Eren C. Kızıldağ

e-mail : kizildag@illinois.edu

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I am also affiliated with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Previously, I was a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University, Department of Statistics. I received my PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT under the wonderful guidance of David Gamarnik. At MIT, I was affiliated with the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS) and the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS).

You can find my CV here.

Research Interests

My research is a mix of probability, statistics and data science, and computer science. I am particularly interested in understanding statistical-computational trade-offs in large scale random models, including random optimization problems and statistical inference models, as well as in the mathematics of data science.

Journals and Full Conference Papers

Shattering in the Ising p-Spin Glass Model
David Gamarnik, Aukosh Jagannath, Eren C. Kızıldağ
Probability Theory and Related Fields, 2025
[Paper]

Sharp Thresholds for the Overlap Gap Property: Ising p-Spin Glass and Random k-SAT
Eren C. Kızıldağ
Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM) 2025
[Paper] [Slides]

Information-Theoretic Guarantees for Recovering Low-rank Tensors from Symmetric Rank-One Measurements.
Eren C. Kızıldağ
Algorithmic Learning Theory (ALT), 2025
[Paper]

Algorithmic Obstructions in the Random Number Partitioning Problem
David Gamarnik, Eren C. Kızıldağ
Annals of Applied Probability, 2023
[Paper] [Slides] [Talk] [Poster]
Conference version in ISIT 2022

Stationary Points of Shallow Neural Networks with Quadratic Activation Function
David Gamarnik, Eren C. Kızıldağ, Ilias Zadik
Mathematics of Operations Research, 2024
[Paper] [Slides] [Talk]

Geometric Barriers for Stable and Online Algorithms for Discrepancy Minimization
David Gamarnik, Eren C. Kızıldağ, Will Perkins, Changji Xu
Conference on Learning Theory (COLT), 2023
[Paper]

Algorithms and Barriers in the Symmetric Binary Perceptron Model
David Gamarnik, Eren C. Kızıldağ, Will Perkins, Changji Xu
IEEE Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS), 2022
[Paper] [Slides] [Talk] [Poster]

Self-Regularity of Non-Negative Output Weights for Overparameterized Two-Layer Neural Networks
David Gamarnik, Eren C. Kızıldağ, Ilias Zadik
IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, 2022
[Paper] [Slides]
Conference version in ISIT 2021

Computing the Partition Function of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick Model is Hard on Average
David Gamarnik, Eren C. Kızıldağ
Annals of Applied Probability, 2021
[Paper] [Slides]
Conference version in ISIT 2020

Inference in High-Dimensional Linear Regression via Lattice Basis Reduction and Integer Relation Detection
David Gamarnik, Eren C. Kızıldağ, Ilias Zadik
IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, 2021
[Paper]

Preprints and Papers Under Review

Sharp Online Hardness for Large Balanced Independent Sets
Abhishek Dhawan, Eren C. Kızıldağ, Neeladri Maitra
Under review, 2025+
[Paper]

Optimal Hardness of Online Algorithms for Large Independent Sets
David Gamarnik, Eren C. Kızıldağ, Lutz Warnke
Under review, 2025+
[Paper]

Large Average Subtensor Problem: Ground-State, Algorithms, and Algorithmic Barriers
Abhishek Hegade K. R., Eren C. Kızıldağ
Under review, 2025+
[Paper]

Sharp Thresholds for the Overlap Gap Property: Ising p-Spin Glass and Random k-SAT
Eren C. Kızıldağ
Under review, 2025+
[Paper]

Planted Number Partitioning Problem
Eren C. Kızıldağ
Under review, 2025+
[Paper]

Symmetric Binary Perceptron with Random Labels: Capacity, Universality, and Overlap Gap Property
Eren C. Kızıldağ, Tanay Wakhare
Preprint, 2023

Neural Networks and Polynomial Regression. Demystifying the Overparametrization Phenomena
Matt Emschwiller, David Gamarnik, Eren C. Kızıldağ, Ilias Zadik
Preprint, 2020
[Paper]

Conference Proceedings

A Random CSP with Connections to Discrepancy Theory and Randomized Trials
Eren C. Kızıldağ
IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), 2024
[Extended Paper] [Slides]

Symmetric Perceptron with Random Labels
Eren C. Kızıldağ, Tanay Wakhare
International Conference on Sampling Theory and Applications (SampTA), 2023
[Paper] [Slides]

The Random Number Partitioning Problem: Overlap Gap Property and Algorithmic Barriers
David Gamarnik, Eren C. Kızıldağ
IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), 2022
[Paper]

Self-Regularity of Output Weights for Overparameterized Two-Layer Neural Networks
David Gamarnik, Eren C. Kızıldağ, Ilias Zadik
IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), 2021
[Paper] [Slides]

Computing the Partition Function of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick Model is Hard on Average
David Gamarnik, Eren C. Kızıldağ
IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), 2020
[Paper] [Slides]

High-Dimensional Linear Regression and Phase Retrieval via PSLQ Integer Relation Algorithm
David Gamarnik, Eren C. Kızıldağ
IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), 2019
[Paper] [Slides]

Thesis

Algorithms and Algorithmic Barriers in High-Dimensional Statistics and Random Combinatorial Structures
Ph.D thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2022
[PDF]

Other Biographical Notes

I earned my B.S. degree with highest honors (summa cum laude) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Bogaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey in 2014; and my M.S. degree in EECS from MIT in 2017. I did experimental research on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for my Master's thesis. Part of my M.S. thesis work appeared in the 24th Annual Meeting of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), Singapore, 2016; it received a summa cum laude award (top 5% of all submitted works, see my talk here).

I am a proud graduate of Ankara Science High School (AFL), class of 2010.