s View.

• Mike Dahlin on giving a conference talk.
• Mark Hill's oral presentation advice, which includes David Patterson's Ten Commandments on how to give a bad talk.
• Jennifer Widom's tips for a good conference talk.
• Ian Parberry on how to give a technical talk in theoretical computer science.

• William G. Griswold on how to read an engineering research paper.
• The Task of the Referee by Alan Jay Smith.
• Ian Parberry's guide for new referees in theoretical computer science.
• Kathryn McKinley on double-blind reviewing.
• Ken Birman and Fred B. Schneider on Program Committee Overload in Systems.
• How to Publish a Scientific Comment in 1 2 3 Easy Steps, by Rick Trebino. [[[Thanks to Zheng Li for sharing the pointer.]]]

• Randy Pausch's time management. [[[Jun suggests that you also check out Randy's inspiring Last Lecture.]]]
• Ronald T. Azuma's computer science graduate school survival guide.
• Marie desJardins on how to be a good graduate student.
• Jayne Higgins's humorous essay on dissertation procrastination.

• Phil Agre, Networking on the Network (an often overlooked aspect of research). [[[Jun recommends this reading!]]]
• Dave Patterson on how to have a bad career in research/academia.
• Mike Dahlin's compilation of advices for researchers.
• How to do Research At the MIT AI Lab.
• The Somatic Engineer by Peter J. Denning.
• Robert E. Kelley on how to be a star engineer.
• You and Your Research by Richard Hamming.