Rohit Vasishta

Contact Me

McGill University Email (Preferred): <<first name>>dot<<lastname>>at<<mail(dot)mcgill(dot)ca>>

Personal Email: <<first name>>1<<last name>>at<<gmail(dot)com>>

My Current Whereabouts:

I am currently a Research Assistant at the ASPAI project at Oxford University. I am currently working on finding ways to aggregate social preferences to develop safety specifications for AI. What this means, is that our society is currently heading towards a technocracy, where most decisions are taken by AI agents, who presumably act on our behalf, and make decisions like we do. Or do they? 

It depends on how we design them. Social choice theory gives us ways to ask rational individuals for their preferences, so we can aggregate them into societal preferences. Think elections, think policy, and think any "vote" you take to decide where your team eats dinner. Imagine that an AI makes this decision for you. We are trying to ensure that these decision-making agents accurately reflect our own preferences, instead of acting on their own behalf.

Ph.D. Market:

I am currently on the lookout for Ph.D. opportunities from the year 2026-27! If you have any positions in social choice, algorithmic game theory, algorithms, or beyond, I would love to have a conversation!

Publications and Current Research

List of publications: Google Scholar

Research Interests:

• Decision theory:

  • Voting.

  • Democratic Optimization.

  • Strategic manipulation.

  • Preference aggregation.

  • Preference elicitation.

  • Philosophical aspects of democratic design.

  • Political, economic and social consequences of democratic structures.

  • Fairness, equitability and transparency in decision-making.

• Algorithms and Complexity

• Combinatorial Optimization

• Game Theory

• (not in touch) Linear Algebra

• Mathematics Education (especially equitable access and creative teaching)

Teaching

• Fall 2025: Course Lecturer, COMP 360: Algorithm Design, McGill University

• Summer 2025: Course Lecturer, COMP 202: Foundations of Computer Programming, McGill University

• Winter 2024: Teaching Assistant, COMP 252: Honors Algorithms and Data Structures, McGill University

• Fall 2024: Teaching Assistant, COMP 251: Algorithms and Data Structures, McGill University

• Fall 2024: Teaching Assistant, COMP 360: Algorithm Design, McGill University

• Winter 2024: Teaching Assistant, COMP 252: Honors Algorithms and Data Structures, McGill University

• Fall 2023: Teaching Assistant, COMP 251: Algorithms and Data Structures, McGill University 

• Spring 2023: Head TA and Lecturer, MATH 1001: Linear Algebra, Ashoka University

Academic and Professional Journey

• December 2025-December 2026: Research Assistant, ASPAI, Unviersity of Oxford

• 2025-Current: Course Lecturer, School of Computer Science, McGill University

• 2025: Awarded the Best Teaching Assistant award by the Department of Computer Science, McGill University.

• 2023-2025: M.Sc. Computer Science (Thesis), under the supervision of Dr. Adrian Vetta, McGill University

• 2023: Awarded the McCall MacBain Scholarships at McGill: Finalist Award

• 2022-2023: Diploma in Advanced Studies and Research (DipASR), Mathematics and Computer Science, Ashoka University

• 2019-2022: B.Sc. (Hons) Mathematics, Ashoka University

• 2019-2023: Trustee and volunteer, Sitara Akka