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SUMMARY:The Nitty Gritty of PhD Work - Jon Crowcroft (University of Cambri
 dge)
DTSTART:20090521T150000Z
DTEND:20090521T160000Z
UID:TALK17913@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Eiko Yoneki
DESCRIPTION:It is really essential to do some actual work. This is not mea
 nt to be just a humourous remark\, but basically an observation that work 
 precedes thought in many cases. This is very much in line with Simon Peyto
 n-Jones' maxim about writing a paper being about writing down your ideas t
 o clarify them. Writing down your ideas in code is an even better way to b
 ring precision to your ideas (thanks to Henry for this reference:\nhttp://
 www.budiu.info/blog/2007/05/03/an-interview-with-leslie-lamport/\nwhich sa
 ys this nicely).\nBut working code also does work for you. You can use it 
 to get results. Results are useful since they tell you about things (repro
 duce\, contradict\, or improve on other peoples results\, all fodder for c
 hapters of thesis).\n\nMost people start a CS PhD with some idea how to wr
 ite code\, and a vaguer idea how to write a dissertation. Some may have wr
 itten a paper once or twice. The writing bit is a lot easier when you have
  a system to describe and results to report.\n\nThis means that from Day Z
 ero\, you can actually get on with things even when you don't know what yo
 u are doing.\n\nIf you are only moderately lucky\, the devil will be in th
 e details\, and hey presto\, you have a hypothesis and a plan\, and eventu
 ally a dissertation\, and a diploma in thinkology.\n
LOCATION:FW26\, Computer Laboratory\, William Gates Builiding
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