For students who help us to Broaden Participation in Computing

Welcome! Prof. Keefe is committed to the Department of Computer Science and Engineering's Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) Plan and is actively recruiting students from groups with longstanding underpresentation in our field, including: Women; People who experience discrimination because of their gender and/or sexual identities and expressions; African Americans; Hispanics; American Indians; Alaska Natives; Native Hawaiians; Pacific Islanders; Other Indigenous populations; People with apparent or non-apparent disabilities; and Others who might encounter barriers in our discipline based on their religious expression, age, marital status, origin (national or rural/urban), ethnicity, or veteran status.

The IV/LAB has several ongoing research projects in partnership with local Indigenous communities, and we are especially interested in inviting Indigenous students with interests in cultural revitalization, traditional ecological knowledge, data sovereignty, data visualization, embodiment and virtual experiences, and related topics to our team.

If this sounds like a fit for you, please contact Prof. Keefe directly via email and/or drop by the lab to meet some of the current lab members and learn more.

For Prospective Graduate Students

To join our research lab, you must first officially apply to the MS or PhD program in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering or the interdisciplinary Cognitive Science Graduate Program. If you mention that you hope to work with Prof. Keefe in your Research Statement and/or in the application form, then I guarantee that I will see and review your application carefully.

There is no need to email me in addition to submitting your application. It is not possible for me to reply to all of the emails I receive like this. If you apply and mention my name, I guarantee I will review your application.

For Prospective Summer Students Enrolled at Other Institutions

We regularly participate in a wonderful opportunity for college students from other institutions to join us for a summer research experience via the CS&E Department's REU Site Program. If interested, apply to the program directly on their website. The application form will have a place for you to indicate your top choices of projects, and if you select one of the projects from our lab, your application will be sent to us for review.

For Current Students Interested in Research

The prereqs for current students to get involved in research are to take (and do really well in) at least one of the introductory computer graphics courses that we offer regularly. For undergraduate students, the best choice is CSci-4611, which is frequently taught by Prof. Keefe. For graduate students, the best choice is CSci-5607, which is great for learning the basics of 3D computer graphics. Projects in these courses often include a chance for you to show your creativity. So, a good way to open up a conversation about research, is to show Prof. Keefe your work from these courses.

Our research is inherently interdisciplinary. Thus, it might also be possible to join the lab before taking the courses mentioned above, IF you bring exceptional skills in, for example, visual art, design, cognitive science, digital music, or 3D printing. Alternatively, if you bring deep knowledge or personal experience with the "application areas" for our computer science research, for example, Indigenous data visualization and storytelling, global climate science, and medical imaging. You can see what we are currently working on by purusing the Research section of the lab website.

Courses at the University of Minnesota