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Google Brain Residency Program

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Re: Google Brain Residency Program

#41

Post by arikrak »

m0dc wrote: post #17

At what point does it make sense for Google-likes to educate their own workforce, skipping the university model entirely? They've already created a B.A. substitute by sponsoring Udacity's nanodegree programs, and now they're working on the other end of the spectrum with a masters / PhD equivalent. Assume these companies have an excellent selection process (obviously a big 'if'). Could they pluck bright students strai…

They also just announced a programming bootcamp the other day.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-22/google-lau...

Re: Google Brain Residency Program

#42

Post by aroch »

mehrdada wrote: post #28
pgbovine wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As for "get[ting] trapped because of that mild ignorance", I don't buy that for CS, at least. Any competent CS Ph.D. student can instantly quit and at least QUADRUPLE their salary by getting a software engineering job. As an advisor, we have no way of "trapping" students in the Ph.D. program when they can instantly quit and make more money than we do ;) Now in other fields, the job market isn't as rosy. But I don't b…

You are underestimating inertia and unwritten rules. It's widely considered unethical (or at least frowned upon) to join a PhD program and intentionally quit with a Masters. In practice, it seems that many people are actually doing so when they are free to choose. Many people I see choosing to stay in the PhD program have visa issues and that's a big contributing factor.

>You are underestimating inertia and unwritten rules. It's widely considered unethical (or at least frowned upon) to join a PhD program and intentionally quit with a Masters.

From the school/department's view, yes; from the perspective of the student I'm not so sure. Over the last few years, many of PhD programs I interacted with (In the biological and chemical sciences) were increasingly mastering out more students than they were passing through comps/quals. It has gotten to the point where students are intentionally failing their comps/quals so that they can master out. Going this route means you didn't have to pay the master's tuition and were on a stipend the entire time -- better than paying the master's tuition and having to scrounge for cash.

Re: Google Brain Residency Program

#43

Post by deanmen »

msellout wrote: post #23
[deleted] wrote: post #15

[deleted]

What's the difference between a BA and BS in Computer Science?

If a university has both, the BA usually requires a language and the BS requires more computer science courses or requires science courses like physics or chemistry. Otherwise, it depends on what university you go to whether you degree is a BS or a BA. e.g. If CS is in the engineering college, it is a BS.

Re: Google Brain Residency Program

#44

Post by rubidium »

pookeh wrote: post #12

Given questionable academia politics, low to non-existent pay for PhD candidates as TAs, grants being mostly consumed by the school, profs acting as middle managers rather than true mentors, race to the bottom for quantity over quality of papers because of desperate PhD qualifications in order to then jump start careers (not to mention wasteful research for the sake of a PhD badge)...I think this is a great initiativ…

Eh, there's a lot of good in academia too. It's just the people who have good experiences are busy with their lives for the most part.

My experience was great. I got paid to do 6 years of learning and experimental work by the government (thank you DOD and NSF) on the coldest states of matter in the universe. I traveled the world for free and hang out with Nobel prize winners. I was surrounded by bright and a few world-class brilliant people. I didn't have any real deadlines. I got to write and publish papers trying to explain my work.

Now, the post-doc/professor rat race is only for those who are truly called to the field. My plan was PhD->industry the whole time.

Re: Google Brain Residency Program

#46

Post by amelius »

pookeh wrote: post #12

Given questionable academia politics, low to non-existent pay for PhD candidates as TAs, grants being mostly consumed by the school, profs acting as middle managers rather than true mentors, race to the bottom for quantity over quality of papers because of desperate PhD qualifications in order to then jump start careers (not to mention wasteful research for the sake of a PhD badge)...I think this is a great initiativ…

Perhaps if Google paid taxes like the rest of us, universities would stand more of a chance to do things right.

Re: Google Brain Residency Program

#47

Post by neovive »

awch wrote: post #24
m0dc wrote: post #17

At what point does it make sense for Google-likes to educate their own workforce, skipping the university model entirely? They've already created a B.A. substitute by sponsoring Udacity's nanodegree programs, and now they're working on the other end of the spectrum with a masters / PhD equivalent. Assume these companies have an excellent selection process (obviously a big 'if'). Could they pluck bright students strai…

Would it be possible for companies to eventually become accredited? Or, alternatively, would the preponderance of nanodegree programs and "Google Schools" diminish the value of a traditional degree to the point that accreditation would be unnecessary?

I agree that the increasing investment and quality of alternative higher education models will diminish the role of traditional accreditation agencies to some degree. However, there will always be some need for some third-party oversight to ensure educational institutions are delivering what they advertise.

Re: Google Brain Residency Program

#49

Post by ska »

niels_olson wrote: post #9
compactmani wrote: post #2

I stopped here: The residency program is similar to a top Master’s or PhD program in deep learning. If you accept that a Master's program is contained within a PhD program, and this residency is similar to a PhD program in deep learning from a top school, then this would be the fastest PhD-like (revised from equivalent which is too strong of a claim) program ever. Only 12 months and a google badge!

I submit the connections at Google are unbelievable. It seems reasonable that you could in fact learn substantially faster in that environment. I don't know if you can cram 6-7 years into one, but maybe in 2-3.

I think what they really meant was that this program would be similar to (one year of) a top masters or Ph.D program, which would be plausible. Your inference of 2x doesn't meet the giggle test.

It's going to vary person to person of course, but I'd expect the learning rate to be at best about the same as a top program.

Re: Google Brain Residency Program

#50

Post by kylebgorman »

compactmani wrote: post #2

I stopped here: The residency program is similar to a top Master’s or PhD program in deep learning. If you accept that a Master's program is contained within a PhD program, and this residency is similar to a PhD program in deep learning from a top school, then this would be the fastest PhD-like (revised from equivalent which is too strong of a claim) program ever. Only 12 months and a google badge!

There's no such thing as a PhD in deep learning. Your best bet is going to be doing machine learning at a top-tier CS school that has someone who is interested in it. But you're still going to have to take architecture, algorithms, OSes, TA, etc.
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