KOLab @ Tufts

Join us

It is in Kollectives that we create knowledge!

We are recruiting!

Actually we’ll decide the design of the sticker together later too. This is just a quick mockup from Google Gemini.

KOLab is actively seeking founding members to join our mission to unveil the secrets of underwater collective behavior. Yes, you may receive a founding member sticker as a reward. But most importantly, you will get to a build state-of-the-art lab facility with me and help shape the direction of our research.

We are recruiting at both graduate and undergraduate levels. Students from any academic and cultural backgrounds are welcome, but passion and commitment are required. This year, there would be a slight preference towards those with hardware experience, either mechanical (e.g. CAD, 3D printing, any arts and crafts) or electrical (e.g. soldering, arduino, PCB). Preference will also be given to those who have encountered and persevered through challenges.

Interested? Please don’t hesitate to email Prof. Ko at hungtang.ko@tufts.edu with subject “[Prospective (under)grad student] First_name Last_name”! Make sure to highlight your relevant experiences and personal research interest in the email and attach your CV. I look forward to hearing from you!

Mentorship

KOLab takes pride in not only producing leading-edge research but also providing space for learning and self-improvement. We will generate a mentorship plan together at the beginning of each semester, evaluating your strengths and weaknesses and discussing actionable steps for growth. By the end of your research journey at KOLab, you will experience significant growth in six dimensions:

  • Hardware Design & Experiment (hands-on!)
  • Theory & Numerical Simulation (math!)
  • Scientific Writing
  • Public Speaking
  • Graphic Design
  • Inclusive Mentorship & Teaching

We will track your growth by assigning from 1-5 fish 🐟 (partial fish possible e.g, 0.2🐟) to each category each year. For reference, Prof. Ko is something like (Hardware-4.3🐟; Theory-4.7🐟; Writing-4.4🐟; Speaking-4.4🐟; Graphics-4.7🐟; Inclusiveness-4.5🐟). We are thrilled to grow with you.

Extra credit when approaching Prof. Ko: include in your email your self-evaluation in these areas. For undergrad application, ensure 3.3 🐟 on average, and for grad application, ensure 3.5 🐟 on average. We will grow your skills by 0.2 🐟 on average per year. You should achieve 4.5 🐟 on average when you receive your PhD!

Graduate students

This could be you!!!

Undergraduate students

At Georgia Tech and Princeton, I’ve mentored a team of brilliant undergrads to do research! They have made tremendous contributions to our discoveries. I am excited to work with undergraduate students from Tufts!

Many of the team members have presented at regional or national conferences such as SICB (Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology) and DFD (American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics), contributed to and co-authored research articles, and won competitive research awards such as PURA (Presidential Undergraduate Research Award, $1,500),

8 Semesters

6 Semesters

4 Semesters

3 Semesters

2 Semesters

1 Semester

*as of Fall 2025