Yury Polyanskiy

Yury Polyanskiy is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), affiliated with the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS), the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), and the MIT Statistics and Data Science Center. He holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University (2010) and an M.S. from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (2005). His research focuses on information theory, machine learning, statistical inference, error-correcting codes, and wireless communication. He has contributed to fundamental limits of communication systems, finite-blocklength analysis, and applications of information theory to learning and signal processing.

Notable awards include the 2020 IEEE Information Theory Society James Massey Award, the 2013 NSF CAREER Award, and the 2011 IEEE Information Theory Society Paper Award. His work spans theoretical advancements and practical applications, including the development of the SPECTRE toolbox for short-packet communication. He is also co-authoring a textbook on information theory.

Recent research highlights include studies on quantization techniques for machine learning (e.g., NestQuant), transformer-based empirical Bayes methods, and novel approaches to massive random access in wireless networks (e.g., unsourced multiple access). His contributions bridge information theory and modern data science, addressing challenges in high-dimensional data representation, neural network dynamics, and efficient communication architectures.