Tufts SRC Lab Q&A
Question and Answers for SRC Lab Researchers
Here you can find relevant information about what it is like to be a member of the lab. Click on the questions to see the answers.
Research
What is the lab's balance of theory, software, and hardware?
In our lab we need to do a little bit of everything. As academic researchers, we develop theory for “why” things should work. As roboticists, we make the theory work in practice through software and hardware implementation.
Robotics requires a range of abilities and every person will have different skills and preferences. What is important is that you have an interest and respect for every part of the process: theory, software, and hardware. We can always learn what we need to know along the way!
What classes would be useful to do research with SRC? What should I read to get started?
Our research bridges robotics, control theory, and machine learning, so it is useful to have a background in each of those three subjects as well as a solid understanding of the underlying math.
In terms of math our work relies on: linear algebra, differential equations, analysis, optimization, and probability theory. But you don’t need to know all of this on day one! You’ll pick up what’s important along the way.
Here are some great resources to get you started if you haven’t had the opportunity to take these classes yet: the matrix cookbook, understanding analysis, convex optimization, feedback systems, Steve Brunton’s youtube channel.
Also, for more academic resources, you can check out our research library page.
What non-classroom skills and knowledge are useful for research in the lab?
For work in the lab it is useful to have familiarity with software languages and packages including: C++, Python, Matlab, ROS2, Docker, pyTorch, the C++ Eigen matrix library, openCV, IsaacSim, MuJoCo. It isn’t expect that you have familiarity with all of these, but it’s useful to know what they are.
For hardware and design knowledge, it can be very helpful if you’re familiar with 3D design tools (e.g., solidworks) and manufacturing methods (e.g., 3D printer, laser cutter, water jet cutter, mill, lathe, CNC) as well as having a familiarity with standard hand tools (e.g., drills, wrench, allen keys) and electronics (e.g., soldering, circuit design).
Also, a huge part of science is in communicating results, so therefore it is critical that we, as researchers, develop our communication skills. This includes public speaking and designing slide decks for presentations. Video editing and figure design are also surprisingly important skills for a robotics researchers as videos and figures can really help to communicate a result. For scientific communication in math, it is incredibly useful to know how to use latex and I would recommend using Overleaf as your latex editor that has a lot of google-docs-style functionality.
What are the labs standard research submission venues? Who gets to travel there?
SRC Lab generally publishes our research at the following venues:
- Control Theory Venues:
- CDC (spring deadline, international control conference), ACC (fall deadline, American control conference), LCSS (short-form journal), TAC (long-form journal)
- Robotics Venues:
- RSS (winter deadline, small + prestigious conference), IROS (spring deadline, large international conference), ICRA (fall deadline, large international conference), RAL (short-form journal), TRO (long-form journal)
- Machine Learning:
- CORL (summer deadline, robotics + learning conference), L4DC (late fall deadline, control + learning conference), ICML (winter deadline, large learning conference)
Lead author’s of accepted research submissions will be funded by the lab to present their work at the associated conference.
Student Expectations
PhD Students
What does a typical PhD journey look like?
Years 0-1.5: You should be building your academic foundation and getting your first research experiences. To do this you should expect to focus primarily on classes, while spending some time in the lab working on your first project(s) and getting familiar with the equipment and workflow. By the end of the first year you should have the foundational academic knowledge necessary to engage with research, as demonstrated by passing the qualifying exams which are generally taken in the student's second January at Tufts. A good goal for students in this time period is to submit a first-authored conference paper in the fall of their first year (e.g., ICRA, ACC) or spring of their second year (e.g., IROS, CDC, RSS).
In subsequent years, you will continue taking classes and should engage in other activities like TAing, teaching, outreach, etc, but your main focus should be conducting research. In general, there should be a mix of projects that you are leading and projects where you are a collaborator.
At around year 4 or 5, after several years of focusing on research, you should have a body of work that you can be proud of that builds on itself and presents a narrative of inquiry. At this point, you can begin to finalize this research thrust and bring your work together into a thesis.
With that said, every student's journey is different though, so if you aren't sure how things are going or how to plan your schedule, let's find a time to chat.
*The above timeline is for students entering directly from bachelor's programs. Students entering with a master's degree should shorten the on-boarding timeline to <1 year.
What are the publication expectations?
1-2 first-author conference papers per year is a good goal to set. Two papers every year is great if you've found an exciting and fruitful research direction and one per year is normal if things aren't quite working out as expected, but you're still trying your best. By your third year (for BS start, or second year for MS start), this should be a very doable proposition and you should be able to go from "rough idea" to "submitted conference paper" in 6-9 months.
Eventually, these 6-9 month research projects should culminate in a larger body of work that represents a significant research direction and becomes your thesis. Not every paper will necessarily contribute to that research story, but it should connect ~3 conference papers and culminate in a higher-impact publication (e.g., LCSS, RAL, RSS, TRO, TAC). Remember to keep this broader vision in mind throughout your PhD.
Importantly, the goal of the PhD is not to publish papers; the goal of the PhD is to train you to be a researcher. Unfortunately, that's harder to measure. The pressure to publish should never prevent you from engaging in thoughtful, committed research. Sometimes deep and profound thoughts take time and that's ok. If you feel like you're behind, let's chat.
How do we select projects?
Ideally we select projects together! What are we interested in? What seems fruitful? What are the important unanswered questions?
In general, projects should follow the scientific method. We begin by asking "what problem do we want to solve?" or "What is an unanswered question?", then explore the existing literature, hypothesize solutions, develop methods, test ideas, iterate, and report our findings.
Unfortunately, there is no way to know ahead of time whether or not an idea will work. But that's part of the fun of research! We're exploring into the unknown and so we have to follow our curiosities and the data and see where they take us.
What's some advice to stay motivated?
