1. Mentoring Students Daphne Koller Stanford University

2. Brief introduction Professor at Stanford since 1995 Research in machine learning, computer vision, probabilistic models, bioinformatics 19 graduated PhD students (4 women) – 9 in academic positions (U. Penn, CMU, Harvard, U. Maryland, U. Washington, Stanford,…) – 10 industry (5 in Google) 12 current PhD students (3 women) Established in 2001 undergrad summer research internship program in CS – Research training for ~60 undergrads / year Advised many undergraduates, many of whom have gone on to top PhD programs

3. Things that Work for Me Recruiting students Recruiting – Teach advanced undergrad / beginning grad classes – Sit on admissions committee – Develop relationships with colleagues who produce good undergrads Decide what you care about in a graduate student – Mathematical skills – Programming skills – Productivity – Ambition Be very selective in taking students – A bad match can be a huge drain on your resources If a student isn’t working out, at some point it’s better for everyone to part ways

4. Things that Work for Me Guiding research trajectory Balance executing on your research agenda and finding a topic the student is passionate about Students get creative ideas by reading papers – Develop a “seminal papers” reading list – Suggest a student-run reading group for current papers Give students opportunity to find their own path – Help by advising, not doing things for them – Provide constructive criticism, with a positive attitude Ask about student’s long-term goals and calibrate thesis expectations accordingly – Academia-bound students need a “great story” thesis – Industry-bound students may not – Students goals might change over time, so keep track

5. Things that Work for Me Student-mentor interactions Tailor your interaction to the student’s needs – Not a “one-size-fits-all” approach Reconsider the “weekly meeting” paradigm – Some students need more time, others less – Needs change over time – Leave time for open-ended brainstorming Use strategies to encourage productivity: – Research notebooks – Weekly goals – Powerpoint summaries of progress

6. Things that Work for Me Intra-group interaction New students (including undergrads) often start working with older grad students or postdocs, then branch out – Mentoring younger students is a terrific learning experience Encourage students to work together and learn from each other – Multi-person projects – Ad hoc collaborations – Resident “experts” Develop lab-wide resources

7. Things that work for me: Beyond research Involve students in non-research tasks – Recommendation letters – Reviews – Grant proposals / progress reports – Course design Explicitly teach students how to – write papers – give talks – evaluate work – network with colleagues

8. Summary Do unto others… – Treat your students the way you wanted to be treated as a student Ultimately, students are responsible for their own success … but you are responsible for helping them succeed to their full potential Your students are a key part of your contribution to science