
Ask HN: What research areas would you consider if you were to start a CS PhD? - slordy
and why...?
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argonaut
I encourage you to think in terms of what is achievable thiout a CS PhD. What
areas don't tend to be dominated by PhDs, and what areas are dominated by
PhDs.

My conclusion: Theory, algorithms, cryptography, and machine learning.

There are tons of world experts in operating systems, graphics, databases,
distributed systems, compilers, programming languages, computer architecture,
security, and HCI without PhDs. In fact, I would argue some of these fields
are dominated by non-PhDs (see: Ken Thompson, Linus Torvalds, etc.) I don't
see a lot of non-PhDs doing cutting edge work in CS theory, algorithms,
cryptography, or machine learning. Probably because these fields involve lots
of theory and mathematics.

Just a thought.

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jtfairbank
HCI. The 'front-end' encompasses far more than just web dev, and some of it is
quite interesting. VR? Smart cars? AI? People all need to interact with them.

Even standard web app problems can get quite complex on the UI. For example,
recently I've had to use finite automona to verify that a combination of
options on a form can result in all possible valid combinations. Since it was
quite complex, I was worried that there was either: a) an invalid path in the
options, or b) a valid but unreachable path.

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atroyn
Machine Vision and Robotics are at a crossroads where fundamental research is
starting to cross over into industry, but the technologies are still far
enough away from the mainstream that a Ph.D will give you a huge advantage.

That said, if you just want to do a Ph.D but are struggling to figure out what
to do a Ph.D in, I would seriously re-evaluate why you want to do a Ph.D.

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cdvonstinkpot
Maybe 'Crypto Smart Contracts', eg. Ethereum/BitShares- or 'Distributed
Computing' eg. MaidSafe.

Why? Just personal preference, I think these are very interesting, & hold much
potential.

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brokenhope
Quantum computing!

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atroyn
This is more in the realm of physics than computer science at this stage.

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infamouscow
Compilers, it's an area that has held my interest for at least a decade.

