Dr. Mahdi Soltanolkotabi

Professor

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Biography

Mahdi Soltanolkotabi is the director of the center on AI Foundations for the Sciences (AIF4S) at the University of Southern California. He holds the Andrew Erna Viterbi Early Career Chair and has a focus on developing mathematical foundations for modern data science and artificial intelligence. His research encompasses various areas including high-dimensional probability statistics, statistical inference, AI safety, and deep learning representation. Prior to joining USC, he completed his PhD in electrical engineering at Stanford University in 2014 and was a postdoctoral researcher at the EECS department at UC Berkeley. His work emphasizes applications in AI healthcare, optimization, and machine learning, exploring topics like large-scale distributed training, federated learning, and signal processing. He has received several prestigious awards including the 2024 Amazon GenAI Research Award and the 2023 NIH Director's New Innovator Award.

Research Interests

Awards

#2024

Amazon GenAI Research Award

2024-01-01
#2023

National Institute of Health NIH Director's New Innovator Award

2023-01-01
#2021

Viterbi School of Engineering Junior Researcher Award

2021-01-01
#2020

Amazon Faculty Research Award

2020-01-01
#2019

IEEE Information Theory Society Paper Award

2019-01-01
#2018

Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering

2018-01-01
#2018

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship in Mathematics

2018-01-01
#2017

National Science Foundation Career Award

2017-01-01
#2017

Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award

2017-01-01
#2015

Google Faculty Research Award

2015-01-01
#2010

Stanford BENCHMARK Graduate Fellowship in Science and Engineering

2010-01-01
#2009

Department Institute Rank 1/800

2009-01-01

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.