How NOT to Have a Successful PhD on Middleware Research

1. How NOT to Have a Successful PhD on Middleware Research The Ten Commandments (to carefully avoid) Paolo Costa Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam costa@cs.vu.nl http://www.cs.vu.nl/~costa

2. # 1 : PhD is A Nightmare • Despite all, PhD is a privileged job • You can work on what you like most • If it you aren’t having fun, there is something wrong

3. # 1 (revised): PhD is Just Fun • Wrong again! • Take yourself seriously • Although you’re not going to save the world, you should aim at improving it • Believe in what you are doing • always challenge yourself • if you cannot convince yourself about the need of your work, how can you convince others ?

4. # 2: State-of-the-art ?!? • It does not matter how narrow / wide is your research area but you should be THE expert • Select the best venues and keep yourself updated • Keep annotated versions of the most relevant papers on your desk

5. 1 idea 4 journal papers 16 extended abstracts 64 technical reports # 3: Publish or Perish ! • Publications are key to determine a success of a PhD but... • strongly prefer quality over quantity • the goal should be let other people know about the work, not to increase our ego • use workshops responsibly • they are useful to discuss preliminary ideas • they are not an easy path for publication

6. # 4: “You MUST know my papers” • Making your work popular is up to you • Choose right venues: • avoid obscure conferences / journals • Talk to people at conferences • bring printed papers with you • Make your papers available on your homepage • If you produced any software, create a website and keep it updated • don’t forget documentation

7. # 5: Never Share Your Ideas • Don’t be afraid of other people stealing your work • Don’t be afraid of bothering other people • most academics like being asked for comments • Be ready to defend and, in case, revise your ideas • Discussion makes your research stronger

8. # 6: Advisor is Always Right • Most of the time yes but... • you have a more in-depth and close knowledge of the problem • Don’t be scared • part of your growth is to become independent • However, you are NOT always right • be open to discuss and challenge your ideas • master students are usually the most critical because they are not biased

9. # 7: Let Complexity Be Your Guide • Simple (but not trivial) is a benefit • Simple ideas are the most powerful • Usually complex protocols are just patched version of non-working ideas • most working protocols are simple (e.g., TCP/IP) • If simple, • people can understand it • bugs are easily found • implementation is less error-prone

10. # 8: Never be Proven Wrong • Whenever possible, implement your ideas and test them in real settings • but think before coding • Don’t overestimate intuition • Be fair: • make other people able to repeat your experiments • don’t discard unsuccessful runs • “If you get it right the first time, you are likely not understanding the problem” (Murphy’s Law)

11. # 9: Internships are Wasteful • If possible, spend some months in a different university / research center • It helps you to: • strengthen your personality • different topics, styles of work, people • improve your cv • increase your network • Many opportunities to get funded • e.g., EU grant Marie Curie

12. # 10 Thesis: Mission Impossible • Clearly state the problem • List the system model and assumptions • Describe your solution as simple as possible • use examples • Provide details of your experiment setup • Don’t hide flaws: be fair • Compare your work against existing solutions

13. Acknowledgments • To my former advisor, who prevented me from making such mistakes