Managing Research Activities in SLAC IEPM Group

1. Managing Research Activities in SLAC IEPM Group Prepared by Les Cottrell, SLAC for the NIIT, March 21, 2005

2. SLAC • National Lab operated by Stanford University funded by US Department of Energy • Roughly 1400 staff, + contractors & outside users => 3000, ~ 2000 on site at a given time • Fundamental research in: • Experimental particle physics • Theoretical physics • Accelerator research • Synchrotron Light research • Has faculty to pursue above research and awards degrees, 3 Nobel prizewinners

3. SLAC Computing • Note: no fundamental research in computing, no faculty • Computing/networking is to provide support for the Lab • Networking, Microsoft Windows support, Unix/Linux support, storage/file systems, databases, operations, help desk/user support, phones • Approximately 100 people

4. Network Monitoring • Part of SLAC computing / network group • Monitoring for LAN needed to manage the network • As WAN increased in importance added WAN monitoring for SLAC needs • Worldwide BaBar collaboration based at SLAC dramatically increased the need to know performance to many sites worldwide • Developed PingER project to make measurements, gather, archive, analyze and present

5. IEPM Group • DoE separately funds proposal to develop and extend PingER • Hire PhD/physicist created IEPM group (two people: myself and the new hire) • Research best ways to make measurements, best way to analyze, gather data, build and distribute toolkit • Hire Stanford students as RAs • SLAC pays a stipend plus tuition fees • Work at SLAC not directly part of MS/PhD (no credits) • For MS students the work is usually advanced technology/research often related to coursework

6. Team • Three permanent people ≡ one full-time-equivalent • Junior programmer • Senior programmer • PI (me) • Students (usually 1-2 RAs) • One open post for 2 year person (PhD research)

7. Caveat • Our job is not to supervise PhDs doing research • We do not award degrees • More like industry internship • Rather it is to develop tools and pursue projects of value to SLAC and our funding agencies • Projects are chosen primarily since something needs doing (with deadlines etc.) rather than a more open ended interesting research topic.

8. Student selection • Stanford RAs (doing MS in CS, EE): • List Job/project description • List skills needed • Spread word around • Two people interview students (60-90mins) with a prepared list of questions related to the skills & job requirements etc., all students are asked same set • Choose most appropriate: intelligence, enthusiasm, self motivated, organized, communication skills, relevant technical skills, trustworthy … • NIIT students, rely on/trust NIIT • Some/best spend 6 months at SLAC (after graduate) – for further growth etc.

9. Student “management” • Time conflicts between student’s research work and course work, make planning difficult • Internships & full-time summer students easier since full time for a few months, but then continuity may be problem • Stanford RA’s are 50% time at SLAC for typically a ¾ year. • Much easier if students physically present • Locate students close to supervisor (e.g. share office) • Have clear understanding of attendance (posted on door) • Frequent interactions, especially during first quarters

10. Student management • NIIT students require from the start: • Clear understanding of topic, especially at start, may take frequent interactions (f2f?) • For inexperienced students: written specifications of goals, timelines, deliverables • Will change as research evolves • If we could specify it all then it would not be research • Meeting times can be hard to set (time zones, work days, travel …) • Some students expect ongoing specific instructions, may not be realistic, need to become more independent, made aware of Google, email groups/archives, literature searches etc.

11. NIIT Student management • Co-supervision (from SLAC) at a distance • Under graduate projects are short (few months) • Require more structure (definition, timelines, deliverables) than longer-term, more experienced researchers (e.g. PhDs), project has to be finished in short time • Assistance with local close day-to-day supervision • Less frequent “meetings” with SLAC senior supervisor (e.g. 2 weeks), plus emails • NIIT senior student (at SLAC or NIIT) also assist with supervision (may interfere with own research, may assist in training) • Still understanding, looking for optimal solutions

12. Collaboration Management • Web site – goals, publicity, access to reports, status/logs • Email lists and archives • Messenger type use growing (but time zones) • Fortnightly/monthly phone or video meetings • Draft agenda 2 days in advance • Phone with powerpoint slides works well • Tried VRVS video but voice quality poor, requires more scheduling, assumes good network connectivity, should not be a heroic effort • Accounts at each other’s sites (can conflict with security concerns) • Need to help debug, definitively check things, shared experience

13. Collaboration management • Face to face meetings (hallway discussions, • Often coordinated with other meetings • Typically few times/year • Absolutely critical, need careful planning • Good/reliable connectivity is essential, • On going for collaboration • ALSO: especially during visits, at institute AND hotel, in meetings (wireless) … • Still have job at home institution, keep up with email, keep on top of tasks/projects, proposals, people … • Especially important for extended (> few days) visits

14. Summary • Communication essential • Management is for me this is still evolving • Still recognizing: • Where there are problems • Possible approaches • Where & when different approaches work (scaling) • How to recognize that there are problems

16. Funding • Faustian bargain of funding • Hire to perform promised work and provide deliverables • If/when funding runs out have to lay-off • LBL just terminated their network research team (3 or 4 people) • So spend a lot of time writing proposals • 10-20% success • Mainly to DoE, but also DARPA, NSF • Usually joint collaboration with others: • CNRI, Caltech, BNL, NIIT