Dr. Laurent Itti

Professor

Build a Statement of Purpose

Generate a tailored SOP for Dr. Laurent Itti. Improve your application with a focused, well-structured draft.

Biography

Laurent Itti received his M.S. degree in Image Processing from Ecole Nationale Superieure des Telecommunications in Paris, France in 1994, and his Ph.D. in Computation Neural Systems from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California in 2000. He has held positions as Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor in the fields of Computer Science, Psychology, and Neuroscience at the University of Southern California. His research interests focus on biologically-inspired computational vision, particularly in areas such as visual attention, scene understanding, control of eye movements, and surprise. He has contributed significantly to basic research as well as technological applications including video compression, target detection, and robotics. Dr. Itti has co-authored 150 publications across peer-reviewed journals, books, conferences, and patents, and has developed open-source neuromorphic vision software toolkits. His research summary includes computation neuroscience and theory of computation.

Research Interests

Experience

Professor

— Present

University of Southern California • Los Angeles, CA

Holding positions as Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor in the fields of Computer Science and Psychology.

Awards

#

Mechanisms of Top-Down Attention

#

Top Cited Article 2008-2010

#

Okawa Foundation Research Award

#

Charles Lee Powell Foundation New Faculty Award

Requirements for University of Southern California

Master Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3
TOEFL
Listening
Required:20
Reading
Required:20
Writing
Required:20
Speaking
Required:20
Total
Required:90
IELTS
Listening
Required:6
Reading
Required:6
Writing
Required:6
Speaking
Required:6
Overall
Required:6.5
GRE General
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Math, or Hard Science
Application Checklist
  • Online application
  • Official transcripts
  • Personal Statement
  • Resume/CV
  • Letters of Recommendation (not required for MS CS, but allowed)
Specialization Notes

GRE is NOT required for Master's applicants for 2025-2026.