Research is very different from coursework. There's no answer key and, unlike a problem set, there is no last problem. You can keep working on something forever with no idea of whether or not what you're pursuing is even possible.
That can be both really cool (we're discovering something new!) and also overwhelming (is this even possible?).
Thus, in order to stay motivated, it can be very useful to (1) keep regular hours like a 9-5 schedule, (2) enjoy your weekends and holidays, (3) invest in your support system of family and friends, (4) find enriching activities / hobbies outside of research. All of these things can help you find perspective stay motivated through the trials and tributlations of the PhD.
What are the work hours? When do I need to be in lab? What are the vacation policies?
I prefer to leave this open-ended. I will not track your hours and trust you to be productive if you're working remotely. In general, robotics will require you to be in lab from time to time, but the degree to which you come in and the hours that you work are up to you. That said, research requires collaboration, so please be mindful of others' schedules when planning your work hours.
Everyone needs and deserves vacations throughout the year. I trust you to take breaks from work and will do my best to remind you to take your vacation time. For logistical reasons, it is helpful to know if someone is going to miss meetings or be unavailable so please just let me know what your plans are during our regular research updates. Additionally, please see Tufts GSAS Union policies for vacation days.
Masters and Undergraduate Students
The primary responsibility of masters and undergraduate students should be course work, but I am more than happy to have you spend some time working with us in the lab. Ultimately, the goal for your time working in the lab is to (1) learn new things, (2) apply your classroom knowledge, and (3) get an understanding of what it is like to conduct academic research. As long as you learn something new every time you come into lab, that’s a success!
In general, I would expect masters and undergraduates to work under the guidance of a PhD student with the possibility of coauthorship of a research publication. In this case we can have joint meetings of the whole team working on a research project. Alternatively, for highly-motivated researchers, it may be possible to lead a research effort and write a paper as a “first-author”. Leading a project is hard work and can be very time consuming, so if this is something that you intend to pursue, let’s discuss it early and plan out the steps. In this case, I’m happy to meet with masters and undergraduate students one-on-one.
Advising Style
How do you prefer to communicate with students?
For important communications, email is best. For everyday research and lab activities, slack is more efficient. Typically, I have 30 minute meetings with PhD students every week, although this may vary on a case-by-case basis. In general I expect this meeting to be relatively casual updates on technical, administrative, and general life. There is no need to prepare anything beforehand. Additionally, there will be occasional formal lab-wide meetings for practice presentations and bi-annual check-ins to discuss overall progress and career planning.
In general, I try to be responsive to digital messages. However, I prioritize in-person communication, so if you need to discuss something in-depth or urgently, it is better to discuss in-person. In general, I try to set aside time every morning to clear out my inbox, so you can expect a response at least once a day before noon. If you are a member of the lab, I will not "ghost" you, so if you did not get a reply to an email when you were expecting one, I apologize and please follow up.
How would you describe your advising philosophy?
I have a few ideas that drive my advising philosophy. Firstly, I believe that a PhD education should be about producing researchers and not about producing research. The research results are a necessary result of that process, but not the main goal.
Secondly, in research, I like to think of the advisor as the TA and nature as the teacher. If research is a class that the PhD student is taking then the advisor is the TA and not the teacher. The laws of nature/science/logic are the teacher, and the advisor is just trying to help you understand the teacher’s really confusing lecture notes. I work on the same team as my student’s to try to understand the world and come up with the best solutions possible.
Ultimately, the PhD should be an educational experience for the student and I believe in centering my advisee’s learning and growth first and foremost.
I try to engage in research with my students as though I were a well-informed collaborator. I give students space to work independently and then meet with them periodically to help pull ideas together. My natural inclination is to be hands-on when collaborating in-person during scheduled meetings, but to give students time to work independently between meetings. That said, I find it best to work on a case-by-case-basis to establish the advising relationship that works best for each student.
What does career advising look like in the lab? What about internships and industry careers?
I have twice-a-year career check-in meetings with students. Over the course of the PhD people’s career goals will likely change and I want to help you guide your PhD journey to best support your post-PhD goals.
I fully support my students going into academia, industry, or whatever alternative option (policy, startups, outreach, etc.) they want to pursue and am happy to discuss how to best shape their PhD towards those goals.
I think that every PhD student, and especially robotics PhD students, should do a 3-month internship during their PhD. It can give them great perspective on the problems that they are working on, introduce them to new ideas, significantly supplement the PhD stipend, and help them build their network of connections. I recommend the summer after the 3rd or 4th year of the PhD as an ideal time to do an internship because it can inspire the final push in your research and build useful industry connections that will help you get a job after the PhD.
A second internship can also be a great idea, especially if it is at a largely different place that will provide a new perspective (e.g., once at a research institute and once at a startup). A third internship is where the benefits may begin to offset to the costs for your PhD in terms of continuity and timeline, but I’m happy to discuss this on a case-by-case basis.
Lab Culture
What is the lab culture like?
SRC lab is brand new so we are still developing our lab culture! In addition to research activities, I intend to hold regular social events. Prof. Chris Rogers has also brought up some intra-departmental robot competitions, so we'll see about what fun robotics-related events we can get going at Tufts.
Ultimately, we'll be shaping the lab culture together! I want to hear from you about what *you* want for the lab. This will be through both informal suggestions and bi-annual anonymous reverse job reviews where I want to hear your suggestions for me and for the lab.
What are the plans for the lab in the future?
The goal is for SRC Lab to grow into a bustling research space with 5+ PhD students, 2+ masters students, and 4+ undergraduate students that are passionate, self-motivated, and curious who are pushing the limits of what we can do in robotics and how we understand safety in autonomy. Additionally, I want to develop a collaborative, convivial environment where we learn from each other and enjoy working together.