Join Us
We are looking for talented students and postdocs to join our lab. We receive a large volume of emails; please follow the instructions on this page before emailing me in order to receive a timely reply. Thank you in advance for your patience!
Specific Research Questions
If you are reaching out with specific technical research questions about papers and projects in the lab (regardless of whether you are applying), please feel free to email me at any point, with a subject line including the words research Question. This will help us ensure that your emails are sorted separately so we can address your technical questions promptly. You may receive a faster response if you also email/CC the graduate student(s) listed on the paper(s), as they tend to have a lower volume of emails.
Prospective PhD students
Prospective graduate students are encouraged to apply to the ECE PhD program (the deadline is typically in mid-December). In your application, please make sure to mention my name under the faculties of interest.
Note that the home department of this lab is Electrical and Computer Engineering. If you do not apply to this department, it is possible that your application will not be automatically assigned to Prof. Bansal. In some cases we may be able to accept students from the Computer Science department as well; however, in this case you must ensure that Prof. Bansal is made aware of your application.
Due to the volume of emails received, I unfortunately will not be able to reply to emails that request joining the lab or reviewing the CV before the submission deadline. However, I encourage you to reach out to me after the application has been submitted. Please include your CV, brief description of your research interests, and any relevant application material in your email. The students who are applying for/or have received fellowships are of particular interest. Please see the section below on some fellowship options for graduate students.
Please note that the admissions at USC are coordinated at the department level so, unfortunately, I would not be able to help with any admission-specific requests/questions. Please direct them to info@ee.usc.edu.
Prospective MS students
Please apply to the ECE MS program. I would love to chat more about potential research collaborations after you have been admitted.
Prospective postdoctoral scholars
Excellent postdoctoral candidates are encouraged to contact Prof. Bansal with the following information:- academic CV and publication list
- description of past and future research interests
- names and contact information of 2 academic references.
Current PhD students
Please send me an email with the following information and I will get back to you as soon as possible.- CV
- UG and graduate transcripts
- A brief description of why you are interested in the lab, and which research projects in the lab interested you and why.
- Experience and background (if any) in ML, control, and/or robotics. Note that experience is not necessary, but knowing your background can help with finding a fit.
- Experience (if any) with MATLAB/Python, training deep networks, ROS, and/or working with real hardware. Again, experience is not required.
- Please indicate whether you will need funding or not. The students who are applying for/or have received fellowships are of particular interest. Please see the section below on some fellowship options for graduate students.
Current UG/MS students
Please send me an email with the following information and I will get back to you as soon as possible.- CV
- UG and graduate (if applicable) transcripts
- A brief description of why you are interested in the lab, and which research projects in the lab interested you and why.
- Experience and background (if any) in ML, control, and/or robotics. Note that experience is not necessary, but knowing your background can help with finding a fit.
- Experience (if any) with MATLAB/Python, training deep networks, ROS, and/or working with real hardware. Again, experience is not required.
- Please indicate whether you are looking for a funded or a non-funded/externally funded position.
Fellowship options for graduate students
Undergraduate fellowship options
Postdoctoral fellowship options