Postdocs

I am currently not looking for postdocs.

Prospective PhD students

I am looking for one motivated PhD student to start in the Fall of 2024. The application to the UCSB graduate program in CS is centralized, with a new application deadline in the Fall 2023 quarter. There is no need to contact me to ask whether graduate student positions in my lab exist (currently they do!), or whether I am willing to accept your application outside the regular application cycle (I am neither able nor willing to do this). The only exception is if you are already a student at UCSB, in that case contact me for a meeting! In all other cases, when you fill out the application, indicate me as a faculty interest, and Algorithms and Theory as a topic of interest. This ensures that I will review your application. If you are particularly interested in UCSB or doing a PhD with me, contact me around the time of your application. Note to applicants from outside of the US: to apply to the PhD program here you do not need to already have a Masters degree, a Bachelor degree is sufficient. However, evidence of being able to do relevant research (such as a strong MS thesis or a published paper in a reputable venue on algoritms, complexity or discrete mathematics) greatly increases your chances. If you have any questions apart from the ones answered above, feel free to contact me!

Prospective MS students

I am looking for motivated MS students to do a project, however I am not at all involved in the admission of MS students to UCSB. If you are already at UCSB and interested in doing thesis research (or a project) supervised by me, contact me for a meeting! If you are applying to the MS program feel free to indicate me as a faculty interest, and Algorithms and Theory as a topic of interest. Note that admission to the MS program does not in any way guarantee a thesis/project advisor in your area of interest.

Undergraduate Research

I will supervise undergraduate students through the ERSP program. Interested in getting an idea what research is about? Be sure to apply to ERSP! For a more in-depth research experience contact me directly (this applies only to students who are already enrolled at UCSB!) The prerequisites for doing undergraduate research in Algorithms and Theory are a solid knowledge of discrete math, proofs, and algorithms. You should be able do demonstrate knowledge and abilities that correspond to at least getting an A in CS40, CS130A and CS130B. You do not need to actually have taken those courses or gotten these grades in the courses when you took them. For an example if you already know most of the CS130B material through programming competitions and are comfortable with working with proofs, then this might well be enough. Note that just meeting the prerequisites above is no guarantee that I will be able and willing to take you on for undergraduate research. Your best bet is to impress me by taking a class that I am teaching and do amazingly well. I will usually admit undergraduate students into my graduate classes - because of how the course admission system works you'll likely end up at the end of the wait list, and wont know for sure whether you get a spot in the class before into the first week of class. However it is almost certain that enough students will drop the class in the first week that there will be a spot for you (I have not had a counterexample yet)!

Interns

As a general rule, I do not take research interns, and there is no need to contact me regarding the possibility of internships. There is essentially one exception (which has happened on at least one occasion): if you are (a) already a student at UCSB and (b) already have secured, or will apply to secure funding for a summer research internship yoursenlf, and (c) think that you meet the prerequisites for "in-depth undergraduate research" outlined above. In this case, contact me for a meeting!