Software agents are programs that act as assistants to a user of an interactive interface, in contrast to most conventional programs, which act as tools. Software agents are typically long-lived, semi-autonomous, proactive, and adaptive. This group builds prototype software agents in a wide variety of application domains, including text and graphical editing, Web browsing, matchmaking, electronic commerce, groupware, and more.
We are looking for people with diverse backgrounds, not just straight-A computer scientists. The two core competencies are human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence, but we also encourage people with relevant backgrounds in such fields as graphics, cognitive science, mathematics, economics, library science, education, and the arts. Above all, we are looking for people who are creative, who can think"out-of-the-box" about the future, then work hard to create it. You should be self-motivated, without the need for day-by-day, step-by-step direction. You should be able to collaborate well with professors, fellow students, industry and academic colleagues. It is essential to have good programming, presentation, and writing skills.
If your background doesn't demonstrate good programming skills, you should be prepared to work very hard to acquire them rapidly. It would be best to be proficient in both a language that is suited to AI or rapid prototyping applications [Lisp, Prolog, Smalltalk] and a more conventional procedural language [Java, C, C++,C#].
