prospective students

What we look for

We look for students with strong teamwork and interpersonal skills to join the DECAR research group. Students typically work in groups of two to five people on a research project, often in collaboration with an industrial partner, so a collaborative attitude is essential.

The research conducted in DECAR is technical and multidisciplinary. Students regularly use a broad set of theoretical and applied tools to solve research problems related to navigation, guidance, and control. For instance, theoretical and applied tools from mechanics, optimization, signal processing, probability and statistics, machine learning, and more are regularly used by the DECAR team. A desire to learn these technical tools, and then apply them solve research problems, is required of all DECAR team members.

Robotics research requires comfort with various software tools and programming languages, such as Ubuntu, ROS, docker, CMake, python, C++, git, and others. A desire to learn these tools, and apply them in research, is required of all DECAR members.

DECAR students work with real world datasets collected from real robots operating in the real world. Some students will be collecting data in the DECAR laboratory at McGill University, or at a laboratory at a partner university such as Polytechnique Montréal. Other students will be working with data from a quarry, a forest, or another challenging field environment, collected by an industrial partner. A desire to work with real data collected from real robots is required of all DECAR members.

Although a high cumulative GPA, or equivalent measure in terms of an average, is not necessary for admission to DECAR, excelling in and enjoying certain undergraduate courses, such as linear algebra, differential equations, numerical methods, dynamics, signals and systems, signal processing, and control systems are a good indicator of future success as a M.Sc. or Ph.D. student in DECAR. Additionally, Prof. Forbes is interested in hearing from students with an undergraduate or graduate degree in any one of the following disciplines: mechanical, electrical, aerospace, civil, and software engineering, computer science, physics, and mathematics.

We strive to make DECAR a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment for all. Students from federally designated groups are encouraged to apply.

Working at DECAR

Students are provided desks at McGill University and are expected to work at their desk, or in the laboratory when conducting experiments, a minimum of three days a week when not taking courses, with core hours from 10 am to 3 pm. Core working hours, and a minimum set of days worked at McGill University, are set in order to encourage students to interact with each other, to ask their colleagues for help when they are stuck, to help their colleagues out when they can, thereby fostering an environment of collaboration and helpfulness.

Although Prof. Forbes is easily contacted via the DECAR Slack, Prof. Forbes meets with his students in person once every other week at a minimum. Additional meetings are scheduled as required. Additionally, Prof. Forbes is often available for “drop in chats” in his office when a student needs technical help, advise, or other support.

Contacting Professor Forbes

Prospective students should email Prof. Forbes with the subject line:

For example:

In the body of the email, include the following.

• Read a paper from the DECAR group that you find interesting and ask one or more questions about it. See Prof. Forbes Google Scholar or arXiv for DECAR papers. Do not worry if you don't understand everything in the paper.
• Attach a copy of your CV and highlight your research experience, if any, including any relevant software experience.
• Attach an English writing sample, like a report, thesis, or assignment.
• Optionally, link to a software project you have written, such as a GitHub repository.