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The following is a (continually evolving) collection of web pages with advice on various aspects of research and graduate school. These links were collected in the hopes that they would be useful to undergraduates in computer science.

  • Advice on specific aspects of research

  • Posters
  • The basics of poster design, Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium
  • Research Posters 101, Lorrie Cranor, ACM crossroads (Computer Science)
  • Preparing a poster: some resources, University of Queensland

  • Examples, from report Creating Effective Poster Presentations

  • Creating Effective Poster Presentations, George Hess, Leon Liegel
  • Effective Poster Design: a step-by-step guide, University of Guelph's Teaching Support Services
  • How to create a poster that graphically communicates your message, Kathryn Tosney, University of Michigan (Biology)
  • How to prepare a poster, Sven Hammarling, Nicholas Higham, SIAM news (Mathematics)
  • Preparing effective posters, adapted from Carol Connor's US Geological Survey Open-File Report 88-667 (Geology)
  • Oral Presentations
  • Giving Technical Talks, Scot Drysdale
  • Oral Presentation Advice, Mark Hill
  • How to present a paper, Ashwin Ram
  • How to Present a Paper: A Speaker's Guide <pdf>, Bob Spillman and Ian Parberry
  • The Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation, Peter Norvig. On the dangers of powerpoint.
  • Reading and writing (papers, grant proposals, etc)
  • How to read a research paper, Spencer Rubager
  • Some advice on writing a technical report, Alan Sherman
  • Writing a good grant proposal, Simon Peyton Jones and Alan Bundy

  • Learning Latex
  • A beginner's introduction to typesetting with latex, Peter Flynn. 123 page pdf document.
  • Going to graduate school

  • Should I go?
  • Advice for undergraduates considering graduate school, Phil Agre. "informal advice for undergraduates who are thinking about graduate school"
  • Should I go to grad school?, by Oregon Graduate Institute's department of computer science and engineering.
  • Notes on the PhD Degree, Douglas Comer.

  • Piled Higher and Deeper, graduate student comic strip by Jorge Cham.
  • How do I get in?
  • Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science, Mor Harchol-Balter. Particularly for those interested in applying to top-tier programs.
  • How do I get money?
  • How to win a graduate fellowship, Michael Kiparsky, posted on Tomorrow's Professor mailing list.
  • NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program: What Panelists Look For?! by Tess Moon
  • General graduate student research advice

  • So long, and thanks for the Ph.D.!, "A computer science graduate school survival guide, intended for prospective or novice graduate students." by Azuma.
  • Graduate Study in the computer and mathematical sciences: a survival manual, Dianne O'Leary.
  • Graduate School Advice, a list of links.
  • Computer science research methods and writing workshop, a page for a class taught at Iowa State University

  • "I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; had I abided by it I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes."
    -- Edna St. Vincent Millay