Program Overview
The PhD in AI Theory is Meridian AI's most rigorous program, training researchers who advance the mathematical and computational foundations of artificial intelligence. Graduates contribute new theorems, prove generalization bounds, discover algorithmic improvements, and establish theoretical justifications for phenomena observed in practice. Students are admitted only when there is a strong faculty match.
Research Areas
- Computational learning theory and PAC-Bayes frameworks
- Algorithmic fairness and causal inference
- Complexity theory and hardness of learning
- Deep learning theory: expressivity, generalization, optimization landscapes
- Information-theoretic limits of learning
- Online learning and bandits
Program Structure
Year 1–2: coursework and qualifying examination. Year 2–5: dissertation research supervised by faculty advisor and committee. Students are expected to publish at NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, COLT, or equivalent venues.