PhD and MS students

I am looking to work with students from all background (first generation students, and students from underrepresented and marginalized groups are encouraged to apply) and at all level (undergraduate students, master’s students, and PhD students). Please, visit the prospective applicant page on UBC website and on the CS website. You can also find information about: financial support, application fee waivers, minimum requirements for admission into graduate studies, and minimum English proficiency requirements. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me via e-mail but, please, do read the following suggestions before doing so.

A few facts

• You must apply online.
• Do check the application deadline on UBC’s website.
• The department starts processing applications in January for the next academic year.
• Students are admitted by the department, not by individual faculty members.
• Master and PhD applications are reviewed by the same committee. The PhD track is ideal for candidates who ultimately want to do a PhD, but do not feel ready yet.
• Even if you are well fitted for my group, I cannot guarantee admission.

Before contacting me

• Have a look at my publications.
• Identify matching interests.
• Understand that I will not supervise students outside of my area of expertise.
• Find a set of papers which aligns with your interests.
• Read the abstracts.
• Read at least one paper in full.

What to send when contacting me?

• CV/resume
• Transcripts
• Why do you want to work with me? (one paragraph)
• Why do you want to work on this topic? (one paragraph)
• Which paper(s) did you read and why did you find it interesting? (one paragraph)
• Previous research experience (if any)
• What research would you like to pursue during your degree?
• Summary of your undergraduate/master thesis (if any)

Statement of Intent

• Check the guidelines on the department website
• The relationship between a student and their advisor is an extremely important one and it will hopefully last for years
• The commonality of interest should be clear from your statement
• Listing half a dozen potential advisors from very different areas is most probably detrimental to your application
• On the other hand, co-supervision is common and can be very positive
• Therefore, link clearly potential advisors to your experience and your aspirations
• Everything else being equal, an applicant that understands and shows why they should be working with a specific advisor are more likely to be successful
• This is my personal opinion and may not be universally true

UBC:

• 538P: Topic in Computer Systems: Operating Systems Security 2021-2022 W2 UPDATE: I will be on parental leave. Should run in W2 2022-2023 (TBC).

Bristol:

• COMS20012: Computer Systems B (Operating Systems & Security) (Year 2) 2020-2021 TB2
• COMSM0050: Systems and Software Security 2020 (Year 4) 2020-2021 TB1
• COMSM1500: Systems Security (Year 4) 2019-2020 TB1
• COMSM1500: Systems Security (Year 4) 2018-2019 TB1

• Soo Yee Lim (PhD student, UBC)
• Mayank Tiwary (MSc student, UBC) co-supervised with Ivan Beschastnikh
• Sadaf Sadeghian (MSc student, UBC)
• Jinyuan Liang (MSc student, UBC)
• Priyanka Badva (PhD student, Bristol) co-supervised with Ryan McConville and Eleonora Pantano

Past students (position held after graduation)

• Bogdan Stelea (MEng, Bristol), 2021, Software Engineer, Amazon.
• Josh Turner (MEng, Bristol), 2021, Software Engineer, Amiosec.
• Chetankumar Mistry (MEng, Bristol), 2020, Software Engineer, ARM.
• Xiaoxiao Wu (MSc, Bristol), 2020, Consultant, Deloitte.
• Yangyang Teng (MSc, Bristol), 2019, Data Analyst, Bloomberg.
• Ziying Shao (BSc, Bristol), 2019, UG Researcher, Beijing Institute of Big Data Research.