Admissions Information

Learn more about the department's admissions process, including our response to COVID-19 and opportunities for diverse students.

Graduate Admissions Details

Thank you for your interest in computer science graduate studies at CU Boulder. The following faculty members and degree programs are recruiting new MS and PhD students for fall 2023. Explore opportunities in computer science education and research at CU Boulder, and learn more about what student life is like in the department.    

 

 

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Degrees and Admissions

MS Degrees Overview

  • Host: Rajshree Shrestha, Bridget Dooney or Sara Freix

    Join Rajshree Shrestha, Sara Freix or Bridget Dooney to learn more about the Master of Science degrees offered in the department. 

     

     

    PhD Degree Overview

    • Host: Rajshree Shrestha

    PhD Degree Overview Sessions

    • Monday, October 10 at 4:00pm
    • Friday, November 4 at 4:00pm
    • Thursday, November 10 at 9:00am
    • Thursday, November 17 at 9:00am

    Learn more about pursuing a PhD in computer science at CU Boulder. 

    Master's in Network Engineering Overview

    • Hosts: Levi Perigo and Jose Santos or Sara Freix

    Network Engineering Overview events

    Join Levi Perigo and Jose Santos or NE advisor Sara Freix to learn more about our master's in network engineering. 

    Hear from Current PhD Students

    • Hosts: Ananya Ganesh and Michael Hoefer

    Watch the Recording  View the Presentation Slides

    Get advice on your PhD application, directly from two current computer science PhD students! 

    What Are Professors Looking For?

    • Host: Dan Larremore

    Watch the Recorded Session

    Join computer science and BioFrontiers Assistant Professor Dan Larremore for a discussion of how to choose good research questions, as well as what faculty are looking for in PhD or postdoc applicants. 

    PhD Application Tips

    • Host: Casey Fiesler 

    Watch the Videos

    Casey Fiesler, assistant professor in information science and computer science, shares her advice on how to choose the PhD program that's right for you, tips on writing a good statement of purpose and more in this YouTube playlist. 

    Applying to the CS PhD

    Watch the video

    Learn what to consider when applying for a PhD at CU Boulder from fellow PhD students. 

    Faculty, Labs and Research Groups

    Interdisciplinary Wireless Research Lab

    Spectrum Sharing for a National Radio Dynamic Zone (NRDZ) video

    IWR Lab Overview Video

    The Computer Science Department Interdisciplinary Wireless Research Lab focuses on Proximity Wireless Network Communications fundamental and applied research with an emphasis on the 3GPP LTE/5G and IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi protocols.

    The application emphasis is for the support of space agency (NASA, ESA, JAXA, CSA, DLR, CNES, etc.) human exploration missions and for Public Safety. Activities include fundamental research in PHY layer transmission optimization for range and throughput, the application of AI/ML for multi-layer optimization, and the development of a general solution and architecture for Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS). Applied research focuses on standards (CCSDS) specification development and interoperability testing.

    That Recommender Systems Lab

    Pre-research advising session and recruitment event Video

    Professor Robin Burke is seeking students with research interests at the intersection of algorithmic fairness and machine learning, specifically in the area of recommender systems/personalization. Interest in computational social choice would be plus.

    That Recommender Systems Lab investigates recommender systems and other personalized systems, especially as these systems are deployed in complex and socially-sensitive settings, such as philanthropy, news and employment. Our current projects center on multistakeholder recommendation, and in particular, fairness-aware recommendation. We invite applications for funded PhD positions in the area of recommender systems fairness, including both computational and qualitative/HCI approaches. Applicants from groups traditionally underrepresented in computing are encouraged to apply

    Hybrid Control Systems Lab

    Associate Professor Majid Zamani's lab is focused on the formal verification and synthesis of autonomous systems.

    CU Systems Lab

    Computer Systems Lab video (2020)

    The Computer Systems Lab at CU consists of about 14 faculty whose expertise generally lies in building practical computer systems.

