Dr. Mengyuan Li

Assistant Professor

Build a Statement of Purpose

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

Biography

Mengyuan Li is an Assistant Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science and the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Southern California. His research focuses on uncovering, understanding, and defending system hardware vulnerabilities, with an emphasis on cloud system security, CPU security, GPU security, and AI system security. He also works on software-hardware co-design for secure and efficient device systems. His research contributions include addressing side-channel attacks, confidential computing, trusted execution environments (TEE), micro-architectural attacks, and software-hardware co-design. Li has a doctoral degree from Ohio State University and a bachelor's degree from Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Research Interests

System Hardware Vulnerabilities Cloud System Security CPU Security GPU Security AI System Security Software-Hardware Co-Design Side-Channel Attacks Confidential Computing Trusted Execution Environment Micro-Architectural Attacks Program Analysis Reverse Engineering

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.