Nirab Hossain
PhD student · coadvised with Juan Restrepo
Balancing information- and reward-seeking in changing environments
Research group
Current students and postdoctoral researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Pedro Albuquerque Lemos
PhD student · coadvised with Orit Peleg
Dynamical wave theory of spider vibrosensation in webs
Noah Palmer
PhD student
Synaptic resource dynamics of neural–astrocyte circuits
William Magrogan
PhD student · coadvised with Nancy Rodriguez
Chemosensory-guided search during honeybee trophallaxis
Noah Parks
PhD student
Emergence of visual illusions in delay-coupled neural circuits
Zara Chandra
Master’s student
Spatiotemporal template matching for health prediction from human EEG
Matthew Younce
Master’s student
Polling and election prediction in stochastic voting models
Ryan Thorpe
Postdoctoral fellow · coadvised with David DiGregorio
Temporal learning in recurrent neural networks with short-term plasticity
Itai Madar
IQ Biology rotation student
Evidence accumulation and decision making in puzzles
Joining the group
PhD students: The department admits students and advisors are settled during the first year, so what matters is the departmental application, due December 1. Those drawn to quantitative biology can also apply to IQ Biology by November 15, a certificate taken alongside a departmental PhD. In either, say why you want to work with me and name others in the department. Emailing me first is not necessary and does not affect admission. If you do, read my research and publications pages, then send a CV and about 100 words on the problems you want to work on.
Postdoctoral researchers: I take on postdocs when I have funding for a particular project, and the department runs the Keith Julien Visiting Assistant Professorships on its own annual cycle. Both are advertised on the department site and on MathJobs; if nothing is posted, nothing is open. To name me as a potential advisor for a Julien VAP, check my research and publications pages, then write with your CV and a summary of the problems you would like to work on.
CU undergraduates and master’s students: I supervise one or two at a time, usually students who have done well in one of my courses. Check my research and publications pages, then write with the courses you have taken and the kind of problem you would like to work on.
Collaborators
Much of the group’s work is joint with experimentalists and theorists.
- Krešimir Josić University of Houston
- Decisions in changing environments, collective foraging, perceptual multistability
- Joshua I. Gold University of Pennsylvania
- Normative and human decision rules under uncertainty
- Orit Peleg University of Colorado Boulder
- Collective behavior and resource transfer in social insects
- Nancy Rodriguez University of Colorado Boulder
- Consensus and polarization in social dynamics
- Ahmed El Hady Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
- Patch foraging under uncertainty, social foraging
- David H. Root University of Colorado Boulder
- Neural circuits for foraging and threat
- Daniele Avitabile Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- Spatiotemporal dynamics of neural field equations
- Bhargav Karamched Florida State University
- Evidence accumulation and decision making on social networks
Former group members
Doctoral students
- Sage Shaw PhD, 2025
- Postdoctoral researcher, University of Minnesota
- Heather Cihak PhD, 2024
- Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
- Nicholas Barendregt PhD, 2023
- Data Scientist, Boulder Imaging
- Subekshya Bidari PhD, 2022
- Data Scientist, CDC
- Kate Nguyen PhD, 2020 · coadvised with Krešimir Josić
- Independent Data Science Consultant
- Adrian Radillo PhD, 2018 · coadvised with Krešimir Josić
- Data Scientist, Chubb
- Daniel Poll PhD, 2017
- Assistant Professor, College of Charleston
Master’s students
- Emily Webb M.S., 2021
- Systems Engineer, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
- Timothy Thorn M.S., 2020
- Actuarial Manager, Centene
- Nikhil Krishnan M.S., 2019
- PhD student, Princeton ORFE
Postdoctoral fellows
- Tahra Eissa 2018–2025
- Assistant Professor of Physiology, CU Anschutz
- Alan Veliz-Cuba 2013–2015
- Associate Professor of Mathematics, University of Dayton