- If you are an undergraduate student:
- currently enrolled at UW-Madison looking for research experience, read this section
- wanting to apply to grad school at UW-Madison, read this section
- If you are a graduate student:
- currently enrolled (or soon to start) at UW-Madison interested in joining the lab or doing a rotation, read this section
- wanting to apply to grad school at UW-Madison, read this section
- wanting to apply for a postdoc position, read this section
- If you are a postdoc:
- wanting to apply for a postdoc position in the lab, read this section
- wanting to apply to your own funding with me as supervisor, read this section
I receive many applications for research positions in my lab and can only accept students who are serious about the effort involved and where there is a good fit with my group.
First of all, please read the rules regarding undergraduate research in the lab:
- All research led by undergraduate students is expected to produce either a publication or software. For this reason, only highly motivated students looking for long-term research opportunities (at least one year in the lab) are welcome.
- Short-term projects are sometimes available in the lab. If you are interested in one-semester or one-summer work, feel free to email me to let me know about this interest, but there is no guarantee that there will be a project that will accomodate to this timeline.
- Seniors are not admitted to join the lab as there is not enough time to do meaningful research. The best time to join the lab is the beginning of junior year or the summer immediately before junior year.
- Knowledge of version control via git/github is a must as well as interest on good computing practices, team work and science communication.
- There will be a trial period in which you will be assigned to an existing project. This trial period will give you the opportunity to learn if the lab is a good fit for you.
- Team work is highly valued in the lab, so you are expected to fully participate in meetings, symposia and other events
Advantages of joining the lab:
- Participate in state-of-the-art research as the leader of a project
- Gain research experience that is valuable for graduate school and data science industry jobs (computing practices, reproducibility, science communication, research independence)
- Plenty of opportunities to improve science communication (talks, posters, papers)
- Co-authorship on publications produced in the lab with your contribution (read the authorship guidelines)
- Network with other students in the lab and in WID
- Strong commitment to mentoring by me and other senior students in the lab
- Support with grad school/job applications as well as carefully written honest letters of recommendation highlighting your strengths in research
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Take the git quiz
- If you scored 8 or higher, you are in great shape!
- If you scored less than 8, you need to study git/github. Study these notes carefully
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Read the best computing practices of the lab and answer the following questions:
- Am I interested in producing code that is well-documented and commented?
- Am I interested in spending a lot of time making sure my code is understandable to others and it follows good computing practices?
- Am I interested in following the structure for file names and folders?
- Am I interested in learning git/github using the terminal?
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Read the lab guidelines and answer the following questions:
- Am I interested in participating in lab meetings, WID meetings and student events?
- Am I interested in presenting my research in symposia via talks or posters?
- Am I committed to see the project through either by finishing up all steps during my time in the lab or by helping other students take over the project?
Timeline varies depending on the nature of the project, but this example can serve to illustrate the different stages:
- Summer before junior year (2-3 months): learn about your project and necessary background knowledge, learn good computing practices and git/github through the terminal, trial period on existing project
- Fall/Spring junior year (2 semesters): work on your project as independent research or as part of a team of students
- Summer before senior year: usually students do internships, so no work in the lab, but students could be involved in short-term projects if they choose to or continue working on their projects
- Fall senior year (1 semester): write paper for publication or deploy software. Deadline of December 1 so that the new product (paper/software) can be included in grad school or job application
Great! Follow the next steps:
- Fill out this google form which is the collaboration agreement
- Email me your CV and transcript with the subject "Data Science Undergrad Research". Write down in the email that you have read this document and filled out the collaboration agreement form. Include in the email meeting times that would work for you for the following two weeks.
After you send the email, we will schedule a meeting to chat. Expect to answer questions about yourself (major, year, research interests) as well as about programming skills and knowledge of git and computing practices. It will not be an exam, but I will be curious to know your experience. During this meeting, I will also highlight existing projects in the lab to assess if they would be interesting to you.
Research is highly multi-disciplinary! So, I welcome graduate students interested in different programs:
- PhD in Plant Pathology: Application deadline December 1 (email me regarding Spring admission). Application info here.
- PhD in Statistics: Application deadline December 1 (no admissions in Spring). Application info here
- PhD in Mathematics: Application deadline December 15 (no admissions in Spring). Application info here
- PhD in Biomedical Data Science: Application deadline December 15 (no admissions in Spring). Application info here
Even though my research is purely computational (dry lab), I am happy to co-advise students interested in empirical research, together with another professor in the department.
Note that admission to the programs is done by committees, not by individual faculty (so, not by me), but I would be happy to help you in the application process.