    Most of the Systems faculty are co-located in a single large lab with their students. Students and faculty receive funding for and work in areas including large scale network systems; cloud and edge computing; distributed systems; virtualization; wireless and mobile systems including IoT, drones, and sensors; privacy preserving networks; network security and anticensorship; computer architecture security; autonomous and software-defined networks; automotive and telematics systems; social computing; data analytics; distributed and embedded machine learning and computer vision; and cybersafety and cyberbullying. 

    Systems research with Shiv Mishra

    I have multiple openings for Ph.D. students in the areas of edge computing, mobile and pervasive computing, IoT, cybersafety and social computing. Please check out my current research on my webpage and then contact me.

    Image and Video Computing Group

    Image and Video Computing Group pre-research advising session video

    Image and Video Computing Video

    Our aim is to create computing systems that enable and accelerate the analysis of visual information, as a critical precursor to discoveries and innovations that can benefit society at large.

    Our research involves computer vision, machine learning, crowdsourcing, human computation, human-computer interaction, accessibility, and (bio)medical image analysis.

    Boulder Computer Architecture Research Lab

    We are looking for people with background in either computer architecture, security, or information theory.

    We are working on the intersection of computer architecture and security. Specifically we are looking to incorporate security metrics into a processor simulator, as well as develop a security focused benchmark suite.

    Emotive Computing Lab & Institute for Student-AI Teaming

    Emotive Computing Lab Overview video

    D'Mello's team is interested in the dynamic interplay between cognition and emotion while individuals and groups engage in complex real-world tasks.

    D'Mello's research is at the intersection of the cognitive, affective, computing, and learning sciences. The team applies insights gleaned from this basic research program to develop intelligent technologies that help people achieve to their fullest potential by coordinating what they think and feel with what they know and do. This research uses a range of techniques such as eye tracking, speech and language processing, physiological sensing, computer vision, time series analyses, discourse modeling, and machine learning. The interaction contexts include educational games, collaborative problem solving, classroom discourse, computerized reading, and workplace activities. Data is collected in the lab, online, in schools, and the workplace. We are always looking forward to working with motivated and dedicated researchers, students (at all levels), and postdocs.

    We look for:

    1. a clear alignment of interests
    2. prior research experience in any area (ideally with publications)
    3. excellent collaboration and communication skills
    4. A “can do” attitude that exhibits confidence, enthusiasm (for research), and perseverance in the face of challenges.

    If you would like to inquire about joining us, please send us a note with your CV/resume, brief statement of prior work, and how you see yourself contributing to our work. We do receive a lot of requests and only reply if the mutual interest seems to be sufficiently strong (hint: you can demonstrate this by reading some of our recent papers and looking over our current projects).

    We are interested in the dynamic interplay between cognition and emotion while individuals and groups engage in complex real-world tasks. We apply insights gleaned from this basic research program to develop intelligent technologies that help people achieve to their fullest potential by coordinating what they think and feel with what they know and do.

    Autonomous Robotics and Perception Group

    Recruiting for Spring 2024

    Autonomous Robotics and Perception Group at CU Boulder Video

    Heckman's group studies probabilistic perception algorithms and estimation theory that enables long-term autonomous operation of mobile robotic systems, particularly in unknown environments.

    NALA

    Pre-research advising session video (2021)

    NALA Overview Video

    We will mainly be recruiting students with a degree in computer science, linguistics, or maths, but might consider students from other backgrounds on a case-by-case basis.

    At NALA, we develop computational models for the understanding and generation of natural language.

    Our current areas of interest include multilingual natural language processing, transfer learning, natural language processing for educational applications, computational morphology, low-resource machine translation, and language grounding.

    Living Matter Lab

     Living Matter Lab Overview Video

    The Living Matter Lab investigates the extent to which we can change healthcare to make it a personal process.

