Glencora Borradaile

Rightly chastised by Suresh for not blogging while at SODA [1] – enough time has passed for me to completely forget anything I might have wanted to say. But the timing is perfect. I am procrastinating writing a paper that I do not wish to write [2]. So here are six (not necessarily technical) things [...]

I’ve long been meaning to remark on my experiences of being on the SODA and ALENEX program committees this past year and fellow bloggers recent reflections on PC membership encourages me to finally post what little I have to say. I went into the SODA PC expecting a lot of work.  I (mostly) cleared out [...]

One of my experiments in teaching this quarter was to have a quiz the second week of class on material that I considered so basic, that if you couldn’t do very well on the quiz, well, you may well consider (re-)taking the undergrad algorithms course first.  A few students with lower scores on the quiz [...]

What does it mean to post a paper to arXiv?  More specifically, a paper that has not been accepted to a peer-reviewed venue; less specifically, to any easily-searchable, time-stamped, respected depository. Scenario A: You have a result, but there is no decent deadline for another few months.  Maybe you know that a ‘competing’ team is [...]

I was just sitting down to write the first1 reference letter that I have ever written and realized that I have never read a reference letter and have little idea of what should go into one.  This particular letter is for a graduate student applying for a fellowship.  Short post, but any suggestions? Maybe I [...]

The FOCS talks are now available online!  I waited until now to report on FOCS for this very reason.  I am not about to compete with Suresh or Lance for live blogging conferences.  I’m not sure where they find the time amidst talks and meetings in hallways to do so.  (I have to say, whenever [...]

I was asked a question a few months ago: Do women have an advantage in our field? There was a time when I would have chirped ‘NO!’ and stormed off.  That time might not have been too long ago.  But it is an interesting question, perhaps because it is so ill-defined.  What does advantage mean? [...]

In a more significant experiment than the am-I-ready-for-this quiz, I am rethinking the assignments that accompany my grad algorithms course.  In last year’s class, I had the grad students work in randomly-assigned and rotating (different for each assignment) groups.  I will comment on this in another post. I’m sticking with the group-based approach – partly for [...]

Last week, I gave the students in my grad algorithms class an am-I-ready-for-this? quiz.  I promised to report back, and I’m already a little late on that.  The average for the quiz was ~ 70% – I was hoping for a higher average, given how easy the quiz was (in my opinion).  Two students did [...]

I am teaching ‘the grad algorithms course’ for the second time.  It is the first time I am teaching a course for the second time and am excited at finally having the opportunity to fix my previous mistakes.  ’The grad algorithms course’ is required for all CS Ph.D. students in our department and a prerequisite [...]