I am looking for talented students and postdocs to join my lab. I 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 me ensure that your email is sorted separately so that I 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 AA PhD program (the deadline is typically in mid-December). In your application, please make sure to mention me (Somil Bansal) under the faculties of interest.

I read and take note of all emails. Because of the large volume of emails, I am not able to respond to individual emails. However, I encourage you to reach out to me after the application has been submitted. Please include your CV and 2-3 sentences about your research interests, projects, or papers that you like. I encourage you to read our most recent papers and think of which aspect of my research excites you the most. 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 Stanford are coordinated at the department level so, unfortunately, I will not be able to help with any admission-specific requests/questions. Please direct them to aa-admissions@stanford.edu.

Prospective MS students

Please apply to the Stanford 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 me with the following information:

  • academic CV and publication list
  • description of past and future research interests
  • names and contact information of 2 academic references.

I am happy to work with you to obtain external funding for your postdoctoral research. An extensive list of postdoctoral funding opportunities can be found on the UC Berkeley website.

Current UG/MS students

Typically, Master's and undergraduate students join existing projects and work directly with a PhD student, with the expectation that eventually, they will be leading their own projects. If you are interested in joining our lab, please send me an email with the following information and we will get back to you if there is a fit:

  • 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 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

  • NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
  • DOD NDSEG Fellowship Program
  • Hertz Graduate Fellowship
  • DOD SMART Scholarship Program
  • NASA STRF

    • Postdoctoral fellowship options

  • The Air Force Science & Technology Fellowship Program