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Definitely need to focus. I think most of us come into our PhDs thinking that our research is going to change the world. For anyone doing highly theoretical wor

Definitely need to focus. I think most of us come into our PhDs thinking that our research is going to change the world. For anyone doing highly theoretical work we can be over ambitious. We try to bite off more than we can chew, and then we're either paralyzed or we spend a good portion of our time back peddling to simpler problems. If I could give one piece of advice. Start simple. If possible replicate some of the earlier work because you may discover that you're building on a lot of unreported assumptions. Aim for a portfolio of small papers that together tell a larger story, rather than trying to pack it all into on opus magnus.

amelius 11y ago
> For anyone doing highly theoretical work we can be over ambitious. I would say that this danger applies more to those doing practical (applied) work. A practically oriented program will often have a clear goal, and preset goals are often unattainable in research. By contrast, a student doing theoretical work can always bend their goals when necessary.
- Aeolos 11y ago
  That is very true in my experience.
- ska 11y ago
  I think this contributes to why theoretical degrees take, on average, much less time to complete in my experience.
rodion 11y ago
> If possible replicate some of the earlier work because you may discover that you're building on a lot of unreported assumptions. I concur wholeheartedly, and this is my recommendation to every new PhD student. Replicating earlier work has many benefits for a PhD student in the beginning of their studies: * It forces them to deeply understand the system they're replicating. Much more deeply than simply reading the paper would. * It allows them to uncover the many corner cases which the original paper probably just briefly mentions. (If it mentions them at all.) * It makes them think about how they would design an experiment so that it is repeatable and reproducible. * It is a good source for inspiration for alternative solutions to the problem or even new problems altogether. Alas, replication is way too uncommon in systems CS, which I think is one of the reasons why other scientists often look down on systems research.

amelius 11y ago

> For anyone doing highly theoretical work we can be over ambitious. I would say that this danger applies more to those doing practical (applied) work. A practically oriented program will often have a clear goal, and preset goals are often unattainable in research. By contrast, a student doing theoretical work can always bend their goals when necessary.

Aeolos 11y ago
That is very true in my experience.
ska 11y ago
I think this contributes to why theoretical degrees take, on average, much less time to complete in my experience.

rodion 11y ago

> If possible replicate some of the earlier work because you may discover that you're building on a lot of unreported assumptions. I concur wholeheartedly, and this is my recommendation to every new PhD student. Replicating earlier work has many benefits for a PhD student in the beginning of their studies: * It forces them to deeply understand the system they're replicating. Much more deeply than simply reading the paper would. * It allows them to uncover the many corner cases which the original paper probably just briefly mentions. (If it mentions them at all.) * It makes them think about how they would design an experiment so that it is repeatable and reproducible. * It is a good source for inspiration for alternative solutions to the problem or even new problems altogether. Alas, replication is way too uncommon in systems CS, which I think is one of the reasons why other scientists often look down on systems research.