Hi, I’m Niki, a Computer Science PhD Candidate at the University of California, Riverside, where I work in the Vision and Learning Group and CODE Lab, advised by Professors Amit K. Roy-Chowdhury and Vishwanath Saragadam. I’m currently a Machine Learning Research Intern at Apple in Cupertino, CA.
Before UCR, I completed my B.Sc. in Computer Engineering at Iran University of Science and Technology, where I was admitted with a top 0.07% rank (293 out of 400,000+ participants) in Iran’s National University Entrance Exam.
My research interests span computer vision, image processing, NLP, and robust machine learning, with a general focus on making AI systems more reliable in real-world settings. During my Ph.D., I have worked on improving the stability and quality of image restoration methods based on diffusion models, and I have explored how multimodal learning systems behave when some inputs are missing or unreliable. I also have experience with 3D reconstruction and neural rendering, including camera pose estimation and modern radiance-field methods. I’m motivated by problems at the intersection of visual understanding, generative modeling, and trustworthy AI. Beyond my research, I enjoy playing the piano and reading novels!
- Diffusion Models for Generation and Restoration
- Robust and Trustworthy Machine Learning
- Computer Vision and Natural Language Processing
- 3D Reconstruction and Rendering
Ph.D. in Computer Science, Present
University of California, Riverside
B.Sc in Computer Engineering, 2023
Iran University of Science and Technology
Recent News
News
[8/2026] Our paper, “Broadband Wide Field of View Imaging with Computational Mirrors” has been accepted as an oral presentation at the European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV'26).
[5/2026] Our paper, “CARD: Correlation Aware Restoration with Diffusion” has been accepted at the IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR'26).
[3/2026] I joined Apple in Cupertino, CA as a Data and Machine Learning Intern for Spring and Summer 2026.
[3/2026] I successfully passed my PhD Qualifying Exam and officially advanced to candidacy!
[11/2025] Our paper, “MMP: Towards Robust Multi-Modal Learning with Masked Modality Projection” has been accepted at the 2025 IEEE International Conference on Big Data (BigData'25).
Recent Publications
Recent Teachings
Teaching Experience
[Spring 2025] Head TA - Introduction to Computer Science, UC Riverside.
[Winter 2025] TA - Introduction to Computer Science, UC Riverside.
Recent Awards
Academic Awards
Received the Dean’s Distinguished Fellowship Award at the University of California, Riverside (2023)
Awarded an M.Sc. Admission Offer for Outstanding Students by the Iran University of Science and Technology, Computer Engineering Department (2023).
Received an Undergraduate Tuition Fee Waiver for Exceptional Students at Iran University of Science and Technology (2020).
Ranked 293rd out of over 400,000 students in Iran’s National University Entrance Exam, placing in the Top 0.07% (2019).
Awarded at NODET’s Young Researchers Competition, recognized as one of the top tech projects in honor of Prof. Maryam Mirzakhani (2018).
Achieved 1st Place in the Junior Demo Open AI & Robotics Challenge at the RoboCup IranOpen International Competitions (2017).
Contact
- niki.nezakati@email.ucr.edu
- California, USA