Graduate Student Mentor Panel Notes

1) Please introduce yourself and tell us about your research area and the work that your lab does.

Kay: I joined the school as an ML student but later switched to robotics for hands-on experience. 

In my current work, we made a chopstick robot for autonomous manipulation.

Gus: PLSE, the application of ideas of PL into hardware design. I got into hardware design during my undergraduate years.

Ather: I am also in the 5th year of my Ph.D. I used to be in three labs and am currently not in the CS. I am part of the Ischool’s Ace lab. I work in the area of accessibility. I look at how we can make online data visualization successful for people.

2) How do you currently involve undergrads in your research? (What types of projects? In what roles and responsibilities? Through credit, paid positions, REUs?) 

Ather: I have worked with 27 undergrads (I keep track). Many different projects and involvements sometimes still require skill level. Sometimes it is their interest that I look for while recruiting them. Sometimes I brainstorm with them. I might be different from Gus and Kay because I run my own projects. This is not common. I usually put an ad out and interview the students myself. I ask them if they understand the project, then I talk to them about the project they are suited for. Accessibility is a lesser-known field, so I assume that you would have to learn everything anyway. What I look for in undergrads is commitment and time management skills. Recently I discovered that CS enforces one of the three options above (credit/paid research/REU). So students do credit for research. An Independent research option is also available for honors students. 

Gus: PLSE has a healthy relationship with undergrads. We are lucky to have very good undergrads who have even acted as [if they are] Ph.D. students. In PLSE, undergrads are [treated] the same as Ph.D. students. I treat undergrads the same and believe they should get paid. Most advisors don’t have much funding, so we all TA and share the funding. I think we should throw the undergrad into the fire, and every undergrad has risen to the task. I want them to handle their project and [for me to eventually] stop helping them. 

Kay: I have mentored about four undergrads. I was responsible for interviewing people for my lab who were applying with their resumes. I have interviewed a few dozen undergrads. I had to decide how to match them to a project in our lab. The good thing about our lab is that it lists most of the projects on our website. Robotics is such an interdisciplinary field. It's more about the mindset of learning and working hard than your background. I came from an ML background and still succeeded by working hard. During the interview, we look for students who can work hard independently. I am currently mentoring one undergrad. I hope to send that student to grad school. I push them to push SOTA together to make it a starting point for our project.  At the beginning of the project, I did not know how to get them settled into the project, but over time I helped them self-sufficiently develop their research agenda, which might be different than mine. This was a place where my mentorship also started to transcend. Most students are hired on a credit basis in my lab. When someone wants to discuss working on a specific project, we are open to discussing it.

3) How has the involvement of undergrads in your research changed over time (if at all)? It would be great if you can focus on "mistakes" you think you've made and corrected.

Gus: I don’t know if I have an instance, but I wanted to transfer ownership to students, and the mistake I made was insisting on a slow introduction process instead of throwing them right in. I was sheltering them, but research is messy. Submitting a research paper is messy. 

Ather: Usually, there are multiple undergrads in the same project, so a project meeting can be crowded, and it’s hard to keep people from being overwhelmed. So to keep undergrads from going through that, I learned that doing 1:1s with each of them separately helps. Then, I can understand if there is a situation with them that I need to address. 

Kay: Besides the above, there is also the complexity of defining a difficult research goal. Sometimes we didn’t start with a very clear goal. Sometimes I assigned very open-ended tasks. It made it hard to pursue the goals that way, but some people needed a different approach to communication to figure out their goals. I didn’t know if this was me or if they didn’t know how to define those goals independently. 

4) What do you look for in undergrads when you first "hire" them for research? Is that different for different projects/roles?

Kay: They are not scared of the unknown part of the project. I have worked with people from different backgrounds, and I look for people who can demonstrate the ability to self-learn.

Gus: the core trait of insane persistence is the one for me. If you have that, it trumps everything else. You don’t have to be an over-achiever to do this. If you keep bashing your head at a problem and do not give up, that is also a good filter. Once you have persistence, people who have it can help each other with all other problems.

Ather: I don’t think I have ever downloaded and opened anybody’s resume. I don’t have to look at their resume. It does not matter what GPA you have and what you have done. We commit ourselves to problem-solving in the long run, and I want to see the passion in you. If you come to me, I want to see that passion. [Accessibility] is not a common field, so we understand that you have to have that passion. 

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Anderson Lee: How do you help undergrads come up with their own projects?

Ather: I want to work on a project where the undergrad comes up with their solutions. Sometimes their project differs from what I am working on, so I start it for them. My advisor says, “Think of research as [you] going to a forest not knowing your way out, but eventually, you’ll make it out. Otherwise, it is not research.” Our goal is to make you an independent researcher. So you need to start from the start. Let’s consider details such as the scope, plans, and other technics. 

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5) What do you think are key attributes that help students succeed in undergrad research? (e.g., curiosity/inquisitiveness, independence/resourcefulness/self-motivation, critical thinking, resilience/dedication/perseverance, good communication, reliability/responsibility)

6) What impresses you most about an undergrad researcher (i.e. something they do that you take notice of)?

7) What common mistakes should undergrad researchers try to avoid making?

Gus: Ask the question as soon as you have it or as soon as you don’t know something. Most undergrads try to find the answers on their own. So fight your natural instincts and ask the question.

Kay: Many students, not just undergrads, blindly believe research papers. They take what the paper says as truth. Sometimes the paper’s “facts” are not absolute truth. I encourage you to debunk the myths in the papers. 

Gus: Adding to [Kay’s] answer, papers aren’t ground truth. People aren’t always right. Even senior Ph.D. [students] BS their answers. 

Kay: Sometimes, we can convince the advisor. They change their mind when we give them evidence.

Ather: Our primary goal is to teach you. 

8) How can an undergraduate student prepare for getting involved in research in your area of research (e.g., classes to take, technical skills to learn/practice, papers/books to read)?

9) What are common barriers to getting started in research in your area of research that undergrad researchers tend to get stuck on?

10) How do you ensure undergrads you work with get face time with faculty? What advice do you have for undergrad researchers so they can get a strong recommendation letter (from you and your shared faculty mentor)?