Graduation
Requirements
I have a number of graduation requirements that apply to students who work in my group that are generally not required by the department. By accepting a position in my lab, you are accepting these conditions:
All SLDG Master's Students must enroll in the thesis option - I will not provide support for individuals doing a coursework Master's.
All SLDG Students must publish prior to graduation - In academia, peer reviewed publication is the primary evaluation mechanism for our research. Upon completion of a Master's thesis you must have at least one conference paper in press or submitted that presents your work. Upon completion of a PhD, you must have at least one journal article in press or submitted.
All SLDG Students must pass a peer directed code review prior to graduation - Prior to signing your Thesis or Dissertation, any sortware you are working on must be done. Your work will be peer reviewed by the other students working with you. I will not sign your thesis or dissertation prior to successful completion of the code review. Your peers have to live with the results of your work, thus I do not participate in this review.
I have a number of graduation requirements that apply to students who work in my group that are generally not required by the department. By accepting a position in my lab, you are accepting these conditions:
All SLDG Master's Students must enroll in the thesis option - I will not provide support for individuals doing a coursework Master's.
All SLDG Students must publish prior to graduation - In academia, peer reviewed publication is the primary evaluation mechanism for our research. Upon completion of a Master's thesis you must have at least one conference paper in press or submitted that presents your work. Upon completion of a PhD, you must have at least one journal article in press or submitted.
All SLDG Students must pass a peer directed code review prior to graduation - Prior to signing your Thesis or Dissertation, any sortware you are working on must be done. Your work will be peer reviewed by the other students working with you. I will not sign your thesis or dissertation prior to successful completion of the code review. Your peers have to live with the results of your work, thus I do not participate in this review.
Contacting
Me
I am more than happy to talk with potential students about my research and my laboratory. However, I am not at all impressed by mass emails extolling the virtues of my research in X and how your research interests in Y parallel mine. Particularly when neither X or Y has anything to do with what I do or X and Y are not same. Please spend some time looking through my research papers and web pages before contacting me. I will spend approximately the same amount of effort responding to your inquiries about my research as you spend contacting me. You will get nowhere fast with a mass email. Above all, be straight with me about your intentions.
I am more than happy to talk with potential students about my research and my laboratory. However, I am not at all impressed by mass emails extolling the virtues of my research in X and how your research interests in Y parallel mine. Particularly when neither X or Y has anything to do with what I do or X and Y are not same. Please spend some time looking through my research papers and web pages before contacting me. I will spend approximately the same amount of effort responding to your inquiries about my research as you spend contacting me. You will get nowhere fast with a mass email. Above all, be straight with me about your intentions.
Coursework
Coursework students need for my lab minimally includes:
and some subset of the following:
I also ask my students to take some discrete math courses such as Modern Algebra or logic courses that are available. All this changes on a per-student basis, but I want everyone to understand that taking classes in the areas of discrete math, formal methods and formal semantics will be expected.
I will rarely take anyone as a graduate student prior to completing at least one of my classes. Aside from seeing how you perform, I want to make sure you enjoy doing the kind of work I am interested in. I think it is also useful for you to know if you want to talk to me every day for anywhere from one to four years while you complete your work. I will support efforts to get TA positions for students interested in my lab who need funding. I will also waive this requirement in special circumstances when I know you and you have had appropriate preparation.
Coursework students need for my lab minimally includes:
- EECS 762 - Programming Language Foundation I
- EECS 755 - System Requirements Modeling
- EECS 700 - Functional Programming
- EECS 665 - Compiler Construction
and some subset of the following:
- EECS 843 - Programming Language Foundation II
- EECS 943 - Theoretical Foundations of Program Construction
- EECS 716 - Formal Language Theory
- EECS 700 - Virtual Machines
- EECS 753 - Realtime and Embedded Systems
I also ask my students to take some discrete math courses such as Modern Algebra or logic courses that are available. All this changes on a per-student basis, but I want everyone to understand that taking classes in the areas of discrete math, formal methods and formal semantics will be expected.
I will rarely take anyone as a graduate student prior to completing at least one of my classes. Aside from seeing how you perform, I want to make sure you enjoy doing the kind of work I am interested in. I think it is also useful for you to know if you want to talk to me every day for anywhere from one to four years while you complete your work. I will support efforts to get TA positions for students interested in my lab who need funding. I will also waive this requirement in special circumstances when I know you and you have had appropriate preparation.
Admissions
To join my group, you must first be admitted to the KU Computer Engineering or Computer Science Master's Degree program, or the KU Computer Science PhD program. Although I give preference to PhD students, many of my students have started as Master's candidates and either moved to the PhD program or started the PhD program after completing an MS. Don't assume that I won't work with you if you are seeking only a Master's Degree.
Admissions to our program is done by the EECS Department's Graduate Recruiting and Admissions Committee (GARC). I cannot tell you in advance of your application whether you will be admitted or not. I am happy to provide guidance, but I cannot guarantee admission to anyone.
To join my group, you must first be admitted to the KU Computer Engineering or Computer Science Master's Degree program, or the KU Computer Science PhD program. Although I give preference to PhD students, many of my students have started as Master's candidates and either moved to the PhD program or started the PhD program after completing an MS. Don't assume that I won't work with you if you are seeking only a Master's Degree.
Admissions to our program is done by the EECS Department's Graduate Recruiting and Admissions Committee (GARC). I cannot tell you in advance of your application whether you will be admitted or not. I am happy to provide guidance, but I cannot guarantee admission to anyone.
Committees
If you wish for me to serve on an MS or PhD committee, please ask! Do not assume that because your advisor recommends me that I will serve on your committee. I give first preference to students who have taken at least one course from me and whose topics look interesting. For MS defenses, I would like a copy of your thesis at least 3 days in advance. For PhD proposal defenses and final exams, I would like a copy of your proposal or dissertation at least 10 days in advance. If you plan on varying from that schedule, you need to let me know as soon as possible.
Things also tend to get tight at the end of the semester. Other students are also racing to get their work done and faculty are trying to wrap up classes. So, schedule early.
If you wish for me to serve on an MS or PhD committee, please ask! Do not assume that because your advisor recommends me that I will serve on your committee. I give first preference to students who have taken at least one course from me and whose topics look interesting. For MS defenses, I would like a copy of your thesis at least 3 days in advance. For PhD proposal defenses and final exams, I would like a copy of your proposal or dissertation at least 10 days in advance. If you plan on varying from that schedule, you need to let me know as soon as possible.
Things also tend to get tight at the end of the semester. Other students are also racing to get their work done and faculty are trying to wrap up classes. So, schedule early.