Short Biography

Since August 2024, I have been a postdoctoral researcher working with Eric Schulz (Helmholtz Munich) and Peter Dayan (Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics). Prior to that, I completed my Ph.D. in Computer and Communication Sciences at EPFL (2024; under the supervision of Wulfram Gerstner) and my B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering at the Sharif University of Technology (2018). My Ph.D. thesis was recognized by both the Dimitris N. Chorafas Foundation Award and the EPFL EDIC Thesis Distinction Award; a general-audience summary of the thesis is available via EPFL News.

Research

My research lies at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and machine learning. I design interpretable models that characterize how humans solve complex computational problems—such as how they explore rich environments or learn adaptively under changing circumstances—and I use these models to inform the development of efficient and reliable AI algorithms. Through this work, I aim to identify the key determinants of intelligent decision-making in both biological and artificial systems. Over the past years, I have specifically focused on how surprise, novelty, and the sense of control shape learning and decision-making in humans and machines. By integrating fragmented concepts across disciplines, this work advances a coherent account of intelligence and informs both the development of reliable AI systems and innovations in mental health assessment and intervention.

Key Publications

• An integrative framework for the human sense of control

• Novelty as a drive of human exploration in complex stochastic environments

• Curiosity-driven exploration: foundations in neuroscience and computational modeling 

• Surprise and novelty in the brain 

• A taxonomy of surprise definitions