Precog: A Community of learning like no other

Hey guys! I am a recent graduate of the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad in Computer Science and Engineering. I have joined a startup called HireQuotient as an AI and Software engineer and am currently based at their Bangalore office. IIIT introduced me to various facets of Computer Science which I had previously not explored and one such thing was research. I had little to no interest in research before I read about the popular Professor PK from the Precog lab. Reading some of his works and looking at his social media got me extremely interested in working under his guidance. 

So, during my 5th semester I applied for an Independent Study and wanted to explore this avenue and almost 2 years later, my journey and experience at Precog has been something truly exceptional and much better than I thought it would be.

Life at Precog

When I interviewed for the Independent Study, I wasn’t really confident of getting in as I was aware that some of my peers who were also interviewing had much better profiles than me. However, even to my surprise PK selected me for the IS. During my stint at Precog, I worked in collaboration with Prof. Ashwin Rajadesingan of the esteemed UT Austin in a research problem based on framing of news articles by Indian news sources. This project lies at the intersection of NLP and Computational Social Science. I never thought I would get the opportunity to work with such a distinguished professor from one of the best universities in the world and have to thank PK for this great opportunity. Just like UT Austin, Precog has collaborations with many more distinguished institutes and organizations and gives students some great opportunities.

What sets Precog apart is the approachability and continuous support from PK. Despite having many students and being the only professor, he maintains close contact with everyone, providing assistance in various ways. This level of support is rare and significantly contributes to Precog’s success, attracting top students and fostering a thriving research environment.

At Precog, we have a lot of helpful seniors who have guided me throughout my stint there. The weekly lab meetings we have at Precog are structured in such a way that every student is aware of what the others are working on. This is extremely helpful as I got a lot of helpful insights from my colleagues on my project and I was also able to help the others in every way I could. Without these meetings and discussions, the projects would have slowed down very much but thanks to PK, every single project was able to get the push it needed. This collaborative process followed at Precog is something which again sets it apart from the rest.

PK is someone who always encourages his students to excel and guides them through their research journey, putting them first. Another unique aspect of Precog is how much we learn on the non-technical side of things. This is something which is extremely important to be a good researcher. The weekly meetings and other sessions have drastically improved my communication skills. Along with the weekly meetings, we get the opportunity to review the drafts of our peers and share our thoughts and ideas.

PK: The passionate sportsman

One thing which makes PK so successful is how he is able to remain physically active throughout the week. I truly have never seen the man rest. He is someone who takes fitness very seriously and I believe this is also an integral part of his success. I used to regularly play badminton and tennis with PK both on campus and outside early in the morning. While my friend and I used to still be half asleep while playing, it was PK’s aggression and passion on the court which used to wake us up. I don’t know any other professors who play with their students. His passion for sports was very fun to watch first-hand and he is as good at the game as he is passionate. As part of the college football team, I used to sometimes be at the ground at 6:30am, again half asleep, and by the time I was there PK used to be jogging on the ground already. As someone who is extremely into sports, seeing PK this way really made me connect with him on a different level and I believe even he appreciated this side of me. Witnessing this side of a professor this way is not something every student gets to experience, and this is one of my favorite memories of my college life. 

Apart from this, we used to have a lot of fun as a group, celebrating every paper acceptance and other milestones by having canteen treats and group dinners. Ohh and this reminds me, my first day at Precog was Precog’s birthday where PK made me cut the cake because I was the newest member, a tradition of Precog like no other. I am extremely grateful to PK and the entire Precog community for making my stint there something truly awesome and will miss it. The learnings and memories I made there will stay with me for the rest of my life.