Research expectations and resources

.gitignore

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+*.DS_Store*
 *~*
 *#*

research-workflow.md

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-# Research workflow
-![Research workflow](img/research-workflow.png ':size=780')
+# Research Expectations
+
+## Our Mission: Pioneering Transformative Research
+
+Our goal is to conduct research that fundamentally reshapes the fields of AI, machine learning, numerical simulations, and robotics. We're not here to incrementally improve existing methods; we're here to revolutionize how these technologies are conceived, developed, and applied.
+
+## Golden Rules for Exceptional Research
+
+1. **Pursue Groundbreaking Ideas**: Always ask yourself, "Is this work truly worth publishing? Will it significantly advance our field?" If the answer isn't a resounding yes, it's time to aim higher.
+
+2. **Challenge the Status Quo**: Question everything, even (especially) established norms. Be supportive of your colleagues, but never shy away from constructive criticism. Our greatest breakthroughs often come from challenging our own assumptions.
+
+3. **Rigorous Mathematical Foundations**: Every project must have a solid theoretical underpinning. We're not just fine-tuning hyperparameters; we're developing robust algorithms with provable error bounds and capacity analyses.
+
+4. **Tackle the Most Challenging Problems**: Regularly ask yourself, "What is the most difficult unsolved problem in our field, and how am I contributing to its solution?" If you're not working at the boundaries of what's possible, you're not pushing those boundaries forward.
+
+5. **Maintain the Highest Standards**: As Edsger Dijkstra said, "Raise your quality standards as high as you can live with, avoid wasting your time on routine problems, and always try to work as closely as possible at the boundary of your abilities. Do this, because it is the only way of discovering how that boundary should be moved forward."
+
+## Expectations for Research Meetings
+
+1. **Written Documentation**: All meetings must have accompanying written documents outlining findings, issues, and proposed next steps. These should be distributed at least 2 hours before the meeting. We prefer detailed write-ups over PowerPoint slides.
+
+2. **Preparation is Key**: Come to every meeting having thoroughly reviewed the distributed materials. Be prepared to engage in deep, meaningful discussions about the work.
+
+3. **Constructive Feedback**: Offer thoughtful, specific feedback on your colleagues' work. Remember, our goal is to elevate each other's research to the highest possible standard.
+
+## Continuous Learning and Growth
+
+1. **Bi-Weekly Journal Clubs**: We will hold regular journal clubs to discuss state-of-the-art research. Come prepared to not just summarize, but to critically analyze and propose potential extensions or applications of the work.
+
+2. **Effective Literature Reviews**: When reviewing existing work, don't just summarize—synthesize. Identify the core issues, explore potential ideas thoroughly, and always consider how we can push the field forward.
+
+3. **Interdisciplinary Thinking**: While we each have our specialties, we should strive to understand and contribute to discussions across all areas of our group's research. The most innovative ideas often come from unexpected intersections of different fields.
+
+## Final Thoughts
+
+Remember, we're not here to publish papers for the sake of publishing. We're here to change the world through our research. Every project, every experiment, every line of code should be aimed at this lofty goal. It's a challenging standard to uphold, but it's what separates truly groundbreaking research from the mundane.
+
+As you embark on your research journey with us, constantly ask yourself: "Am I working on something that could fundamentally change how we approach AI, ML, numerical simulations, or robotics?" If the answer is yes, you're on the right track. If it's no, it's time to aim higher.
+
+Let's push the boundaries of what's possible, challenge our own limitations, and conduct research that will be remembered not just this year, but for decades to come.
+
+## More Reading
+* [Fei Fei Li's blog](http://web.archive.org/web/20240521062052/http://qinhongwei.com/2015/03/25/Fei-fei-Li-s-advice/)
+* [Richard Hamming: You and Your Research](http://web.archive.org/web/20240801170625/https://paulgraham.com/hamming.html)
+* [Dijkstra's 3 Golden Rules of research](http://web.archive.org/web/20240726093028/https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~EWD/transcriptions/EWD06xx/EWD637.html)

resources.md

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 ## Bibliography and Reference Management (Mendeley/Zotero)
 A lot of research gets published every day, and it can be hard to keep up. Use an RSS feed (e.g., [Feedly](https://feedly.com/i/welcome)) or subscribe to journal table of contents to keep up on the latest work. We mainly use [Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/) to find relevant articles, to store useful articles you will use a reference management system like [Mendeley](https://www.mendeley.com/) or [Zotero](https://www.zotero.org/). 
+
 Reference or citation or bibliographic management software is tool for researchers to record and utilize bibliographic citations (references). [ConnectedPapers](https://www.connectedpapers.com/) is a great tool to find other related papers. Set-up a Google Scholar Email Alert on keywords related to your research to get notified when there is a new paper in the field. If you are outside of the University network and would like to get access, you may use EZ Proxy on [Firefox](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ezproxy-redirect-foxified/) or [Chrome](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ezproxy-redirect/gfhnhcbpnnnlefhobdnmhenofhfnnfhi?hl=en) to access PayWalled papers. Alternatively, tools such as [Unpaywall](https://unpaywall.org/) and [PaperPanda](https://paperpanda.app/) searches through publicly available archives for the paper. 
 
 ## Chat & Communication (Slack)
@@ -11,6 +12,9 @@ Try to keep each channel on topic, so that people can subscribe only to the chan
 
 Full-time lab members should install Slack on their computers. Do not install it on your phone, we do not expect everyone to be on Slack all the time. Treat Slack like emails as asynchronous communication system.
 
+## Computing Resources
+We will be using Texas Advanced Computing Center [TACC](https://tacc.utexas.edu/) resources to run large-scale simulations and AI/ML training. Talk to the PI for allocation. We will also provide you with a personal computer of your choice.
+
 ## Preprint (arXiv)
 [arXiv](https://arxiv.org/a/kumar_3.html) is pre-print server to host versions of our manuscripts that we submit to journals and conferences. It is a way to promote Open Science and you are required to upload your manuscripts to arXiv and share the paper password with Krishna. 
 
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 Currently, the best option for sharing large datasets are the [UT Dataverse](https://dataverse.tdl.org/dataverse/utexas) or [DesignSafe CyberInfrastructure](https://designsafe-ci.org) for Natural Hazard Engineering datasets or for smaller datasets [Open Science Framework](https://osf.io). 
 
 ## Video conferencing (Whereby/Zoom)
-Our video conferencing facility is accessible at [Geoelements Whereby](https://geoelements.whereby.com/meet). Use Firefox/Chrome browser for the best experience. 
-
-Alternatively, we also use the [UT Zoom](https://utexas.zoom.us) account to have group calls. 
+Our video conferencing facility is the [UT Zoom](https://utexas.zoom.us) account to have group calls. 
 
 ## Wiki
 This Geoelements [wiki](https://github.com/geoelements/wiki) has all of the information you need to get started, including tasks that need to be done upon arrival, day-to-day housekeeping duties, forms and flyers, programming and modeling tips, information about accessing the high-performance computing clusters. Edit it when you obtain information that will be useful for others to know! You can also create wikis of your research documentation. Contact Krishna for further information.