Prof. Tali Kaufman
Complications, Code Theory, Combinatorics and Randomization in Computation, Sublinear Algorithms
CV
Prof. Kaufman is a Full Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Bar-Ilan University. She completed her PhD at Tel Aviv University and continued her post-doctoral research at MIT, the IAS in Princeton, and the Weizmann Institute of Science. She is an ERC laureate—a prestigious research grant awarded by the European Union—and her research was ranked first in Europe among ERC recipients in the year it was awarded. In 2022, she was invited as a speaker for a special session at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), one of the central events in the world of mathematics and computer science. She is among the founders of the Israeli Inter-University Theoretical Quantum Center. Her research has been published in leading theoretical computer science conferences, including STOC, FOCS, and ITCS, and she collaborates with leading researchers in Israel and worldwide.
Research
Theoretical Computer Science, High-Dimensional Expanders, and Error-Correcting Codes
Robust computation is computation that reaches correct conclusions even though the input it runs on is noisy and contains errors. Robust computation is central to classical computing and is one of the primary challenges in building a quantum computer.
Tali Kaufman's research revolves around finding mathematical structures with invisible symmetries upon which robust classical and quantum computation can be based. These mathematical structures are a finite reflection of infinite mathematical structures based on number theory.
The core of Tali's research deals with finding ways to base noise-tolerant (robust) computation on these mathematical structures. These structures are called High-Dimensional Expanders. Tali's research on high-dimensional expanders has been the foundation for many recent breakthroughs that utilized these structures, including the breakthrough that enabled the discovery of good, local quantum error-correcting codes. Good local quantum codes seemed like an unattainable goal before Tali's research, which introduced the framework of high-dimensional expanders as the basis for achieving them.
Key Research Areas:
Theoretical Computer Science
High-Dimensional Expanders
Error-Correcting Codes
Combinatorics
Nature of the Research:
Theoretical: Developing mathematical structures that enable robust classical and quantum computation.
Career Horizon:
Graduates in this field acquire a deep mathematical and theoretical foundation and integrate into a variety of tracks:
Academia: Research in theoretical computer science, quantum computing, and combinatorics
Industry: Error-correcting codes and quantum computation
Applied Research: Developing methods for robust classical and quantum computation
Publications
Last Updated Date : 17/08/2026
