Improving Access to Graduate Education: Creating a Consolidated PhD Positions Resource

When I was applying to PhD programs, I encountered a significant gap in available resources. While CSrankings lists professors, their research areas, and links to their websites, there was no consolidated list that contained all potential PhD openings at universities like UC Irvine.

The Problem

Prospective graduate students face several challenges when researching PhD opportunities:

Scattered information: Faculty openings are posted across multiple platforms
Time-consuming research: Students must visit individual faculty websites
Missed opportunities: Important deadlines and openings can be overlooked
Limited diversity: Lack of centralized information disproportionately affects underrepresented students

Our Solution

Together with my fellow Ph.D. student Alagappan Ramanathan, we created a comprehensive resource for UC Irvine’s Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences PhD positions.

What We Built

Our GitHub repository provides:

Consolidated listings of all PhD openings at UC Irvine ICS
Faculty research areas and contact information
Application deadlines and requirements
Direct links to faculty profiles and research groups

This resource is particularly relevant for prospective students applying for Fall 2025 admissions.

Impact and Mission

Our mission is to improve access to information for prospective students, thereby contributing to a more diverse applicant pool in computer science graduate programs.

Key Benefits:

Democratized access: All students, regardless of background, can easily find opportunities
Time savings: Reduces research time from weeks to hours
Comprehensive coverage: No missed opportunities due to scattered information
Community building: Encourages collaboration across campus organizations

Community Support

We’re grateful for the support and feedback from:

Sara Heimann for her valuable feedback
Jennifer Hammelman for inspiration through Project SHORT
Campus organizations: WICS UCI, Artificial Intelligence at UCI, ACM@UCI, @Data @ UCI, UCI ANTrepreneur Center

Future Expansion

Our vision extends beyond UC Irvine. We aim to expand this resource to:

Other California universities
Universities across the United States
Additional information: Faculty Google Scholar pages, Twitter accounts, and latest research updates

Call to Action

We need help from the community to:

Curate lists for other schools (deadlines are approaching!)
Add faculty information: Google Scholar links, Twitter accounts, latest research
Share with networks: Help spread the word to prospective students

Interested in contributing to DEI efforts in graduate education? Please reach out to me at nnagesh1@uci.edu.

Technical Implementation

The resource is built using:

GitHub Pages for easy access and collaboration
Markdown format for simple editing and maintenance
Open source approach to encourage community contributions
Structured data for easy navigation and search

Looking Forward

This project represents more than just a resource—it’s about breaking down barriers in graduate education and creating pathways for talented students from all backgrounds to pursue advanced degrees in computer science.

By making information more accessible, we’re not just helping individual students; we’re contributing to a more diverse and innovative future for the field of computer science.

This post was originally shared on LinkedIn and has been adapted for this blog. For more insights on graduate education and research, follow my work on GitHub and connect with me on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Cross-Post: This article was also published on LinkedIn for broader professional engagement. Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences with graduate school applications in the comments!