Interests
A deep interest in the intersection of artificial intelligence and philosophy of mind, especially computational accounts of experience and agent well-being.
Recruiting – Fall 2027
CMAW expects to recruit a small number of master's and doctoral students for Fall 2027. Because the recruiting processes differ, prospective students should follow the instructions for the program they plan to enter.
Master's students
Research opportunities for master's students
Prof. Thomas may recruit a small group of approximately two or three M.S. students to work with CMAW. These students will be selected from among the strongest performers in COMPSCI 687: Reinforcement Learning. Prof. Thomas will contact prospective students directly after the course has provided an opportunity to assess their preparation and research fit. Recruitment will be based primarily on performance in this course, so students will not be considered unless they are already enrolled in the UMass M.S. program and take COMPSCI 687.
Note that Prof. Thomas does not influence M.S. admissions decisions for CICS.
Doctoral students
PhD recruiting
Prof. Thomas expects to recruit one or two doctoral students for a Fall 2027 start through the CICS PhD program.
Who should consider applying?
The strongest fit is someone who is deeply interested in the intersection of artificial intelligence and philosophy of mind. Applications should show sustained engagement with philosophy of mind through coursework, independent study, research, a thesis, substantial writing, or another serious form of study.
Prior reinforcement-learning research is welcome, but it is not required. Students should be interested in RL and prepared to learn it. CMAW doctoral students will be expected to take and excel in the doctoral RL course, which will provide the core RL background for this work. A strong mathematical foundation is therefore more important than arriving with specialized RL experience.
Students should be excited to develop new mathematical formulations, prove properties or impossibility results, design and evaluate learning algorithms, and work across computer science and philosophy. The lab can provide the RL training needed for these projects; it is much more important that applicants arrive with a serious and developed interest in mathematics and philosophy of mind.
Background knowledge
Strong mathematical preparation, programming and AI fundamentals, and demonstrated study of philosophy of mind. Deep prior expertise in reinforcement learning is not required.
Independent interdisciplinary work
Applicants should be willing to take relevant courses outside CICS and comfortable using computationalist and functionalist assumptions as the research setting. Within that setting, students are encouraged to formulate and pursue their own research directions.
How to apply
Apply through CICS. There is no separate CMAW application. Apply through the CICS doctoral program using the official application materials and deadlines.
Indicating interest in CMAW within your application
Review the lab's research
Read the Research Overview and Projects pages. Consider whether your interests align most closely with Foundations of Computational Minds, Qualia Optimization, or the connection between them.
Show sustained engagement
Use both your personal statement and CV to show how prior coursework, research, independent study, or writing has prepared you to work at the intersection of AI and philosophy of mind.
Explain your proposed fit
In your statement, mention CMAW and your interest in working with Prof. Thomas. Describe the questions that motivate you, your mathematical preparation, and the technical directions you hope to develop.
Apply through CICS
Submit the complete CICS doctoral application. Prof. Thomas participates in the admissions process for applicants interested in CMAW within the broader CICS doctoral admissions process. If you name Prof. Thomas in your application, there is no need to email him after submitting; he will review your application carefully as part of that process.
Meet after application review
After applications are reviewed, Prof. Thomas will generally invite a small number of top candidates to meet. To keep the process consistent and fair, he generally does not meet with prospective doctoral students before this stage.