Group

I'm accepting new students. However, before you send me an email, please read these instructions carefully. Also, if you have any questions about the admission process at the University of Alberta, please read this.

• If you are a prospective M.Sc. student:
• You should apply to the M.Sc. program of the Computing Science Dept. at the University of Alberta [link]. You need to apply to both GSMS and GARS. I won't see your application if it is not in GARS.
• I do look carefully at all applications that list me as a potential supervisor. Thus, do make sure you select me as one of your potential supervisors, otherwise I probably won't notice your application.
• If you apply and you want to email me, see below. Most M.Sc. students do not start with a supervisor. I rarely commit to supervising an M.Sc. student before they have been in the department for at least one term. Once you are accepted, you will have time to find a supervisor.

• If you are a prospective Ph.D. student:
  • I rarely take on new Ph.D. students who haven't worked with me before. I might make an exception if you are highly recommended by a researcher I know, or if you have top-tier publications (e.g., JMLR, ICML, NeurIPS, ICLR). Obviously, we have to have shared research interests.
  • If you do not satisfy the conditions above, you might want to consider applying to our M.Sc. program, even if you are finishing your M.Sc. somewhere else. Doing a good M.Sc. with me is the best way of convincing me to accept you as a Ph.D. student.
  • I do look carefully at all applications that list me as a potential supervisor. Thus, do make sure you select me as one of your potential supervisors, otherwise I probably won't notice your application.
  • If you are really a good fit, and you satisfy the conditions above, you might want to email me. In that case, read the instructions below carefully.

• If you still want to contact me:
  • For me to know you did your due diligence, use Elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo as the greeting in your email. I likely won't reply if you don't.
  • Don't bother sending me an email saying that you read my paper X and that you found it "interesting" or "exciting". If you contact me, do read a few of my research papers, tell me what you think of them, what your questions are, and if you are a prospective Ph.D. student, what you think we could work on together.
  • Again: If you send me a generic email just stating we have similar research interests I will likely not respond. I respond only to emails that were obviously tailored to me.
  • Also, do make sure you describe what relevant background experience you have and attach your current CV. I will only open pdf files, nothing else.
  • Fortunately (or unfortunately), I do receive more emails than I can respond to, so if you don't get a response, don't take it personally. Multiple emails won't increase the likelihood you'll get a response.