Direct-Entry PhD
Timeline for First 3 Terms
- Fall:
- No TA duty.
- Onboarding week (1 week before the semester starts, or 1st semester week).
- Reading Course on your research topic.
- 1 standard course (pick one):
- CS 9548: Foundations of Machine Learning.
- CS 9875: Theoretical Machine Learning.
note
Take CS 9548 if you're uncomfortable with the prerequisites listed here. You must be honest with yourself here since otherwise you will struggle in the future.
- Weekly reading group on Decision-Making Under Uncertainty.
- Weekly group meeting (rotating speakers) to showcase what you're working on to the group, and receive feedback.
- Weekly one-on-one with Agustinus, personalized topic.
- Winter:
- TA duty.
- 2 standard courses:
- CS 9840: Probabilistic Generative AI.
- CS 9670: Reinforcement Learning.
tip
Both have final projects. Make sure that your projects are well-aligned with your own research topic. Otherwise, it won't be productive since you're aiming for a very good research state in late Summer.
- Weekly group meeting.
- Weekly one-on-one with Agustinus.
- Reading group is optional.
- Summer:
- No TA duty.
- No courses.
- Full throttle on research.
important
Aiming for an advanced draft or a submission by the end of Summer.
- Weekly reading group. Topics by popular vote.
- Weekly group meeting.
- Weekly one-on-one with Agustinus.
You should also attend research talks. They are a great platform to get inspiration and to network with other researchers (e.g., by asking questions). In-person talks' attendance is mandatory.
Transfer to PhD
The transfer process to PhD is initiated in the Summer (3rd term). You need to submit the following documents to Agustinus, in early–mid July:1
It's in your best interest to be timely with this. The sooner you are converted to a PhD, the more stipend you will get.
- Latest CV.
- Motivation letter (1 page).
- What exactly is your goal in the future? E.g., being a Prof, being an excellent research scientist, etc.?
- Why is a PhD the right thing to do, given your goal?
- Why you'll be a good PhD student.
- Summarize your progress so far.
- Research proposal for PhD (max 3 content pages).
- Similar to the OGS proposal, but on a longer timescale.
- Include planned timeline: which conferences each year you're targeting to submit what paper, when you want to do internships, when to start writing the thesis, etc.
- Latest, polished paper draft.
- MSc transcript.
The same writing advice applies. Esp., write draft as soon as possible and polish often.
Agustinus will then write a recommendation letter and attach the above, addressed to the Graduate Executive Committee. They will scrutinize your case. From there, the case will be brought up to SGPS, who will have the final say.
Your job is to make it easy for Agustinus to write a glowing recommendation letter. This starts from the very beginning—your first semester.
Following the timeline above, together with the How to Grad Apprentice guide, are keys.