I am recruiting motivated 2 or 3 Ph.D. students in Computer Science to join my research group in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at the University of Missouri (Mizzou), with openings for Spring 2027 and Fall 2027. Our research focuses on building trustworthy, efficient, and high-impact AI systems, with particular interests in Trustworthy AI (robustness), multimodal large language models (vision/tabular/audio), edge AI (model efficiency), quantum AI, and AI for science and engineering (agentic). Students will have opportunities to pursue both fundamental research and real-world applications in healthcare, precision agriculture, and cyber-physical systems. Our group has received multiple NSF awards to support multipe years of your studies. Applicants from computer science, EE, stats, or related fields are encouraged to apply. Prior research experience in NLP or a Master's degree is preferred for Ph.D. applicants. Interested applicants should email me (xiaolei[dot]huang[at]missouri[dot]edu) a CV, unofficial transcript, English scores (TOEFL and GRE), and links to representative GitHub repositories.
Mizzou is Missouri’s flagship public land-grant university, a Carnegie R1 research institution, and a member of the Association of American Universities. It is ranked No. 102 among U.S. national universities in U.S. News & World Report, while also being ranked No. 4 among U.S. flagship universities for best value and No. 1 among SEC flagship universities for best value. In TIME’s 2026 World’s Top Universities list, Mizzou ranks No. 124 globally, No. 13 among U.S. flagship universities, and No. 2 among public SEC universities. EECS and the College of Engineering offer a collaborative research environment spanning AI and machine learning, computer vision, systems, networking, cybersecurity, high-performance computing, cyber-physical systems, biomedical computing, and scientific computing. The broader Mizzou ecosystem also creates strong opportunities for interdisciplinary work with researchers in engineering, medicine, agriculture, natural sciences, and industry.
Columbia, Missouri is a lively and affordable college town in the center of the state, with convenient access to both Kansas City and St. Louis via Interstate 70—making weekend trips for professional sports, concerts, museums, restaurants, and major cultural events highly accessible. Columbia itself has a vibrant downtown area, local restaurants and breweries, arts and music venues, Mizzou athletics, and a welcoming international community. For outdoor enthusiasts, Rock Bridge Memorial State Park is only minutes away and offers hiking, biking, caves, forests, and the Gans Creek Wild Area; students can also enjoy the Katy Trail, nearby bluffs, lakes, and broader outdoor opportunities across Missouri. Columbia therefore offers an unusually attractive combination of serious research opportunities, low living costs, short commutes, city access, and an excellent quality of life for doctoral training.
You can apply here: https://admissions.missouri.edu/apply/. Fellowship or scholarship will be prioritized at the December 1st deadline.