Graduate students

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Graduate students

You will encounter two points of view with respect to the question of working with graduate students. One opinion holds that assistant professors should do their own work and only direct the work of students later in their careers. The other side of this issue is that good students can multiply your effectiveness and increase your productivity. I believe that the latter is particularly true in connection with experimental research, where student help with implementation and software development can make the difference between success and frustration. Where theoretical research is concerned, the choice is more personal. Some people are quite content to work in isolation. Others prefer to have students work on related aspects of the same problem on which they are working. I have found work with graduate students very stimulating, with a couple of exceptions, when I (temporarily) tried to work with students of mediocre ability. In such cases, the experience was a largely unproductive expenditure of time.

In my personal work with students, I set goals for them and insist that they document their progress with draft manuscripts. My work with them on these drafts often leads to conference papers. My students always publish before they finish, sometimes jointly with me and sometimes on their own, depending on the degree of my own involvement.

One final observation on this matter: guidance of doctoral students is central to the work of a professor in a research-oriented university. In a research institute one's only function is to do research; at a university we also inspire and guide graduate students. Our former students then carry our vision of important research problems and methodology to other institutions. For this reason, review committees at all levels look for work with doctoral students in examining a candidate's dossier. For most of us, work with students is rewarding and stimulating and increases our productivity.

IU Computer Science Department