Marek Petrik

Marek Petrik is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of New Hampshire, where he is also a member of the artificial intelligence research group. Prior to joining UNH, he was a Research Staff Member at IBM’s T. J. Watson Research Center. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2010 under the supervision of Shlomo Zilberstein. In 2022–2023, he was a visiting faculty researcher at Google Research.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2010

His research focuses on robust, data-driven decision making, particularly in reinforcement learning with limited data, risk aversion, and Bayesian models of uncertainty. His work spans theoretical advances in robust Markov decision processes (MDPs), policy optimization, and imitation learning, with applications in natural resource management, agriculture, renewable energy, and space systems. Recent publications emphasize provable robustness, percentile optimization, and safe offline reinforcement learning.

His recent work (2023–2025) demonstrates strong trends in risk-averse reinforcement learning, robust policy gradients, offline learning under uncertainty, and Bayesian approaches to decision-making. He frequently publishes in top venues such as NeurIPS, ICML, UAI, AAAI, and journals like JMLR and Mathematics of Operations Research.

Scientific Awards:

• Best Student Paper Award, Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence (UAI), 2015

Marek Petrik has advised numerous students and collaborators, particularly in the areas of robust RL and safe decision-making. His research has been supported by academic and industry collaborations, including IBM and Google. He is not currently accepting new PhD students. He is actively involved in developing methods for controlling invasive species, pest monitoring, and optimizing environmental systems.

Labs and Research Groups:

• Artificial Intelligence Research Group, University of New Hampshire
• Former member: Mathematical Sciences Department, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
• Visiting researcher: Google Research, 2022–2023