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I’m accepting new students. However, before emailing me, please read this page carefully. If you have questions about the admission process at the University of Alberta, please consult the relevant departmental or university resources [link].

I receive a large number of emails from prospective students, and unfortunately I am not able to respond to all of them individually. This page outlines my expectations for initial contact; emails that do not meet these expectations may not receive a response. For example, I generally do not reply to emails that only ask whether I am accepting new students, as this information is stated clearly here.

• If you are a prospective master's student:
• I carefully review all applications that list me as a potential supervisor. Please make sure to select me as one of your potential supervisors; otherwise, I likely will not notice your application.
• Although I do not expect applicants to the master’s program to have published papers, I do expect some familiarity with research and machine learning (ideally, reinforcement learning).
• Very few emails meaningfully affect admission decisions. If you apply and still wish to email me, please see the guidelines below.

• If you are a prospective Ph.D. student:
  • Ph.D. positions in my lab are extremely competitive. Competitive applications typically involve either strong recommendations from researchers I know, or top-tier publications in machine learning (e.g., JMLR, ICML, NeurIPS, ICLR) or in neuroscience and cognitive sciences. Naturally, we must also have strong overlapping research interests.
  • If you do not satisfy the conditions above, you may want to consider applying to our master's program, even if you are currently completing or have completed an master's elsewhere. Completing a strong master's under my supervision can be an effective way of convincing me to accept you as a Ph.D. student.
  • I carefully review all applications that list me as a potential supervisor. Please make sure to select me as one of your potential supervisors; otherwise, I likely will not notice your application.
  • If you are a strong fit and satisfy the conditions above, you may consider emailing me. In that case, please read the instructions below carefully.

• If you still want to contact me:
  • To signal that you have done your due diligence, please use Elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo as the greeting in your email. I likely will not reply if you do not.
  • Please use a clear and specific subject line (e.g., “Prospective Ph.D. student – reinforcement learning”).
  • Please do not send an email merely stating that you read one of my papers and found it “interesting” or “exciting.” If you contact me, read some of my papers, explain what you think of them, what questions you have, and, if you are a prospective Ph.D. student, what you think we could work on together.
  • Again: if you send a generic email stating only that we have similar research interests, I will likely not respond. I respond only to emails that are clearly tailored to me.
  • Please also describe your relevant background experience and attach your current CV. I only open PDF files.
  • I receive more emails than I can respond to, so if you do not hear back, please do not take it personally. Sending multiple emails will not increase the likelihood of a response. I try to keep my inbox at zero unread messages, so I act on every email I receive, either by replying or by deleting it.
  • Please do not email to ask for application status updates. I will reach out if there is a need for further discussion.