Guido Montúfar

Guido Montúfar is Assistant Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the Departments of Mathematics and Statistics, and Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (MPI MIS). His work bridges mathematical machine learning, deep learning theory, and information geometry.

• Current affiliations: UCLA (since 2017) and MPI MIS (since 2018)
• ERC Starting Grant on Deep Learning Theory

Research interests focus on the interplay between model capacity, optimization landscapes, and generalization in deep learning, combining tools from algebraic geometry, optimal transport, and information theory to analyze neural network behavior.

Recent publications address tropical geometry of neural networks, algebraic optimization in reinforcement learning, and information-theoretic approaches to data representation. His work reveals connections between policy gradient methods and Wasserstein gradient flows.

• Scientific grants: ERC Starting Grant, DFG SPP 2298, NSF CAREER