CS Careers© Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid, CS5014, Fall CS5014 Research Methods in CS Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid Computer Science Department Virginia Tech CS Careers

© Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid, CS5014, Fall Outline CS Careers What does a Researcher do? Post Docs Getting a Faculty Position Tenure Some of the material is based on Dr. Cliff Shaffer’s Notes for CS5014. Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech

CS Careers© Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid, CS5014, Fall What Does a Researcher Do? 1/2 Products:  Publish papers (conferences, journals, “invited" papers in conferences or journals, workshops, seminars, books)  Submit proposals (and other requests for support)  Write reviews (public vs. private)  Write evaluations (letters of recommendation, employee evaluation)

CS Careers© Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid, CS5014, Fall What Does a Researcher Do? 2/2 Activities:  Study the literature (learn), keep up with things  Analyze: Statistics, hypotheses (experimental design)  Serve on editorial boards, review panels, etc (service)  Hunt for jobs  Hunt for money (proposals)  Collaborate: Peers, superiors, employees  Teach  Mentor

CS Careers© Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid, CS5014, Fall Post Docs Biology  Oversupply of researchers  Lack of alternatives  Competition for hard money positions  Requirement for post doc experience to be competitive  “Underclass" of “permanent temporary“ positions Computer Science  Periods of undersupply of faculty  Industry absorbs most with CS degree, at all levels  Less culture of post docs  Can be a worthwhile training experience

CS Careers© Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid, CS5014, Fall Getting a Faculty Position Supply and Demand plays a big role.  Historically, there has been a deficit of qualified applicants for faculty  There are temporary periods of relative oversupply Research vs. Teaching positions A key feature of the job is diversity  Warning: If you are not good at frequent context switches, then don't do this!

CS Careers© Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid, CS5014, Fall Tenure An explicit, proactive point in time at which a decision is made to keep a faculty member in place or re him/her Usually done after about six years Rule of thumb: Is the replacement likely to be better or worse? Very different from Industry or Government  Firing only for cause Once tenured, in theory its a permanent position  Still plenty of controls on performance Original motivation was “academic freedom."