Information for Potential Students

Current Status

Please note that we cannot do internships for international undergraduate students as NSF does not allow us to fund students for summer work that are not currently at a domestic institution. Feel free to contact myself if you are interested in graduate school but realize that all requests for international internships will not be responded to.

With regards to current positions for graduate school, it is highly unlikely that I will be able to add anyone to our group until Summer or Fall 2009 at the earliest. Please still free to send e-mails inquiring about research with the understanding that uncertainty in upcoming funding prevents me from discussing any definite admission plans.

Synopsis

I am looking for highly motivated graduate and undergraduate students to do cutting edge research in the field of networking. Previous experience in networking is not required although it is recommended for graduate students. Some experience in programming (C, C++, or Java) is recommended for undergraduates and it is a necessity for graduate students as most of my research projects are simulation or implementation driven. My research tends to be simulation-driven and involves significant amounts of coding. Experience in UNIX is recommended with Linux kernel experience especially valuable.

My areas of research include traditional computer networking (Internet QoS), multimedia systems (multicasting), real-time systems, computer security, and grid computing. If you have an area that you would like to work in, let me know as I am always looking to work in new and exciting areas. We are also doing a bit of dabbling with multi-core systems, specifically GPU-based processing and network processing.

If you are interested in the above areas, you may also be interested in contacting other faculty in our department listed below. Out of the list below, Dr. Poellabauer's interests align the most closely for those interested in focusing on networking. General computing / systems-ish folks are recommended also to look at Dr. Thain's research. For those interested in security, I would encourage you to contact Dr. Blanton as well.

• Christian Poellabauer - Wireless networking, real-time systems
• Doug Thain - Grid computing, distributed systems, storage
• Marina Blanton - Computer security
• Nick Laneman (EE) - Software radios
• Sharon Hu - Real-time systems, computer architecture
• Surendar Chandra - Multimedia, systems, peer to peer
• Nitesh Chawla - Data mining
• Amitabh Chaudhury - Algorithms, content distribution
• Jesus Izaguirre - Bio-complexity

Graduate Students - READ THE FOLLOWING!

If you are a prospective graduate student, please make sure that you read up on my research first. If you simply send me a generic form letter (I would love to get involved with networking, compilers, architecture, and security), your response will be delayed indefinitely. I will be much more inspired to read your CV/etc. if you can at least show more than a casual interest in my research. The fact that you are actually reading this is an excellent first step. As we get far too many individual applications in the department for me to peruse all of them, an e-mail can significantly help your case.

DO NOT send me your CV in your first e-mail! Please look over the information to see if any of the immediate areas interest you and feel free to ask questions. Also, funding has been a bit tight lately. While I am optimistic that our most recent batch of grants should come through, I am very reluctant to over-commit too far. Hence, it is not my intention to be evasive with regards to a specific answer but it is more likely that I simply do not know if I will have positions in the fall. Hopefully, NSF will return to a more conducive funding schedule that lines up with admissions better in the near future.

Special Notes for Undergraduates

If you have enough previous programming experience, there are no restrictions on your current class level (i.e. freshmen or sophomores can apply). I am especially interested if you have Java programming experience or C/C++. Networking experience is not required and you can pick up on the project. I highly encourage undergrads to come work with our group as research is an extremely rewarding and fulfilling experience.

As an undergraduate, there is a good chance that you will be able to publish 1 or 2 research papers while working during the school year or the summer. In addition, I would be happy to recommend you for internships at various companies which include Sun, IBM, Microsoft, and HP.

Special Notes for Graduate Students

For master's and Ph.D. candidates, I am looking for definite programming experience (schoolwork is sufficient) and some networking background. If you have any questions as a graduate student regarding what would be expected/etc., please feel free to let me know. You might also be interested in briefly perusing our Weekly Papers discussion over on the Repository Wiki. Please take a look at the research areas before sending me an e-mail. Do not send me your CV/resume as those are best directed in your graduate admissions package. Do feel free to ask questions regarding my research or comment on items that you are interested in.

To give you a general figure for admissions, you should have a GRE score of at least 2100 (using the old scale). I am most interested in the analytical/quantative scores so if your verbal is the only area keeping your score down, please let me know. If you are from a foreign institution, your TOEFL score should be appropriately high as well. Skill in both written and oral English is a MUST as you will be expected to participate in and write papers for submission to conferences, grants, and journals.

In terms of expectations, candidates are only admitted who are serious about pursuing both their Master's and their Ph.D. from Notre Dame. We typically do not admit any candidates who are not pursuing their Ph.D. and I will not consider anyone who is only going for their Master's. As one of my students, I will expect that you have a quality set of publications sufficient to be at the top of the hiring curve, not the middle. In short, this means you should have published roughly 6-10 conference papers and 2-4 journal papers before you graduate with your Ph.D. For your Master's, you would be expected to have one publication (pending or published, conference or journal). Appropriate modifications to the previous numbers may be made depending upon your target career path (academia or industry, domestic or international institution). Keep in mind the quality of the work does not change, only the fact of whether said papers need to be published or can be pending at your final defense.

If you have questions regarding your admission status, please refer those questions to the department secretary, Joyce Yeats.