    We are looking for students with backgrounds in Biology, Biochemistry and BioComputing/BioInformatics. The research focuses around microfluidic biochips, devices that enable direct interaction of humans with their microbiome for diagnosis purposes. So far, we have built systems based on biochips to serve as personal laboratories: small portable devices that people can own and use to develop customized bio-protocols ("bio-apps").

    Physical Prediction, Inference, and Design Group

    The Physical Prediction, Inference and Design group develops methods and community software for solving arising in physical and engineering sciences.

    Much of this work has an element of high-performance/parallel computing and numerical analysis to design robust methods and implementations. The research is usually interdisciplinary and collaborative in the sense that group members take classes and engage significantly outside the CS department (e.g., Earth sciences, materials science, aerospace) so as to develop durable, sustainable solutions at appropriate levels of abstraction.

    Sumner Lab

    A Research-Based Approach to Physical Computing in Science Classes Video

    The Sumner Lab includes a group of interdisciplinary researchers engaged in developing and studying computational tools to improve teachers’ classroom practices, teacher and student learning outcomes, and youth engagement in STEM.

    These tools combine Cognitive Science, Machine Intelligence, Learning Sciences, and User-Centered Design. We investigate the impact of these tools through research conducted in classroom settings and out-of-school programs. We partner with various urban and rural school districts, as well as out-of-school programs that primarily serve historically marginalized youth. 

    Our team is currently involved in the following funded research projects:

    1. AI Institute for Student-AI Teaming (iSAT) - iSAT is focused on developing and studying Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools that can become collaborative partners in science and STEM classrooms. 

    2. Inquiry Hub - inquiryHub is engaged in designing and studying curriculum, assessments, and professional learning strategies that support equitable science learning.

    3. SchoolWide Labs - SchoolWide Labs seeks to integrate Computational Thinking (CT) into middle school science and STEM classrooms, particularly through the use of programable sensor technology. 

    4. STEM Career Connections (STEMCC) - The STEMCC project pursues the broad goal of supporting economically disadvantaged youth in rural Colorado to develop their knowledge of and interest in STEM and computing careers. 

    5. Teaching Analytics and Performance Support. This program of research leverage advances in Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to develop and study online tools that help mathematics teachers and tutors use effective communication strategies.

    HIRO Group

    ​ Human Interaction and Robotics Group at CU Boulder

    The HIRO group performs research at the intersection of human-robot interaction, artificial intelligence, and robot control & planning. 

     The goal of the group is developing robot technologies that enable close, natural, and extended cooperation with humans. As Director of the HIRO Group, Assistant Professor Alessandro Roncone seeks to lower the barriers to entry for humans to naturally interact with robots, and in doing so he designs robot systems that are able to work with and around people. With a large lab of undergraduate, graduate, and PhD researchers, HIRO Group alumni have gone on to work in industry at companies such as Microsoft, Facebook, Lumen, and Amazon.

    GeoHAI

    Morteza Karimzadeh is a spatial data scientist, with research and contributions cutting across geographic information retrieval, machine learning, geovisualization, and visual analytics.

    Karimzadeh conducts integrative research that brings together data science with social/environmental science to inform best practices for a more sustainable and equitable society. His research primarily focuses on method development, spanning various domains including social media analytics, energy (resilience and production), crisis management, situational awareness, precision agriculture, and digital humanities and beyond.

    Utility Research Lab

    The Utility Research Lab is a highly interdisciplinary group that invents and investigates digital fabrication technology, tools, and techniques.

    We develop hardware, software and materials that empower people to create with purpose. In tandem, we explore potential applications in the world around us—including through the creation of interactive systems, devices (sensors, actuators, and displays), and assistive/adaptive technology. We are looking for students who are interested in digital fabrication and/or have backgrounds in HCI, physical computing, computer graphics, or computational design/simulation.

    Daniel Acuña

    The SOS+CD Lab works on understanding current practices in science and developing semi-automated methods to mine scientific knowledge from vast, unstructured datasets of full-text publications, citations, and images.

