Join Us
Joining the group
Graduate admissions run through the Department of Computer Science. Undergraduate, postdoctoral, and visiting arrangements are made on an individual basis with faculty. Start with the section that matches your stage.
Graduate
Graduate research
Most research in the group is done by MSc and PhD students. Admissions are handled centrally by the Department of Computer Science, but are approved by individual faculty. Do mention who you might like to work with in your application so that the department can route it to them.
PhD students are funded for the duration of the program through a combination of supervisor research funds, teaching assistantships, and departmental and external awards. MSc funding follows department policy, and the MSc is typically a good option for Canadian students interested in building up their research portfolio. Supervision arrangements are organized after admission, and students often work with more than one faculty member. Program requirements, deadlines, and funding details are maintained by the department.
Undergraduate
Undergraduate research
Undergraduates do real research here. We train them to operate independently, and consequently a large number of them go on to graduate study, either within the group or at top machine learning programs worldwide. Most students start research in their third or fourth year, after some background in machine learning, statistics, and programming — though what matters more is that you have read enough of a faculty member’s work to say why it interests you enough to work on it.
Opportunities for strong undergraduates include:
- Independent study courses — Credit courses in which you work on a research project supervised by a faculty member over a semester. These are typically arranged directly with the supervisor before enrolment.
- UTEA — The University of Toronto Excellence Award funds a summer of full-time research with a faculty supervisor. Open to U of T undergraduates; applications are made with your prospective supervisor.
- NSERC USRA — Federally funded summer research awards for Canadian citizens and permanent residents, held full time with a faculty supervisor over roughly sixteen weeks.
- Mitacs Globalink — For international students: a funded summer research internship at a Canadian university, applied for through Mitacs and matched to a faculty host.
Faculty get hundreds of emails from prospective students and will often have advice on their webpage on how best to get in touch with them. The steps to work with us are as follows: find faculty whose work you’re curious to build on, read their papers carefully, and write to them directly with your own opinions on their work.
Postdoctoral
Postdoctoral research
Postdoctoral fellows are hired directly by individual faculty members rather than through a central competition. There is no group-wide application and no single deadline. Openings appear when a faculty member has funding and a project that needs someone.
Positions and funding vary by group and by year, and some fellows arrive with their own external funding. Write to the faculty member whose research you want to build on, with a CV and a short note on what you would work on and why it needs them specifically.
Visitors
Visiting professors & researchers
The group has a long history of hosting visiting professors, researchers, and graduate students, for stays ranging from a few weeks to a full sabbatical year. Visitors take part in the group’s seminars and reading groups and are expected to be here in person for the duration. Visits are arranged through direct contact with a faculty host, who sponsors the arrangement with the department.