Summer 2007 Research with Janet Davis:
Application

Applications for summer research with Janet Davis must include answers to some preliminary questions as well as a description of the project you wish to undertake. You will also submit thedivisional application to the division office. Applications are due Monday, Feb. 19. I will select students (and make a waiting list) by Monday, March 12.  You must make a decision by Friday, March 16. However, since many REUs and other off-campus opportunities do not make decisions until after that date, I will understand if students who initially accept positions with me later choose an off-campus position.

Please sent your answers in a plain text email. Your answers should be part of the message and not an attachment.

Note that there are two parts to the application: A preliminary list of questions and a discussion of your approach to the project.

Preliminary questions

  1. Name
  2. Major (or "undeclared") and year
  3. This research includes some preparatory work in spring, and some followup work in the fall.  Will you do this work to the best of your ability, even though it is uncompensated?
  4. What courses have you taken in computer science? What grades did you receive?
  5. What other courses have you taken that may contribute to your ability to do this project?
  6. What programming languages do you know, and how would you assess your proficiency with these languages?
  7. How would you assess your familiarity with the GIMP and DrScheme?
  8. How would you assess your writing skills?
  9. What other applicable skills or background do you bring to the project?
  10. Experience shows that group projects are more successful. Are you willing to collaborate with other students on your project?
  11. Are you prepared to do summer research under Grinnell's Mentored Advanced Project (second- and third-year students) or Mentored Introductory Project (first-year students)?
  12. Are you willing to have your work used by future CSC 151 students and possibly released under some form of Open Source license?
  13. What sets you apart from other students?
  14. What else would you like me to know?

Project approach

For first-year students

Explain what you find interesting about the project. If you have ideas regarding how you might approach the project, please include them. (Since you're relatively new to CS, I don't expect you to have a particularly in-depth response, but your response will help me to understand how you might fit into the project.)

For second- and third-year students

Write a few paragraphs describing what component of the project you find most interesting and how you would approach it. Consider how it fits into the larger agenda of applying the media computation approach in CSC 151.  You should also discuss technologies you will rely on and some of your preliminary design ideas.

You will strengthen your application by showing me that you've looked into related research or technology and talked to students who previously worked on related projects. You will weaken your application by writing poorly.

Janet Davis (davisjan@cs.grinnell.edu)

Created February 6, 2007
Last modified February 6, 2007
With thanks to Sam Rebelsky: http://www.cs.grinnell.edu/~rebelsky/Department/glimmer-app-2007.html