Dobrik Georgiev

I have been competitive programmer since 12 and I really enjoyed learning various algorithms and applying them to new problems and ‘puzzles’. Going into a Computer Science course was a logical consequence. The question was where…

Why Cambridge? Believe it or not – by ‘chance’ (or more like “by being brave”): I was not genuinely thinking that I am good enough for Cambridge level, but I decided to be brave and give it a try. Entry level exams/interviews were hard, but I managed to perform well and meet the entry level bar.

Although I did not thoroughly research Cambridge upfront and the only information I had of Cambridge was from a friend that was studying here, I didn’t regret my choice. Cambridge gives a solid foundations in many subjects and focuses on the key aspects of the science (why? and how? something is done) rather the practicalities (how to use framework X?).

Being a tough to complete university, Cambridge also unconsciously teaches a lot of metalearning (learning how to learn) – you start to get better at optimising your time, sorting your workload, meeting deadlines, etc. Regardless of the path taken after university, that’s one very important skill to have.

I particularly enjoy the fact that after several (tough) years in Cambridge I am in a good position to be able to create, rather than choose, my own future. I have the foundations to continue to explore science and create the projects I want to work on and that I think are important to the community.

My long term career goals are to research and publish in the area of Deep Learning, perhaps focusing on its intersection with algorithms and/or program synthesis. Currently, my MPhil project involves learning to execute graph algorithms with Graph Neural Networks. If successful, and with the advances in transfer learning/program synthesis, I envision that in the future such methods could be expanded to learning to synthesise new algorithms.

Throughout my studies I presented several of my projects to variety of audiences. I enjoyed sharing knowledge both my peers as well as senior academics. In the future I am planning on targeting conferences (like International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS), etc), in order to reach out to a wider audience, as well as getting involved in supervisions, or even lecturing, after I gain the required experience.

First and foremost, make sure that you are doing that because you like it, not because it is modern to have a tech career.  (You cannot forcefully create beauty). If your heart leads you to something else – change your path.

Second, be brave. Be brave and apply to difficult universities/jobs, be brave to take up tough projects, be brave to choose your own path. The results will come naturally.

P.S.
Hard work is expected 🙂