Hallo! this blog captures my end to end SOSP conference experience, which I attened during last week of October this year.
What is SOSP?
The biennial ACM Symposium on Operating Systems Principles is the world’s premier forum for researchers, developers, programmers, and teachers of computer systems technology. Academic and industrial participants present research and experience papers that cover the full range of theory and practice of computer systems software.
In simple words, Symposium on Operating Systems Principles (SOSP) is the world’s premiere operating systems conference.
How & why I applied?
As I am in my final year of college, I had to make a future decision between industry & academia. I was confused about whether to pursue further studies abroad because I witnessed a few of my 4-year course friends going to the States for MS.
One day, as usual, I was scrolling X when I saw a post re-posted by someone I follow. The post mentioned a travel grant for students to attend SOSP in Koblenz, Germany 🇩🇪 from October 24 - 27, 2023. I immediately went to their website to explore the opportunity; I had doubts about the application form, which I emailed to the organizing team and got a quick reply to. The person also encouraged me to fill out the application form since it also mentioned the location-wise diversity. Later, when I attended the conference in person, I got to know that there were many Indian students, but I was the only one who was studying at an Indian university; the rest were studying abroad.
I got the acceptance email a few days before leaving on a 12-day trip to China & Hong Kong to speak at KubeCon. What’s better than having two international trips lined up, that too within a month’s time frame 😍
Little adventure
On the night of October 3rd, I landed in Delhi from Hong Kong and submitted my passport for a German visa on the 4th afternoon. Following this, I hopped on the evening train to my hometown, arriving home at 3:00 A.M. on the 5th. With little time to rest, I left home at 6:00 A.M. to travel to my college in Gwalior.
Once at college, the next 24 hours became a whirlwind. There was a power cut in the hostel, so I spent the entire day in a lab dedicated to crafting and preparing my M—tech thesis report. The pressure intensified when I learned I had to present my work in front of a reputedly strict panel the following day.
Adding to the challenge, an email notification arrived, revealing that I also had to take a re-exam for a subject I had missed during my recent trip to China. Faced with this unexpected development, I rose early on the 6th, creating a presentation and delivering it as the second speaker. Immediately afterward, I returned to the hostel to prepare for the exam, which was scheduled from 1:00 to 3:00 P.M. huh jaan nikal gya re mera
I submitted my visa application on the 4th and had a flight booked for 21st, so I was a little unsure of getting the visa on time however, within ten days, on the 15th, I received the email that my visa application was processed, and the best part is even though I applied for a single entry visa, I received my passport stamped with a one year multi-entry Schengen visa, woohoo!
The Conference
The conferences I attended before were industry-focused, but this was the first conference I attended which was mainly academic-focused. Renowned professors and researchers in the operating systems domain attended this conference. Although my interest lies in this domain, the talks on stage and discussions on the ground were overwhelming. Still, I tried my best and talked to as many people as possible, which I do in every conference I attend, and made a lot of connections.
The main question in my mind during the conference was, “Should I pursue further studies or not? if yes, what’s the scope?” I asked many professors and students the same question, and the professors were kind enough to explain the different aspects; many of them welcomed me to reach out after the conference if I’m interested in a Ph.D. program. While talking to students, I got the essence of ground reality, especially from the Indian students out there in the States and Europe.
I gathered the discussions and thought a lot even after returning to India, and finally decided to go into industry. Still, now I know whom to reach out to whenever I decide to pursue further studies. This conference was also attended by industry people, especially from Google Research, Microsoft Research, Huawei Research, and Meta Research.
Fun part
The after-conference parties were held on all four days. On evening 1, Reception was held in a massive hall, at a different venue. On evening 2, the poster session took place at the historic Ehrenbreitstein castle overlooking the city and the confluence of Mosel and Rhein, a renowned UNESCO World Heritage site. On evening 3, the Banquet took place on a 3-hour long cruise on the river Rhine. The last evening party was organized by Huawei, with a German orchestra.
Another fun part, after the conference I traveled solo for 9 days exploring 8 cities across 4 countries including my dream places: Frankfurt 🇩🇪, Prague 🇨🇿, Venice 🇮🇹, Paris 🇫🇷
List of all 8 cities: Frankfurt, Koblenz, Cologne, Prague, Venice, Verona, Milan, Paris
This trip lasted for 16 days, and I had my best experience of 2023 during these days.
See y’ll next year 👋