Tejas Gokhale

Joining my Lab as a Researcher

• How do I join your lab? If you are interested in working with me, please fill out this form. Your answers to questions in the form will help us prepare for a discussion if I reach out for a short interview. If you are at UMBC, you can also visit me during my office hours. The best way to get a headstart into my research area would be to take one of my classes.
  • PhD students: I recruit PhD students every Fall.
  • MS students: I only recruit a small number of MS thesis students who take one of my classes. I don't offer short-term RA or volunteer positions.
  • Undergraduate students: Reach out if you're passionate about machine learning, computer vision, NLP, or related areas.


• Classes to take: I recommend taking the following UMBC graduate classes (or their equivalent elsewhere) for building a foundation for graduate research in my lab:
  • CMSC 691 Computer Vision [required]
  • CMSC 678 Machine Learning [required]
  • CMSC 673 Natural Language Processing [required if working on vision+language]
  • CMSC 679 Robotics [required if working on vision+robotics]
  • CMSC 634 Computer Graphics [required if working on graphics / image synthesis]
  • CMSC 671 Artificial Intelligence
  • CMSC 675 Neural Networks / Deep Learning
  • ENEE 612 Digital Image Processing (if you haven't taken an undergrad signal/image processing class)
  • ENEE 620 Probability and Random Processes
  • ENEE 621 Detection and Estimation Theory
  • ENEE 712 Pattern Recognition
  
  
• Compensation: While I would like to work with many exceptional students, I may not always be able to accomodate everyone. Availability of funding is often a major factor that goes into such decisions. However there are several useful resources and programs at UMBC:
  • Summer Research Opportunities at UMBC (Undergraduate)
  • URA (Undegraduate)
  • URCAD (Undergraduate)
  • Getting Started in Research
  • UMBC Goldwater Scholarship
  • CMSC 499/699 Independent Study (research for credit)
  • CMSC 799 Masters Thesis
  • CMSC 698: Project in Computer Science

Internships

Being exposed to different styles of doing research, different organizations, and a wider network of collaborators, was instrumental in my progress as a graduate student. One of the best ways of doing this is to go for internships in organizations outside the university. Internships are also a way for securing additional (and significantly higher) funding. PhD researchers in my lab will be encouraged to apply and compete for research internships and I will be extremely supportive of such endeavors. My only expectation is that the internship should make a positive contribution towards completion of your PhD (usually through a collaborative publication with me and your internship mentors). BS and MS researchers will be encouraged to apply for relevant internship and co-op opportunities that contribute to their career growth in industry.

Note for Recruiters: If you are hiring interns into your organization, please reach out to me; we can schedule a time to talk and identify suitable students and synergistic research topics.

Recommendation Letters

Letters of recommendation are important for students' progress in their careers, be it in academia or industry. I will be glad to write you a letter if you took my class and performed well, or if you are a researcher or collaborator with my lab. Letters will be confidential. I will never write negative, average, or weak letters -- if I do not have enough evidence to write a strong letter for you, I will ask you to request a letter from someone who knows you better and can make a stronger case for you.