about PRISM

The ability to take part in world-class research projects is one of the most exciting opportunities at a major research university, but it may not be obvious how to get started. PRISM is a new program for second/third-year Computer Science undergraduates to help get your feet wet in research.

The name stands for Preparation for Research through Immersion, Skills, and Mentorship. This captures exactly what the program is about: you’ll learn about and practice research skills, interact with grad student mentors, and be immersed in parts of the research process.

We’ll hold six two-hour workshops throughout the winter term. These workshops will include lectures on key research skills (e.g. reading papers, formulating plans, designing experiments, writing papers, giving talks) and in-class activities to practice these skills. You’ll also hear from professors and grad students about their own stories of how they first got involved in research.

At the end of the term, we'll hold a poster session where you and the other participants will present research proposals on a research topic of your interest.

You can see what we did for PRISM in the past here: Winter 2022, Winter 2021

PRISM

Winter '26

Preparation for Research through Immersion, Skills, and Mentorship

In this program, you will learn about and practice research skills, interact with grad student mentors, and be immersed in parts of the research process.

Applications for Winter 2026 are now open! Apply here by December 3, 2025.

When to meet

Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10am-11am

Sessions will be held roughly every other week throughout the Winter semester, starting from January 13, 2026.

Sessions will include lectures on research skills, talks by researchers, and interactive activities to practice the research skills we discuss.

Schedule

MEETING DATES AND TOPICS
# Dates Topic
1 1/13 and 1/15

Overview of Computer Science Research
2 1/27 and 1/29

Learning about Prior Work
3 2/10 and 2/12

Scientific Problem Solving & Data Collection
4 3/3 and 3/5

Writing Papers
5 3/17 and 3/19

Giving Talks and Presenting Posters + Embarking on a Research Career
6 3/31 and 4/2

Presentation Days!

Note: The above is a tentative schedule, and may change as the term goes on.