Joining the Duality Lab

To get started, please send me an email…but read on!

I receive a lot of email and sometimes things get lost. I have special email filters set up so that I won’t lose your introductory email, but you’ll need to follow these instructions to make it into the proper folder.

If I don’t respond after five business days, feel free to send a follow-up email. But double-check that you followed the instructions! Your email might not have made it into the right folder.

General information

I bring a systems perspective to my software engineering research — I want to understand how to engineer complex computing systems. To conduct this kind of research, you must be a reasonably proficient software engineer. This background is necessary in human-subjects research (asking the right questions), in systems analysis research (knowing how to understand a system), and in systems-building research (building a reasonable prototype quickly). You will need good engineering fundamentals to make a contribution.

Minimum requirements

It is not my intention to discourage you, but I want you to understand what you are asking for, and to make you ready to be challenged. This table highlights the three main requirements for success in the research that my lab conducts.

The most critical of these is time. If you have the will to learn, you can succeed in research – but you must invest and persevere.

Going beyond the minimum

Beyond this general know-how, you will need to develop topic-specific skills as you engage in research. It is my job to point out the knowledge you need to acquire, but your job to develop it. I will not lecture you. For example:

1. Some of my projects are focused on human subjects. If you wish to apply these methods (e.g. surveys, interviews, ethnographies), knowing about these research methods is a good substitute for some technical know-how. I will expect you to study these methods independently.
2. Some of my projects involve machine learning. If you wish to study engineering failures in deep learning projects, then you will need to be an expert in deep learning first. If you join such a project, I will expect you to study the relevant material independently.

You might benefit from enrolling in pertinent courses, completing online certificates, or getting a textbook out of the library. If you need knowledge for research, you must not rely on Googling stuff and ChatGPT as a substitute for expertise. If you are not actively developing knowledge you need, I will ask you to leave.

Instructions to apply

Write me an email and tell me how you might fit into my team. There are detailed notes for graduate vs. undergraduate students further down, but I have the same general questions for everyone. Please organize your email with headings so I can read it.

1. Why are you interested in my lab in particular?
2. What experience do you have in research? (e.g., teaching yourself new things, reading research papers)
3. What experience do you have in engineering software? (Have you worked professionally? Done an internship? Have you compiled the Linux kernel? Do you have an Android app to demonstrate? Have you read the Node.js source code? Have you contributed to an open-source project? Are you skilled in using a machine learning framework?)
4. How much time do you have available to work in my lab (hours/week), and how long do you anticipate doing so? (semesters, years?)
5. Which project(s) listed on my website are you interested in? Why? (Or explain a project you would like to pursue under my mentorship)

To help me get to know you better, please:

• Attach a resume or CV.
• Appoint me to 1-3 relevant and representative projects (e.g. open-source code), reports, or publications, and explain your role in the project. These should demonstrate your potential to conduct research in my lab. If you do not have anything to show along these lines (perhaps you are a first-year student?), your email should explain why you think you are prepared to engage in research.
• Read one or more of my recent research publications and suggest some ideas for a follow-up study.

Finally, to match my email filter, please include the magic word xyzzy somewhere in your email.

Application notes for graduate students

If you are a current or incoming Purdue graduate student in the ECE department, send me the email described above, with the subject “Prospective assistant: graduate (current)”.

If you are applying to Purdue’s ECE department for graduate work, send me the email described above, with the subject “Prospective assistant: graduate (applicant)”.

Application notes for undergraduate students

If you are a current Purdue undergraduate, send me the email described above, with the subject “Prospective assistant: undergraduate”. I am happy to hear from undergraduate students in ECE, CS, CIT, and related majors, and further afield if you think it’s a good fit.

However, I do not do “freelance” mentoring. If you want to be an undergraduate researcher in my lab, you will need to use one of Purdue’s mechanisms:

• VIP teams (if I am leading one at the moment, e.g. the TensorFlow Model Garden team)
• The OUR Scholars academic-year program (requires my sponsorship)
• The SURF summer research program (requires my sponsorship)
• I am willing to consider an independent study, but only when you intend to springboard into the OUR Scholars or SURF programs.

Onboarding process

If I like the looks of your application, I will set up an interview. If that goes well, I will ask you to work on something small for 4-6 weeks to get a sense of your commitment, interests, and skill set. Then we can discuss a longer-term relationship.

Undergraduate students will generally be assigned to support an existing project. You must learn to walk before you can run.

Philosophy of training

Learning how to “do research” is a long journey. To help you understand what life will be like in my lab, let me tell you about my philosophy of training.

A research laboratory has two responsibilities. First, we create new knowledge. Second, we create new researchers.

Every lab member will contribute to the creation and sharing of new knowledge. This typically takes the form of understanding the state of the art (research literature) and of the practice (existing tools and systems), and then designing studies, implementing systems or studying humans, and writing up results.

Research is learned through apprenticeship. My lab members will become disciplined thinkers, thoughtful researchers, and exemplary communicators. I will provide you with one-on-one mentoring in these areas, feedback to help you understand your strengths and weaknesses, and resources to help you improve. In addition, senior lab members will be given opportunities to help train more junior lab members.

My complete Advisor-Advisee Compact is available on request.