Allen School

Undergraduate Research

Maya Cakmak & Leilani Battle

What is research?

RESEARCH: [noun] a detailed study of a subject in order to discover new information or achieve a new understanding of it – CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY

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• Follow the scientific method or other established norms/conventions/rules of the research field
• Published after peer-review
• Conducted at universities or industry/government labs
• Conducted by faculty, postdocs, graduate/undergraduate students, research scientists

What is research?

https://news.cs.washington.edu/

RESEARCH: [noun] a detailed study of a subject in order to discover new information or achieve a new understanding of it – CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY

​

• Follow the scientific method or other established norms/conventions/rules of the research field
• Published after peer-review
• Conducted at universities or industry/government labs
• Conducted by faculty, postdocs, graduate/undergraduate students, research scientists

Why should I do undergrad research?

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https://www.cs.washington.edu/findingresearch

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• Why researchers do it (for a lifetime)..
• To contribute to society, to advance knowledge
• To have fun, to challenge yourself, to use your creativity
• To apply CS skills to address open problems
• To pursue an academic career

Why should I do undergrad research?

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https://www.cs.washington.edu/findingresearch

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• Why undergrads do it (in addition to previously mentioned reasons)..
• To see if you might enjoy a research career
• To be able to go to graduate school/pursue a PhD
• Enrich your undergraduate experience
• Take advantage of being at a top (“R1”) research institute
• Have a paying job during undergraduate education
• Learn valuable skills (both general and specific)
• Expand your CV

How to get started in undergrad research?

CSE 390 R:

Introduction to CSE Research

(2 credits)

CSE 492 R:

Undergrad Research in CSE

(1 credit)

CSE 499:

Guided research project

(3 credits)

CSE 492 R:

Undergrad Research in CSE

(1 credit)

CSE 499:

Guided research project

(3 credits)

AUTUMN

WINTER

SPRING

CSE 590:

Research colloquia

(1 credit)

CSE 590:

Research reading groups

(1 credit)

SUMMER

REU:

Organized summer research program

CSE 390 R: Objectives

1. General information about research
2. Basic research skills
3. Researcher attributes

CSE 492 R: Guided Research in CSE

• Two-quarter (Winter/Spring) guided research sequence
• Prerequisite: CSE 390 R
• Groups of students work on research projects with mentors (3 credits)
• Continued scaffolding for students via CSE 492 R (1 credit)

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How to get started in undergrad research?

• Take the ramp-in sequence (sophomores)
• Listen to research highlights in the DA seminar, figure out your areas of research interest
• Follow Allen school blog about recent research
• Attend different research seminars (CSE 590) in areas of research interest
• Talk to peer advisors with research experience
• Current research peer advisor: Sehaj Dhillon
• Try to read research papers
• Hone CS skills

How to get started in undergrad research?

• Peer-advisor events:
• Autumn: Allen School undergraduate research night
• Monday November 18, 2024, 4-6p, CSE1 Atrium
• Winter: How to get into research event
• Date TBD
• Spring: Undergraduate/Master’s Research Showcase
• Also look for student group events focused on research
• COM2, LEAP, MiT, Ability, GEN1

Where to find undergrad research opportunities?

• The ‘finding undergraduate research’ page
• Ed board - Research category
• Research lab or faculty webpages
• Email faculty or graduate students
• Talk to people
• REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates)

“Finding undergrad research” page

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https://www.cs.washington.edu/findingresearch

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Selection process

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https://www.cs.washington.edu/findingresearch

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• Some combination of:
• Send information, materials
• Interview
• Challenge problem
• Trial period

What might undergrad research look like?

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https://www.cs.washington.edu/findingresearch

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• Types of positions
• Summer versus school-year
• Project-based versus open-ended/permanent
• Progress in phases

Helper, secondary contributor, software engineer on project led by someone else

More involvement in research decisions, more critical contributions, co-first author

Independent researcher, first author

Allen School Undergraduate Researchers

Our top undergrad researchers are recognized

• We are a leader in CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award recognitions
• We send students to top PhD programs and some continue onto successful careers

Kurtis Heimerl

UW CSE, B.Sc. 2007

Leilani Battle

UW CSE, B.Sc. 2011

Thanks!

Get in touch with Maya, and/or Leilani if you have questions!

Skipped Slides Follow

CSE 390 R: Introduction to CSE Research

• Following direct recommendation of the Undergrad Research Committee and the Student Advisory Council
• Aimed at students with no research experience
• Inspiration from similar classes at other institutions (UCSD, UT Austin, Northeastern)
• Keeping scalability in mind: we do not want to turn anyone away
• First offering was Winter 2022

Student Advisory Council

Wishlist for “Intro to Research Seminar”

Why should I do undergrad research?

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https://www.cs.washington.edu/findingresearch

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Questionable reasons to do undergrad research

• To fill up your schedule
• To increase your GPA
• Because you are good at everything you do
• Because everyone else is doing it

But: Much Room for Growth

• Hard / ad hoc for undergraduates to find research opportunities

Starting Research

• Lack of community / visibility among existing undergraduate researchers
• Limited connection between faculty and ugrad advisors wrt research
• Administrative, financial, and other overhead for faculty
• Large overhead for faculty and/or grad students with minimal to no output
• Ad hoc / limited support for PhD students learning to become research mentors

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During Research

Undergraduate Research Committee ‘19-20: Franzi Roesner, Maggie Morris, Josh Smith, Noah Smith, Xi Wang

Consequences

• Self-selection bias in which students seek out undergraduate research
• Undergraduates find research opportunities too late in their degrees
• Research as a career path is significantly underrepresented compared to industry
• Not sending enough strong students to PhD programs
• Missing possible superstars and more diverse students

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By contrast, we have a robust TA pipeline, and many more students TA than do research by graduation. (Recent stats on TAing: Nearly half -- 46% -- of graduating seniors held a TA position at one point!) We wouldn’t expect these fractions to be equal, but we are certainly missing opportunities in research, for students and for us.

What Are We Doing About It?

• Ad hoc committee in 2019-2020 → recommendations
• Created centralized research positions database
• Pilot of undergrad research seminar in Winter 2022 (CSE 390R)
• This year (2022-2023):
• Full committee (Franzi, Maya, Leilani)
• Expanded 3-quarter undergrad research seminar series
• More in the works!

Objective 1: General information about research

• Ecosystem, stakeholders, lifecycle, processes

Objective 2: Basic research skills

• How to find, read, present a paper

Objective 3: Researcher attributes

• Good communication, curiosity, creativity, resourcefulness, critical thinking, or resilience

Quote from letter of recommendation:

“One of [person]’s key strengths that will serve [pronoun] well in all aspects of his academic life is [pronoun] excellent communication. [person]’s emails and questions in meetings are always clear, crisp, concise, to-the-point. [pronoun] can also easily adapt to talking to different people, like someone who is hearing about [pronoun] project for the first time versus a collaborator on the project…”

More to come

• LEAP alliance focused on diversity in undergrad research
• Allen School REU summer program
• Building on DUB and CNT REUs
• Undergraduate Research Fellowships