研究生如何做研究和写论文(英文版)

1、Stanford-CV华人教授李飞飞写给她学生的一封信，如何做好研究PAPERDe-mystifyingGoodResearchandGoodPapersByFei-FeiLi,2009.03.01Pleaserememberthis:1000+computervisionpapersgetpublishedeveryyear!Only5-10areworthreadingandremembering!Sincemanyofyouarewritingyourpapersnow,IthoughtthatIdsharethesethoughtswithyou.Iprobablyhavesaidal

2、ltheseatvariouspointsduringourgroupandindividualmeetings.ButasIcontinuemyACreviewsthesedays(thats70papersand200+reviews-betweenmeandmyACpartner),thesefollowingpointsjustkeepcomingup.Notenoughpeopleconductfirstclassresearch.Andnotenoughpeoplewritegoodpapers.- Everyresearchprojectandeverypapershouldbe

3、conductedandwrittenwithonesingularpurpose:*togenuinelyadvancethefieldofcomputervision*.Sowhenyouconceptualizeandcarryoutyourwork,youneedtobeconstantlyaskingyourselfthisquestioninthemostcriticalwayyoucould-Wouldmyworkdefineorreshapexxx(problem,field,technique)inthefuture?”ThismeanspublishingpapersisN

4、OTaboutthishasnotbeenpublishedorwrittenbefore,letmedoit,norisitabout“letmefindanarcanelittleproblemthatcangetmeaneasyposter”.ItsaboutifIdothis,Icouldofferabettersolutiontothisimportantproblem,or“ifIdothis,Icouldaddagenuinelynewandimportantpieceofknowledgetothefield.”Youshouldalwaysconductresearchwit

5、hthegoalthatitcouldbedirectlyusedbymanypeople(orindustry).Inotherwords,yourresearchtopicshouldhavemanycustomers,andyoursolutionwouldbetheonetheywanttouse.- Agoodresearchprojectisnotaboutthepast(i.e.obtainingahigherperformancethanthepreviousNpapers).Itsaboutthefuture(i.e.inspiringNfuturepaperstofollo

6、wandciteyou,N-inf).- ACVPR09submissionwithaCaltech101performanceof95%received444(3weaklyrejects)thisyear,andwillberejected.ThisisbyfarthehighestperformanceIveseenforCaltech101.Sowhyisthispaperrejected?Becauseitdoesntteachusanything,andnoonewilllikelybeusingitforanything.Itusesaknowntechnique(atleast

7、formanypeoplealready)withsupertweakedparameterscustom-madeforthedatasetthatisnolongeragoodreflectionofreal-worldimagedata.ItusesaBoWrepresentationwithoutobjectlevelunderstanding.Allreviewers(fromverydifferentangles)askedthesamequestionwhatdowelearnfromyourmethod?AndtheonlysensibleanswerIcouldcomeupw

8、ithisthatCaltech101isnolongeragooddataset.-Einsteinusedtosay:everythingshouldbemadeassimpleaspossible,butnotsimpler.Yourmethod/algorithmshouldbethemostsimple,coherentandprincipledoneyoucouldthinkofforsolvingthisproblem.Computervisionresearch,likemanyotherareasofengineeringandscienceresearch,isaboutp

9、roblems,notequations.NooneappreciatesacomplicatedgraphicalmodelwithsuperfancyinferencetechniquesthatessentiallyachievesthesameresultasasimpleSVM-unlessitoffersdeeperunderstandingofyourdatathatnoothersimplermethodscouldoffer.Amethodinwhichyouhavetomanuallytunemanyparametersisnotconsideredprincipledor

10、coherent.-Thismightsoundcorny,butitistrue.YourePhDstudentsinoneofthebestuniversitiesintheworld.Thismeansyouembodythehighestlevelofintellectualismofhumanitytoday.ThismeansyouareNOTatechnicianandyouareNOTacodingmonkey.Whenyouwriteyourpaper,youcommunicateand.Thatswhatapaperisabout.Thisishowyoushouldapp

11、roachyourwriting.Youneedtofeelproudofyourpapernotjustforthedayorweekitisfinished,butmanyformanyyearstocome.-Setahighgoalforyourselfthetruthis,youcanachieveitaslongasyouputyourheartinit!Whenyouthinkofyourpaper,askyourselfthisquestion:Isthisgoingtobeamongthe10papersof2009thatpeoplewillrememberincomput

12、ervision?Ifnot,whynot?Thetruthisonly10+/-epsilongetsrememberedeveryyear.Mostofthepapersarejustmeaninglesspublicationgames.AlongstringofmediocrepapersonyourresumecanatbestgetyouaGooglesoftwareengineerjob(ifatall2009.03update:no,GoogledoesnthirePhDforthisanymore).Acoupleofseminalpaperscangetyouafacult

13、yjobinatopuniversity.Thisisthetruththatmostgraduatestudentsdontknow,ordonthaveachancetoknow.-Reviewprocessishighlyrandom.Butthereisonegoldenrulethatwithstandsthetestoftimeandrandomness-badlywrittenpapersgetbadreviews.Period.Itdoesntmatteriftheideaisgood,resultisgood,citationsaregood.Notatall.Writingiscritical-andthisisironicbecauseengineersaretheworsttrainedwritersamongalldisciplinesinauniversity.Youneedtodisciplineyourself:leavetimeforwriting,thinkdeeplyaboutwriting,andwriteitoverandoveragaintillitsaspolishedasyoucanthinkof.-Lastbutnottheleast,pleaser