Amir-massoud Farahmand
@sologen.bsky.social
Research Goal: Understanding the computational and statistical principles required to design AI/RL agents.
Associate Professor at Polytechnique Montréal and Mila. 🇨🇦
academic.sologen.net
Associate Professor at Polytechnique Montréal and Mila. 🇨🇦
academic.sologen.net
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
Can’t agree more.
Still trying to wrap my head around the budget news. I want to move on, but honestly can’t.
Yes, there’s some self-interest here, but adding another well-established researcher to an already deprived funding landscape isn’t exactly encouraging.
Still trying to wrap my head around the budget news. I want to move on, but honestly can’t.
Yes, there’s some self-interest here, but adding another well-established researcher to an already deprived funding landscape isn’t exactly encouraging.
It’s hard not to feel insulted by the Canadian federal budget’s implication that researchers currently working in Canada aren’t good enough, so they’ll spend a bunch of taxpayer money to bring in “top talent” from elsewhere.
November 5, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Can’t agree more.
Still trying to wrap my head around the budget news. I want to move on, but honestly can’t.
Yes, there’s some self-interest here, but adding another well-established researcher to an already deprived funding landscape isn’t exactly encouraging.
Still trying to wrap my head around the budget news. I want to move on, but honestly can’t.
Yes, there’s some self-interest here, but adding another well-established researcher to an already deprived funding landscape isn’t exactly encouraging.
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
The 🇨🇦 Standing Committee on Science and Research passed a modified resolution this afternoon that the requested ricouncil applicant and reviewer data can be aggregated and anonymized. Thanks to the many researchers who signed letters pointing out legitimate data privacy concerns. 👏👏
November 6, 2025 at 12:22 AM
The 🇨🇦 Standing Committee on Science and Research passed a modified resolution this afternoon that the requested ricouncil applicant and reviewer data can be aggregated and anonymized. Thanks to the many researchers who signed letters pointing out legitimate data privacy concerns. 👏👏
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
It’s hard not to feel insulted by the Canadian federal budget’s implication that researchers currently working in Canada aren’t good enough, so they’ll spend a bunch of taxpayer money to bring in “top talent” from elsewhere.
November 5, 2025 at 12:33 PM
It’s hard not to feel insulted by the Canadian federal budget’s implication that researchers currently working in Canada aren’t good enough, so they’ll spend a bunch of taxpayer money to bring in “top talent” from elsewhere.
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
Canadian researchers should be aware the there is a motion before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Research to force Tricouncils to hand over disaggregated peer review data on all applications:
Applicant names, profiles, demographics
Reviewers names, profiles, comments, and scores
Applicant names, profiles, demographics
Reviewers names, profiles, comments, and scores
October 30, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Canadian researchers should be aware the there is a motion before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Research to force Tricouncils to hand over disaggregated peer review data on all applications:
Applicant names, profiles, demographics
Reviewers names, profiles, comments, and scores
Applicant names, profiles, demographics
Reviewers names, profiles, comments, and scores
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
As Transactions on Machine Learning Research (TMLR) grows in number of submissions, we are looking for more reviewers and action editors. Please sign up!
Only one paper to review at a time and <= 6 per year, reviewers report greater satisfaction than reviewing for conferences!
Only one paper to review at a time and <= 6 per year, reviewers report greater satisfaction than reviewing for conferences!
October 14, 2025 at 1:32 PM
As Transactions on Machine Learning Research (TMLR) grows in number of submissions, we are looking for more reviewers and action editors. Please sign up!
Only one paper to review at a time and <= 6 per year, reviewers report greater satisfaction than reviewing for conferences!
Only one paper to review at a time and <= 6 per year, reviewers report greater satisfaction than reviewing for conferences!
Happy Diwali!
October 21, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Happy Diwali!
Apply to join one of the top AI research 🤖 institutes in the world in the wonderful city of Montréal!
I will be recruiting 1-2 students this year. Just mention my name in your application.
I will be recruiting 1-2 students this year. Just mention my name in your application.
Mila's annual supervision request process is now open to receive MSc and PhD applications for Fall 2026 admission! For more information, visit mila.quebec/en/prospecti...
October 15, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Apply to join one of the top AI research 🤖 institutes in the world in the wonderful city of Montréal!
I will be recruiting 1-2 students this year. Just mention my name in your application.
I will be recruiting 1-2 students this year. Just mention my name in your application.
Mirrorless Mirror Descent: A Natural Derivation of Mirror Descent (Gunasekar, Woodworth, Srebro at AISTATS, 2021)
They show that the Mirror Descent algorithm is a particular way of discretization a certain geometry-aware gradient flow.
proceedings.mlr.press/v130/gunasek...
Interesting paper!
They show that the Mirror Descent algorithm is a particular way of discretization a certain geometry-aware gradient flow.
proceedings.mlr.press/v130/gunasek...
Interesting paper!
