Frequently Asked Questions

Dr. Wang receives many emails every day. Please check this page if you are about to send a message to ask questions.

Appointments to see me

You may see me during my office hours (ask me for them). To schedule an appointment for another time, please send me an email message with the specific times you're available and the topics to be discussed. It's best to send me several alternative days and times.


Questions about our research

You may learn more about my research and download my papers from my Web site. You may be able to obtain free binary programs if your purpose is for research and education. If you are interested in licensing our technology for commercial reasons, send me a message and I will forward to the right person in the university.


Recommendation letters and references

I'd be happy to provide recommendation letters and/or serve as a reference for students who have taken a class from me, and for my advisees. In order to write a thorough letter I need the following:

  • Resume or CV
  • Your cumulative GPA, both overall and just counting courses in your major
  • GRE scores (raw and percentile) for graduate school admission letters
  • Copy of your "statement of purpose" for graduate school admission letters
  • The forms I need to fill out if there are any
  • At least a week's time

Ph.D. students: admissions, funding, independent projects

You need to first get admitted to the Ph.D. program of Information Sciences and Technology (IST). If you are certain that you would like to work under my guidance after admission, you should contact me by email before or while applying to discuss possibilities. Do keep in mind that I get many emails and I may not reply them all in time. After you are admitted, feel free to contact me regarding research opportunities. If you are currently a Ph.D. student and would like to complete a thesis under my supervision, please contact me. If you're interested in learning more about my research, please visit our Web site.

Admission into the Ph.D. program is extremely competitive, since we get many more qualified applicants than we can accept. Admission decisions are made entirely by the faculty committees. Individual faculty members may not accept students on their own.

If you are currently a Penn State Ph.D. student and wish to work as a Research Assistant under my supervision, you may contact me by email.

If you would like me to supervise a research project for course credits, you need to meet with me. Or, you can write a project proposal of up to 5 pages. It should outline the overall idea, the technical challenges, the novelty, what will be involved in the project, how much time it will take, and a rough time-line.


MS students: funding, research

At this time I do not have any research assistantships or other forms of funding available for MS students. However, I do supervise MS theses from time to time, in various departments. If you are interested in a research project, you may contact me by email.


Undergraduate students: workstudy, research, honors thesis

If you are interested in working as a workstudy student in my research group, your are encouraged to send me your resume by email.

If you are an undergraduate student who would like to get involved with my research projects, either paid or unpaid (e.g., as a thesis), please discuss with me. You may need to propose a research project related to what we do. From time to time, we have scholarship/stipend available for productive honors students involved in our projects. Contact me for details.


Visiting researchers, post-doctoral scholars, and visiting students: funding

I am not able to financially sponsor any visiting researchers, post-doctoral scholars, or visiting students in my group at this time. However, if you can obtain funding by yourself and would like to work with us, let me know. Due to office and lab space limitations, we take only a very small number of visitors every year. For pre-doctoral visitors, a two-year stay will be given preference. For post-doctoral visitors, a one-year stay will be given preference.

In the midst of difficulty lies opportunity. - Albert Einstein

COPYRIGHT © 2000-2016 James Z. Wang Research Group, Penn State, University Park .