Decision, Optimization and Learning at the California Institute of Technology

Join DOLCIT

DOLCIT typically has around 3-7 undergraduate researchers, 10-15 graduate students, and 2-5 postdocs at any given time. As a result, we typically recruit both new graduate students and postdocs every year. Upon admission, both graduate students and postdocs are encouraged to work with any/all of the faculty in the group. It is common for graduate students to be co-advised, and to graduate having written papers with most/all of the faculty in the group! Similarly, it is common for postdocs to work with most/all of the the faculty in the group (and beyond) during their time at Caltech.

To apply, please follow the guidelines below.

Prospective Postdocs

For more information about postdoctoral fellowships in DOLCIT, please click here.

Additionally, it is important to make personal contact with the faculty member(s) in our group (and more broadly at Caltech) with whom you are most interested in working in order to directly discuss opportunities.

Prospective Graduate Students

DOLCIT considers applicants in a variety of programs at Caltech. You can apply through CDS, CNS, or the new CMS PhD program. We expect that the new CMS PhD program will be the most appealing option for many of our applicants. It is a unique program that sits at the boundary of computer science, applied math, and electrical engineering. To find out more about the program, see our blog post about it.

To apply, contact the graduate studies office. Please refrain from sending personal emails to faculty in the group, as we tend to be overwhelmed with such emails and often cannot respond to them. Instead, please mention your interest in DOLCIT in the personal statement included in your application. This will ensure that your application reaches us.

Prospective Undergraduate Researchers

We are always interested in having motivated Caltech undergraduates join DOLCIT either for Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships during the summer, or for projects during the academic year. Unfortunately, we do not have projects available for non-Caltech students.

Undergrads who would like to join DOLCIT should send email to a DOLCIT faculty member well ahead of the SURF deadline (or the term in which they would like to start research) in order to ensure that there is time to meet and develop an appropriate plan for the project. This process often takes multiple meetings over a few weeks. Often, it will be necessary to do significant reading as preparation before the research can begin, e.g., via a 3-6 unit CS 90 during the Spring term before a SURF begins.