Robotics

You may access the OSU Office of Graduate Education application directly through the Office of Graduate Education. The online application process is self-guided.

Priority Deadline for Applications

December 15

These are the five criteria that the Oregon State robotics faculty use to evaluate graduate applications. Other schools may have different requirements, but overall this is a good standard for how to shape your graduate applications.

1. Academic preparation: We want to know if you have a sufficiently strong technical background to pursue the research area you are interested in and if you are capable of completing more open-ended graduate courses. Your transcript provides information on what classes you took and how well you did in them. Your essay questions should fill us in on skills learned outside of classes that are relevant to your chosen research area. These can come from projects (class, summer projects, clubs, etc) or industry experience.
2. Research experience: We want to know what research experience you have had and what motivates you to pursue research. Examples include volunteering in a lab, completing a research internship, co-authoring a conference paper, etc.
3. Extracurricular activities: We want evidence of your drive, self-motivation, and ability to collaborate. Examples include extracurricular activities, leadership experiences, and any examples of independent learning (e.g. online classes) that involved these elements. What have you accomplished outside of the classroom?
4. Contributions to society: The OSU Robotics program expects students (and faculty) to contribute to making robotics and the STEM fields more equitable, diverse, and inclusive. Your essay questions should describe any engagement that you have had that give back to society. Examples include outreach activities, participation in the Societies, tutoring, mentoring of disadvantaged communities, etc.
5. Program alignment: If you were to join the OSU Robotics Program, who are the 2-3 faculty members that you would potentially like to have as advisors? What is it about their labs and research programs that interests you? How do you see yourself contributing to those research programs?

Your transcript and resume should provide summaries of classes you’ve taken, internships, volunteer positions, job experience, and skills gained. Please use the essay questions to provide more detailed information about the five categories above. This is also the place to tell us about any adversity or special circumstances that have influenced your contributions in those five areas.

More information on the current research in robotics at OSU can be found at https://engineering.oregonstate.edu/CoRIS/research. To answer program alignment (criteria 5) please include in your statement which labs you could see contributing to.

A Robotics M.S. program of study comprises a minimum of 45 credits, with the following options:

M.S. thesis option
12 credits of Thesis (ROB 503) and at least 30 credits of coursework. The balance may constitute credits from the following sources: research (ROB 501), reading and conference (ROB 505), seminar (ROB 507), or additional coursework. Of the coursework credits, 16 must come from approved core courses (see below). Students are required to submit a formal Program of Study (POS) form prior to completing 18 credits of coursework.

After completing all required coursework and thesis credits, and submitting the pretext pages of their thesis to the Graduate School, students must schedule their final oral examination through the Graduate School using their Exam Scheduling Form. The thesis must be distributed to all committee members (including the Graduate Council Representative) at least two weeks prior to the examination.

MS project option
6 credits of Projects (ROB 506) and 36 credits of coursework. The balance may constitute credits from the following sources: research (ROB 501), reading and conference (ROB 505), seminar (ROB 507), or additional coursework. Of the coursework credits, 16 must come from approved core courses (see below). Students are required to submit a formal Program of Study (POS) form prior to completing 18 credits of coursework.

After completing all required coursework and project credits, and submitting their project report to their committee, students must schedule their final oral examination with their graduate committee. Copies of the project report must be distributed to all committee members at least one week prior to the examination.

The Robotics Ph.D. program of study comprise a minimum of 108 credits, including at least 48 credits of coursework and 36 credits of Thesis.

Students are encouraged to develop programs of study in close cooperation with the faculty members in their areas of interest.

The program includes core areas of robotics, including actuation, locomotion, manipulation, dynamics, control, sensing, artificial intelligence, and human/robot interactions.

The Robotics minor coursework includes core areas of robotics, including actuation, locomotion, manipulation, dynamics, control, sensing, artificial intelligence, and human/robot interactions.