When ACSU Research Night was convened this semester, assistant professor Adrian Sampson again hosted and provided sage remarks on the spirit of inquiry and practical notes for research success. Eva Tardos, Chair and Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Computer Science, welcomed students to the virtual session. Victor Butoi, who has been a student panelist in the past, joined to moderate the Discord poster session that followed the Q&A. The poster session included seventeen CS Ph.D. students sharing their research, methods, tips, and resources.
Undergraduate panelists included:
- Caleb Biddulph, a Sophomore in CS and an ACSU Executive Board Member
- Sophia Roshal, a Junior who is a double-major in CS and Math
- Abhay Singh, also a Junior in CS, and a CUAir Project Team Member and a CUAI Undergraduate Research Group Member
Some of the many questions that were asked and engaged:
- What is research?
- What does your research consist of? Who do you work under?
- What first got you interested in your field?
- What are some tips you can give to those interested in pursuing CS research but don’t know where to start?
- What is the time commitment for a typical project?
- What do you usually do every week as a researcher?
- What does your day-to-day life actually, physically look like when you’re doing a research experience?
- Can you compare/contrast research over the summer with a “normal” internship?
- In your opinion, why should everyone in the world do research?
- How did you decide what sub-area of CS research to get involved in, i.e., which is right for you?
If you're asking similar questions, please join us for the Fall Research Night when similar questions will be engaged and faculty and students share their best replies.
The panelists reported success in research during our heavily virtual times, noting tips that have helped maintain collaboration across networks despite the pandemic.
During the Ph.D. poster session, undergraduates were able to talk with seventeen graduate students, and learn about their research projects, including several third-year students: Kate Donahue, who works with Jon Kleinberg on algorithmic fairness, game theory, and models of ML/humans; Chinasa Okolo, who is focused on the "intersection of computer vision, human-AI interaction, ICTD, and global health"; and Katherine Van Koevering, working with Austin Benson and Jon Kleinberg in graph theory, social data, networks, and HCI.