Prospective Students

Note: as of April 2007 I have more or less filled my graduate student spaces for Fall, 2007.

Are you interested in a graduate degree in Human Computer Interaction, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, or Ubiquitous Computing? I usually have one or two openings each year, and I would be happy to hear from you if you are a top student with interests and experiences in this area.

If interested, see the What to do section below.

Background

You should have a solid computer science background, previous exposure to human-computer interaction (HCI) or related areas, and a high GPA.

  • I do consider outstanding students with other degrees, but equivalent computer science background is required.

Programming skills

You should enjoy programming and you should be a strong programmer.

  • Many of my students' HCI research projects require very sophisticated programming, either because projects involve non-standard interfaces, or building underlying architectures.
Other interests

You should also be interested in non-technical cross-discipline aspects of HCI as well, such as sociological or psychological aspects of computer technology;

  • conducting user studies — user-centered evaluations, controlled experiments, field trials;
  • exploring innovative directions in interaction design.

Research projects

You and I will jointly fashion your research project .

  • Go to the Grouplab web site to see the kinds of projects I and my students do. You will find many publications that records prior and current work.
  • I am part of an NSERC research consortium that investigates many aspects of groupware, where my special interests are casual interaction and the design of groupware for everyday environments (tangible and ubiquitous computing). My new students will need to be interested in these areas.

Funding

Students typically get funding through teaching assistantships. Holders of NSERC scholarships receive generous top-up grants.

Grades

You should have very good grades.

  • The minimum GPA for computer science grad school entry is a 3.3 average over the last 2 years of your program. Successful applicants usually have much higher scores.

Other HCI profs

Several other professors are in the Interactions laboratory and do HCI.

  • Professor Sheelagh Carpendale specializes in Information Visualization and large displays.
  • Professor Ehud Sharlin specializes in Human-Robot Interaction adn Tangible Computing.
What to do

Interested in pursuing this? Here is what you should do.

  • Fill out the department pre-application form (no charge).
  • List me as a possible supervisor (you could also include the other HCI supervisors).
  • Include details about your experiences and interests in human computer interaction. This brings information about you to my formal attention.
  • Examine the computer science graduate program page to find out about faculty and the program.
  • Due to the high volume of email, I will not respond directly to admission requests unless the pre-application form (above) is completed. However, if you have specific questions about my program and/or research, contact me at saul@cpsc.ucalgary.ca .