If you are a biology-oriented student, you need to have an interest in computational biology or bioinformatics to join the lab. Students doing a bio-oriented PhD can complement their training in statistics and data science with:
- MS in Statistics
- MS in Applied Stat (upcoming Fall 2022)
- MS in Biometry
- Minor in Quantitative Biology
Next steps for you:
- Read more about the lab research and identify projects that interest you
- Watch this YouTube video on details on how to join the lab and the lab culture
- Read the lab guidelines
- Feel free to email me if you are interested in working with me and have questions regarding the application
- Make sure to include your CV and unofficial transcript in the email as well as details on what specific projects attract you from the lab
- If you have read the lab guidelines, make sure to comment on this too in your email
Are you a graduate student currently enrolled at UW-Madison interested in joining the lab (or doing a rotation)?
- Master/PhD students are welcome to join the lab or to do a rotation
- I can serve as PhD advisor of students in the following programs:
- Statistics
- Mathematics
- Plant Pathology
- Biomedical Data Science
- Research in the lab is highly interdisciplinary, so students from different fields are welcome as all projects can be tailored to mathematical or statistical theory, computational implementations, machine learning, or biological applications
- Advantages of joining the lab:
- Participate in state-of-the-art research as the leader of a project
- Gain research experience that is valuable for postdoc positions and data science industry jobs (computing practices, reproducibility, science communication, research independence)
- Plenty of opportunities to improve science communication (talks, posters, papers)
- Co-authorship on publications produced in the lab with your contribution (read the authorship guidelines)
- Network with other students in the lab and in WID
- Strong commitment to mentoring by me and other senior students in the lab
- Support with grad school/job applications as well as carefully written honest letters of recommendation highlighting your strengths in research
- All PhD students start with a short trial period (rotation) where both parties (me and you) will decide if you are a good fit for the lab and the lab is a good fit for you. For stat or math students, it is a good idea to explore different advisor options.
Questions to ask yourself before deciding to join the lab:
- Do I like research on mathematics, statistics, data science, machine learning, software development or biological applications?
- For bio-oriented students, do I have an interest in computational biology/bioinformatics to produce methods and software?
- Have I read the lab guidelines and do I agree with them?
- Have I read about the research in the lab and identified some areas that interest me?
- Logistic questions
- Do I need RA funding necessarily or do I have support from my department as TAships?
- If you are a PhD student: do I want to do a short rotation in the lab first before deciding?
Next steps:
- Send me an email with your CV and unofficial transcript as well as your interest in working with me and what type of projects interests you most (e.g. theoretical math/stat, computational, data analyses, software development). Include in the email meeting times that would work for you for the following two weeks.
- After you send the email, we will schedule a meeting to chat. Expect to answer questions about yourself (undergrad degree, research experience, research interests) as well as about programming skills and knowledge of git and computing practices. During this meeting, I will also highlight existing projects in the lab to assess if they would be interesting to you.
I am interested in collaborating with postdocs with any research background: biology, computer science, statistics, mathematics from theoretical/computational work to empirical.
For people with computational biology/statistics/data science background, there are several opportunities to become involved in ongoing projects related to my research: phylogenetic networks, bayesian phylogenetic inference, high-dimensional highly-correlated regression models applied to genomic/biological data, machine and deep learning, among others. In addition, I am also excited to work with people interested in empirical research by teaming up with other faculty in the department.
In any scenario, I'd be happy to provide assistance in the application to fellowships and grants to support your own independent research agenda.
Postdocs in the lab are expected to lead projects and grow as fully independent researchers, so in order to start a conversation, you need to:
- Read the lab guidelines
- Read the authorship guidelines
- Read the postdoc guidelines
- Be familiar with research in the lab and read several papers produced in the lab
- Identify a project (or several projects) that you would like to work on and start pitching ideas in a rustic project plan (goal, background, objectives). I am happy to fall outside of the lab's comfort zone if you have a good project plan!
Send me an email (subject "Postdoc application") with:
- CV
- two names of recommenders
- short paragraph describing your current research
- links or PDFs of X publications you have co-authored, and explain the role you had in each publication (0 < X < 4)
- a pitch of potential project plan (goal, background, objectives) that we could work on together
- meeting times for the following two weeks
Do you have your own independent research ideas as a postdoc and you want to apply to your own funding with me as a supervisor?
First of all, great idea pursuing your own sources of funding! Not only gives you the flexibility to work on the project you love, but it also builds a stronger CV with evidence of external funding.
I am happy to serve as your postdoc supervisor on any postdoc fellowship/awards/grants and even help you with the application. To find some options for postdoc funding (some do not require citizenship), see here.
Send me an email (subject "Postdoc application with own funding") with:
- CV
- short paragraph describing your current research
- information on the fellowship/award/grant you want to submit as well as deadline
- pitch of the project proposal you will submit (goal, background, objectives)
- what do you need from me? Letter of support, feedback on the project proposal,...
- meeting times for the following two weeks