October 11, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Mirrorless Mirror Descent: A Natural Derivation of Mirror Descent (Gunasekar, Woodworth, Srebro at AISTATS, 2021)
They show that the Mirror Descent algorithm is a particular way of discretization a certain geometry-aware gradient flow.
proceedings.mlr.press/v130/gunasek...
Interesting paper!
They show that the Mirror Descent algorithm is a particular way of discretization a certain geometry-aware gradient flow.
proceedings.mlr.press/v130/gunasek...
Interesting paper!
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
cvoelcker.de/blog/2025/re...
I finally gave in and made a nice blog post about my most recent paper. This was a surprising amount of work, so please be nice and go read it!
I finally gave in and made a nice blog post about my most recent paper. This was a surprising amount of work, so please be nice and go read it!
a close up of a sad cat with the words pleeeaasse written below it
ALT: a close up of a sad cat with the words pleeeaasse written below it
media.tenor.com
October 2, 2025 at 9:34 PM
cvoelcker.de/blog/2025/re...
I finally gave in and made a nice blog post about my most recent paper. This was a surprising amount of work, so please be nice and go read it!
I finally gave in and made a nice blog post about my most recent paper. This was a surprising amount of work, so please be nice and go read it!
Understanding the Effect of Stochasticity in Policy Optimization (NeurIPS 2021) by Jincheng Mei, Bo Dai, Chenjun Xiao, @skiandsolve.bsky.social, Dale Schuurmans.
Interesting paper on Policy Gradient (PG) methods!
PG >> NPG or PG << NPG?! It depends on your estimator.
arxiv.org/abs/2110.15572
Interesting paper on Policy Gradient (PG) methods!
PG >> NPG or PG << NPG?! It depends on your estimator.
arxiv.org/abs/2110.15572
October 1, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Understanding the Effect of Stochasticity in Policy Optimization (NeurIPS 2021) by Jincheng Mei, Bo Dai, Chenjun Xiao, @skiandsolve.bsky.social, Dale Schuurmans.
Interesting paper on Policy Gradient (PG) methods!
PG >> NPG or PG << NPG?! It depends on your estimator.
arxiv.org/abs/2110.15572
Interesting paper on Policy Gradient (PG) methods!
PG >> NPG or PG << NPG?! It depends on your estimator.
arxiv.org/abs/2110.15572
The philosopher John Searle died recently.
He was one of the famous contemporary philosophers about whom I kept reading or hearing, mostly because of his Chinese Room argument.
Reading some comments by those who have actually met him, it seems that he was a character!
He was one of the famous contemporary philosophers about whom I kept reading or hearing, mostly because of his Chinese Room argument.
Reading some comments by those who have actually met him, it seems that he was a character!
September 29, 2025 at 8:31 PM
The philosopher John Searle died recently.
He was one of the famous contemporary philosophers about whom I kept reading or hearing, mostly because of his Chinese Room argument.
Reading some comments by those who have actually met him, it seems that he was a character!
He was one of the famous contemporary philosophers about whom I kept reading or hearing, mostly because of his Chinese Room argument.
Reading some comments by those who have actually met him, it seems that he was a character!
Shanah tovah! שנה טובה
September 24, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Shanah tovah! שנה טובה
Three years ago today, #MahsaAmini was murdered by the Islamic Republic. Her death started the hopeful Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran and across the globe.
Mahsa, Nika, Sarina, and 100s of others are not among us anymore, but their influence has changed Iran forever.
Mahsa, Nika, Sarina, and 100s of others are not among us anymore, but their influence has changed Iran forever.
September 16, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Three years ago today, #MahsaAmini was murdered by the Islamic Republic. Her death started the hopeful Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran and across the globe.
Mahsa, Nika, Sarina, and 100s of others are not among us anymore, but their influence has changed Iran forever.
Mahsa, Nika, Sarina, and 100s of others are not among us anymore, but their influence has changed Iran forever.
The citation depth of ML is shallow: most people don't meaningfully cite a more than a few years old paper (yes, textbooks and obligatory classics aside).
Why? Many reasons, including that the authors probably haven't actually read the old papers.
Why? Two reasons:
Why? Many reasons, including that the authors probably haven't actually read the old papers.
Why? Two reasons:
September 12, 2025 at 3:41 AM
The citation depth of ML is shallow: most people don't meaningfully cite a more than a few years old paper (yes, textbooks and obligatory classics aside).
Why? Many reasons, including that the authors probably haven't actually read the old papers.
Why? Two reasons:
Why? Many reasons, including that the authors probably haven't actually read the old papers.
Why? Two reasons:
I recently learned the existence of something called Descriptive CV. This is a type of CV that must adapt to the grant application, so whenever you write a research proposal, you have to write a new CV too. Wonderful!
September 7, 2025 at 9:04 PM
I recently learned the existence of something called Descriptive CV. This is a type of CV that must adapt to the grant application, so whenever you write a research proposal, you have to write a new CV too. Wonderful!
Big news, everyone!
