Edgar Dobriban

Edgar Dobriban
  • Associate Professor of Statistics and Data Science, with secondary appointment in Computer and Information Science

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    305 Academic Research Building
    265 South 37th Street
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Research Interests: Statistics and machine learning

Overview

Our research interests include problems at the interface of statistics, machine learning, and AI, such as uncertainty quantification, AI safety, robustness, high-dimensional asymptotic statistics, etc.

The group is always looking to expand. We are recruiting PhD students at Penn to work on problems in statistics and machine learning. PhD applicants interested to work with me should mention this on their application. Please apply through the departments of Statistics & Data Science, Computer and Information Science, and the AMCS program, as it gives higher chances for admission.

Recent news:

Miscellanea:

  • I use Twitter/X to keep up with new research.
  • I grew up in Romania, and speak Hungarian as a first language (the original spelling of my name is Dobribán Edgár).

 

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Research

Talk slides: GitHub.  Google Scholar.

Teaching

Past Courses

  • AMCS5999 - Independent Study

    Independent Study allows students to pursue academic interests not available in regularly offered courses. Students must consult with their academic advisor to formulate a project directly related to the student’s research interests. All independent study courses are subject to the approval of the AMCS Graduate Group Chair.

  • AMCS9950 - Dissertation

    Allows for a PhD student to be enrolled full-time to work exclusively on research, writing and preparing his/her doctoral thesis and defense. All required coursework (20 CUs) must be completed, and the student must have passed his/her thesis proposal/oral candidacy examination prior to being enrolled.

  • AMCS9990 - Masters Thesis

    For students writing a Master's Thesis to fulfill the program's requirements. All required coursework (8 CUs) must be completed prior to being enrolled.

  • AMCS9999 - Ind Study & Research

    Study under the direction of a faculty member.

  • STAT3990 - Independent Study

    Written permission of instructor and the department course coordinator required to enroll in this course.

  • STAT4300 - Probability

    Discrete and continuous sample spaces and probability; random variables, distributions, independence; expectation and generating functions; Markov chains and recurrence theory.

  • STAT4310 - Statistical Inference

    Graphical displays; one- and two-sample confidence intervals; one- and two-sample hypothesis tests; one- and two-way ANOVA; simple and multiple linear least-squares regression; nonlinear regression; variable selection; logistic regression; categorical data analysis; goodness-of-fit tests. A methodology course. This course does not have business applications but has significant overlap with STAT 1010 and 1020. This course may be taken concurrently with the prerequisite with instructor permission.

  • STAT5100 - Probability

    Elements of matrix algebra. Discrete and continuous random variables and their distributions. Moments and moment generating functions. Joint distributions. Functions and transformations of random variables. Law of large numbers and the central limit theorem. Point estimation: sufficiency, maximum likelihood, minimum variance. Confidence intervals. A one-year course in calculus is recommended.

  • STAT9910 - Sem in Adv Appl of Stat

    This seminar is for graduate students who wish to learn about current research frontiers. It covers advanced topics in probability, statistical theory and methods, applied statistics, data science and artificial intelligence. Specific topics vary from year to year and emphasize both theoretical foundations and applications.

  • STAT9911 - Sem in Adv Appl of Stat (ML)

    This seminar will be taken by doctoral candidates after the completion of most of their coursework. Topics vary from year to year and are chosen from advance probability, statistical inference, robust methods, and decision theory with principal emphasis on applications.

  • STAT9950 - Dissertation

    Dissertation

  • STAT9999 - Independent Study

    Written permission of instructor and the department course coordinator required to enroll.

Awards And Honors

In the News

Knowledge @ Wharton

Activity

Latest Research

Lei Zhao, Abhay Bhaskar, Edgar Dobriban LivePI: More Realistic Benchmarking of Agents Against Indirect Prompt Injection.
All Research

In the News

AI Stocks, Oil Prices, and the Fed’s Next Move

Jeremy Siegel discusses surging AI-driven markets, inflation pressures tied to global conflict, and what new Federal Reserve leadership could mean for interest rates.…Read More

Knowledge @ Wharton - 2026/05/29
All News

Awards and Honors

ASA Gottfried E. Noether Early Career Scholar Award 2024
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