Research Interests

• Artificial Intelligence: I am interested particularly in Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning, including Deep Learning. NLP is my primary area of research. In the future, I would like to focus more on this area.
• Machine Learning, in particular Deep Learning I am interested in aspects of deep learning such as Incremental and Life-long Learning, Neural Architecture Search, Multi-Modal Learning, and Multi-task Learning. This will be another primary focus area going forward.
• Bioinformatics: I am interested in modeling and simulation of biological processes, applications of machine learning to problems in bioinformatics and computational biology. I will take students in this area, only if the research involves natural language processing and/or deep learning in a substantial way.
• Computer Security: I am interested primarily in applications of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to issues in computer security such as Intrusion Detection. If you want to pursue research in this area, a major component has to be Natural Language Processing and Deep Learning.

Prospective Students

If you are a student at any level–Ph.D., MS or Bachelors–and are interested in pursuing research with me, feel free to send me an email or stop by. But, please read below.

If you want to pursue research with me, here is something you must do so that we work together well, and you can be successful in your research.

• If you are already at UCCS, you must have taken at least one class with me (if not more), and must have done well, i.e., you must have obtained a grade of A or A- in the class. If you haven’t taken a class with me, we can still start talking about research, but I’ll expect you to take at least one class with me and do well in it. I want you to take classes with me so that you have developed a solid background to do research in AI, NLP or Machine Learning, or applications of these topics in domains in which you are interested.
• You may be able to take an independent study with me in lieu of taking a class on a topic related to natural language processing, artificial intelligence or machine learning, and do a good job and get an A. I prefer an actual class though so that I know you have a good background in NLP and Machine/Deep Learning.
• If you are not at UCCS and are applying for our MS or Ph.D. program, I would like to see that you have taken at least one class in AI, Machine Learning or NLP in your home institution and received a good grade. And, then you should take classes with me once you are UCCS and receive good grade.

Please look at my Google Scholar page for a list of my professional publications.

Published Books

• Gene Expression Data Analysis: A Statistical and Machine Learning Perspective, P Barah, DK Bhattacharyya, JK Kalita Chapman and Hall/CRC (2021)
• Network Traffic Anomaly Detection and Prevention , co-author with Drs. Monowar Bhuyan and Dhruba Bhattacharyya, Springer (2017).
• DDoS Attacks: Evolution, Detection, Prevention, Reaction, and Tolerance, co-author with Dr. Dhruba Bhattacharyya, CRC Press (2016)
• Network Anomaly Detection, co-author with Dr. Dhruba Bhattacharyya, CRC Press (2013)
• On Perl: Perl for Students and Professionals, Universal Press (2004)

Manuscripts Under Preparation

• Mathematical Companion for Design and Analysis of Algorithms
• Detecting and Extracting Events from Text Documents
• Short Story Translations: Between the Mountains and the River (tentative name)

Awards

• Research Mentor of the Year, University of Colorado, Colorado Spring, 2023. In recognition of superior mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students, and younger faculty
• Student Choice Award: The Professor Who Taught Me Most, Department of Computer Science, Universsity of Colorado, Colorado Springs, 2017; also Spring, 2021. By student vote.
• Chancellor’s Award, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, 2011. In recognition of lifelong excellence in teaching, research and service.
• Researcher of the Year, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, 2011.
• Millionaire Club Inductee, Office of Sponsored Research and Contracts, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, 2008. For bringing in grant money to campus.
• Service Excellence Award, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, 2005.
• Teacher of the Year, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, 2001.

