How do you become a doctoral student at our laboratory?¶

I wrote this documentation to shed light on the subject of how can you become a doctoral student at our laboratory. Please continue reading the steps listed below to get a better idea of the case.

(0) Do you know us?¶

This one is a crucial question. In any case, whenever you apply to something, you have to understand what you are applying for. We describe ourselves in many ways within this website. As a starter, have an excursion on this website. Try to get your perspective on our research activities, where we publish, or what kind of output we generate for the public. Once you have an image in your mind about our laboratory, ask yourself if you are interested in similar lines of research.

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If the answer is yes, continue reading the next step.

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If the answer is no, you can be in many other cool places, and please pay attention to finding your research home. Applying for a doctoral study is about you! Giving the right amount of care is highly important.

(1) Are you unique?¶

Being exceptional may mean many things. Most importantly, being exceptional here refers to being rare. You may be thinking in a unique form, or you care about specific topics more than others. We value that kind of uniqueness. To highlight such uniqueness in your character, you need evidence from your previous experiences that can inform us to understand you better. This evidence can be all or some of these listed items:

You are an exceptional person in your current programme (academic or industrial), and the highest-ranked person you work with is ready to support your case by providing a reference letter.
You maintain public software or hardware related projects that are part of your previous research, and these repositories are exciting other people.
You have helped organize events in your research field or participated in exciting venues where you demonstrated your work in public to other people, and they got excited.
You publish at highly reputable top-tier conferences or journals that are relevant to our laboratory's work. Here are some examples of these conferences and journals: ACM SIGGRAPH, ACM SIGCHI, ACM UIST, IEEE VR, IEEE ISMAR, Optica Optica, Optica Optics Express, Nature Photonics, Nature Light or alike.
(Optional -- not a must) You have an award or funding to support your doctoral studies in the future.

Note that this list is not the advice of our university's doctoral admission process; you should check the requirements of our doctoral program before applying.

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If the answer is yes, continue reading the next step.

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(2) Do you meet the requirements of our doctoral program?¶

This bit is pretty significant. Please check that you are eligible to apply to our doctoral program. Remember, you can always ask people who are in charge of our doctoral applications system, and you will find their email for enquiries on the application website.

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If the answer is yes, continue reading the next step.

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(3) Are you ready to reach to us?¶

Given you are at this step, it is now time for you to decide if you want to reach us. Please carefully revise your resume such that a third person can easily find your achievements and links to the evidence of your previous successes. I often talk to close collaborators, friends and family, even at this stage when I prepare submissions (e.g., grants, awards, papers, etc.). Find that trustable person to review your resume before sending it our way. Once you have your resume, prepare an email as short as possible. Make sure not to write a pages-long email. Remember you want us to get our attention on you. Make sure to spend time finding how to describe yourself with the least amount of words. Make sure to spend time finding what you should be highlighting in your email about you (e.g., my recent superb paper, funding that I have for doctoral training, your unique disruptive line of research). Make sure to state if you have funding at hand.

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If the answer is yes, add your resume to your email and send it to kaanaksit@kaanaksit.com.

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(4) Do you have your application in the system?¶

Use our doctoral program's website for your application. After your submission, if all goes well, you will be interviewed by academics at our university. You can find a copy of our interview form. Note that interview questions are not limited to this specific form.

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If the answer is yes, continue reading the next step.

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(5) Do you have an offer from our university?¶

Our admission and offer process can take a long time. Make sure to keep in touch with us. Once you get your offer from the university, let us know immediately.

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If the answer is yes, continue reading the next step.

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(6) Do you or do we have the proper funding for your studies?¶

You may have no funds at hand, or our laboratory is not able to fund you at this time. However, please make sure to contact us. Depending on your profile, we may direct you to sources that can help you obtain your funding. Or even better, you or we may have the proper funding for your studies.

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If the answer is yes, you will be admitted to our laboratory and university. We look forward to collaborating with you and conducting exciting research with you in the future.

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