Information for Graduate Students

  • If you are seeking admissions to the MS or PhD program at UCR in Computer Science or related areas, do not contact me. You must apply through UCR. Please contact the admissions committee at admissions@cs.ucr.edu.
    • I do not reply to e-mails from prospective graduate students. (I receive too many to be able to reply in any meaningful way. Sending me such an e-mail indicates you did not read this page.)
    • If you are interested in working with me, submit your application.
    • If you can, please include recent GRE scores. While it has flaws, the GRE is at least a standard exam that allows for comparisons.
    • Highlight your mathematical and research experience and abilities in your application.
    • Mention my name or machine learning in your application.
  • Want to know whether to pursue a PhD? Want to know how to succeed at your PhD? The following might help:
  • If you are a current UCR graduate student, I have weekly group meetings. You are welcome to attend; please just e-mail me first.
  • The best way to figure out whether I am a suitable advisor for you is to do three things:
    • Read my publications. Are these the type of publications you would like to write (compared with other faculty members)?
    • Take a class with me. Do I explain things in a way you enjoy?
    • Come to my group's meetings (see above). Do you enjoy the intellectual topics discussed?
  • What do I expect of students in my group? Generally, I look for the following
    • Facility with mathematics. You should have basic proof abilities, know calculus and linear algebra, and hopefully some probability and statistics. But, more importantly, you should be quick with picking up new mathematics and abstractions.
    • Excellent programming skills. My research is in computer science. I expect students in my group to be able to code up any well-defined algorithm well and efficiently. You should be able to pick up a new programming language in a week or two, if necessary. You should know how to debug and profile programs. You should not shy away from implementation.
    • Good writing skills. Part of my job is helping students edit papers and understand the style of academic writing. However, basic grasp of proper English sentence construction and how to organize thoughts in writing is necessary. I do not write papers or dissertations for my students.