Supervisory expectations

The goal of this document is to set mutual expectations on our collaboration. We collaboratively update this document once a year.

Advisory goals

My goal in advising graduate students is to help train them to become independent researchers. This encompasses both the general scientific and research process, from identifying a compelling research question to communicating results through papers and presentations, as well as discipline-specific skills.

While these skills are particularly useful in academia, they are also useful in other contexts as well. Some students will pursue careers as research-track academics, while others may become teaching-oriented professors, industry researchers, or entrepeneurs. I am happy to work with students with any of these goals; students should discuss these types of goals with me on occasion, particularly as their thinking changes about future plans or leading up to relevant milestones in their degree.

Working environment and relationship

Meetings and other regular communication

I structure my regular meetings with students on a per-project basis, which may mean that a given group of students typically meet me together. We typically meet weekly, during which each student shares updates on their recent progress. We have also have lab-wide meeting once a week. I expect to meet, even if you don’t expect to have substantial topics to talk about.

Before the meeting send me anything you’d like to discuss (e.g. a paper draft) the day before the meeting. Take notes during the meeting, and keep them in a location we can both have access to. Not having substantial updates for a regular meeting should be rare. Doing it more than once in a while is an indication that you’re regularly having unproductive stretches, and we should discuss why this is and what to do about it.

Outside of these regularly arranged times, I am often available for impromptu discussion as it would be helpful. Feel free to ask for my time whenever it would be helpful, and allow me to say no if I can’t. To arrange additional discussions, get in touch with me via Slack to schedule a time to meet.

Communication from me to you outside of meetings: I may message you via Slack at any time, but I do not expect you to reply outside of your typical working hours except if otherwise agreed to for a particular reason, e.g., an imminent conference deadline. I do expect a response within 1 day (not including weekends), even if it is only to acknowledge the note and say that a more complete response is forthcoming. And likewise, from you to me: Feel free to message me at any time; I likewise may not respond until my typical working hours. I prefer that you contact me via Slack except in exceptional situations.

Lab meetings and events

In addition to regular meetings with me, you are also expected to generally attend and contribute to Systopia’s reading group. This is valuable both to you and to others. While you will have much of your own work to do, being a member of the lab is about more than just writing your own papers. Attending talks by your labmates, giving feedback, discussing other research areas, ideas, and process, and even just talking about academia over a coffee all contributes indirectly to your training, and the training of others in the lab. I expect you to participate in such events regularly.

Working hours

During periods for which you are doing research with me, you should treat your degree as a full-time job. Some time will be spent on taking courses, or serving as a TA as part of your funding; the remainder of your time should be spent on research. It doesn’t matter to me when you work, outside of our mutually arranged meetings and other responsibilities, as long as you are making good progress. To maximize overlap with your labmates, I’d like you to be generally available Monday-Friday (except on holidays) in the core hours between 10am-3pm, but whether you typically start earlier, or work later I leave up to your personal preference.

Physical space: It is valuable for you to interact with others in the group and the department; these are benefits not just to you but also to your labmates. I therefore expect you to typically work from the lab space at least two days a week. I encourage that you try to be in the lab at least between 10am - 3pm, when most of the lab members will be around. The rest of time, I don’t mind if you prefer to work from home or elsewhere, but try to respond promptly by Slack during your typical working hours. If you will be working from home or otherwise away from the lab for more than a week then you should let me know.

If you need to work remotely for personal or medical reason, please discuss with me. You should not do so during your first year.

Vacation

It’s important to take a break from time to time. The UBC policy is that graduate students have three weeks of vacation time (15 days), in addition to the week the university is closed between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Let me know when you plan to take vacation in advance and coordinate with me in advance about any planned vacations. There may be some constraints on when you can reasonably take vacation time: If you are an author on a paper, you should expect to be available to work on that paper for the four weeks leading up to the submission deadline. If you have a TA position, you need to discuss with the course staff about when vacation will be reasonable for that position as well as with me.

Research

Choosing a research topic

In deciding what projects you work on, I will assign you a research topic to work on, at least at first. Then we will typically come to a research topic of mutual interest through a process of joint brainstorming.

Publication norms

While there can be exceptions for many reasons, I typically expect that most MSc students will have one first-author paper submitted/accepted by the end of their degree. PhD students will have at least three first-author papers by the end of their degree. These numbers may vary dramatically depending on how much work various projects end up being, and how lucky you are, among many other factors. Some typical venues to target for publication are USENIX Security, IEEE S&P, ACM CCS, NDSS, ASPLOS, EuroSys, OSDI, etc.

Collaboration and side projects

I am supportive of you joining projects outside the lab as a supporting contributor. Confirm with me before joining a research project outside the lab. Confirm with me before inviting anyone to join an ongoing research project to help out.

Paper submissions

I typically plan paper deadlines well in advance (e.g., half a year or more). This gives us ample time to prepare and improve the paper draft. We should aim for a draft version of the paper two weeks in advance of any deadline, but we can be flexible in exactly what happens. Make sure to be aware of upcoming paper deadlines (e.g., add them to your calendar, create timelines, etc.).

I expect to know about all paper submissions you make during your program, even if we have agreed that I am not a co-author. If you are unsure about co-authorship, order of authors, etc., please discuss with me as soon as possible. Never add anyone as a co-author on a paper without their knowledge; for co-authors outside of our immediate group, bear in mind that they might have their own expectations and requirements about timelines for giving feedback.

