I am always looking for highly talented and highly motivated people to join my Optimization and Machine Learning Lab. I am hiring interns, MS/PhD students, PhD students, postdocs and research scientists.

If you are interested, please fill out this unified interfolio application form. If you are applying for MS/PhD or PhD, you also need to apply formally via the KAUST application system. Applications are reviewed throughout the year as they arrive. Shortlisted applicants are interviewed via Zoom.

What NOT to do

Please do not

• ask me for feedback before you even apply,
• ask for a meeting to discuss your potential application before you even apply,
• ask me for an "acceptance letter" before you even apply,
• ask whether you can list me as a potential MS/PhD or PhD advisor on the official KAUST application (of course you can),
• email me asking for the status of your application.

All shortlisted candidates will be contacted in due time; if you are not contacted, assume you were not shortlisted. I cannot send individual rejection letters or meet before you apply, and you do not need my permission to list me as a potential advisor.

I hire in these areas:

• mathematical and algorithmic foundations of machine learning
• optimization for machine learning
• federated learning (I am co-inventor of FL: [1] [2] [3])
• large language models (e.g., quantization, LoRA, compression)
• theory of deep learning

See the current Team. I am a founding member of the KAUST Center of Excellence for Generative AI.

A strong candidate will have outstanding training and track record in mathematics and computer science commensurate with the seniority of the position they are applying for.

Interns

Internships are targeted at senior/mature undergraduate or MS students thinking of a future career in research (e.g., considering to apply for a PhD at KAUST or elsewhere). Prior experience in research is welcome, but not necessary. Internships last anywhere between a month and six months, and can be performed on the campus or remotely. Extension might be possible in special cases. The starting date and duration are negotiable. Internships come with a monthly stipend. In case of on-campus internships, we also reimburse your visa fees, book your flight tickets and taxi (between the airport in Jeddah and the campus), offer free on-campus accommodation and provide health insurance.

If I decide to make you an offer, I will tell you which of KAUST's several internship programs you will be formally a part of. They all have different rules and eligibility requirements. However, you need not worry about it. All you need to do is to apply via the interfolio site and wait.

KAUST has several internship programs, including:

1. VSRP (Visiting Student Research Program)

• 2-6 months
• open to all nationalities; 3rd/4th-year undergraduate or current MS students in STEM; minimum GPA 3.5/4.0
• I have 6 VSRP projects open:
  1. Efficient quantization of large language models
  2. Fine-tuning of foundation models via low-rank adaptation and beyond
  3. Gradient compression for distributed training of machine learning models
  4. Towards a principled understanding of deep learning
  5. Federated learning
  6. Topics in machine learning and optimization

2. VS (Visiting Student program)

• 1-6 months stay requirement
• eligible countries: all

3. SSI (Saudi Summer Internships)

• summer research internship on campus, 15 June-6 August 2026
• eligibility: Saudi nationals who are recent graduates, senior undergraduates, or current MS students in CS/MATH/STAT/EE (or related); GPA 3.5/4.0 or higher

MS/PhD and PhD positions

The KAUST MS-only program is targeted at Saudis only. If you are not Saudi and have an undergraduate degree, apply to the combined MS/PhD program. If all goes well, you will get an MS degree in 1.5 years (3 semesters), and will then continue towards your PhD. So, if you start in August in year Y, you will get your MS degree in December in year Y+1, and will continue as a PhD student from January of year Y+2. If you have an MS degree already, apply directly to the PhD program. PhD at KAUST takes a minimum of 2.5 years. We accept students for entry in Fall (August) and Spring (January). However, most students start in the Fall. There are several application rounds throughout the year, and hence you can essentially apply at any time. Apply here.

I can supervise students in all programs in the CEMSE division: AMCS (Applied Mathematics & Computational Science), CS (Computer Science), ECE (Electrical and Computer Engineering) and STAT (Statistics). My current students study in all of these programs except for ECE.

Postdocs and Research Scientists

I always have postdoc and research scientist (RS) positions open for outstanding applicants. Funding of these positions comes from my existing grants. Alternatively (or at the same time), you can apply for a postdoc position funded by the KAUST Global Fellowship initiative. However, in order to be able to do so, you need to pre-apply via the interfolio system first. I will shortlist a few candidates to interview (via Zoom) and will then select a candidate or a couple candidates for whom I will write the required support letter, which will enable them to apply for the KAUST Global Fellowship formally.

The typical duration of a postdoc position is 2-3 years.

The typical duration of a RS position is 3 years or more (including an effectively permanent position). RS positions are offered at 6 levels of seniority. The three most senior levels are roughly equivalent in status and compensation to Assistant, Associate and Full Professor positions, respectively.