prashanti anderson

   

I am a second-year PhD student at MIT CSAIL advised by Sam Hopkins. My research interests are in algorithm design, particularly from the lens of convex programming.

Before starting my PhD I earned my BS in Computer Science from CMU, where I was advised by Pravesh Kothari. I am also grateful for the mentorship of Anıl Ada during my time as an undergraduate teaching assistant at CMU.

If you'd like to chat you can reach me at paanders[at]mit[dot]edu.


research

My research interests are in designing efficient algorithms for problems in areas such as worst case approximation and robust statistics. I'm particularly interested in the power of semidefinite programming and the sum-of-squares hierarchy.

papers

Dimension Reduction via Sum-of-Squares and Improved Clustering Algorithms for Non-Spherical Mixtures
with Mitali Bafna, Rares Buhai, Pravesh Kothari, and David Steurer.
Preprint.
[ arXiv ]
Sample-Optimal Private Regression in Polynomial Time
with Ainesh Bakshi, Mahbod Majid, and Stefan Tiegel.
STOC 2025.
[ arXiv ]

teaching

I am honored to receive the 2023 Alan J. Perlis Undergraduate Student Teaching Award for my work as an undergraduate teaching assistant at CMU.


misc

  • In my free time, I enjoy going fast 8(th) in my Teamfight Tactics games.
  • I'm also a beginner photographer and enjoy various other arts and crafts.
  • I'm a big fan of matcha, you can read more about my thoughts on matcha here.
  • Website template is due to Rebecca Lin.

Updated April 2025.