In the Loop

What is graduate school like? Should you pursue it? What does it take to get in? Listen in as faculty share their insights and advice. Guests include Professors Angela Demke Brown, Chris Maddison, Carolina Nobre, Gennady Pekhimenko, Nandita Vijaykumar, and Ningning Xie.

(1:34) - What is graduate school? Professor Angela Demke Brown, Associate Chair of Graduate Operations, talks about different grad programs.

(5:21) - What's it like to be a graduate student? What grad students do and how the experience is different from undergrad.

(9:18) - What is the role of your graduate school advisor? Professors Nandita Vijaykumar, Carolina Nobre, Chris Maddison, and Ninging Xie, reflect on their experience with their own advisor when they were grad students.

(14:00) - What's wonderful about the grad school experience? Our faculty panel share what they enjoyed most as grad students.

(18:08) - What makes graduate school challenging? The panel talk about what they struggled with in graduate school.

(21:53) - How can you make sure you have a good graduate school experience? Our faculty panel share their insights.

(26:20) - What does it take to get in to graduate school? Professor Demke Brown and Professor Gennady Pekhimenko talk about grades, letters of reference, and the importance of undergraduate research experience.

(30:15) - Mario and Diane wrap up.

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Want to kick off the academic year strong? New graduates from 2024 share the top 6 things that you should know.

(01:04) - Number 1: be intentional about your learning

(04:23) - Number 2: take advantage of resources

(07:27) - Number 3: try to find a good work-life balance.

(09:29) - Number 4: your friends can make all the difference.

(13:14) - Number 5: it's a tough job market, but you will get a job if you persist.

(15:29) - Number 6: nurture your network

(19:16) - Calls to action with Kimberly Huynh. Learn more about our career workshops and Alumni-Student Mentorship Program.

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Professor Nathan Taback shares the origin story of Data Science. And Professor Carolina Nobre provides insight into her research in Data Visualization. From Nathan and Carolina, we learn more about the components of data science, the importance of data visualization, the Data Science Specialist program at the University of Toronto, and what research and industry opportunities look like in the field data science.

(1:40) - How did the field of data science come to be? Professor Nathan Taback shares its origin story. 

(6:50) - How are the fields of data science and computer science related? Professor Carolina Nobre, leader of the Human Interaction Visualization Lab, breaks down the components of data science. 

(10:40) - Studying data science at the University of Toronto. Learn more about the Data Science Specialist Program and the Data Science Institute. Carolina shares an example of a 4th year undergraduate research project in data visualization.

(13:30) - Where can you go with a data science degree? We discuss opportunities in industry and academia. 

(17:35) - Diane and Mario summarise the key take-aways of the episode.

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Are you interested in pursuing a career in machine learning? Professor Rahul G. Krishnan shares details about his research on ML in healthcare, giving examples and advice along the way for students about courses, undergraduate research, and more.

(1:53) - What is the relationship between traditional Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning? Professor Rahul G. Krishnan explains.

(4:24) - Rahul discusses his research at the intersection of Machine Learning and Healthcare.

(9:40) - How to do you get started in machine learning as an undergraduate student? Rahul discusses relevant course knowledge and gives examples of undergraduate research projects he has supervised.

(14:30) - Rahul talks about grades, how they may impact graduate school applications, and contrasts work done in research with work done for an undergraduate course.

(18:00) - Mario, Diane, and Rahul give some parting advice.

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How can you find and pursue undergraduate research opportunities? Professor Alex Mariakakis shares his insights. And we hear from three students, Anatoly, Sarah, and Arkaprava, about their personal experience.

(1:29) - Professor Alex Mariakakis shares examples of undergraduate research projects he has supervised.

(2:46) - Check out the Department of Computer Science's Undergraduate Summer Research Program.

(3:08) - Anatoly shares his experience with the Summer Undergraduate Research Program in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

(7:38) - Sarah shares her experience doing undergraduate research in Natural Language Processing (NLP) with Professor Suzanne Stevenson.

(12:58) - Arkaprava shares his experience pursuing undergraduate research in Quantum Computing.

(15:43) - Check out the Centre for Quantum Information and Quantum Control.

(16:44) - Check out the Research Opportunities Program.

(19:32) - Professor Alex Mariakakis shares some advice on how to communicate with faculty about their research and pursue opportunities to work with them.

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How do you land an internship in your first year of computer science while adjusting to life at university? Helen and Sam share their experiences from first year.

(2:13) - When do first-year students start applying for internships?

(3:52) - What should you expect when applying for an internship?

(8:35) - What should you expect during an interview?

(11:59) - What should you expect during the internship?

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[0:00] Podcast introduction. 

[0:44] Sound bites from Season 1 episodes. 

[1:26] Conclusion. 

[1:59] Diane singing. 

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