FAQs

Any questions regarding the application or the workshop can be directed to risingstars@stanford.edu.

Who can apply?

Applicants must be full-time graduate students within 1 year of obtaining a PhD, or a current postdoctoral scholar, fellow, or researcher. If you have any questions about your eligibility, please don't hesitate to email risingstars@stanford.edu. 

When is the application due?

The student application is due Friday, August 1st, by 11:59pm PDT. Letters of recommendation are also due Friday, August 1st, by 11:59pm PDT. If you have any issues submitting your application, please email risingstars@stanford.edu.

Where can I apply?

Applications are now closed.

How many recommendation letters can I submit?

You must submit at least one letter of recommendation, and no more than two.

Who can I request a recommendation from?

You are encouraged to request a letter of recommendation from a faculty member or advisor who can speak first-hand to your research and academic strengths and qualifications for the program.

Where do faculty submit recommendations?

Your requested ‘recommender’ should upload their recommendation letter via this form (now closed). Please share the link with them.

Can the research statement include references?

Yes, your research statement can include references. References do not count towards the page limit and are allowed to run onto an additional third page beyond the two-page limit for the statement.

Do I have to be in a data science program (PhD or postdoc) to apply?

We do not require that applicants be currently in a data science program to apply. However, applicants should be pursuing doctoral degrees or postdocs in computer science, statistics, computational and applied math, data science, or a related computational field.

When will applicants be notified?

Applicants will be notified of their application status by September 9.

When will the workshop agenda be available?

The workshop agenda will be available in October. In the meantime, you can find an agenda outline here.

Who is the audience for the student research talks?

The primary audience for the student research talks is the Rising Stars Committee, PhD students, researchers, faculty, and staff in the data science ecosystems at Stanford University, UC San Diego, and UChicago. The workshop is not open to the public.

What should the research talk about?

The research talk should highlight your research interests in data science and computing and ideally showcase your unique approaches to the nascent field as it takes shape.

Do I need to cover established research in my talk, or can I cover early-stage projects?

Your talk can use research work that is either early-stage or published, so long as you are confident that it appropriately and best showcases your research methodology and approaches.

I was not able to attend the virtual Info Session on July 17. Was it recorded? 

The Info Session was recorded, and the on-demand video is available on our YouTube channel.