Hacking Academia

Writing good conference papers in fields like robotics takes planning ahead of time, but there’s also lots you can do close to the final submission deadline.

In this new video, I provide a range of specific tips focused primarily on the final paper writing stages when you have a complete or near-complete draft paper, and are refining and tweaking it for submission.

I cover concepts ranging from the value of clear signposting for the reader, to appropriate use of specific types of technical words, to compelling presentation of results, to minimizing cognitive load on a reviewer and more…

Please 🙏 if you think your colleagues, fellow students, family or friends may find this useful!

Complete list of 🕒 timestamps

🕒 (0:00) Introduction
🕒 (0:40) A Useful Reviewer Stereotype
🕒 (0:57) Don’t Try to Satisfy Unreasonable Reviewers
🕒 (1:17) Overview of the Video
🕒 (1:55) Control the Narrative Around Your Contributions
🕒 (2:42) Make Specific Claims About Benefits
🕒 (3:33) Explain Why Improvements Are Relevant
🕒 (3:58) Make Sure Motivating Examples Are Relevant
🕒 (5:25) Make Results as Directly Comparable As Possible
🕒 (6:29) Give Competing Techniques an Advantage
🕒 (7:08) Apples to Apples Comparisons Where Possible
🕒 (8:19) Minimize Unnecesary Distractions
🕒 (9:05) Clear Signposting is Key
🕒 (10:07) Clear Structure and Flow
🕒 (10:36) Minimize Unnecessary Cognitive Load
🕒 (11:28) Careful Usage of Words with Strong Meanings
🕒 (12:03) Sparing Usage of Descriptive Words
🕒 (12:29) Specific Performance Claims
🕒 (12:43) Don’t Let Grammar and Typos Get in the Way
🕒 (13:27) Avoid Rambling Discussion About Results
🕒 (14:18) Future Work Shouldn’t Be Trivial
🕒 (15:02) Single Message Paragraphs
🕒 (15:31) Sentence by Sentence Sanity Check
🕒 (15:50) A Paper That is Too Easy to Understand is Great!

In your career you will constantly be applying for opportunities: PhDs, postdocs, tenure-track positions, grants, fellowships and prestigious awards, just to name a few.

A key part of being successful at this process is benchmarking yourself – evaluating how your track record and capabilities stack up, both to the specific opportunity, and to someone at your career stage and with who’s had your opportunities.

In this video, I unpack the key aspects of benchmarking oneself, propose a “as simple as 1, 2, 3” way to broadly categorize performance, and highlight how important context is when doing a benchmarking exercise.

I also highlight some key things to watch out for, including the fact you never know the full story of people you might use to inform your benchmarking, and the mental toll looking at others can take.

🙏 Please reshare if of interest to you, your colleagues, friends and/or family!

Complete topic list and timestamps:

(0:00) Introduction to Benchmarking Yourself
(0:17) Two Key Benefits of Benchmarking Yourself
(0:37) Benchmarking for Compelling Applications
(1:24) Benchmarking for Prioritising Professional Development
(1:45) Benchmarking Yourself is Optional
(2:37) Getting Started: Basic Principles
(3:03) The Three Simple Categories of Performance
(3:43) Considering Role Requirements
(4:08) Considering Career Stage and Seniority
(4:37) Performance vs Capability vs Track Record
(6:00) Consider Discipline Norms
(6:51) Track Record Relative to Opportunity
(7:39) The Three Performance Categories in Detail
(7:50) Category 1: Noticeable Underperformance
(9:51) Category 2: Typical, Not Noticeable
(10:37) Category 3: Noticeably Exceptional
(11:26) Sanity Check: You’re Not 100% Exceptional!
(12:07) Under- and Over-Estimation is Common
(12:56) Sanity Check 2: Ask Others
(13:20) Using this Benchmarking Information
(13:59) Pitching Appropriately
(15:05) Identify Weaknesses for Development
(16:35) Ask Colleagues for CVs and Applications
(17:08) Search Up People on the Internet!
(17:38) Check Funding Body Reports
(18:07) Check University-Collected Statistics
(18:37) You Never Know the Full Story of Others
(19:28) Manage Your Mental Health
(20:20) Benchmarking: Optional, But Consider It!
(20:51) Recap: 3 Categories, Context Matters

Applying for PhD positions can be a daunting experience, but doesn’t have to be.

In this video, I unpack the ins and outs of two of the key stages of applying for a PhD: the initial approach to a prospective supervisor, typically done over email (although there are many other ways to establish contact), and the interview process itself.

🙏 Please reshare if of interest to you, your colleagues, friends and/or family!

Complete topic list and timestamps:

