Joining the IRL

Thank you for your interest!

If you are a Brown undergraduate or ScM student:

• The IRL uses the same process as the Humans to Robots Lab at Brown, so please see their instructions for joining.
• Roughly speaking, come to lab meetings, independently complete some tutorials, then see if there's an ongoing research project to which you can help contribute.
• We generally expect a 3-semester, or 2-semester plus a summer, commitment if you choose to become involved.

If you're interested in a PhD:

• Please see the Brown Computer Science page for prospective graduate students.
  
  
• The strongest PhD applications to work in the IRL usually have:
  • Evidence of expertise in mathematics (probability and statistics, multivariable calculus, and linear algebra) and programming.
  • Positive evidence of both research competence (i.e., you can carry out research) and creativity and initiative (i.e., you can generate feasible and innovative ideas).
  • Strong reference letters attesting to the above.
  • Interest in hierarchical reinforcement learning and/or learning motor skills and abstract symbolic representations for robotics, and a familiarity with Professor Konidaris's research program. (See this paper, this paper, and this talk.)
    
    
• Please do not contact Professor Konidaris directly prior to your application; he receives many inquiries and cannot possibly answer all of them, so as a matter of fairness he answers none.