Major Grants

• National Science Foundation,
• National Security Agency DoD Cyber Scholarship Program (DoD CySP), $75,093, 2023
• National Science Foundation, Collaborative Research:FW-HTF-P: The Future of Virtual Teams: Enhancing Collaborative Creativity and Socio-cognitive wellbeing in Video-based Teams, $51,228, 2023
• National Security Agency DoD Cyber Scholarship Program (DoD CySP), $63,774, 2022
• National Science Foundation, REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) Site for Deep Learning: Theory, Concepts and Applications, $404,993 (with Adham Atyabi and Oluwadare Oluwatosin, all from Computer Science, UCCS), 2021-2023.
• National Science Foundation, CUE Ethics: Collaborative Research: An inclusive and In-Depth Computing Curriculum to help Non-majors Learn Small Patterns to Solve Big Problem, $49,930, 2019-20 (Collaborative proposal with California Polytechnique State University at St Louis Obispo, University of California at Santa Barbara, and Charleston College, South Carolina, total amount $349,718).
• National Science Foundation, REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) Site for Machine Learning in Natural Language Processing and Computer Vision, $386,374 (with Terrance Boult and Jonathan Ventura, all from Computer Science, UCCS), 2017-2019.
• National Science Foundation, RET (Research Experience for Teachers) Supplement to REU Grant (bullet below), $20,000, Summer 2016.
• National Science Foundation, REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) Site for Machine Learning: Theory and Applications $359,901 (with Terrance Boult, Kristen Walcott-Justice, Rory Lewis and Qing Yi, all from Computer Science, UCCS), 2014-2016.
• Missile Defense Agency (USA), Checklist Execution Software Service (CHESS), $98,321 through TRAClabs, Inc., Webster, Texas (UCCS subcontract portion: $29,010), PI: Arthur Molin of TRAClabs, Inc, 2014.
• University of Colorado BioFrontiers Institute, Reverse Engineering Large-Scale Genetic Co-expression Networks, $25,000, June 2013.
• National Science Foundation, Transitioning the US Military Population to the Civilian Workforce in STEM Fields, $556,864, 2012-2016, Co-PI with PI Dr. Lisa Hines, Biology, UCCS.
• Department of Information Technology (DIT), Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India, DDoS Attack Detection Using Ensemble Approach, INR 5.6 million  (aprox. US $112,000), January 2012, Co-PI with PI Dr. Dhruba Bhattacharyya and Co-PI Dr. Nityananda Sharma, both of Tezpur University, Assam, India, 2012-14.
• Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, Beyond Clustering Gene Expression Data, INR 1,000,000 (US $21,727), June 2010 (Co-PI with Dr. Dhruba Bhattacharyya, Tezpur University, Assam, India).
• National Science Foundation CRI Grant. Acquiring infrastructure for Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing and Information Retrieval. $195,051, 2010-2012 (with Lisa Hines of Biology and Carmen Stavrositu of Communication, both at UCCS).
• National Science Foundation, REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) Site for Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing and Information Retrieval, $320,510 (with Dr. Terrance Boult, Computer Science, UCCS), 2009-2012.
• National Science Foundation, NSF Engineering Scholarships Grant, $500,000, September 1, 2006 through August 31, 2012 (with T.S. Kalkur of ECE and James Stevens of MAE).
• Equipment Grant from Intel, Inc., for Network and Information Security, Advanced Web Systems and Internet Radio Project, $126,636, October 2003 (with Edward Chow and Terry S. Boult)
• National Science Foundation, CSEM Scholarships at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. $395,920, September 1, 2004 through August 31, 2008 (with James E. Daly of Applied Mathematics Department, UCCS)
• Intelligent Agents and Information Visualizing and Organizing Tools for Situational Awareness and Assessment, $38, 913, Lockheed Martin Mission Systems, Colorado Springs, Colorado, May 1, 1998-October 31, 1998. (Co-PI with Dr. Joshua Alspector, Electrical and Computer Engineering, UCCS).
• National Science Foundation, Research Initiation Award, Semantics of Action Verbs for Animation Control of Task Performance, $89,896, 1992-1995.

Classes I teach (Past): In the past few years, class materials have been available only through Blackboard first, and then Canvas.

My Teaching Philosophy (2004)

In the recent past, I have usually taught 2 classes a year. In the past several years, I have taught classes mostly in the AI/ML area. Earlier in my career, I had taught 4-6 classes a year. I teach a variey of classes. having taught 20+ different classes during my career at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. The following list the classes I have taught at UCCS.

• Seminar on Deep Learning, CS 6870
• Topics in Artificial Intelligence, CS 683
• Knowledge Based Systems, CS 586, Class has been discontinued
• Network Security and Cryptography CS 4920/5920
• Natural Language Processing, CS 4890/5890
• Neural Networks, CS 4870/5870
• Information Retrieval, CS 4880/5880
• Machine Learning, CS 4860/5860
• Bioinformatics, CS 4850/5850
• Bioinformatics for undergraduates, CS 484 (co-taught with Departments of Biology and Mathematics), Class has been discontinued
• Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, CS 4820/5820
• Introduction to Computer Graphics, CS 4800/5800
• Design and Analysis of Algorithms, CS 4720/5720
• Evolutionary Computing, CS 4710/5710
• Numerical Methods, CS 4600/5600
• Data Mining, CS 4435/5435
• Database Systems, CS 442/542
• Computer Architecture and Organization, CS 420/520
• Reinforcement Learning, special topics class CS 4080/5080
• Web Security and E-commerce, CS 401, Class has been discontinued
• Ethical and Social Impacts of Computing, CS 3050
• Web Programming, CS 301, class has been discontinued
• Introduction to Unix, CS 2080
• Data Structures and Algorithms, CS 1450
• Principles of Computing, CS 1150
• Introduction to Programming for Non-majors, CS 112, Class has been discontinued

REU Site: Recent Advances in Natural Language Processing

Note: Here is a link to the REU site. Updates will be made there and not in here.

