Research: What is it? Why do it? And, how do you get started?

Kelly Shaw
Williams College

Stevenson 1300
12:00 PM

You've heard faculty members and university officials talk about students being involved in research. You may even have some friends who have started working on research in a lab in chemistry or physics.  But, you don't really know what it means to do research in computing.  You also don't know why you would get involved in research.  Surely only people who want to become a faculty member do research, right?  Not true. Actually, most people who get PhDs in computing fields work in industry.

In this talk, I'll start by discussing what it means to do computing research.  We'll address the questions of why you might want to get involved in a research project and what research might look like after you graduate with your undergraduate degree.  Lastly, I'll describe a variety of ways to start your research journey at different career stages: during your first or second year of university, your senior year of university, or after you've graduated from your undergraduate program and are working in industry or earning your MS.

If you're curious about research and have questions, this talk is for you!