Information for New and Prospective Students
I am semi-retired. I maintain an active research program, but I only
accept new students if they are jointly advised by another faculty
member. I currently am jointly supervising students with Alan Fern,
John Selker (BEE), and Debashis Mondal (Statistics). Hence, if you
want to work with me, you should first apply to some other professor
and see if they are interested in jointly supervising with me.
To work with me, you should have the
following background:
- Strong preparation in mathematics: Linear Algebra, Numerical
Linear Algebra, Vector Calculus.
- Strong preparation in probability and statistics:
Probability Theory, Graphical Probabilistic Models (Bayesian
networks), Introductory Statistics.
- Strong programming background and experience in C++, JAVA, Lisp,
MATLAB, Mathematica, or R/SPlus as well as knowledge of advanced data
structures.
- Experience with optimization algorithms: Linear and quadratic
programming, convex optimization, gradient descent search and the
conjugate-gradient method, Newton's method, etc.
- Other useful background includes image processing, computer
graphics, computational geometry, geographic information systems,
database systems.
Prospective students interested in a research assistantship should
email me a letter that describes their background, experience, and
research goals. Please also include a list of the courses you have
taken (and grades received) and a resume. Attach copies of any papers
that you have published in English.
Tom Dietterich, tgd@cs.orst.edu