Jianhao Ma

I am a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Tsinghua University. Previously, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, working with Professor Yuxin Chen. I received my Ph.D. in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan, where I was fortunate to be advised by Professor Salar Fattahi.

Research interests

My research explores both AI for optimization and optimization for AI. On the AI-for-optimization side, I study how large language models can help solve optimization-theory problems and construct rigorous proofs. On the optimization-for-AI side, I use optimization theory to design better pretraining algorithms for large language models.

Join my group

I welcome inquiries from prospective Ph.D. students for future admission and can recruit one Ph.D. student per year; the position for this year has already been filled. I can also host undergraduate research assistants, both in person and remotely. If you are interested, please contact me by email.