Prospective Students

I am always looking for highly self-motivated students for NLP/AI research. Due to the large volume, I cannot reply to every email; however, I check them very carefully.

For *all* interested students, please make sure to read some of my publications before contacting me. In your email,
  • Please enumerate 1-2 of my publications which you have the most interest;
  • For each publication, briefly describe what you read and what you see as the strengths and weaknesses of the paper. You are also welcome to let me know if you have any questions on the paper.
Your discussion on my publications will help me understand your interest and your background. It also means that you are seriously considering joining my group. I prioritize emails which contain this discussion and may not respond to those without this information.


For prospective PhD students: I look for highly self-motivated PhD students with funding support. If you are interested in working with me, please email me with your CV, transcript, a description of your research interests, future career plan (e.g., academia or industry), and your representative work (e.g., publication, thesis, research project). Be sure to include a discussion of my publication(s) as specified above. Also let me know in which semester (e.g., Spring/Fall 2025) you plan to start the PhD study. Please start your email subject with “[Prospective PhD Student - ${Your_Application_Semester}]”.

  • Update on July 2024: I wrote a blog post about Why Mason CS and Why Working with Me. Please read the post before reaching out to me.
  • If you have been admitted to GMU and are looking for CS701 advisor, please indicate “[Prospective CS701 Student]” in your email subject.

For Master students at GMU: I am also interested in advising master students who are passionate about research, especially if you plan to apply for PhD programs. If you are interested in working with me, please email me with your CV, transcript, a description of your research interests, future plan after graduation (e.g., will you apply for PhD), and your experience related to NLP/AI (if any). Please start your email subject with “[Prospective Master Student]”. Funding support is not guaranteed before we have worked on a specific project and will depend on your performance.

  • For Master students at GMU who are looking for GTA positions, please note that all GTA positions will be allocated by the department. Therefore, the better contact is the CS main office, not me, for GTA support.

For Undergraduate students at GMU: I am absolutely happy to work with undergraduate students interested in research or helping with senior students’ projects! However, I also expect a decent amount of time from you, so we can work out something in the end. If you can make this commitment, considering your course work and other activities, please email me with your CV, transcript, a description of your research interests, future plan after graduation (e.g., will you apply for Master or PhD), and your time commitment. Please start your email subject with “[Prospective Undergraduate Student]”. Undergraduate students at GMU can receive funding support from the OSCAR Research Assistant program, and I am happy to help you apply for it.

For High School students at Northern Virginia: GMU has a renowned ASSIP program for high school researchers to paritipate in research during the summer. You are suggested to apply for the program if you want to work with me. However, I also consider mentoring high school students informally. If you are interested, please email me with your CV, transcript, a description of your research interests, and your plan (what do you expect from working with me? for how long do you plan to work with me? and how much time can you commit in each week?). Please start your email subject with “[Prospective High School Student]”.