free to ask anyone in the world for help, but they will typically not be able to
help you, since they don’t know the answer either – if they did, it wouldn’t
be research. Many students have a hard time with working independently.
• In classes, you are constantly being given grades and you are constantly
being told what to do next. In research, there are no grades. There is some
instruction (from your advisor), but mostly it’s up to you to be self-motivated
and pro-active.
• In the classroom, there is a distance between you and your professor. In re-
search, you and your advisor will work side-by-side. Your advisor will still
tell you what to do – give you ideas for problems to work on, assign papers
for you to read, give you programming assignments, and often give you a
time-line and schedule. However, when you and your advisor are working
on a problem together, you will work as equals. You will both learn from
each other. You will make discoveries together. Many students are surprised
to find that their advisor is very different in research than in the classroom. A
professor who is very dry in the classroom and often looks bored and uncom-
fortable will often become extremely enthusiastic and excited when working
on research problems. In the classroom, you hear your professor discuss re-
sults which he/she has already worked out. All problems are always solved
by the end of lecture. In research, you will watch your advisor think out
loud and see how he/she thinks and reasons. Students often find this very
exciting. You may find that you think more quickly than your advisor, but
your advisor has more ideas than you. Or you may find that you are better
at computations or coding, but your advisor is better at proofs or writing or
speaking. This surprises many students, who expect their advisor to be better
than they are at everything. Don’t pout, this is an unrealistic expectation. As
in all of life, you will be most successful if you simply figure out what skills
your advisor has that you don’t and work hard at picking up all of those skills
without complaining.
• When taking classes, you will almost never see your professor alone. When
doing research with an advisor, you will typically have 1 hour per week
when you meet with your advisor alone. If your advisor is especially busy
(remember, professors have to do research, teach, apply for grants, serve on
committees, fly around giving talks, etc.) you may only get 1/2 hour a week.
If your advisor is a newer faculty, you may get as much as 2 hours per week.
It’s your job to plan ahead so as to maximize the utility of your time together.
Keep in mind that no one can give you a complete picture of what research is.
The best way to learn what research is, and whether you like it, is simply to start
doing it. The earlier the better!
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