• Experiences,  IIITH,  StudentGiri,  Students

    Precog: A stepping stone to a brighter future

    Intro When I decided to pursue higher studies, I knew I had to make a prolific research profile to get into top-notch graduate schools worldwide. I needed strong letters of recommendation from the best possible professors in my field to achieve this goal. I started searching for professors who could guide my research journey. That’s when I heard about PK from some of my seniors who had worked with him. They spoke highly of his expertise and mentorship style. Joining Precog, PK’s research lab, was a dream for me, and I had planned to work in the lab for two years as an honours student to gain valuable research experience.…

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  • Experiences,  IIITD,  StudentGiri,  Students

    Disentangling the mysteries of research via PreCog

    Research can be daunting, but with the right tools and resources, it can be a rewarding experience. One such resource is the research group Precog, led by Prof. Ponnurangam Kumaraguru or as he likes to be addressed — “PK”. As a research undergraduate, I had a unique experience working with PK for over two years. I say this as throughout my journey; I only met PK “once” in-person towards the end of my second year at PreCog. One of the reasons for this was when I joined, he was a faculty at IIIT Delhi but it was COVID time and by the time we were allowed back on campus, he…

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  • Experiences,  ProfGiri,  StudentGiri

    Power of Teaching & Taking courses on NPTEL!

    Fall 2016: I offer the Privacy & Security in Online Social Media course on NPTEL. Dipjyoti Bisharad (B.Tech. #Classof2018 student in NIT Silchar, Assam) takes this edition of the course. He is one of the toppers of the course. We decide he will come and spend the summer 2017 with Precog. I strikingly remember the interview that I did with D for the summer internship, he was not able to connect to the call, he had Internet issues, was trying to move his phone around to get better connectivity for the call. Summer 2017: D comes to Precog, spends the summer (see the pic below with the internship Tshirt), including…

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  • Experiences,  IIITH,  StudentGiri,  Students

    Precog: You’ll look back and be proud

    My journey at Precog began during my third year of college, in December 2020. It’s been challenging, rewarding, humbling, and importantly, the most defining endeavour of my undergrad days. It’s a research group I can’t not mention when talking about my background; it’s the group that doesn’t just grow on your resume – it grows onto you! This blog is a likely inept attempt at the (mammoth) task of summarising the many experiences, learnings, and aspects of the group I value. Growth, whether you like it or not While there’s no shortage of opportunities to grow in college, Precog has been the most multifaceted. It was while working at Precog…

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  • Experiences,  StudentGiri,  Students

    Passion, Purpose, Precog

    I joined Precog as an honours student at the end of my second year of college (summer 2020). I worked on Computational Social Science related research problems, under PK’s purview. My journey has been meaningful and rewarding in many ways! Through this blog, I will share my experiences and detail the aspects I valued the most. Here are some things I loved about being at Precog: Purposeful Work The research done at Precog is very applied and practical in nature. I worked on analysing the spread of Islamophobic hate-speech online and identifying malicious actors. I appreciated that we worked on a current-world problem which made the research timely and pertinent…

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  • Experiences,  StudentGiri,  Students

    Precog: a low risk, high return investment

    Precog has been a constant throughout my college life. Having spent three-plus years at Precog, it is much more than a work experience or research experience on my resume. It is what has defined me and my work interests. In this blog, I will take a shot at the impossible task of summarizing my experience, learnings, and the indelible effect PK and Precog have left on me.  Before joining my college, I was very well aware that there existed this majestic lab headed by this mystical professor. My first introduction to Precog was through my brother when I was still in 12th grade. He had applied to Precog but got…

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  • Experiences,  StudentGiri,  Students

    Precog : A Journey to Remember

    Ahh, the precog journey is reaching a logical conclusion with this blog. The blog is going to be a thank you letter, a thank you letter for three beautiful years at Precog, working with PK and fellow precoggers, learning and growing from the wonderful experiences. I will highlight the different projects and experiences at Precog and focus on how they shaped and taught me. Before I begin a piece of advice to anyone thinking about joining/knowing more about Precog culture and work, read these blogs !! (At least that’s what I did while deciding, all of these are experiences straight from the horse’s mouth and will give you excellent insights).…

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  • Experiences,  StudentGiri,  Students

    Precog: Where Magic Happens

    During the end of my 5th semester, I started searching for professors to do an independent study under. The reason for this search was simple – I needed an LoR as I planned on going for higher studies. After talking to seniors and batchmates, it became very clear that Precog was the best place for this purpose. As I sit now, 1.5 years later, recollecting my journey in Precog, I realize I have gained so much more than an LoR – in fact, I realize that I have gained more than I could have ever imagined in December 2020. My first interaction with PK was in the last round of…

  • Experiences,  StudentGiri,  Students

    Why working at Precog is totally different!

    My journey with Precog started right after my second year. PK wasn’t a full-time IIIT-H prof at that time, but I had already heard a lot about him. I was pretty excited to have got the opportunity to work with him, but looking back I had no clue how unique and life-changing my two years with Precog would be. I use the word “unique” because my experience at the lab was totally different, in many special ways that make me proud to be a #Precogger! Q: Give reasons why your journey with Precog was so different: Reason 1: Freedom That’s right, freedom. Probably my favourite thing to talk about when…

  • Experiences,  StudentGiri,  Students

    #ResearchGiri: My expedition with Precog

    It’s fascinating how time flies and how fate works as I sit here and recall my entire journey with Precog, especially with PK. I clearly remember seeing him with his distinct “red cap” for the first time at KCIS during the summer of 2018. Around the same period, there was a buzz among the students that a well-renowned professor has come to IIIT-H for a sabbatical, and at the least, I knew that he would be advising me one day. After learning about him more, I read some of his works, which were impactful and had a social cause to them, and then (a dramatic pause here !) I looked…

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