Juhi Kulshrestha, Aalto University

What have you studied and what influenced this choice back in the day?

At the end of high school, I was convinced I wanted to study Math at the undergraduate level. Unfortunately, I did not get admission to the Math program at the college of my choice, so I chose to study Physics instead. And to my surprise, I enjoyed my Physics courses even more than the Math courses I chose as electives. It taught me that even when plans don’t work out, there is always a worthwhile choice waiting to be made. It taught me to look beyond what I thought I knew and understood. It taught me to step out of the familiar and routine to what was waiting to be discovered and enjoyed!

How did you end up being a professor?

After my undergrad, I took up a master’s program in Informatics. Most people at the end of the course would take up programming jobs in the industry. However, in my second year, I chose to go for a research internship in Stuttgart, Germany. It made me realize that I enjoyed doing research, and if I am honest, then living in Europe too! So, towards the end of my master’s, I started applying for doctoral positions in Europe. I got many rejections. I wanted to do a Ph.D. at the prestigious Max Planck Institutes in Saarbruecken. And I did apply there but did not receive an offer. Instead, I got accepted at the Graduate School in Saarbruecken. Once I arrived there, I was still curious about the courses taught by the Max Planck faculty at my graduate school. Grad school and these courses helped me develop as a researcher, and eventually, I was offered a doctoral position at Max Planck Institute for Software Systems. I was the first female doctoral candidate there. It took me an additional year and a half to get where I wanted to, but I was finally there. And that was the beginning of an exciting research career. The skills I learned there, and the network I formed helped me get the following postdoctoral and assistant professorship positions later in life.

What is the best thing about your job?

I am intrigued by how technology impacts society. Looking at the patterns of human thought and behavior based on technology has been truly exciting. The best thing about my job is the freedom it provides me to select such interdisciplinary topics to explore in depth with a fantastic bunch of brilliant young minds and established, experienced researchers from across the disciplines. My job has also been fulfilling as it allows me to balance my time between work and family. 

What have been the highlights and key lessons of your career?

When I look back at the highlights of my career, I am quickly taken in by how many small victories have added up to make this my reality today. Sometimes it isn't easy to see this looking forward, but my biggest lesson looking back has been that success in research comes from what we do every day. It's not a sprint but a marathon. Every bit of the training helps in a marathon, even when you can't see it during the training. To me, it's the small everyday victories that make my work and life enjoyable -- when we are working on a problem and we have a small breakthrough, when a student presents new work done by them, when we manage to break down complex concepts for all to learn in class, or when we brainstorm problems at the lab. When something feels like it's not working out, I remind myself that we only need to focus on figuring out the next step, and the rest will follow. 

What do you expect from the future?

The most exciting and gratifying part of my job is the opportunity to conduct research that helps us understand the impact humans and technology have on each other. Uncovering these relationships between humans and tech has been exciting and helped me look at the world around me with deep curiosity and fascination. Working with others who are equally fascinated to learn about the interplay between humans and tech brings me great joy. So my goal is to continue to have fun uncovering these fascinating truths with great fun company!