
Ask HN: How to break into CS research? - hsikka
Hey HN, you’ve always been excellent advisors so I wanted to get at your thoughts.<p>I’m a student completing my master’s in CS from Georgia Tech and my master’s in computational biology from Harvard. I have two 4.0 GPAs, and have been trying to get research opportunities in ML&#x2F;RL&#x2F;Theoretical Neuroscience because I’m absolutely fascinated.  Unfortunately, I have a non traditional background with no research experience, and most professor’s don’t really give me an opportunity or even respond. I have a lot of product and entrepreneurship experience, and I really got deeper into theory in recent years. Are there ways I can get into research with this background? I’d like to eventually be able to get a PhD or do a residency.<p>I really appreciate the advice.
======
DoritoChef
I would say, with your background, consider applying to DeepMind[1], or a
national research lab. What you'd be looking for would be "entry level"
research work. This would allow you to easily stand out in your applicant
pool, and make it to the interview, where'd you'd have a better chance to
properly explain your non-traditional academic background. If you're a US
Citizen, maybe consider applying to positions at the MIT Lincoln Lab, Los
Alamos, or Argonne National Lab. A lot of these guys aren't doing that much
with ML/RL/AI, but that's okay! If you're serious about research you'll
probably want to do a PhD. To get into a good PhD program, you'll need good
references.

[1]: [https://deepmind.com/careers/](https://deepmind.com/careers/)

~~~
DoritoChef
P.S. I specifically underline references and research experience because
that's where it appears you'd be weakest at the moment. Getting a 4.0 GPA in
your grad school coursework (which is online, I presume) says a lot more about
your organizational skills (which must be really good!) than your ability to
research. Getting someone with a PhD to write "This person is capable of doing
good research and I've seen it with my own two eyes" is probably one of the
best things you can get on a recommendation letter to a PhD program, which is
far more valuable than "this person did well in my class" (see:
[https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&c...](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=2ahUKEwiJ7uTrosbdAhXPwFMKHWtACnwQFjAAegQICxAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cs.cmu.edu%2F~harchol%2Fgradschooltalk.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2Z-tuZHWVeEIWJuUQZnWAR))

~~~
hsikka
This is enormously helpful, thank you! I'll look into getting my hands dirty
with entry level research as fast as possible

