Ph.D. Student Opportunities (2025–2026 Admissions Cycle)
I am seeking highly motivated and hard-working Ph.D. students to join my research group, which I call the Software Aurora lab or SORA lab for short, in the Department of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) for the 2025–2026 admissions cycle.
My group conducts research in software engineering, with particular emphasis on software testing and debugging, autonomous and intelligent systems, and software security and privacy. We have also worked extensively on software architecture and design, focusing on improving how complex systems are structured and evolved to ensure quality and maintainability. Our work bridges rigorous theoretical foundations and practical impact — improving the reliability, safety, and trustworthiness of modern software systems. We also have a tradition of utilizing and studying artificial intelligence and machine learning for our research.
Prospective students should have strong analytical and programming skills, a passion for research, and a desire to contribute to impactful and collaborative projects. Students in my group regularly publish in top-tier venues and engage in interdisciplinary collaborations across UCI and beyond.
I value students who are curious, self-driven, and eager to develop into independent researchers capable of formulating and pursuing their own ideas. I also value students who possess strong communication and collaboration skills, which are essential for conducting impactful, team-oriented research.
If you are interested in pursuing a Ph.D. under my supervision, please learn more about the Software Engineering Ph.D. program at the Department of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine, consider applying, and mention my name (Joshua Garcia) in your application. You are also welcome to contact me directly at joshug4@uci.edu or joshua.garcia@uci.edu (an alias of the previous email address) with a brief introduction of yourself including shared interests between you, me, and my research group. Please also share your CV/resume and transcripts. Please make sure you’re applying to the Department of Informatics’s Software Engineering Ph.D. program.