| question | impt | answer | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | tell me about one of your recent research projects | x | vegapunk, political persuasion/AI safety (with AI safety institute) | | Tell me a story about your best project so far, in five minutes. | x | digital ads | | What do you think has been the most important discovery in our field in the past five years? | x | AI/NLP Many technology companies implement solutions without first rigorously evaluating them (Jigsaw/Google). | | What do you think will be the most important research/advancements in the next few years? | x | Making AI systems more human-centered The nature of work will change. Human-AI interactions/synergies. How to best leverage AI in everyday life | | If funding were unlimited, what research problem would you like to tackle? | x | Education. AI. Improve education system and individual flourishing. China’s tiktok. Good education pays dividends for individuals and societies. | | what attracted you to this position at our university | x | | | What are the first studies/study you would run? | x | | | What can we do to help you succeed as a researcher/faculty? | x | - opportunities to collaborate with faculty across the department/uni - internal research awards/grants - guidance on building industry partnerships/funding - mentoring trainees - computing resources | | What aspects of our group’s research do you find especially interesting, and why? | | | | What would you do in the next 3 years | | | | What would you do in the next 5 years? Career aspirations for the next 5 years? | | | | What would you do in the next 10 years? | | | | Describe the thing that you are best at that you think would be a key contribution to our team. | | Communicate with researchers from different disciplines. Bridge CS design behavior. | | Describe a situation in which you faced a major challenge at work and explain how you solved it. | | | | Research has its ups and downs; what skills do you have that will enable you to get through the tough days? | | Focus on process. | | How would you manage work-related burn-out and health? | | | | How does this role align with your long-term goals? | | | | What is your plan if you are not employed in our organization? | | | | Tell me about yourself | x | empower everyone to make better decisions, by designing solutions/systems that richly integrate the strengths of both people and machines; improve society by improving indivdiuals and individual lives combine CS + behavioral/social/cognitive sciences + design to come up with solutions that have real-world impact use technology to improve human decision making (e.g., belief change/revision/updating/choices) and societal outcomes (e.g., better digital ecosysystems), such as by aligning individual's intention-behavior gaps, or aligning indivdiual with collective behavior Understanding the constrains created by the environment Bounded rationality. Not that people are irrational. Then design environments that work within those constraints to help people make better decisions given those constraints. What can we do to encourage people to make better decisions (closing the intention-behavior gap), challenges themselves? better for individuals and societies; innovation, challenge LIke Ken Koedinger: Thus, designing computer interfaces or instruction should not be based on intuition alone, but should be informed by general psychological theory and domain specific empirical data. | | You will be expected to maintain an active research record and teaching load. How do you plan to balance these responsibilities? Please provide specific examples of how you would integrate your research into undergraduate and graduate-level teaching. | | | | What type of non-academic experience do you bring/can you contribute to our department and our department’s students? | | | | How is your research different from your previous PIs and mentors? | | | | What class would you teach? | | | | How would you run your lab? | | | | How would you collaborate with people in the department? | | | | Reappointment, promotion, and tenure | | | | What’s your greatest fear as a faculty member? | | not getting funding | | What do you think you would bring to this department that we lack? | | | | What is something not in your CV that you want to highlight? | x | - experience working with diverse teams at world bank - almost got a job as research scientist at duolingo | | What is the greatest contribution you’ve given to the field so far? | | | | What type of service do you want to contribute to X university? | x | | | What materials do you need to set up your lab? | | | | How much lab space do you need? | | space for 2-3 graduate students; 1 postdoc | | Why do you think your research is innovative? | x | | | Can you describe your current research program and how it aligns with our department's focus? | | | | What kind of graduate students do you hope to recruit for your lab? | | | | What do you contribute/bring to the department that’s unique? | | | | What connections would you make with other faculty? | | | | How do you promote diversity/support an inclusive work environment? | | I've worked with students from all backgrounds. | | What is the most important/exciting finding from your work, so far? | | | | What are mentoring styles you would like to emulate (from your experience) vs things you would do differently? | | | | Describe how you use technology and keep up with the latest technology in teaching | | Create more practice opportunities and more time for feedback in class. | | How are you different from leaders in your field? | | | | Which researchers in your field have inspired your interest in this area? | | I've been inspired more by research rather than researchers. Ideas/evidence instead of personality. | | What makes you different from the other candidates? | | | | How would you contribute to the administration of the