Department of Computer Science and Automation

Indian Institute of Science

Welcome to CSA Research Interviews 2013-2014

Dear prospective research student,
We are happy to receive your application for a possible research student position in our department. In the
next few days, you will be hearing from the Institute on whether or not you are shortlisted for our interview
process. The interviews will be held during the week of June 3-7, 2013. The exact date of the interview will
be communicated to you separately.

Our interview process has a written test, possibly followed by an interview.

You might find the attached note on CSA research interviews useful. Please prepare well for the written
test and interview, on the lines suggested in the note. Please fill up the attached Option Form and bring a
hard-copy with you when you appear for the written test.

To learn more about our activities, please visit http://www.csa.iisc.ernet.in/research/research.php

Please email the admissions committee (admissions[AT]csa.iisc.ernet.in) if you have further questions.

Very best wishes,

Sincerely,

Y. Narahari
Chairman
Computer Science and Automation
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore - 560 012

A Note on the CSA Research Interviews

Please submit the option form (Page 3 of this note) when you report to the department office on the
day of the interview. It is important that you choose Main Research Area based on your research
interests. Table 1 gives the list of Main Research Areas and the corresponding sub-areas where student
positions are available.

A written test of 30 minute duration will be conducted on the day of the interview just before the
interview session begins (9 AM and 2 PM on each day).

(a) There will be 10 questions requiring short answers.

(b) Syllabus for the written test is same as GATE CS syllabus for the topics: Discrete Mathematics,
Basic Engineering Mathematics, Data Structures, Algorithms and Programming
(c) You are expected to attempt all 10 questions.

Based on their performance in the written test, some candidates will be shortlisted to appear for an
oral interview which will be conducted during the same session.

The oral interview is intended to be a test of the candidates aptitude and suitability for research
in the areas chosen by the candidate and thoroughness of background in related basic subjects. The

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 Department of Computer Science and Automation
Indian Institute of Science

emphasis will be on testing the depth of candidates understanding of fundamental concepts. You
might find the following points useful, while preparing for the research interview.
(i) For the Main Research Area that you have chosen, indicate the preferences for at most two
sub-areas (refer to Table 1) to the interview committee.
(ii) The candidates will be first examined in any two of the candidates choice of the corresponding
background subjects listed in the third column of Table 1. A list of representative books for these
subjects is available at
http://www.csa.iisc.ernet.in/academics/academics-prospectivestudents-books.php.
(iii) This may be followed by more questions related to the candidates preferred sub-areas.
For External Registration Programme (ERP) Applicants, the oral interview will commence
with a 5 minute presentation by you on the proposed research area and problem (which you would
have already discussed with your designated faculty advisor here). In the interest of time, please keep
your presentation short and kindly note that projection facilities will not be available. You could bring
along with you a one page writeup that you could give to all the committee members.

Please note that, after admission, you will have to work on a research topic related to the sub-areas in which
your interview performance is found satisfactory.

Table 1: List of research areas where positions are available, and corresponding background subjects
Main Research Area Sub-areas where positions are open Background subjects
Theoretical Computer Algorithmic Algebra, Algorithms, Data Structures and Algorithms,
Science Complexity Theory, Computational Geometry, Discrete Mathematics, Linear Algebra,
Cryptology, Graph Theory, Theory of Computation.
http://www.csa.iisc.ernet.in/research/ Symbolic Computation
research- theory.php

Computer Systems Compiler Design, Computer Architecture, Computer Organisation,

and Software
http://www.csa.iisc.ernet.in/research/
research- compsystems.php
Database Systems, High Performance Computing, Data Structures and Algorithms,
Operating Systems, Programming Languages, Discrete Mathematics, Programming.
Scientific Visualization, Software Engineering,
Systems Security

Intelligent Systems
http://www.csa.iisc.ernet.in/research/
research- intellisystems.php
Data Mining, Game Theory,
Information Theory, Machine Learning,
Mechanism Design, Pattern Recognition,
Reinforcement Learning, Stochastic Optimization,
Statistical Learning Theory
Data Structures and Algorithms,
Discrete Mathematics, Linear Algebra,
Probability Theory.

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 Department of Computer Science and Automation
Option Form for Research Interviews 2013-2014

Please fill up this form and bring this with you at the time of the Interview.

1. Name of the Candidate:

2. Application No. :
3. Category: (SC/ST/OBC/GN):
4. Degree Applied for (M.Sc(Engg.) only / Ph.D only / Both):
5. Date of Interview:
6. Current Affiliation:
7. Highest Qualification:
8. Discipline of Highest Qualification:
9. Name of Institution where studied:
10. Marks/Grade Secured in the Highest Qualification:
11. GATE Score (if applicable) with Discipline and Year:
12. Academic Achievements (include the list of research publications, if any):

13. Preference for Main Research Area: (select ONLY ONE from the follow-
ing list)
 Theoretical Computer Science
 Computer Systems and Software
 Intelligent Systems

14. Signature: