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The original was posted on /r/programminglanguages by /u/Slight_Astronomer905 on 2023-10-26 19:17:25.

I’m currently doing my 3rd year in undergraduate, and I want to apply for PhD programs in programming languages next year. A supervisor in CS called PL research “dull”, and asked why I wanted to apply to PL PhD programs. I explained that I liked the area and that my research experience was in this area, but they said it was better if I did my PhD in a “more revolutionary area like AI & ML”. I don’t agree, and I’m heartbroken because I like this area so much and was set on getting a PhD, but I want to hear your opinions on this.

In their words, “what is there to research about in programming languages? It’s a mature field that has been around since 60-70 years, and there’s nothing much to discover”. I told them the number of faculty members we have in our university, and they said they were surprised that we had that many faculty members in an area this mature (because apparently there’s nothing to discover).

I have some research experience as an undergraduate researcher, and I’m still pretty sure this is not the case, but I just want to know how I should reply to such people. Also, I’m curious if the research gets more “groundbreaking” after PhD in academia.

I’m pretty heartbroken and I feel like my dreams were insulted. I’m sure this wasn’t my supervisors intention, but I feel really demotivated and this has been keeping me up for the past few days.