Research is an amazing educational opportunity and one of the biggest 
benefits of coming to an R1 University like UCSB. When I started my own 
undergraduate research I never would have guessed I would go on to get an 
MS, then Ph.D., then become a Professor myself!  Even if that is not the 
path you take, the experiences you get doing research are great for 
building your resume, creating something you are proud to talk about 
during interviews, and most importantly deepening your understanding of 
our field and its potential to improve the world.

I am thrilled to get to work with both BS and MS students in my lab and I 
cannot stress how much you have to bring to our research no matter your 
background, identity, or preparation.  All are welcome.  If you are a 
eager to learn, work, and respect others then we are eager to teach, 
collaborate, and respect you in turn.

While I could go on about why research is so great, I am writing this 
really to answer the specific question that comes up of how many "units" 
one can take for their efforts (BS and MS). The list below is to try and 
tease out my expectations for each of these levels.

1 unit: If you are just getting your feet wet in research and want to read 
some research papers, spend some time talking with my existing students to 
understand what they are doing, and attend some research talks in the area 
that, to me, is worth 1-unit.  At this first stage really you are really 
exploring options and my expectations are nothing more or less than what 
would be expected from a 1-unit seminar.  Participation matters!  This is 
a great way to get started if you are an undergraduate but MS students are 
welcome too.  At the end of the quarter I would like either 2 paragraphs 
describing what you did or an 15 minute recap to me in person.

2 units: If you are contributing to our research, but not yet ready or 
available to make the jump to a "4-unit" contribution (described below), 
2-units is a great options.  Typically people that are pushing commits to 
our repos (e.g. PyRTL, Charm, or Zarf) and doing some of the stuff from 
the 1-unit example fall into this category.  I expect some quantifiable 
outcomes at the end (like some good bug-fixes or enhancements to our 
projects) but like above I think 2 paragraphs at the end of the quarter 
are sufficient.  In the end this should be "half a class" worth of work.

4-units: If you are going to do 4-units of research with me the 
expectation is that you treat this as "course".  If you are an 
undergraduate student this should be the same work for you as an upper 
division technical elective (e.g. cs 160) and if you are graduate student 
you should treat it as an advanced graduate level course (e.g. cs 254).  
As such, my expectation is fairly high.  Before I sign you on as a student 
I would like to see a 2 paragraph description of the work you plan to do 
over the quarter and the result you are hoping to achieve.  While it is 
hard to predict where your research will take you (and in the end some 
things we might try may turn out to be impossible) the "amount" of work 
should be the same. You are also expected to give a short written mid-term 
report which should list papers read, status of the project thus far, and 
at least one figure or graph from your results.  At the end of the quarter 
you are expected to give a 20 min final oral report to me and my Ph.D. 
students in our group meeting where you cover the status of your project 
and results found.  To help you along the way I also require that you 
connect with at least 1 of my Ph.D. students to serve as your mentor 
through the process. You are expected to meet twice weekly with them and 
they will be your primary points of contact.  It is a huge opportunity to 
work hand-in-hand with researchers at that level actively engaged in 
research and while it is work it is also a ton of fun!

Funding: While not a "unit" thing, it is worth mentioning money.  Grant 
funding is fickle and I always try, first and foremost, to support my 
Ph.D. students whom are dedicating many years to building and leading 
large research projects of their own design.  By default the research 
opportunities above are, for BS and MS students, unfortunately for units 
only. However, that said, there are sometimes opportunities for BS and MS 
students that do come up and I always try to make those opportunities 
known among students that are engaged with the lab (even with 1-unit 
research) when they come up!  Please know that all research funds are in 
support of already ongoing research projects (specifically the one I have 
grants for) and some are earmarked for particular types of students (e.g. 
REU funds are only for undergrads) which makes things an even bigger mess.  
I certainly understand that money is really important as a student (I was 
a student too you know!) and I would never be offended by students 
discussing the issue with me frankly or seeking opportunities for pay 
elsewhere when I don't have the funds to support them.  I promise it is 
not personal at all -- I want you to succeed and sometimes that means 
making sure the rent gets paid!

Finally I should just note that, as a busy person, sometimes I am hard to 
track down.  I am always eager to talk with students at all levels, but my 
calendar get's pretty full these days.  Please don't take delays in my 
response personally or as any indication of a lack of interest!  If you 
really need to track me down going through my Ph.D. students is a good way 
to go as they can see my calendar.