We are constantly looking for applicants with a strong interest in developing new design methodologies and applying them to novel architectures as PhD students. We wish for you to appreciate the challenge and return of developing chips and taping them out as part of an end-to-end software-hardware system for domain-specific acceleration.
Each research assistant will receive a competitive stipend plus paid tuition. Outstanding applicants will also be considered for Fellowship. Research Assistantships and Fellowships are available for PhD applicants only. These are highly competitive. I strongly encourage you to study our recent publications, interact with my students, and discuss with me via email (ctorng [at] usc [.] edu) before you decide to apply to the group.
Special Notes
- Please keep in mind this is still a relatively new group. There are benefits to joining younger groups (e.g., more early project ownership). If that does not appeal to you, and you want a more senior group, you may want to look elsewhere (though possibly still at USC).
- Our research group is very vertically integrated, and you may end up working anywhere across chip work, VLSI, architecture, compilers, or applications. While you will likely focus on a specific topic, the binding expectation is that your work will tie into a broader end-to-end SW/HW system for domain-specific acceleration. You would also be involved in that bigger picture. These end-to-end SoCs that span from application down through to chip tapeout are the driving form factor of our research.
- If you prefer to be very alone (non-teamwork), this might be a concern for my group.
When you apply for PhD programs, you should list me as the faculty of interest in the corresponding drop down menu. I am in the ECE department, and there is a Computer Engineering (CENG) sub-group. You can apply for that one if you want to list me.
If you are applying to the CS department instead, I may not appear in the drop-down menus since I was appointed by courtesy only very recently. Mention my name in your application and then contact me. Overall, applying through the ECE department will be more straightforward if you wish to work with me.
If you are an MS or undergraduate student interested in research, please first note that we prefer students who are considering applying for PhD in the future (although not necessarily next year). Please discuss with me via email and send your CV, a list of relevant courses taken with your grades, the courses you expect to take for the current semester, and a sense of your research interests.