Dr. Priyadarshini Panda

Associate Professor

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Biography

Priyadarshini Panda is an Associate Professor in the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on algorithm-hardware co-design for energy-efficient and sustainable artificial intelligence, particularly in neuromorphic computing and spiking neural networks. Panda's work integrates nature-inspired principles to design intelligent systems that prioritize efficiency, robustness, and adaptability. She has a diverse background in electrical engineering and has contributed to the development of large-scale algorithms for emerging compute-in-memory hardware accelerators. She has received numerous awards, including the 2023 NSF CAREER Award and the 2025 DARPA Director’s Fellowship Award, recognizing her significant contributions to AI and machine learning hardware. Panda has also served on technical program committees for multiple leading AI/ML hardware design conferences.

Research Interests

Awards

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Amazon Research Award

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Google Research Scholar Award

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DARPA Riser Award

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NSF CAREER Award

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DARPA Young Faculty Award

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IEEE TCAD Donald O. Pederson Paper Award

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Google Systems ML Award

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Purdue Engineering 38 Award

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ASP-DAC Paper Award Nomination

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.