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As of October 2026, I am receiving, on average, 3-5 emails from "prospective graduate students," asking to join my group. This is a substantial increase
from last year. The majority of these emailers, after not having received a reply from me, kept follwing up with almost exactly the same email template, over and
over again. Their initial emails also follow very similar templates. I am sure that all that is happening is due to extensive AI use today, which makes it
effortless to customize an email that is seemingly reflective of having studied my research and recent publications. But I can tell!
So please read the following filtering mechanisms I use before you initiate a contact. But in short, I assure you that as before, I always
read every single email that I receive from potential students, but I will not reply to most of them. For the time being, I will also assure you that I will not
rely on LLMs to read or reply your emails. As to whether I am looking for new members to join my research group or whether I have financial support
for new positions, including summer internships, the answer is always YES! But I will be very selective!
- If from your email, it is clear that you were "fishing", e.g., you are using a generic
template, assisted by an LLM, with my name and research interests (or boldfaced paper titles) filled in,
then you will unlikely to receive a reply.
- If you really impressed me with your accomplishments/potential or the fit in terms of
matching interests or funding availability is really good, then I will write back
personally to start a conversation or set up an interview quickly.
- Otherwise, you are in the category of "maybe, but you need to compete with others".
I am sorry that I cannot make any early promises even for an interview. It is more
likely that you would not receive a personal reply from me, but it should not prevent
you from applying. I had admitted students who I had not had email/Zoom interactions with
in the past. Regardless, I encourage that you
apply to SFU CS since there may be other faculties who find you to be a better fit.
Currently, SFU has the largest graphics lab in Canada! We have eleven faculty members in the GrUVi lab!
Please never follow up with another email if you do not receive a reply. If you do not, it means
I am not interested or the fit is not good. You should move on.
It may be helpful to give some hints in terms of what kind of students would interest
me most and are more likely to succeed working with me. Aside from the usual qualifications
such as demonstrated research ability (e.g., publications at good places), strong references,
good GPA, etc., I look for the following attributes in particular:
- Relative independence and self-motivated: if you expect that I will always be the one
chasing after you and motivate you, then you should not consider working with me. Why
would you want to do grad school in the first place? I will guide you as much and as
well as I can of course, but it would be much more gratifying to me if I am
the one who keeps rejecting (and eventually accepting) your suggestions for problems or ideas,
and not the other way around.
- Strong technical writing skills: it is not only about one's command of the English
language; it is more about the ability to logically and succinctly articulate an idea,
in any language!
- Attention to details: if your email is full of typos or grammar mistakes, then that is
a bad first impression; if you know my wife's birthday, then it shows that you really
paid attention :)
- A strong appreciation for aesthetics and elegance: you have the drive to produce
ideas, a piece of writing, or even just a figure, that is beautiful.
- Active life style and sports enthusiast: if you can beat me in singles badminton
play, then you get a high score! :)
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