Curriculum Vitae of Zsolt Talata

 

Present Position

2015 – Present

Associate Professor

Department of Mathematics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS.

Research area: mathematical statistics, probability, information theory

Previous Positions

2007 – 2015

Assistant Professor

Department of Mathematics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS.

Research area: mathematical statistics, probability, information theory

2005 – 2007

Visiting Assistant Professor

School of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA.

Research area: mathematical statistics, stochastics, bioinformatics

2004 – 2005

Young Research Fellow

Stochastics Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.

Research area: information-theoretical methods in mathematical statistics, model selection, Gibbs fields

2003 – 2004

Junior Researcher

Information Theory Research Division, Rényi Institute of Mathematics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.

Research area: information-theoretical methods in mathematical statistics, model selection, Gibbs fields

Visiting Position

2005

Invited Researcher (for 1 month)

Laboratoire de Mathématique, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France.

Research area: model selection

Education

2000 – 2003

Ph.D. student

Department of Stochastics, Doctoral School of Mathematical Institute, Faculty of Science,
Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary,
and Rényi Institute of Mathematics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary.

Degree: Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, June 2005 (summa cum laude)

Thesis advisor: Imre Csiszár

Thesis title: Model Selection via Information Criteria for Tree Models and Markov Random Fields

1998 – 2002

Took courses in the Mathematics program, Faculty of Science, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.

Measure-theory based courses: Probability Theory; Mathematical Statistics I–III; Multivariate Statistics I–II; Markov Chains; Independent Increment and Markov Processes; Information Theory; Martingale Theory; System Theory I–II; Lifetime-Data Analysis

Related courses: Functional Analysis; Function Series; Differential Equations

1993 – 2000

Graduate and undergraduate student

Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary.

Degree: M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, June 2000 (excellent)

Grants

  • 2014 – 2017 — NSF DMS 1407819: “Statistical Inference on Memory Structure of Processes.” PI: Talata.
  • 2014 – 2015 — US Army Research Office 65386-MA-II: “Statistical Inference on Memory Structure of Processes and Its Applications to Information Theory.” PI: Talata.
  • 2010 – 2015 — NIH/NIAMS R01 AR056347-01: “Gradient-Based Strategy for Osteochondral Regeneration.” PI: Detamore.
  • 2009 – 2013 — NSF DMS 0906929: “Information-Theoretical Methods in Statistics.” PI: Talata.
  • 2008 – 2010 — NASA GSRP NNX08AV41H: “Modified Lorentzian Modeling of OH, H2O, and SO4 Spectral Absorption Bands to Determine the Presence of Phyllosilicates and Sulfates on Mars.” PI: Talata; student: Makarewicz.
  • 2008 – 2009 — KU NFGRF 2302156: “Context Tree Estimation for Finite and Infinite Memory Processes, via Bayesian Information Criterion.” PI: Talata.
  • 2006 – 2007 — OMFB / PAI Balaton F-23/2005 OMFB-00421/2006: “Information Theory and Statistics.” PIs: Csiszár & Gassiat.
  • 2004 – 2007 — OTKA T046376: “Information Theory and Its Applications.” PI: Csiszár.

Honors and Awards

  • 2011 — Inducted into Phi Beta Delta, Honor Society for International Scholars.
  • 2006 — “Thanks For Being a Great Teacher,” CETL, Georgia Tech.
  • 2000 — Ph.D. Scholarship (3 years), Rényi Institute of Mathematics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
  • 2000 — Dunaferr Award, Dunaferr Danube Iron Works, Inc. (graduate studies excellence).
  • 2000 — Dissertation Award, Budapest & Pest County Chamber of Engineering.
  • 2000 — 3rd Prize, Thesis Competition (Industry for the Modern Engineering Education & LANeX Consulting).
  • 1999 — 2nd Prize, Informatics Section, Students’ Scientific National Conference (OTDK).
  • 1998 — 1st Prize, Control Section, Students’ Scientific Conference (TDK), Technical University of Budapest.
  • 1997 — 2nd–3rd Prize, Signal Processing Competition, Technical University of Budapest.
  • 1996 — Schlumberger Scholarship (1 year), Schlumberger Industries.

Teaching Experience

2007 – Present

Stochastic Processes (grad); Statistical Theory (grad); Probability Theory (grad); Time Series Analysis (grad/undergrad); Applied Regression Analysis (grad/undergrad); Mathematical Theory of Statistics (grad/undergrad); Probability (grad/undergrad); Applied Mathematical Statistics (upper-undergrad); Elementary Statistics (undergrad); Elementary Differential Equations (undergrad) — The University of Kansas, USA.

2005 – 2007

Probability I (measure-theory based graduate course); Mathematical Statistics I & II (grad/undergrad); Statistics and Applications (upper-undergrad); Introduction to Probability and Statistics (upper-undergrad) — Georgia Institute of Technology, USA.

2005

Information Theory (international Ph.D. program) — Central European University, Hungary.

2000 – 2005

Calculus; Multivariate Calculus; Differential Geometry; Function Series; Linear Algebra; Probability Theory — Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary.