For fresh graduates ...

1. a glimpse on the academic scholar
Career, Challenges and Opportunities
Mohamed Seif, BSc
July 13, 2016
Nile University

2. Research
1

3. Research
Expectation vs Reality
1

4. advice to be bad grad student

5. bad grad student
∙ Concentrate on getting good grades
3

6. bad grad student
∙ Concentrate on getting good grades
∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian
3

7. bad grad student
∙ Concentrate on getting good grades
∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian
∙ Postpone research involvement: might
lower GPA
3

8. bad grad student
∙ Concentrate on getting good grades
∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian
∙ Postpone research involvement: might
lower GPA
∙ No employer cares about GPA
3

9. bad grad student
∙ Concentrate on getting good grades
∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian
∙ Postpone research involvement: might
lower GPA
∙ No employer cares about GPA
∙ What matters:
3

10. bad grad student
∙ Concentrate on getting good grades
∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian
∙ Postpone research involvement: might
lower GPA
∙ No employer cares about GPA
∙ What matters:
∙ Letters of recommendation
3

11. bad grad student
∙ Concentrate on getting good grades
∙ Aim for PhD class valedictorian
∙ Postpone research involvement: might
lower GPA
∙ No employer cares about GPA
∙ What matters:
∙ Letters of recommendation
∙ Your research
3

12. bad grad student
∙ Graduation after +3 years
4

13. bad grad student
∙ Graduation after +3 years
∙ Contrary to PhD level
4

14. bad grad student
∙ Graduation after +3 years
∙ Contrary to PhD level
∙ Don’t work on large projects: takes
longer
4

15. bad grad student
∙ Graduation after +3 years
∙ Contrary to PhD level
∙ Don’t work on large projects: takes
longer
∙ Have to talk to others, have to
learn different areas
4

16. bad grad student
∙ Graduation after +3 years
∙ Contrary to PhD level
∙ Don’t work on large projects: takes
longer
∙ Have to talk to others, have to
learn different areas
∙ Don’t trust your advisor
4

17. bad grad student
∙ Graduation after +3 years
∙ Contrary to PhD level
∙ Don’t work on large projects: takes
longer
∙ Have to talk to others, have to
learn different areas
∙ Don’t trust your advisor
∙ Faculty career is judged by
success of students
4

18. advice for bad career in research

19. bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
6

20. bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
6

21. bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
6

22. bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
6

23. bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
6

24. bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
6

25. bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide
6

26. bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide
∙ Never be Proven Wrong
6

27. bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide
∙ Never be Proven Wrong
∙ Don’t be Distracted by Others (Avoid
Feedback)
6

28. bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide
∙ Never be Proven Wrong
∙ Don’t be Distracted by Others (Avoid
Feedback)
∙ Publishing Journal Papers IS Technology
Transfer
6

29. bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide
∙ Never be Proven Wrong
∙ Don’t be Distracted by Others (Avoid
Feedback)
∙ Publishing Journal Papers IS Technology
Transfer
∙ Writing Tactics for a Bad Career
6

30. bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide
∙ Never be Proven Wrong
∙ Don’t be Distracted by Others (Avoid
Feedback)
∙ Publishing Journal Papers IS Technology
Transfer
∙ Writing Tactics for a Bad Career
6

31. bad research career
∙ Be THE leading expert
∙ Invent a new field!
∙ Be the real Lone Ranger: Don’t work
with others
∙ Research Horizons:
∙ Never define milestones
∙ Even if technology appears to
leave you behind, stand by your
problem
∙ Let Complexity Be Your Guide
∙ Never be Proven Wrong
∙ Don’t be Distracted by Others (Avoid
Feedback)
∙ Publishing Journal Papers IS Technology
Transfer
∙ Writing Tactics for a Bad Career
Equilibrium is the Best Strategy
6

32. listen from the godfathers

33. you and your research
∙ Manhattan Project (1945)
∙ Bell Labs (1946 - 1976)
∙ Turing Award (1968)
∙ The IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal is
an award given annually since 1988 for
”exceptional contributions to
information sciences, systems and
technology”.
Figure: Richard Hamming
(1915-1998)
Source:
www2.isikun.edu.tr/personel/onurkaya/hamming.htm
8

34. a phd is not enough!
∙ Sandia National Laboratories (1974 -
Present)
∙ Davisson-Germer Prize of the American
Physicist Society for outstanding
research in Surface Science (1989)
Figure: Peter J. Feibelman
Source:
http://victormlgh.blogspot.com/2012/04/
phd-is-not-enoughguide-to-survival-in.html
9

35. how to have a bad career in research/academia
∙ ACM President (2004 - 2006)
∙ ACM Distinguished Service Award
∙ ACM-IEEE Eckert-Mauchly Award
Figure: David Andrew
Patterson
Source:
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~pattrsn/talks/BadCareer
10

36. phd grind
∙ Assistant Professor at UCSD
Figure: Philip Guo
Source:
www.pgbovine.net/PhD-memoir/pguo-PhD-grind.pdf
11

37. zero to one
∙ Co-founded: Paypal, Palantir
∙ Funded: SpaceX, LinkedIn
Figure: Peter Thiel
12

38. zero to one
“ZERO TO ONE EVERY MOMENT
IN BUSINESS happens only
once. The next Bill Gates will
not build an operating system.
The next Larry Page or Sergey
Brin won’t make a search
engine. And the next Mark
Zuckerberg won’t create a
social network. If you are
copying these guys, you aren’t
learning from them.” – Peter
Thiel
13

39. other references
Terence Tao’s Career Advice:
https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/
Career Advice at UT Austin:
http://www.engr.utexas.edu/ecac/yourcareer/resumes/
5-resumewriting/
14

40. no matter you did!

41. lowest undergrad gpa of any professor (2.40 / 4.00)
∙ Professor of Computer Science (CS) at
UIUC
“Growth is painful. Change is
painful. But nothing is as painful
as staying stuck somewhere you
don’t belong.” – Mandy Hale
Figure: Jeff Erickson
16

42. be patient :)

43. game of the day
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pgX60AAIYo
18

44. Questions ?
19

45. Thank You !
Email: m.seif@nu.edu.eg
20

46. backup slides

47. 22

48. look a head
23

49. look a head
24

50. look a head
25

51. top 10 tech jobs | 2016
Rank Job Ave. Annual Salary ($)
1 Data Scientist 60,000
2 Solutions Architect 72,000
3 Software Development Manager 84,666
...
...
...
9 Software Developer 40,000
10 Network Engineer 42,500
Useful Link:
http://blog.udacity.com/2014/11/data-science-job-skills.html
26