Kevin C. Chang University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Problem Follow System: How I Would Build a Research Agenda for Systems Research Kevin C. Chang University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Dear Dr. New: You might not be ready for this... “Today, with most research being funded by agencies outside the university, it is more common for a student to be given a problem by a faculty member who then guides the research along lines required by the funding agency. Such a relationship often places severe limitations upon the amount of originality and initiative the Ph.D. candidate is able to demonstrate.”

First question first: As an independent systems researcher -- What research should I (and my team) do?

What I shall argue today: Easy question, simple answers. Assertion: In systems research, you shall have no choice but building a system. Algorithm: Your problems shall naturally follow the system you want to build.

Wake-Up Call #1: From the system community.

Major software accomplishments, 1990-2000? What Pike mentioned: Linux Microsoft Windows 3.1 – Web Netscape What he did not mention: Google (where he joined in 2002.) See much from academic research?

So, what’s wrong? The winds are blowing in the wrong ways.

Wake-Up Call #2:

So, what’s wrong? It’s inherently hard.

“That’s just eigenvector.” Wake-Up Call #3: “That’s just eigenvector.” “That’s intellectually senior-project equivalent.”

So, what’s wrong? The metrics are just off. What are the metrics? # publications # citations See how these can go wrong? Publications become the goals to optimize and not the means to go through.

So, what’s wrong: The 3D problem towards systems research. Environment: Distracting. Goal: Difficult. Trends: Discouraging.

Nevertheless, do we really have a choice? For our fields, it is more of an assertion to honor than a choice to make. What do we remember as our achievements as systems researchers?

The assertion is almost immediate. We are in engineering. We claim to build utilities. We are dealing with the real world. What’s that something we deal with it? We are facing end users. End users don’t read papers. And, you know your fancy algorithms will not be implemented unless you do it. Industry don’t come to academic conferences anymore.

What is a system? System is a set of entities, real or abstract, comprising a whole where each component interacts with or is related to at least one other component and they all serve a common objective. System is a regularly interacting or interdependent group of items forming a unified whole.

In terms of academic research... What is a “system” not?

What is a system probably not? A system is probably not one paper or one topic. A system is probably not a set of papers. A system is probably not a simulated experiment. A system is probably not one algorithm, one concept, or one theory.

What is a system? System results from your thinking about: Software vs. (just) papers. End-to-end vs. (just) algorithms. Implementation vs. (just) simulation. Utility vs. (just) techniques. Breadth vs. (just) depth. Users vs. (just) reviewers. Team vs. (just) individuals.

System driven— Why not?

Why not? It’s just not required by publications. You can’t pursue cute ideas/trends as they pop up. You don’t have all the expertise. You don’t have enough students. You don’t have enough resource. You don’t have enough time.

System driven— Why I like?

Why I like it? The only way for me to pass the “rocking-chair test”.

Even George W. will find it tough toady... Oh, Martha, tell me again how many papers I have published?

Why I like it? You get to solve novel problems. You get to learn new techniques. You get to discover fresh concepts. Your chance of practical impacts is non-zero. You can talk to your industry friends (and do consulting). You just have lots more fun.

Problem follow System. But, how?

Problem follow system: The framework. (system) Identify a system that is useful and novel. (insight) Throw together V.0.1 to see promises & issues. (problem) Abstract the challenging problems. (publication) Solve the problems. Publish. (product) Build the system. Deploy.

In implementation, the mindset is critical. Ask yourself why you do research. Set the right metric of success– you define it. Aim high and aim right-- the rest will come naturally.

I found it doable– even as a poor assistant professor. Graduate students are pretty cheap, and they get TA support anyway. Undergraduates are plenty, and all it takes is a letter of recommendation. Publications are tough, and now even demos count as papers. Open source code everywhere, and they don’t cost a dime. Computing resources are plenty, and you even get full professors to “donate” surplus. Nobody bosses you what to do– The chair is only allowed to bother you once every 3 year.

How can life be any better? You can think big, and build fun systems! I hope you will build cool demos.

It’s a wonderful world, if you want to get into. Think Big. How Big? System Driven. What System?

The biggest system under the sun is probably… the Web.

Have the courage to choose the agenda you want to lead. Concluding thought… Have the courage to choose the agenda you want to lead.

Thank You! For more information: http://metaquerier.cs.uiuc.edu kcchang@cs.uiuc.edu