For Students at CU already:

The best way to get involved, whether for an independent study, masters thesis, or other research engagement, is to fill out this research interest form. Most students who end up working in CAIRO Lab have taken Prof. Hayes' CSCI 3302 Introduction to Robotics, CSCI 4302/5302 Advanced Robotics, or CSCI 5322 Algorithmic Human-Robot Interaction class. To minimize disruptions to the researchers, we ask that you please do not drop by the lab or Prof. Hayes' office without coordinating with him first via e-mail.

Students not yet enrolled at CU:

For prospective PhD students, the best way to get involved in the lab is to select "Bradley Hayes" as one of your choices for prospective PhD advisor when applying, as this will guarantee that your application is reviewed by Prof. Hayes. It is not possible for Prof. Hayes to provide individual feedback or responses regarding admissions, and he will reach out in the January/February timeframe if more information is needed.

Guidance for Prospective PhD Students:

Due to volume (especially near the admissions deadline), I unfortunately cannot guarantee a response to individual E-mail requests about admissions or application competitiveness. If you listed me on your application, I can promise that I will review your application in its entirety and that there is no need to let me know separately via E-mail.

It's generally very difficult to get a sense of someone's research interests given only information about their GPA and CV alongside a statement about having read a paper from our group. Strong performance in one's coursework doesn't always translate to strong performance in research, and the absence of a traditional computer science background isn't by itself a limiting factor or indicative of one's research potential in our group. The path to a PhD is rarely (if ever) linear, making it all the more important to establish as much of a shared understanding of interests as possible. In particular, we highly value interdisciplinary work and diverse perspective in CAIRO Lab. Please make sure to emphasize this in your communications (we can teach you to be a world class robotics researcher, but your other experiences that you're able to bring with you can be equally important). To facilitate this process, please see the guidance below for putting together an informative e-mail.

Things to include in your E-mail:

• Title: CAIRO Lab Prospective PhD Student for (Target Entry Term)
• A description of your research experience if you have any, including your roles on any published (or in-progress) research projects
• A description of what topic(s) or application area(s) you're interested in focusing your research on, and a brief justification of why you're interested in pursuing this line of work within CAIRO Lab
• If applicable, a list of fellowships/scholarships that you may have already applied for
• If available, a copy of a paper or project write-up that you authored to help assess your writing ability.

Open Positions for Current Students

Student Assistant IV - Software Engineer

$30/hour, up to 20 hours per week

Responsibilities: The person in this role will help develop well documented and performant software to both train and analyze reinforcement learning agents, generating insights from their behavior. Candidates must be proficient in Python and are preferred to have a strong working familiarity with reinforcement learning, graph neural networks, and explainable AI techniques. Background in Computer Science with Torch experience preferred. Due to sponsor requirements, this role is open to US Citizens only.

To apply, please send your CV to Prof. Hayes (bradley.hayes@colorado.edu) with the subject line "ExPERT Project Software Engineer Application"