Exciting news! We're thrilled to announce the appointment of Professor Hugo Larochelle as Mila's new Scientific Director! A deep learning pioneer and former head of Google's AI lab in Montreal, Hugo's leadership will be pivotal in advancing AI for the benefit of all.
mila.quebec/en/news/hugo...
mila.quebec/en/news/hugo...
Hugo Larochelle becomes the new Scientific Director of Mila | Mila
Montreal (Quebec), September 2, 2025 – Mila, the Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, announces the appointment of Hugo Larochelle—Adjunct Professor at the Université de Montréal and former head ...
mila.quebec
September 2, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Big news, everyone!
It all started with a proposal, 60 years ago!
"A Proposal for Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence".
jmc.stanford.edu/articles/dar...
"A Proposal for Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence".
jmc.stanford.edu/articles/dar...
jmc.stanford.edu
September 1, 2025 at 2:34 AM
It all started with a proposal, 60 years ago!
"A Proposal for Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence".
jmc.stanford.edu/articles/dar...
"A Proposal for Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence".
jmc.stanford.edu/articles/dar...
Freaking Famine!
The situation in Gaza will be the stain on our generation and all whose support led to this.
The situation in Gaza will be the stain on our generation and all whose support led to this.
August 22, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Freaking Famine!
The situation in Gaza will be the stain on our generation and all whose support led to this.
The situation in Gaza will be the stain on our generation and all whose support led to this.
The Prime Minister is primed to the Policy Search methods. The AI minister, however, is more into the Critique.
My lab at @montrealrobotics.bsky.social was honoured to present our recent work to @mark-carney.bsky.social and Even Solomon explaining how AI enables new robotics that will drive innovation in Canada. It was a pleasure getting into the details with a quick dive into deterministic policy gradients!
August 21, 2025 at 3:15 AM
The Prime Minister is primed to the Policy Search methods. The AI minister, however, is more into the Critique.
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
I finally finished it! www.victorzhong.com/writing/refl...
Reflections of a First-year Assistant Professor - Victor Zhong
www.victorzhong.com
August 21, 2025 at 12:24 AM
I finally finished it! www.victorzhong.com/writing/refl...
August 3, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Skimming the timeline, I misread a tweet as "Planning as Syllabus".
That made me pause.
It sounds like an interesting ideas, doesn't it?
What does it exactly mean though?
Not sure, but maybe we can think of planning of the future as designing a syllabus for our learning agent.
That made me pause.
It sounds like an interesting ideas, doesn't it?
What does it exactly mean though?
Not sure, but maybe we can think of planning of the future as designing a syllabus for our learning agent.
August 2, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Skimming the timeline, I misread a tweet as "Planning as Syllabus".
That made me pause.
It sounds like an interesting ideas, doesn't it?
What does it exactly mean though?
Not sure, but maybe we can think of planning of the future as designing a syllabus for our learning agent.
That made me pause.
It sounds like an interesting ideas, doesn't it?
What does it exactly mean though?
Not sure, but maybe we can think of planning of the future as designing a syllabus for our learning agent.
From an obituary: "Finally, J. would undoubtedly instruct all who read this to pay your taxes happily, fight like hell to protect universal health care, call your mother, squeeze your babies (fur ones included) and above all, be a good citizen."
July 31, 2025 at 5:18 AM
From an obituary: "Finally, J. would undoubtedly instruct all who read this to pay your taxes happily, fight like hell to protect universal health care, call your mother, squeeze your babies (fur ones included) and above all, be a good citizen."
Let me introduce Dr. Claas Voelcker! @cvoelcker.bsky.social
Claas defended his PhD on Friday (Learning to model what matters–Representations and world models for efficient reinforcement learning) at the University of Toronto.
Claas is my 3rd graduated PhD (🌟🌟🌟), and I'm so proud of him!
Claas defended his PhD on Friday (Learning to model what matters–Representations and world models for efficient reinforcement learning) at the University of Toronto.
Claas is my 3rd graduated PhD (🌟🌟🌟), and I'm so proud of him!
July 28, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Let me introduce Dr. Claas Voelcker! @cvoelcker.bsky.social
Claas defended his PhD on Friday (Learning to model what matters–Representations and world models for efficient reinforcement learning) at the University of Toronto.
Claas is my 3rd graduated PhD (🌟🌟🌟), and I'm so proud of him!
Claas defended his PhD on Friday (Learning to model what matters–Representations and world models for efficient reinforcement learning) at the University of Toronto.
Claas is my 3rd graduated PhD (🌟🌟🌟), and I'm so proud of him!
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
Finally, it is done! You may now all call me Dr. Claas (and then immediately laugh at me for being pretentious enough to use the title).
I am super happy/relieved/exhausted to announce that I passed my thesis defense yesterday!
#PhDone #mlsky
I am super happy/relieved/exhausted to announce that I passed my thesis defense yesterday!
#PhDone #mlsky
elmo from sesame street is standing in front of a wall of flames .
ALT: elmo from sesame street is standing in front of a wall of flames .
media.tenor.com
July 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM