Brown University · Department of Computer Science

Theoretical Computer Science at Brown

We study the mathematical foundations of computing — from algorithms, complexity, and cryptography to distributed systems and computational biology.

Faculty

Yu Cheng

Algorithms, machine learning

Lorenzo De Stefani

Lorenzo De Stefani

Algorithms, data science

Amy Greenwald

Artificial intelligence

Maurice Herlihy

Maurice Herlihy

Distributed, parallel computing

Ellis Hershkowitz

Ellis Hershkowitz

Graph algorithms, metric embeddings

Sorin Istrail

Computational biology, algorithms

Philip Klein

Algorithms, graphs, networks

Robert Y. Lewis

Robert Y. Lewis

Formal methods, logic, verification

Anna Lysyanskaya

Anna Lysyanskaya

Peihan Miao

Cryptography, security

Roberto Tamassia

Roberto Tamassia

Security, cryptography, algorithms

Eli Upfal

Algorithms, probability

Suresh Venkatasubramanian

Suresh Venkatasubramanian

Algorithmic fairness, ML

Emeritus & Affiliated Faculty

Seny Kamara

Visiting Professor

Claire Mathieu

Visiting Professor

Franco Preparata

Franco Preparata

Professor Emeritus

John Savage

Professor Emeritus

PhD Students

Klára Churá

Binhao Chen

Willem Fletcher

Willem Fletcher

Jeremy Flics

Franklin Harding

Franklin Harding

Richard Z Huang

Richard Z Huang

Victor Youdom Kemmoe

Victor Youdom Kemmoe

Hrithik Nambiar

Hrithik Nambiar

Eileen Nolan

Phuoc Van Long Pham

Phuoc Van Long Pham

Natanon Therdpraisan

Kevin A. Wang

Jifeng Wang

Seminars & Events

Theory Seminar

A weekly seminar featuring invited speakers on topics across theoretical computer science. Talks cover areas such as algorithms, complexity theory, cryptography, and more. See the theory seminar page for the schedule and more details.

Algorithms Lunch

A weekly informal lunch for students and faculty to discuss recent results and ideas across algorithms and theory. Students often present practice talks or interesting papers. Sign up for the Brown theory mailing list to receive announcements.

Crypto Reading Group

A reading group for students and faculty interested in cryptography research. Meetings mostly feature student talks about their own research or papers they recently read. Outside speakers give talks occasionally as well. Subscribe to the crypto mailing list to receive announcements.

Preparata Lecture

An annual lecture series honoring Professor Emeritus Franco Preparata, featuring prominent invited speakers from across theoretical computer science. See the lecture series page and subscribe to the Brown CS events mailing list for announcements.

Kanellakis Lecture

An annual lecture series honoring Paris Kanellakis, a beloved member of Brown CS. Invited speakers are often from theoretical computer science, but not always. See the lecture series page and subscribe to the Brown CS events mailing list for announcements.

ICERM

Brown is home to the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM). ICERM hosts workshops and semester-long programs, frequently in theoretical computer science, that bring together researchers from across institutions. See the ICERM website for details.

Recent Select Courses

Data Structures, Algorithms, and Intractability: An Introduction

Theory of Computation

Introduction to Probability and Computing

Introduction to Cryptography and Computer Security

Applied Cryptography

Algorithmic Aspects of Machine Learning

Probabilistic Methods in Computer Science

Design and Analysis of Algorithms

Formal Proof and Verification

Computational Molecular Biology

Algorithmic Foundations of Computational Biology

Introduction to Quantum Computing and Information

Advanced Probabilistic Methods in Computer Science

Advanced Algorithms in Computational Biology and Medical Bioinformatics

Beyond Worst Case Analysis of Algorithms

An Algorithmist's Toolkit

Robust Algorithms for Machine Learning

View the full CS course list

PhD & Postdoc Alumni (since 2006)

Positions listed are current (or most recently known) positions.

Postdoc · Edinburgh

Instructor · Colorado Mesa

Kweku Kwegyir-Aggrey

Researcher · Google DeepMind

Faculty · Barnard College

Faculty · U. Virginia

Gayathri Garimella

Research Engineer · TFH

Alessio Mazzetto

Researcher · Meta

Lilika Markatou

Faculty · TU Delft

Postdoc · Yale

Postdoc · Georgetown

Leah Rosenbloom

Faculty · Rhode Island College

Postdoc · Broad Institute

Postdoc · Stanford

Shahrzad Haddadan

Faculty · Rutgers

Archita Agarwal

Researcher · MongoDB

Postdoc · Duke

Faculty · UC Davis

Faculty · Tufts

Lorenzo De Stefani

Faculty · Brown University

Consultant · Becker Consulting

Elizabeth Crites

Researcher · Parity

Apoorvaa Deshpande

Engineer · Google

Thomas Dickerson

Founder · Geopipe

Evgenios Kornaropoulos

Faculty · George Mason U.

Researcher · JHU APL

Researcher · Microsoft

ML Engineer · Whatnot

Alessandro Epasto

Researcher · Google

Engineer · Akamai

Founder · Pervaziv AI

Hammurabi Mendes

Faculty · Davidson

Faculty · U. Connecticut

Foteini Baldimtsi

Faculty · George Mason U.

David Eisenstat

Engineer · Google

Matteo Riondato

Faculty · Amherst

Faculty · Washington State U.

Faculty · U. Melbourne

Faculty · U. Padova

Faculty · Reichman U.

Engineer · Vanta

Charalampos Papamanthou

Faculty · Yale U.

Faculty · Le Moyne

Alptekin Küpçü

Faculty · Koç U.

Researcher · Google

Researcher · Microsoft

Glencora Borradaile

Faculty · Oregon State

Faculty · NC State

Researcher · Microsoft

Aris Anagnostopoulos

Faculty · Sapienza U.

Nikos Triandopoulos

Faculty · Brown University

F.A.Q.

Apply to the Computer Science PhD program at Brown. In your statement of purpose, mention the faculty you are interested in working with. The application deadline is December 15. All applications are reviewed carefully.

Browse each faculty member's webpage to learn about their active projects and research interests. Reach out individually to express your interest and describe your background. Attending the seminars is a good way to get a sense of theory at Brown.