If you are a Berkeley physics graduate student and you want to explore working with us, simply join us for lunch and introduce yourself. The safest bet is Wednesdays at 12:40. We meet in the central area on the 4th floor of Physics South. Also, come to our seminars. Warning: you will not be handed a "shovel-ready" project. Rather, projects tend to develop from discussions around the blackboard, about questions and puzzles we are struggling with, or the seminar we just heard, or interesting new papers we'd like to understand. So the style is open-ended and not hierarchical. Many of our best papers were written by students working with each other or with postdocs! So if you're interested, simply spend time with us, join discussions (you can just listen to start with, don't worry), and attend the seminars. Don't worry if at first you don't understand anything: osmosis does happen. And to help you out, we made this list of pedagogical references and recent publications. See if you like the questions we worry about; and just as importantly, make sure that our style of work is a good match for you. Talk to the other students and ask about their experience. They will also have great advice on how to catch up on any topics you'd like to learn more about. And don't forget, the Berkeley physics department is full of great scientists doing amazing research; make sure you know the full menu before you choose!
If you want to become a Berkeley physics graduate student, that's fantastic! But please do not email us or send us your CV. Unfortunately we cannot respond to such inquiries; there are just too many. All the information you need is this: please apply to the physics department. We do not admit people directly into individual research groups. All faculty are consulted during the admissions process and your application will not be ignored. If you are admitted, you should seek out an advisor after you arrive, usually by the end of your second year, though often it happens faster. On average, Prof. Bousso takes on around 1 or 2 new graduate students every year.
If you are a Berkeley undergraduate student, you are very welcome to spend time with us, join us for lunches, and attend seminars. Unfortunately we are not able to offer undergraduate projects or summer projects.
If you are not at Berkeley, please understand that we are categorically unable to offer supervision of summer projects, research, or thesis work of any kind.