This is a document I wrote early on in grad school to help me clarify my philosophy on working with undergrads. I haven’t really updated it since my first or second year (2020?), but I still think it captures my beliefs on the points of undergrad research and what I expect from students.

My Undergrad Research Philosophy

If you’re reading this, there’s a high probability that you’re an undergrad who is interested in research in robotics. That’s great! Robotics is an exciting field to work in right now, with really bright people and really important problems we’re trying to solve!

All the flashy demos online make it seem like there aren’t any unanswered questions in the field, but if you ask around, you’ll discover there’s so much work left to do—and the field needs bright, energetic minds like you to help solve them!

I love working with undergrads (and grad students) who are excited to tackle problems. This document outlines the what and why behind my undergrad collaborations. I know this is a bit of a read, but if you’re seriously interested in trying out this research thing, I ask that you give it a genuine read through. Part of working together is we both are committing time to this collaboration, which really works best if we’re on the same page as to what that means.

Resources

Before diving into my own ramblings, here are some really great blog posts that I very much agree with. Before you do anything else, I’d encourage you to read through these and think about how their ideas sit with your own philosophies. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these separate blog posts all came to relatively similar conclusions about getting the most out of undergrad research. Based on my own experiences, these ideas extend beyond just research but really getting the most out of your time as an undergrad in general.

A Little on Me :)

Why I Care About Undergrad Research

As an undergrad, I was fortunate to have some outstanding mentors—including the grad student I worked with and the professor who ran the group. Both shaped the way I observe the world, tackle technical problems, and encouraged me to think about how the work we do can make a real impact on the world.

Because I credit my mentors for any success I’ve had so far, I’ve felt it’s important to try to give back and attempt to be to others what my mentors were to me. For this reason, I’m always open to working with undergrads who are interested in my field and are prepared to make a commitment to their work.

Why I Emphasize Commitment (from both parties)

I place a lot of importance on both parties (undergrad and grad student mentor) making a serious commitment to their responsibilities.

  • For the grad student: this means spending time discussing problems, offering ideas, and providing general support.
  • For the undergrad: this means independently learning the necessary tools and techniques and generating, testing, and evaluating their own ideas.

One key realization I had in undergrad was that I needed to determine what my priorities were and focus on them. At first, I was doing the bare minimum in research and it wasn’t rewarding. Once I invested more time, the experience became far more valuable. I want students working with me to feel that same growth—and I want to feel that my time is being valued, too.

Why I Want Peer-Based Interactions

As an undergrad, my mentors treated me as a peer. Even though it was obvious I didn’t have the same expertise, my ideas were always respected. This allowed me to ask questions and propose ideas freely, making our interactions both helpful and enjoyable.

I aim to maintain this same peer-based dynamic with students I work with.

Why It’s Okay to Not Be Certain

I didn’t start in robotics. I first worked in a manufacturing research group and planned to go into industry. It wasn’t until junior year—after taking a robotics course—that my path changed. Mentors helped me pivot, and I want to do the same for others.

If you’re not sure robotics is for you, that’s okay! As long as you’re committed to seriously finding out, I’ll support you—whether you stay or transition elsewhere.

Expectations

So far I’ve loosely discussed things like commitment, interactions, and support. I’m going to try to make those statements more concrete here. These are mostly framed for in-semester work but the sentiments apply to out-of-semester work as well. Of course, the expected time commitment is generally higher during the summer.

Time Commitment

From experience I’ve found that making notable progress generally requires a planned commitment of at least 15 hours a week (more in the summer). I understand some weeks may be less, and that life is unpredictable. That’s completely okay, just communicate this so that we’re on the same page.

Communications

Communication channels should be crystal clear. I want for you to feel free to ask or say anything. If you need anything - shoot me an email or drop by our lab. If you have any questions you’ve been wondering - shoot me an email or drop by lab. If you feel like there is a better way I could support or help you, please let me know!

Organization

Some degree of organization is necessary. Many researchers are naturally disorganized (my- self included at times). I’ve found that a minimum level of organization and documentation greatly benefits productivity, communication, and the impact of work.

  • Keep organized notes of problems and solutions—it helps you and future contributors.
  • Try to think of your work as a series of hypotheses and experiments to test them. Write down your hypotheses, the experiments you plan to run, and the results you get.
  • My old boss had a phrase, “an engineer has done nothing until it has been documented”.
  • Use version control (e.g., git) to keep track of your code and experiments.
  • Show up to discussions and meetings prepared. If you have questions, write them down ahead of time so we can make the most of our time together.

Meetings

I like to have a recurring scheduled meeting (typically weekly) with undergrads and am generally available to meet more to address technical issues, ideas, and questions that may arise.

Workspace

A lot of the work done in our group can be done remotely. However, I’ve found that planning on working at least 60% of the time in our lab during normal working hours is beneficial. This is because it reduces the friction on getting help, learning from others, and getting integrated into the lab community. Oftentimes asking a question in-person can lead to a much more informative or insightful answer than a text- based conversation. That said, there is a time and place for remote work and it’s your call on how/where you can be most productive. I myself will occasionally avoid the lab to engage in long-duration focused work (typically writing).

Credit

If you do great work, I recognize it! I like to sing the praises of the great job done by people who work with me. If your work is a serious contribution to a publication you will be made an author. I want you to feel recognized and your work respected.

Abilities

As long as you are dedicated to putting the time in, I think pretty much anything can be picked up as you go. I’m happy to help you learn whatever skills are necessary and encourage any directions you want to work on.

I will say that some prior experience with programming and some level of college-level math is generally helpful (though not always necessary). These are definitely skills you should expect to learn and improve on working with me.

The Bottom Line

Being an undergraduate researcher can—and should—be an amazing experience! But it requires buy-in and commitment from both parties.