The research community

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The research community

Early in your career you should begin to develop a list of the 10 or 15 most influential researchers in your field. These are the people whose fundamental contributions are often cited. They may be featured speakers at conferences, they may chair the technical program committees, be distinguished speakers at USC or other universities, etc. As you prepare your manuscript for publication, I suggest you also publish it as a technical report and distribute copies to the people on this list. If you see them at meetings, try to discuss your research results with them. Make it a point to visit other universities (preferably where the leaders are located) and give seminars on your work. These steps will increase the awareness on your work in the community, so that when the department writes for letters of reference, your research will be known.

Clearly, none of these steps is needed if your work is genuinely superb. Then, a few published papers will be noticed and highly regarded, whether you ever attend a meeting or not. However, most research contributions are incremental rather than revolutionary, and must be discussed to become known and have an impact.

Do not neglect the community of your colleagues on the campus. You should also plan to give seminars in our department, discuss your research with fellow faculty members, participate in experimental seminar courses, and distribute copies of reports and papers to potentially interested colleagues. Seminars at neighboring institutions are also valuable; they provide additional feedback on your work and increase self-confidence.

IU Computer Science Department