Ben Burns

Hello! I am a first-year PhD student in Georgia Tech CSE advised by Peng Chen. I am supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. My research interests are in the mathematics of generative modeling and uncertainty quantification.

Before Georgia Tech, I was an undergraduate at UMass Amherst studying math and CS. I am honored to have been advised by Markos Katsoulakis and Benjamin Zhang. My senior thesis studied partial differential equation perspectives on score-based diffusion models (SBDMs).

During my time at a UMass, I was an Undergraduate Course Assistant (UCA) for Formal Language Theory, a Head UCA for both Algorithms and Foundations of Programming, and a UCA program coordinator. I am proud to have been recognized with one of the inaugural Lifetime UCA awards.

news

[2025-06-13] I am honored to receive the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
[2024-10-21] I presented a poster on PDE perspectives on SBDM at SIAM MDS.
[2024-08-19] I started my PhD at Georgia Tech CSE.
[2024-06-24] I presented a poster on PDE perspectives on SBDM at CAIMS.

some writings

[2024-07-15] Navigating the UMass CICS course requirements
[2024-05-21] Advice for UMass Math + CS undergrads interested in research
[2024-04-21] My UMassCTF 2024 challenges
[2023-06-25] “Missing Skills” not taught by the UMass CICS curriculum