Navigating Academia
I grew up in an academic family, but I recognize that not everyone has this privilege. This page is here to host links and tips I normally share with my students. The items in bold are links I share frequently. I might eventually write some blog posts of my own.
Finding PhD Programs and Applying
- Stipends for Computer Science PhD Programs
- Computer Science Research Rankings
- PhD Fee Application Waivers (Kaiser Sun)
- CS PhD Statements of Purpose
- List of iSchools (Information Systems)
Doing a PhD
- A thesis proposal is a contract (Matt Might)
- The illustrated guide to a Ph.D. (Matt Might)
- Academic martial arts: Defending your Ph.D. (Matt Might)
- 10 easy ways to fail a Ph.D. (Matt Might)
- 10 tips for academic talks (Matt Might)
- Ten simple rules for reading a scientific paper (Maureen A Carey, et al.)
- Defining a Proposal in One Table: How to Write a Blumenfeld Chart (Mark Guzdial)
- How to Get Your Paper Accepted (Maxwell Forbes)
- Advice for Research Students (Jason Eisner)
- Networking Tips for Younger PhD Students (Jean Yang)
- STEMMing the Leaky Pipeline: What the certificate doesn’t show - completing a PhD with a hidden disability in an academic culture of constant productivity (Ellie Moxham)
Funding
Your time and skills are valuable; you should never work for free.
Here are some options for UMBC students:
- Goldwater Scholars (undergrad only)
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) (undergrad only)
- Undergraduate Research Awards (URA) (undergrad only)
- Summer Research Scholarships (undergrad only)
- Graduate Fellowships (grad only)
- Research for course credit. This does not pay you, but getting credit for doing research can be a form of compensation.
- CMSC 499/699: Independent Study
- CMSC 698: Project in Computer Science
- CMSC 799: Masters Thesis
- Working in collaboration with another faculty member who has funding.
External funding opportunities:
- Allen Institute for AI’s Predoctoral Young Investigators program (undergrad and masters only)
- CRA-WP Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates (DREU) (undergrad only)
- NSF DREAM (masters only)
- NSF’s CSGrad4US Fellowship (graduate only; must be US citizen/resident)
- NSF’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) (graduate only; must be US citizen/resident)
- Hertz Fellowship (first or second year PhD students)
- Bloomberg’s Data Science PhD Fellowship (PhD student)
- Google PhD Fellowship (PhD student)
- IBM PhD Fellowship (PhD student)
- Microsoft Research Fellowship (PhD student)
- Link Foundation (PhD student)
- NDSEG Fellowship (check eligibility)
Extra:
Post-PhD
Applying to Academic Positions
- CRA Career Center (Computing Research Association)
- Faculty Job Interviewing Tips (Jeff Bigham)
- Interview Questions for Computer Science Faculty Jobs (Manuel Rigger)
- Academic job search advice (Matt Might)
Teaching
- How to Ungrade (Jesse Stommel)