Managing undergraduate research, as mentor and mentee
summary
Frame undergraduate research as a syllabus: pick mature research that yields a clear semester-sized goal, define measurable success, list prerequisites, and break work into weekly deadlines. Concrete tools and outcomes cited: use PLT Redex for runnable semantics, try mechanized proofs (students start but often find mechanization hard), and prefer projects with tests or lemmas. Examples: an initial interpreter project drifts and fails; a later proof project proves progress and preservation within a semester; a Python semantics project publishes; a recruitment drive gets 40 applicants and 15 continue.
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chapters (13)
- 0:00Undergraduate research mentorship
- 3:10Research as teaching
- 7:01Selecting semester projects
- 11:19Failed project case study
- 15:13Successful project case study
- 18:22Undergraduate-led research case study
- 23:23Syllabus for research projects
- 29:21Onboarding students
- 31:53Breaking projects into deadlines
- 39:35Graduate mentorship roles
- 41:23Measuring research success
- 46:17Flexibility in mentorship
- 47:21Question and answer session
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