A week in the life of a researcher in Computer Science
Let me start by describing the entire week of the life of a computer scientist. [ME :)]
Monday:
I start the week with a cup of coffee and reading a few of the papers on my laptop then i open android to do list to see and organize what i will do in this week. One of the papers seems related to a problem that I was trying to solve last week, so I work through the technical part of the paper and see how I could adapt the work to fit my problem. I make a few notes to discuss at a meeting with my supervisor later in the week.
On Monday lunchtimes, all of the research students, lecturers and professors in my research group meet to discuss a interesting paper or to hear about the work of one of our colleagues. Today, we’re continuing to work on a mini project to build something fun for a university open day.
Tuesday:
Today I focus on programming and testing a part of the software tool that I’m working on as part of the research for my thesis. I run into a few problems, and drop by one of the lecturer’s offices for help. We work on the problem together for a little while, and open a couple of bugs against some of the open-source tools that I’m using. I’m able to find a workaround for the issue, and I start some experiments while I’m having lunch. I meet with a couple of other research students with whom I’m organizing the York Doctoral Symposium, which is a mini-conference held at York every year. This year I’m designing the website, and I talk with the other student organizers about the content for the website. After lunch, I meet with my supervisor to discuss what I have been working on this week. He recommends a couple of papers for me to read, and we talk about some of the experiments that I want to run. He makes some suggestions, and we agree to talk about the results next week. We also talk about a draft of one of my thesis chapters, and my plans to attend a conference in next week.
Wednesday:
The results from yesterday’s experiments look promising, and I begin to analyse the results. I have not used the statistics tool before, and so I ask for a little help from one of the post-doctoral researchers in our team. He doesn't quite know the answer, but recommends an online reference guide that seems quite helpful. We talk a little about the presentation that I’m preparing for the conference in next week, and I make some changes to the slides when I get back to my desk.
Thursday:
I’m involved in teaching on Thursdays as a postgraduate teaching assistant on an undergraduate module. I start the day by reviewing the programming exercises the students will be tackling. By the time I arrive in the teaching labs, it’s already very busy. The two hours go by very quickly as I answer questions and help students fix problems with their code. I enjoy teaching and working with other students, and I also earn some money this way. I ran some more experiments while I was in the lab, but the results are not so promising this time. There’s a bug in my code, and I have no idea where to start looking for it. I decide to take a break and head to the gym for the afternoon. In the evening, I have an idea about the problem in my code and start to fix the problem.
Friday:
I worked quite late last night, so I arrive in the office a little later than usual. The experiments I run overnight are looking good, and I think I have fixed the problem I encountered yesterday. I make the final arrangements for my trip to conference. I email a couple of research students from Munich I met at a conference last year. One of them is also going to the conference, and we arrange to meet for dinner. I drop by my supervisor’s office to ask him to sign the paperwork needed to release the funds for my trip. We have a quick chat about a problem he’s having with a tool that I know about, and I’m able to help. In the afternoon, I find a couple of papers and a book that seem related to my research, so I print a couple of chapters to read on my flight next week. I stop at the pub on my way home tonight, as a few research students and lecturers are meeting for a drink. We chat for a couple of hours, and I wish everybody farewell for a couple of weeks, as I’ll be away at the conference and then will take a few days holiday to explore the Alps.
Recent Comments
1
Wow. Busy week!