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Information for Prospective Graduate Students
For the Fall 2026 cycle, we have a couple of openings for new graduate students. Please go through the Q&A below if you are interested in joining my lab. If you are an undergrad, please see the prospective students section here.
What's (not) the research topic?We work on many exciting topics in database systems and related areas, ranging from storage performance, concurrent data structure design, to architecting database engines and accelerating database applications using systems techniques.
Broadly, our work is more in core data systems areas, and less on applications or algorithms. This means unless there is a clear connection with systems problems in data management, we do not work on theory, machine learning, AI, computer vision/graphics, HCI, LLM or NLP. See the list of my lab's publications and code releases to get a sense of the kind of work we do - if they sound interesting to you, read on!
What background should I have? Do I need to have publications or prior research experience?Passion in building systems (including but not limited to database systems), interests in topics such as parallel programming, concurrency, distributed systems, and modern hardware are all indicators of a good match.
I care particularly about your foundations and practical skills in operating systems, systems programming, computer architecture and introductory database systems, as covered by typical computer science and engineering undergraduate programs. At SFU, they are CMPT201/300, CMPT 295/450 and CMPT 354, which you can use as a reference to find the corresponding courses at your university. Your reference letters and relevant job/internship experience will also be very important. Working on systems projects can take a long time. So unlike many areas such as AI/ML, prior publications and research experience could be a plus, but are not necessary.
Which program should I apply to, Thesis MSc or PhD?The tl;dr answer is PhD. Thesis MSc at SFU is meant to be a stepping stone for PhD (checkout other programs at SFU if you are looking for a course-based MSc). A PhD is advantageous in term of being able to work in-depth on a series of related projects and shorter time-to-degree. Different professors have different preferences, but I use the same standard to evaluate both types of applicants, and normally only make PhD offers (regardless of your application category).
What about stipend and tuition fees?Both PhD and Thesis MSc are fully funded at SFU with a yearly stipend that is a combination of SFU fellowships, graduate assistantship and teaching assistantship. The amount may vary across labs but is typically enough to cover your living expenses and tuition fees which - different from US schools - are paid from your stipend. At SFU, international and domestic graduate students pay the same tuition fees (around $6,000 per year). After eight terms (approx. 2.5 years) the amount is around $3,000 per year for PhD students who meet the required milestone requirements.
Where have previous graduates gone?The usual pathways are (1) academia as tenure-track assistant professors and (2) industry as researchers or software engineers on databases and systems teams; some have gone to broader areas that closely relate to data management, e.g., LLM and AI infrastructure. See the "Alumni" section here for a detailed list.
How should I apply? Do I need to contact you first?All applications must go through SFU's admissions system. Please apply to the SFU CS PhD program and list me as a potential advisor.
Contacting me via email is not strictly necessary - I evaluate all applications in the system that noted me as a potential advisor. But feel free to email me if you have inquiries to make via email; please include your CV and transcripts (all degrees, especially your undergraduate transcripts). I read all my emails, but I may not be able to reply every email.