Dr. Sean Ren

Associate Professor

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Biography

Xiang Ren is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Southern California (USC) and holds the Andrew Erna Viterbi Early Career Chair. He directs the Intelligence Knowledge Discovery (INK) Research Lab at USC, where he focuses on advancing natural language processing (NLP) systems to handle a wide variety of language tasks effectively. His research seeks to develop algorithms and datasets that enhance the generality and reliability of NLP models while ensuring they are cost-effective to build and maintain. Additionally, he collaborates with the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) to work on common sense capabilities in machine learning models. Prior to his appointment at USC, Dr. Ren was a Data Science Advisor at Snapchat and completed his PhD in computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He has also been involved with NLP initiatives at Stanford University. Dr. Ren's significant contributions to the field have been recognized through numerous awards and grants, reflecting his impactful work in NLP and AI.

Research Interests

Awards

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Outstanding Paper Award

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Okawa Research Grant

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Outstanding Paper Award

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Google Research Scholar Award

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Andrew Erna Viterbi Early Career Chair

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NSF CAREER Award

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Faculty Innovation Award

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Faculty Research Award

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AI Research Award

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Faculty Research Award

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Data Science Research Award

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30 Under 30

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Doctoral Dissertation Award

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PhD Fellowship

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.