(0:00) Introduction to PhD Applications
(0:09) What This Video Covers
(0:40) PhD Application Processes Vary
(1:08) Setting the Scene: So Many Applications!
(1:39) Busy Academics Miss Some Applications
(2:10) Academics Need PhD Students
(2:31) Types of PhD Supervisors
(2:48) Senior Experienced PhD Supervisors
(3:01) Junior PhD Supervisors
(3:23) Recruiting Philosophies
(3:35) The Idealist
(3:58) The Realist / Cynic
(4:33) Recruiting Styles Vary
(4:45) Length of PhD Program Affects Recruiting
(5:24) Contents of a Typical Email Approach
(5:55) Be Cautious of Excessive Personalization
(6:21) Assessing Whether to Progress Further
(6:50) Non-Negotiable Requirements
(7:20) Flexible Nice-to-Haves
(7:46) Publishing Experience
(8:30) Evidence of Substantial Project Experience
(9:15) Relevant Technical Skills
(9:38) Evidence of Extension Work
(10:06) Moving to the Interview Stage
(10:25) Interviews Should Not Be Adversarial
(10:42) Supervisors Are Grateful for your Time
(10:51) You’re Not Expected to Know Everything
(11:07) Prepared Presentations Are Optional
(11:33) Interviews Test Communication Capability
(11:58) Interviews Identify Your Contributions
(12:32) Interviews Test Technical Skills
(12:57) Evidence for Learning Capacity
(13:24) Interviews Evaluate Lab Culture Fit
(13:57) You Can Ask Questions!
(14:30) You Can Mention Key Constraints
(14:57) Practice Makes Perfect
(15:57) It’s a Numbers Game
(16:22) You’ll Improve Rapidly
(16:36) Learning Lifelong Skills
(17:04) Closing Comments and Good Luck!

Negotiation is one of the most challenging and daunting skillsets for many people to pick up, but is one that can have a hugely beneficial impact on your career.

In this video, I unpack the why, what, when, and how of negotiation, from #salary #compensation to #flexible working conditions to enabling #sidegigs to specifying #startup packages & more.

🙏 Please reshare if of interest to you, your colleagues, friends and/or family!

Complete topic list and timestamps:

📌 (0:00) Introduction to Negotiation
📌 (0:29) Why Consider Negotiating
📌 (0:58) What Can You Negotiate?
📌 (1:06) Negotiating Compensation Package
📌 (2:09) Negotiating Part-time Work
📌 (2:57) Negotiating Intellectual Property Situations
📌 (3:22) Negotiating Reduced Teaching Loads
📌 (3:53) Negotiating Startup Packages
📌 (4:25) Negotiating Sabbaticals
📌 (4:48) Other Things You Can Negotiate
📌 (5:21) Your Contact Has Limited Authority
📌 (5:54) Escalation of Negotiations
📌 (6:10) Other Factors That Influence Negotiation
📌 (6:39) How to Find Out What is Possible
📌 (6:50) Read the Official Documentation
📌 (7:07) Talk to Current or Recent Staff
📌 (7:17) Befriend HR and Recruiters
📌 (7:41) When to Negotiate
📌 (8:14) How to Negotiate
📌 (8:21) Good and Bad Negotiation
📌 (8:30) Practice, Practice and More Practice
📌 (8:49) Think Beyond the Negotiation
📌 (9:26) Never, Ever, Make Threats
📌 (10:03) Making a Compelling Case
📌 (11:27) Get it in Writing
📌 (12:15) Negotiation and Renegotiation
📌 (13:08) Not Compulsory, But Worth Consideration
📌 (13:29) Concluding Thoughts

So you’re writing a robotics conference paper?

Here are some practical tips to maximize the clarity, specificity & overall quality of your paper, so it gets accepted into a top #robotics#conference venue like #ICRA or #IROS.

Please reshare if you find it useful!

Tips are available in both text form & video!

Timestamps:

📌 0:00 (Introduction)
📌 0:08 (Types of Papers and Approach)
📌 1:12 (Know your Context )
📌 1:49 (Key Contributions and Specificity )
📌 2:37 (Gap Claims)
📌 3:13 (Don’t Die on Unnecessary Hills)
📌 3:59 (Three Types of Key Contributions)
📌 5:23 (Experimental Setup )
📌 6:13 (Show Weaknesses)
📌 6:38 (The Paragraph by Paragraph Summary Test)
📌 7:14 (Wrap-up)

Having good mentors in an academic career is like having a superpower!

In this video, I unpack the many benefits of having mentors, how the mentoring relationship can work, and tips for how to go about finding good mentors and avoid bad ones.

🙏 Please reshare if of interest to you, your colleagues, friends and/or family!

Complete topic list and timestamps:

📌 (0:00) Introduction to Mentoring
📌 (0:20) My Experience with Being Mentored
📌 (0:41) Why is Having Mentors Awesome?
📌 (1:06) Mentors See Things You Don’t
📌 (1:21) Mentors Bring Diverse Experiences
📌 (1:41) Mentors Provide Typical Support
📌 (1:57) Mentors Are a Critical Part of Many Careers
📌 (2:13) Constructive Criticism in a Safe Environment
📌 (2:35) Mentors Enable Growth
📌 (3:20) Supervisors Aren’t Always Mentors
📌 (4:05) What Makes a Good Mentor?
📌 (4:18) My Way Isn’t Necessarily Best for You
📌 (4:37) Tailored Advice for You
📌 (4:57) Update Their Advice, Constantly
📌 (5:22) Give Good Advice But Let You Screw Up
📌 (5:57) You Still Need to Critically Listen
📌 (6:22) Mentors Don’t Have to be Friends
📌 (6:37) Mentors Don’t Have to be Perfect Matches
📌 (7:11) Make up Your Mentors in the Aggregate
📌 (7:39) Mentors for Specific Areas of Your Career
📌 (8:26) Interacting with Your Mentors
📌 (9:24) Finding Mentors
📌 (9:52) Use Your Existing Network
📌 (10:09) Be Flexible When Approaching Mentors
📌 (10:35) Can Be Done Online!
📌 (11:04) Good Mentors Do Due Diligence
📌 (11:18) Your Mentor Team Should Evolve Over Time
📌 (11:46) Summary: Mentors are like a Superpower