tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890204.post7559259418849162262..comments2024-03-10T05:26:42.148-04:00Comments on My Biased Coin: Research labs vs. academiaMichael Mitzenmacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06738274256402616703noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890204.post-25537470301506319622007-07-03T09:14:00.000-04:002007-07-03T09:14:00.000-04:00As Michael says, I have been on both sides, and fr...As Michael says, I have been on both sides, and frequently find myself wearing both hats. Besides the pros and cons listed here, I hoped someone will do a fervent defense of academia and argue that foundational results emerge in academia and not as much from corporate labs! <BR/><BR/>And that applies to theory and systems research. Often people relate theory/systems divide to theory/practice which is simply false. Academic research, theory or systems, is conceptual and applied research, theory or systems, may be practical.metoohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07192519900962182610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890204.post-30442489088294394082007-07-02T21:37:00.000-04:002007-07-02T21:37:00.000-04:00research labs ... different from academic position...<I>research labs ... different from academic positions in ways that can be very appealing to many people : no need to continually find funding, no teaching, no tenure pressure, and generally more emphasis on accomplishing things as a group rather than individually.</I><BR/><BR/>and much better salaries, though less vacation and little to no chance to launch your own startup while still employed in your day job.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890204.post-63579310253900470322007-07-01T23:33:00.000-04:002007-07-01T23:33:00.000-04:00i would like to add a couple of thoughts.another p...i would like to add a couple of thoughts.<BR/><BR/>another possible career track for students who love to teach, is to try and become a prof at some selective 4-year college. who knows, you may inspire the next Chris Umans or Neil Gershenfeld! unfortunately, the number of such jobs is quite few (in North America).<BR/><BR/>this brings me to my next point, which is that students should consider many parts of the world for jobs, if possible. for reasons of globalization, and also since CS research and education are considered strategically important by many countries, i think it is important that students get a global experience -- i personally encourage our students (and esp. our American students) to do so. getting an internship at Andy Yao's group at Tsinghua, for instance, would be great. also, one of our American students is doing an internship at Bell Labs Bangalore this summer. (i specifically mention our American students since i work in America and of course, our non-American students have already taken the international leap.)<BR/><BR/>aravind srinivasanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890204.post-82312268269036210462007-06-30T21:52:00.000-04:002007-06-30T21:52:00.000-04:00For what it's worth, I know a lot of profs who are...For what it's worth, I know a lot of profs who are honest about the drawbacks of being in academia. (I am a prof myself, and can fully understand why someone would take a job outside of academia, even not at a research lab.) It's (mostly) not professors who are biased in favor of academia, it's the deans and administrators who don't "count" student placement unless it is in a university.<BR/><BR/>Everyone (Michael, as well as any students reading this) should also realize that being a professor at Harvard (or any top school) will be qualitatively different from being a professor at a lower-ranked school. While anyone who is reasonably talented and dedicated can probably find an academic job <EM>somewhere</EM>, it is very hard to get a job at a top-10 school.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890204.post-52963683597852075132007-06-30T17:57:00.000-04:002007-06-30T17:57:00.000-04:00no need to continually find fundingI'm an IBM rese...<I>no need to continually find funding</I><BR/><BR/>I'm an IBM researcher. This is not necessarily true (unfortunately).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com