Norman Ramsey: Resources for Students

Resources for Students interested in the PhD

I hope these links may be useful for research students. Please let me know if you find something I might like to add to this page.

What is the PhD all about, anyway?

What Am I Doing Here? A Guide to the Unwritten Rules of Grad School in the Sciences by Cory Kerens, Ph.D.
Some idea of what you're getting into, by an ex-professor.

For anyone considering a Ph.D. in Computer Science, by Doug Comer
What the PhD represents and why you might want one

Getting in

How to get admitted to a PhD program, by Norman Ramsey.
Tips and tricks, with an emphasis on Harvard.

Research

How to Build an Economic Model in Your Spare Time, by Hal Varian.
Getting and developing ideas. Useful for everyone, not just economists.
Making key research decisions. From 500 Tips For Research Students, by Sally Brown, Liz McDowell and Phil Race. We have this book in McKay library.

Writing

I have a separate page on resources for writers.

The thesis

Your thesis and your dissertation are not quite the same thing. Shivers explains the difference.

Olin Shivers has written an excellent squib on what a thesis is all about.

How to write a Ph.D. dissertation, by Doug Comer
Tips and tricks

How to give a talk

The best advice I've ever seen about giving a talk was in a talk entitled ``Making the most of your presentation'' by Jean-Luc Doumont. This talk itself is not available, but there is other material on Doumont's web site.

I haven't found a lot of other material, but here are a few good references. You will eventually develop your own style, but reading some of these papers can help give you some ideas and can certainly keep you from making rookie mistakes.

How to give a good research talk, Simon Peyton Jones, John Launchbury, John Hughes, SIGPLAN Notices 28(11), Nov 1993.
This is really quite good, although the balance has tipped away from hand-written slides. Don't overlook the commentary!
Ian Parberry has written a useful Guide for Speakers.
Ideas from Bruce Donald.
Ideas from Paul Edwards.
Olivier Danvy has given a talk about giving talks. You can see his slides .
Avoid the practices listed in these Maxims for Malfeasant Speakers.
You can read my own tips and tricks.
You can ask Google.

If you can read just one of these, read Simon's. If you can read just two, also read my tips and tricks.

The Job Hunt

Getting an academic job by Michael Ernst.
Unusually good because it has lots of specific's from Ernst's experiences as a candidate.

Working with NR

The Guide to working with Norman Ramsey lays out my view of my expectations and obligations as an advisor.

More advice

There's some nice stuff on the ProperTreatment Wiki.

Professor Michael Ernst has assembled an impressive collection of advice.

Back to Norman Ramsey's home page.