department? | | I work with the MIT museum (Dana foundation grant, make-a-fake workshop, event in Feb) | | What are the contributions of your work? | | | | Can you explain the theory behind your work? | | | | What are your 1st year goals as faculty? | | Submit 2-3 grant proposals (NSF, industry partnerships). Submit papers from ongoing work (Nature R&R, JOSS R&R). Initiate new collaborations with HCII faculty and also other departments. Begin collecting preliminary data for future grant applications. Develop a new course on behavioral research methods. Take on selective service commitments that align with research interests Learn department culture and expectations | | What will be the topic of your first grant proposal? | | | | Who will you write your first grant proposal with? | | | | What do you want your research group/lab to be like? Number of students? | | | | Your biggest achivement? | | | | Your home conference? | | It has changed over the years. Used to be social neuro. Then SJDM, then IC2S2. Will be influenced by research/faculty here. | | Who would you collaborate with within the department? What other departments could you work with? | | SDS, psychology | | Why academia? Why not industry? | | Industry is actually fine! Chosen academia at CMU HCII because it provides the ideal environment to pursue your research goals while maintaining connections to industry applications. (worldbank etc.; i love industry connections) | | What is your biggest weakness as a teacher? | | | | What is your biggest weakness as a researcher? | | Taking on too much projects. | | What is your methodology for problem-solving? | | | | Tell me how your interests are aligned with some of the faculty here. Who could you work with? | | | | What will your CAREER award be about? | | | | What will your first student's Ph.D. topic be (in general)? How many students do you plan to have? | | | | Describe your research to me in 5 minutes. | | | | Where do you get your inspiration? | | | | What do you see as the most challenging aspects of an increasingly diverse academic community? What have you done, formally or informally, to meet such challenges? | | | | How do you view diversity course requirements for students? | | | | How have you worked with students and others to foster the creation of an environment that's receptive to diversity in the classroom, in the curriculum, and in the department? | | | | In what ways have you integrated diversity as part of your professional development? | | | | What's your secret weapon in terms of research? | | Being able to talk to and work with researchers from different disciplines. | | What research programs within the department will you create or strengthen? | | Behavioral. | | Say something to prove to me that your research/field is going to matter. | | AI is going to stay. | | What would you consider as the weaknesses in our department? | | Not enough behavior. | | Who here would you consider as potential collaborators? | | | | Who would you consider as potential mentors in the department? | | | | Given that existing technologies and tools will be obsolete in a few years, what should we teach our students? | | How to think. | | What start-up funds/facilities would you need to establish your research? | | | | How would you organize/manage your research group? | | | | Do you have entrepreneurial aspirations? | | | | What are latest papers/books you find most interesting? | | Misinformation isn't the problem. It's misleading content. Autocracy Inc. | | Who has influenced you the most? | | Mike X Cohen (more personal note), David Rand, Richard Feynman (quoted him in my paper)—how to think, illusion of explanatory depth (cognitive bias). | | What would you do with unlimited money? | | Education. | | In which companies or organizations will your graduates find jobs in our region? | | | | Why do you want to join this university? | | | | What was your biggest mistake, how did you fix it, and what did you learn from it? | x | Not having done a mechanical engineering degree. Love building stuff when I was young. | | What salary you're expecting? | | "Based on my research of comparable positions at top institutions like CMU, I understand assistant professor salaries typically range from $120-140K for 9-month appointments, with opportunities for summer funding through grants and research. However, I'm primarily motivated by the opportunity to build innovative research platforms, mentor students, and improve lives through technology at HCII. I'm confident we can reach a mutually beneficial arrangement that aligns with department standards and my qualifications." | | Publishing at CS journals? | | Can bridge theoretical insights with practical applications, which is what CS/HCI wants. I focus on general interest journals, but I have strong track publication record across multiple fields with researchers from different fields. I can collaborate with everyone here. | | DEI? | x | Mentored diverse students; published open educational resources; contribute to open-source community first-gen college student inclusive research collaborations Run large-scale field experiments in developing countries through the World Bank Making research tools freely available to researchers globally Developed accessible research tools that lower barriers to entry Experience working with interdisciplinary teams across cultures | | What would my NSF CAREER grant be? | x | Designing/testing contexts/affordances to encourage mindful consumption and behaviors. How can generative AI be used to improve decision making and societal outcomes? Using generative AI to change what content people consume online, how people interact with others, how people learn, how people self-regulate, self-regulation, generative AI as personal coach. Effects of generative AI on human decision making, collective decision making, and electoral politics. AI platform/app to improve decision making. |