A list of Resources for PhD Students.

General References

Surviving your PhD

• [A Survival Guide to a PhD (Andrej Karpathy)]
• [Dave Evans Advice (compilation)] [html]
• [Tuomas Sandholm]
• [You and your Research (Richard Hamming)]
• [The PhD Grind (Philip Guo)] [dropbox link]
• [Shomir Wilson (compilation)] [html]
• [On Procrastination (Paul Graham)]
• [So long, and thanks for the PhD! (Ronald T. Azuma)] [Original link]
• [The N=1 guide to grad school (and hopefully, knowledge work)]
• [How to Be a Successful PhD Student (Adam Marcus)]
• [Advice on Research (Srinivas Akella) (compilation)] [html]
• [Advice on Research and Writing (for computer scientists) (compilation)] [html]
• [How to Build an Economic Model in your Spare Time (Hal R. Varian)]
• [Surviving your stupid, stupid decision to go to grad school)]
• [Graduate Study in the Computer and Mathematical Sciences: A Survival Manual (Dianne Prost O’Leary)]
• [How to Succeed in Graduate School: A Guide for Students and Advisors (Marie desJardins)]
• [The Graduate Student Survival Guide (Wanda Pratt)]
• [Matt Might’s article index] [html]
• Epistemology of a PhD
  • [The purpose of the PhD: theorising the skills acquired by students (Mowbray and Halse)]
  • [Issue Forum: Breadth and Depth Of Knowledge In Communication (Hample)]
• An example research program philosophy by Angela Zhou (USC) [pdf]

Doing Research

• [Directed Studies (for Undergrads)]
• [Research Resources]
• [How to do research at an MIT AI lab]
• [Reading Group Organizer Guide]

Presentations and Talks

• [How to Speak (YouTube)]
• [Giving a Talk]
• [Orwell Politics and the English Language]
• [How to create a paper presentation and lead discussion]
• [How to make Stats Lecture Video]
• [Presentation Reviews (Kate Larson)]

Asking for Letters of Recommendations

• [Recommendation Letter Etiquette]
• [Seattle Pacific]
• [St. Olaf College]
• [Her Campus]
• [WikiHow]
• [The Balance]

Job Market

• [Computer Science Grad Student Job Application & Interview Guide]
• [Guide for the Tenure-Track Job Market in Computer/Information Sciences (Shomir Wilson)]
• For academia: [The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide To Turning Your Ph.D. Into a Job]
• [Motherhood, Not Discrimination, May Account for the Gender Gap in Tenure-Track Science Jobs (Melinda Moyer)]
• [What I Wish I Had Known Early in Graduate School but Didn’t (and how to prepare for a good job afterward)]

Reading and Writing

Writing tips

• [An Economist’s Guide to Visualizing Data]
• [Economical Writing]
• [Writing Tips for Ph. D. Students]
• [An Algorithm for a Good Research Paper]
• [Writing Papers with Karon]
• [Sample Abstracts]
• [Sample Posters]
• [Writing a Math Phase Two Paper]
• [General Instructions for Final Draft of Short Paper]
• [David Poole How to write a research paper]
• [Guiding Principles for Creating Your Public Image]
• [Some Advice on Writing a Technical Report]
• [Three Sins of Authors in Computer Science and Math (Jonathan Shewchuk)]
• [Guide for Scholarly Writing (Shomir Wilson))]

Reading tips

• Bret Victor (how to be an active reader). Exploreable Explanations
• [How to Read a Paper]
• [How to Read a Technical Paper]
• [How to read a research paper.]
• [How NOT to review a paper]
• [Paper Reviews (Kate Larson)]

Grants, theses, and fellowships

• [How to get that first grant: A young scientist’s guide to (AI) funding in America]
• [What is a thesis defense]
• [Alex Lang NSF]
• [Writing a Research Proposal]
• [Making a CV (Shomir Wilson)]
• [Postcards from the NSF (Matthew Jackson and Laura Rzzolini)]

AI Governance and Cooperative AI

• AI Safety Support [Lots of Links]. See especially their lists on (NOTE: I will update this blog using these resources, at some point):
  • Research/General Advice
  • Career Advice
  • PhD Advice
• AEACGR: Government Funding for Economic Research [link]
• NSF 25-543: Computer and Information Science and Engineering : Future Computing Research (Future CoRe) [link]
• Grants Awarded by the Cooperative AI Foundation [link]
• AI Fellowships List [AirTable]
• AISafety Funding [link]

Reviewing Tips

• [Mark Allman Thoughts on Reviewing]

Other Repos

To include in the lists above…

• [Angela Zhou resource]
• [Pieces of advice from Zoe Ruha Bell]

Technical Tools

Links to Math Reference Websites

• The Book of Statistics Proofs. [Link]
• Better Explained [Link]
• Emory College Math 117 [Link]
• Computer Science Student Resources [Link]

Software Style Guides

• Google Style Guide [Link] [Technical communication guide]
• JS Style Guides [Link]

Technical Blogs

• Alex Lang
  • Website
• Programmathically
  • Website
• Optimization Online
  • Website
• Decentralized Thoughts (crypto)
  • Website

Getting into grad school

Questions to Ask

• [70 Questions To Ask About Grad School]
• [Some Important Things Most Students Never Ask About Graduate School ]
• [Applying to Graduate School Tips, Timeline, and Tools of the Trade]
• [Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science]
• [Gradate Studies at UC]
• [Choosing a Dissertation Advisor]
• [Choosing a Ph.D. program in Computer Science]
• [How to Write a Letter of Interest for Grad School]

Networking with professors

• [Networking with professors]
• [How to Email a Professor: Research or Grad School Opportunity]
• [The Do’s and Don’ts of Contacting Professors about Research]
• [(Shomir Wilson) Guide for Interacting With Faculty]
• [(Shomir Wilson) Guide for Joining My Lab]

Asking for Letters of Recommendations

• [Cornell]
• [Mark Brehob (UMich)]