    We use various computational techniques, including deep learning, natural language processing, graph analytics, image processing, and causal inference. We are looking for postdoctoral researchers, Ph.D. students, master students, and pre-doctoral students to work on a broad range of projects on science of science, computational research integrity, and fairness in AI.

    Lijun Chen

    We're looking for students with strong background on math/theory who are interested in researches in optimization, control, machine learning, autonomous systems, or quantum computing.

    Yueqi Chen

    I have been devoting my passion to the research of vulnerability exploitation (a.k.a., pwn in hacker community) and protection design for cyber-infrastructure systems (e.g., operating system kernel).

    As white hat hackers, we not only explore new attack methods but also aim to build scientific foundations for vulnerability exploitation. As system defenders, we seek to build lightweight yet effective protection mechanisms that can be deployed in the real world. If you are interested in learning hacking methods or developing protection solutions for your daily-use software systems, feel free to apply and reach out!

    Neurosymbolic Artificial Intelligence

    Alvaro Velasquez Video

    Alvaro Velasquez is seeking to integrate neural structures for pattern recognition and symbolic structures for reasoning to develop novel neurosymbolic artificial intelligence solutions.

    Ashutosh Trivedi

    Ashutosh Trivedi's research interests lie at the intersection of computer science, control theory, and machine learning.

    His research focuses on developing and applying rigorous mathematical reasoning techniques to design and analyze learning-enabled cyber-physical systems. 

    DEL Lab

    We study Development, Education, and Learning (DEL). We aim to advance theories of human cognition, inform education, and improve child development.

    The DEL (Development, Education, and Learning) Lab led by Dr. Lei Yuan at the University of Colorado Boulder is looking forward to having one or two graduate students join our team starting Fall 2023. Our lab combines large-scale cross-sectional and longitudinal studies with multi-session training experiments, computational modeling, high temporal resolution behavioral data collection, and translational research in schools. Our goal is to characterize the structure of the input data in children’s early learning environment, the processes and mechanisms through which children attend to, represent, and learn from this data, how this learning creates hidden deficits or competencies in children’s cognitive system, and how those changes do or do not prepare children for learning from formal instruction in schools.

    Kissler Lab (Computational Epidemiology)

    The Kissler Lab builds mathematical models to better understand, anticipate, and respond to infectious disease epidemics.

    We have a special interest in co-circulating respiratory pathogens and their downstream effects (e.g. antibiotic prescribing and resistance). We are seeking students with a strong background in mathematics and/or statistics and who are enthusiastic about learning the biological underpinnings of infectious disease transmission.

    Correll Lab

    Nikolaus' research interests are spread across robotic manipulation and new "materials that make robots smart".

    Such "robotic materials" tightly integrate sensing, actuation, computation, and communication to allow materials to sense their environment, and change their shape and appearance. Leading to novel tactile sensors, skins, and high-speed actuators that can augment existing robotic systems, such materials are also posing new challenges in manufacturing, in particular robotic assembly. 

    BLAST: Boulder Language and Social Technologies

    ​ Overview video

    I primarily work on Natural Language Processing and Computational Social Science.

    My research vision centers humans and society in the development and application of language technologies. I am mostly interested in the integration of human expertise and statistical models, and in the relationship between language and social systems.

    Networking and Security Research (NSR)

    My research introduces new systems, algorithms, and abstractions to enable a more manageable network and computing infrastructure.

    This is rooted in the fact that a significant portion of security and reliability issues are often a result of limitations in the management of networked systems. My research has been enabling and capitalizing on a more dynamic and programmable computing and network infrastructure, via such technologies as virtualization/containerization, software-defined networking, and the movement toward cloud based services.

    In general, my students are interested in systems programming (writing software, using and modifying open source code, etc.). Entrepreneurial interest is a bonus -- I believe systems research and entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand, and find it a great avenue for students to pursue.