I'm interested in discovering and learning about the world around (and in) us, irrespective of discipline. My primary research interests are in the areas of learning in the brain and in artificial neural networks. I endeavour to figure out how the brain learns (see my publications and related code), using theoretical and simulational tools from computational neuroscience, control theory, machine learning and statistical physics. Recently, I've used: adaptive control theory to derive biologically plausible learning rules for connection weights in spiking neural networks especially for motor control; and memory-augmented neural networks to solve cognitive tasks using reinforcement learning. If you have similar (or complementary!) interests, feel free to contact me.
I'm a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the Machine Learning Group at the Department of Computer Science, in the University of Sheffield, UK since Jan, 2020. Here's my official page.
My academic background:
- ISTplus - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow in the group of Prof. Gašper Tkačik at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria in 2019.
- Post-doctoral researcher in the group of Prof Raoul-Martin Memmesheimer at the University of Bonn, Germany in 2018.
- Post-doctoral researcher in the group of Prof Wulfram Gerstner at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland from 2015 to 2018.
- PhD in Computational Neuroscience in the group of Prof Upinder S. Bhalla at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore, India, 2015.
- Master's in Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India, 2009.
- Bachelor's in Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India, 1996.
Openings:
- Post-Doc / Research Associate position on Causal eXplainable Reinforcement Learning at the University of Sheffield (deadline 4th July 2021) - Deadline passed.
- PhD position in cognitively-inspired reinforcement learning for robotics (deadline: 7th March 2021) - Filled.
- PhD position: Here's a possible project, related proposals are welcome. International students need to apply for their own funding -- see here. Funding for a home student (UK citizen / settled status) is available. Email me if interested.
Check out my publications and related code, code for general-purpose neural simulation, and tutorials.