Conference attendance

In general, the first authors of conference publications will be sent to present the work. If additional funding is available, then other authors may be sent, too. However, please make sure that you check about funding for a particular venue before submitting, since, for example, attending a workshop without a good reason for attending the associated conference may be too expensive a trip. My general philosophy on conference support is that, funds permitting, I aim to provide close to full travel support.

Preparing for a conference: schedule a practice talk for any conference presentation at least 3 weeks in advance of the actual presentation during a group meeting. You should also schedule a presentation during Systopia’s reading group. We should discuss a poster draft at least two weeks in advance of the conference date.

Degree progress

While you should raise concerns or similar with me at any point, there are various points throughout your degree at which we should explicitly ensure that everything is “on track.”

Early MSc students

MSc students in their first two terms, by departmental default, have an “advisor” rather than a “supervisor,” and are not expected to do research. Students who expect to work with me should strongly consider a directed studies course to trial research with me.

Annual progress check-ins

The department requires an annual progress report form from PhD students each summer. In advance of filing that form, we will also have an annual explicit “check-in” meeting about how we each think things are going and what we could do better/differently. In advance of filling out this form, PhD students who have a supervisory committee (typically after their proposal) should meet with that committee at least once a year, per UBC/department guidelines. You should check in with each member of your committee at least once a year, but this can be done separately. For MSc students, while the department doesn’t require it, I also do an annual “check-in” meeting with MSc students.

Program milestones

We should make sure that any program milestones you haven’t yet completed are on your mind.

For the RPE: I typically expect PhD students to complete the RPE at the conclusion of their first independent research project, which may come at a different time than the department guidelines suggest.

For the thesis proposal: I typically expect my PhD students to complete a thesis proposal once they have completed a few research projects and have a reasonable idea towards how the rest of their PhD will go.

Stipends and funding

Funding in the department is provided by a mixture of research assistantships, teaching assistantships, and occasionally administrative positions, as well as awards, fellowships, and so on.

It is worth mentioning that RA stipends are not taxed and also, per a BC Labour Relations Board ruling in March 2025, can only be used to fund work towards your own research and closely related incidental work. TAships and administrative positions’ salaries are taxed; TAs are members of the CUPE 2278 union.

Lab funding overview

The lab receives most of its funding from NSERC and industry. Most funding tends to come with only minor restrictions on what you work on. However, some sources of funding tend to come with specific requirements and deliverables for the lab’s research, which may affect which projects you can work on or how you work on them.

Expected funding levels

The department requires students in their guaranteed funding periods to receieve at least a certain minimum funding level, which increases annually with inflation. Note that you will be required to pay certain fees and potentially tuition, which vary depending on your position (type of degree, year in program, international/domestic); a breakdown from the department for current rates is available here. My students typically receive these minimum funding levels. After the point where tuition is no longer covered by the university (fifth or later year of PhD, second year or later of MSc), I typically provide additional RAship to cover this difference.

Length of funding

The departmental minimums apply to MSc (Thesis) students for 2 years, MSc (Essay) students for 20 months, and PhDs for 5 years. I typically fund students beyond the department guaranteed period, as long as (1) there is continued strong progress on the student’s part, and (2) sufficient research funding (grant money) on my part.

TA positions

TA positions can be used either as a part of the minimum funding level, or “on top” of the usual funding for extra money. I typically ask MSc students who anticipate working with me, as part of their funding, to TA in their first two terms, and once in their second year. For PhD students’ usual stipends, I usually request my students to TA once per year.

In terms where students are not TAing for funding purposes: I prefer my students have as much time to work on research as possible, and so I prefer not to use more TA positions than necessary. However, do let me know if you are concerned about funding and we can discuss options.

Note that, per TA union rules, it is generally not possible to TA more than a standard 12 hour contract.

Awards

I encourage you to apply for awards for which you are eligible; receiving this are good for both you and me. To make it explicit, here’s what happens if you get one of these awards:

Tri-Agency Fellowships (CGRS D, CGRS M)

Departmental policy is that you receieve at least $5,000 over the departmental annual minimum funding, and also at least the full award amount. If necessary, the department covers the gap between the award amount and $5,000 over the departmental annual minimum; you will also not be required to TA as part of your funding while receiving this award.

Other fellowships/scholarships at least $15,000 (e.g. UBC 4YF)

Departmental policy is that you receieve at least $2,000 over the departmental annual minimum funding, and also at least the full award amount. You will also not be required to TA as part of your funding while receiving this award. For an award that includes specific funding for travel, equipment, etc., this is not included in “the full award amount” above.

Smaller one-off (under $10,000) or admissions awards

Departmental expectation is that you receieve this amount in full, in addition to the usual stipend, without affecting any expectation to TA or similar. You may optionally use such an award to “buy out” of a time you would otherwise be expected to TA, reducing the additional amount you receive by the TA salary.

Internships, course instruction, etc

I encourage students to seek out internships which will be relevant to their career progress. Discuss potential plans about this with me in advance. Students should consider the co-op program for any possible internships. Students who are interested can apply to be sessional lecturers for a course. Discuss this possibility with me.

When a student is on an internship or a sessional lecturer, that pay (assuming it is at least the amount of the relevant minimum) constitutes your funding for that term. This has no bearing on other terms, and so will likely result in an increase in your annual take-home income. I count these positions towards times when you would otherwise TA for funding.

For part-time internships and consulting: A 50%-time internship means I will still fund you at 50% of the rate I would have otherwise (first going towards “buying out” any expected TAship). Working part-time or consulting during your degree is normally not effective; we should talk about this explicitly before embarking on this kind of path.