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When the Stars Aligned
A TLDR? The best decision of my life – personally and academically. And I am thankful to every single person who made it so. The Beginning The first question that most people asked me when I joined PreCog as a Research Assistant was how I found out about PreCog. It was a funny story. I was looking through CSRankings in September 2023, trying to shortlist universities for MS in fall 2024. I was half-minded about it- join MS immediately or get more research experience before I apply. During this process, a random thought of checking the university rankings in India occurred to me. Then I proceeded to check (read: stalk)…
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My PhD Journey: From Cryptography Dreams to NLP Discoveries
Every PhD story is unique, shaped by choices, circumstances, mentors, and serendipity. Looking back, I realize mine has been a winding yet rewarding journey—one that began with an interest in cryptography and evolved into a deep fascination with natural language processing (NLP). From Codes to Languages My research aspirations were first sparked after watching the biopic of Alan Turing. The elegance of cryptography fascinated me, and I initially hoped to pursue it further. However, when I joined JNU for my master’s, my preferred professor in cryptography had no available slots. That’s when I stumbled upon the thought: human languages are very much like cryptic messages—unintelligible until you know how to…
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The P in Precog Stands For People
I usually don’t remember a lot of things, but what PK said to me on my first day at Precog has stuck with me. “I am on my own journey, it’s your decision whether you want to join me or not”. It might not seem a lot, but to me, that was a challenge. Can I really maximise this opportunity I have been given? Two A* first-author papers, two workshop papers and one best paper award later, as I prepare to join the University of Cambridge, I can confidently say I maximised my opportunity to the limit. Throughout my two years at Precog, I learnt many things, but the most…
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My journey through academia with Precog by my side
Who am I? Hello! Rahul here, and you might find my journey to be quite an interesting (and likely, unique) one! I entered IIIT-H through the CHD program, a combination of Computer Science and Humanities that shaped the way I think about technology and society. My research began with an ethnographic lens, studying toxicity in the gaming world. In addition to that, I also wanted to build something that could directly impact the issue I was studying. One interesting topic I remember reading about Precog back then was Fake News Detection (look for papers at) which really got my curiosity! This is what led me to explore computational approaches that…
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I had no precognition I’d be doing ML research today.
Hi! I’m Varshita. I graduated from IIIT Hyderabad this year (2025) as a CND (B.Tech in Computer Science and Master of Science in Computational Natural Sciences by Research) student after a very meaningful but less-than-a-year stint as a dual degree student at Precog. My time at Precog, however, goes way back to Monsoon 2022. Precogger by proximity My introduction to the Precog lab’s culture began by accident, co-working alongside some of its members and my friends in the recently vacated and under-renovation T-Hub space -It was a trove of playful interiors, couches that rats loved to snack on, glass whiteboards, and panoramic windows that let in the thick monsoon winds…
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An Engineer’s Journey through Research
Before joining Precog, I was sure that I would be an engineer. I didn’t have clear plans for the future, but I thought research wasn’t for me. This blog is about how Precog taught me how to conduct research and thrive in an environment of uncertainty. How it started It all started in at the end of 2-1 when Haran (a good friend of mine) asked me which lab I was planning to join. I told him, “There is no way I could do research. I’ll do a BTP or work on a software engineering project” and he was genuinely shocked. After some back and forth, he convinced me to…
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SOP: Statement of Precog
My journey with Precog was a whole life in itself! Many blogs written before mine have already covered the opportunities, culture, and life at Precog. In this blog, I would like to take a different approach: to write about my past three years in the sequence they happened—and in the process, revisit the beautiful memories created and relearn the life lessons taught. I remember having no knowledge about the lab or PK when I was applying. I attended an info session about the lab in December 2021, but didn’t think much of it at the time—I was a lateral entry student who had just joined IIIT and had no idea…
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Dear Diary: I’m glad I joined Precog
Hey! I’m Vamshi, a recent Dual Degree (CLD, 2020-2025) graduate from Precog. I’ve always been the ambitious kind (I think this is the one common trait you’ll find among every Precogger). The ambition was to invent or discover something cool, and so I started exploring research. Finding My Way to Precog I joined IIIT Hyderabad because I’d heard they had early exposure to research. As I was in my second year, still full of ambition, I was searching for the right lab to foster my growth and feed my curiosity. During my search, I ended up connecting with Anmol Goel and Shashwat Goel (no, I don’t have a Goel bias)…
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Finding My Way: My Journey Through Precog with PK
Summary My journey with Precog wasn’t a straight line. It involved hesitant applications, skipped interviews, and a long period of searching for my footing in research. I initially joined not for a specific project, but for the environment, the minds of my peers and the ability to work with PK. What followed was a period of struggle, project pivots, paper rejections, and significant self-doubt, stretching over years. Yet, through it all, PK’s unwavering belief, his unique mentorship style emphasising systems and student autonomy, and the collaborative spirit of Precog kept me going. An opportunity abroad led to more growth, but still no publications. Just as I was nearing graduation (finally!),…
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My Precog Tale: Persistence, Growth, and Collaboration
Hello everyone! I’m Saurav Chhatani, a recent Computer Science graduate from IIIT Hyderabad, joining Thoughtspot, a SaaS product company, as a Software Engineer. As someone who always wanted to explore research, joining IIIT Hyderabad, known for its vibrant research culture, was a natural choice for me. Joining Precog: A World of Opportunities When the opportunity to be a part of a research lab presented itself, Precog stood out as the most appealing and welcoming option. The lab’s flexibility to work on any topic, numerous collaboration opportunities, knowledgeable and helpful peers, and of course, the guidance of Prof. PK, made it an ideal environment for my research journey. I vividly remember…