Thank you for your interest in joining our research group! We are a team committed to advance the frontiers of artificial intelligence to benefit humanity. Our work focuses on developing trustworthy AI systems that thoughtfully integrate artificial and human intelligence, to drive breakthroughs in AI and to create meaningful impact. We invite students to join us for this mission and quest.
Research Directions
Foundational Research: Our investigations delve into the foundation of AI, machine learning, computer vision, and natural language processing, prioritizing the creation of models that are both explainable and generalizable.
Applied Research: We translate these breakthroughs into impactful real-world solutions.
Our group offers a vibrant environment with consistent funding through research grants and a strong proven record of publications in top venues. If you are a student who wants to participate in rigorous academic research or an engineer driven to build impactful AI systems, please contact Dr. Catherine Zhao (qzhao at cs dot umn dot edu). Due to the volume of inquiries, we may not respond to every message, and we appreciate your understanding.
Funded Ph.D. Positions
An qualified Ph.D. candidate will demonstrate the following:
Deep motivation and passion for advancing AI, through core AI research or transformative applications with AI for the better.
Strong skills in programming and mathematics, with a proven ability to develop effective AI algorithms or systems.
Prior experience in deep learning and artificial intelligence research. A successful applicant often has peer-reviewed papers published in relevant fields.
The resilience to overcome challenges and persist in the pursuit of scientific discovery or robust systems.
If you meet these criteria, please apply via the Department Application Page and indicate Catherine Zhao as your faculty preference. At the same time, you may also send a detailed CV with your research plans to Dr. Catherine Zhao (qzhao at cs dot umn dot edu) with title [Perspective Ph.D. Research].
Directed Research (for both undergraduate and Master's students at UMN)
We invite highly motivated undergraduate and Master's students with excellent grades and prior machine learning or AI research experience to join us. Due to high volume and limited spaces, we prioritize students with longer time commitment.
If you are passionate about doing AI research in our group, please send a detailed CV and any queries to Dr. Catherine Zhao (qzhao at cs dot umn dot edu) with title [Directed Research]. Priority will be given to those who have taken courses in relevant areas including machine learning, computer vision, and large language models.
If you are interested in inter-disciplinary or translational research at the intersection of AI and biomedical fields, there are opportunities to work jointly with collaborators from the industry or faculty in biomedical engineering or neuroscience. Please send a detailed CV and any queries to Dr. Catherine Zhao (qzhao at cs dot umn dot edu) with title [Directed Inter-Disciplinary Research]. Priority will be given to those who have experience in data analysis and model development.