How to Find and Join a Research Group Identify likely faculty candidates Learn a little more about them Request an interview Identify project, expectations, and mechanics Stay in touch with your advisor Discuss, then write, your final report That was fun!

Identify likely faculty candidates Teachers in classes youve liked Speakers in seminar series Talk to other students doing research ICS web page – Faculty listings – Research areas and centers – Calendar of upcoming talks and events

Learn a little more about them Visit their web page Read their papers Talk to their students (ugrad and grad) Read about the research areas and centers in which they participate Think of a point of interest and a question Not always necessary; but nice to be prepared

Request an interview is most common – Avoid spam (we get lots of it) – Indicate youre serious and interested – Be brief Stop by their office briefly – Request an appointment to discuss research Be persistent, but not a pest Move on to other faculty if no good response – May be too busy or have too many students now – You have many interests; many things are interesting

Identify project, expectations, and mechanics An interview is a two-way street Give info about yourself – Background, interests, coding level, etc. Ask questions about the project – Who will supervise you? Faculty or grad student? – Time commitment expected? – Is there a weekly group meeting to attend? – Computers or special equipment to use? Its OK to ask for a paper to read while you think about it and decide if its right for you – Its also OK to agree on-the-spot

Stay in touch with your advisor Most often, you will do a small part of a larger project under a grad student or post-doc – Remember that the faculty member will evaluate your work and sign your Final Report, not the grad-student or post-doc who supervised you Ask: How often should you meet with the faculty member to review your progress? – Maybe just during group meetings? – Maybe monthly? – Maybe something else?

Discuss, then write, your final report Anything that is acceptable to you and to your faculty advisor is acceptable to the ICS-HP Your faculty advisor is the sole judge of whether your Final Report is Honors quality Discuss an outline of your Final Report with your advisor before beginning to write Give your advisor a near-final draft in plenty of time to respond to any changes required – This includes time for your advisor to read it

That was fun! UCI offers ugrads an opportunity to work on world-class cutting-edge research Be persistent, but not a pest Cast a wide net for possible advisors Get duties and expectations clear up-front Stay in touch with your advisor – During work, and while writing your Report – Have fun!!