I am actively recruiting motivated students with strong mathematical ability and/or coding skills. Research experience in biology is not necessary, but one should be willing to learn new biological concepts as required. Please note that due to the large volume of emails, I am highly unlikely to respond to emails from prospective students who have not yet been admitted.
If you are a current or incoming PhD student at JHU in CS, BME, AMS, or a related department, I would be happy to talk about potential opportunities in the lab. Please reach out to me via email (uthsav@jhu.edu) with:
This information will allow me to assess your fit in the lab and suggest potential research projects. If there is a good fit, then I will schedule a time to meet.
Please fill out this Google Form and I will reach out if there is a good fit for you in the lab.
I am quite happy to work with motivated and curious JHU undergraduate/master’s students. That said, I require a substantial time commitment from undergraduates/master’s students in my lab, so please only reach out if you truly have the time and motivation. Many of the undergraduate students I have mentored have won research awards (thesis prize, NSF GRFP, MIT poster award) and have co-authored papers in top venues (e.g. ICML 2021, RECOMB/Cell Systems 2022, RECOMB 2024/Nature Methods 2025).
Due to the recent JHU hiring freeze, I am largely unable to hire prospective postdoctoral researchers without a fellowship or other funding source. Prospective applicants are encouraged to apply to the DSAI postdoctoral fellowship or other funding sources; please email me (uthsav@jhu.edu) if you apply.
I recruit students through the JHU Computer Science PhD program and Master of Science in Engineering in Computer Science. Please consult the program websites for further details. To ensure I see your application, list my name (Uthsav Chitra) as a faculty you are interested in working with on the application form.
Please note that I generally do not meet with students prior to the admission process, and it is not necessary to email me in advance before you apply. After reading your application, if I think there is a potentially good fit, I will reach out to schedule an interview. If you decide to send me an email regardless, please use the exact subject line “Interested in a PhD [Code Word: Movement]” to demonstrate that you’ve reviewed my webpage before reaching out.
Due to the recent JHU hiring freeze, I am largely unable to work with undergraduates/interns from other institutions, or high-school students, at this time. I am unlikely to respond to unsolicited requests for research internships, “post-bac” positions, or other similar roles. If you decide to send me an email regardless, please use the exact subject line “Interested in an internship [Code Word: Movement]” to demonstrate that you’ve reviewed my webpage before reaching out.