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) has had an REU (Research Experiece for Undergraduates) program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the past many years. The past three programs lasted nine years, from 2009-2011, 2014-2016, 2017-2019, and 2021-2023. The current program is starting from the summer of 2024.

UCCS is a predominantly undergraduate institution with a number of graduate programs. As of Fall 2023, UCCS enrolled 11,025 students of which 8,867 were undergraduates. The Computer Science Department has BS, BA and BI (Bachelor of Innovation) programs in Computer Science, Game Design and Development, and Cybersecurity; Master’s programs in Computer Science, Software Engineering, and Cybersecurity; and PhD programs in Computer Science and Cybersecurity. The Department has twenty-six full-time faculty members and 800 students, and is growing.

Colorado Springs is a beautiful city, only miles from the famed Pikes Peak sitting atop the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. There are many things to do outdoors as well as it has a decent city life. It’s a city with 500,000 people in the city and 750,000 people in the metropolitan area. Denver is about 50 miles straight up north.

The objective of the REU site is to expose bright and motivated undergraduates who want to pursue advanced careers in Computer Science related fields to work on hands-on research projects in recent advances in Natural Language Processing or Computational Linguistics. Students will work with two professors who specialize in several research areas, but each with a great deal of common interest in Natural Language Processing.

The program is held over ten weeks, starting late May/early June through the first week of August. The students need to attend the entire program in person, from beginning to end. The exact dates for the 2024 program will be finalized soon and posted here soon; it’s will start after Memorial Day and finish by the first or second week of August.

Qualifications

• GPA of 3.20 or above. Although 3.20 is the minimum GPA we require, most applicants in the past have GPA over 3.5, quite a few in the 3.9-4.0 range.
• Rising seniors preferred, although strong rising juniors will be considered; rising sophomores may be considered on a rare basis.
• Self-motivated.
• Major in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Mathematics or a related fields.
• Strong mathematical skills.
• Strong programming skills in one or more of Java, C, C++, C#, Python and ability to quickly learn languages and tools.
• Must be citizen or permanent resident of the US.
• Preference to students in institutions without substantial research facilities, but others are very welcome to apply.
• Women and under-represented minority (African-American, Hispanic, American-Indian) applicants are very welcome to apply.
• Students from smaller schools such as community colleges, 4-year colleges, minority serving college are encouraged to apply.
• You must intend to go to graduate school. The REU program prepares students for graduate school and careers in research.
• We want to be able to write papers based on your work. Quite frequently, the work a student does by the end of the summer is not enough to write a paper. We are looking for students who are serious about writing papers. This means that you are willing to put in some time during the Fall term or during the winter break (at your home institution or at home) tying up the loose ends so that we can submit papers.

Important Dates

The deadline for submitting a completed application is nominally February 28, 2024. However, our paperwork for renewal of the REU site were approved late, and hence, we will accept late applications.

Stipend

$700/week during the summer for full-time research.

Interns are expected to be full-time. Interns are expected to put in at least 8 hours of work per day. Research should be your focus during the summer. Interns are expected to focus on doing well on their projects, whatever it takes.

Additional Benefits

We will pay each student an amount of $150/week for food. Food Service on campus during the summer is limited, but there are many eating establishments within 15 minutes of walking. If you are from out of town, we will house you in the dorms. Dorms on campus have excellent views of the Rocky Mountains. You will most likely be housed in the Alpine Village. We will provide the basics: linens, some pots and pans and utensils. We will make arrangements for your travel, although the amount may be limited. Dorm students able to park cars for free in a specific lot.

Project Ideas

We have many interesting projects in mind in natural language processing. Once you have been selected for a position, we will be in touch with you so that you have a project topic before you arrive. Each students will work on an individual project although there will be other projects with similar topics. Individual work will be emphasized although collaboration will be encouraged wherever possible. For more details on project ideas, look at recent publications of Professors Kalita and Moin in their websites or Google Scholar pages.

Faculty Web Pages

Please look at the Web sites of Professors Kalita and Moin if you would like to know more about the professors involved in this REU program. You can look up their Google Scholar pages also: Kalita, and Moin.

How to Apply

Please send a cover letter indicating one or more preferred research areas and professors, an (un)official transcript, current vita containing pertinent course work, related experience, and professional and academic goals, a phone number for interview to Jugal Kalita. Please make a single PDF file containing all the documents before attaching it to your email. (We are going to set up an ETAP site for common applications soon; till then, please apply by email as requested above.)

Please request two individuals who know you as professor or supervisor to send letters of reference (which can be an email) to [email protected].

Since successful research involves copious writing, please include at least one technical paper that you have written. This can be paper for a class.

Prior REU Years

Here are links to papers written by REU students in several prior summers: REU 2010, REU 2011; REU 2014, REU 2015, REU 2016; REU 2017, REU 2018, REU 2019; REU 2021, REU 2022, REU 2023.