Eli Ben-Sasson

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Eli Ben-Sasson is interested in understanding the intrinsic mathematical structure that leads to hard computational problems. His previous work focused on identifying combinatorial properties that lead to hard problems in different contexts of theoretical computer science, such as prepositional proof complexity, algorithms for intractable (NP-complete) problems, and property testing. Before joining the Radcliffe Institute, he had a joint appointment as a postdoctoral fellow in the Division for Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University and as a postdoctoral associate in the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science.

As a member of a special computer science group convening at Radcliffe, Ben-Sasson will participate in the continuing investigation of the interplay between randomness and computation, which lays the foundations for modern cryptography and plays a fundamental role in the design of algorithms and computational complexity at large.

Ben-Sasson received his BSc and PhD (summa cum laude) in computer science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. During his graduate studies, he spent two academic years at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, one of them as a participant in the special year on theoretical computer science. Ben-Sasson was an Amirin scholar during his undergraduate studies, won a Sire Charles Clore Fellowship for excellence in the natural sciences during his graduate studies, and received the Dr. Shlomiuk Award from the Hebrew University for outstanding PhD research.