Research News
UC Berkeley researchers develop diffusion model to better simulate rare, extreme outcomes
Planning for what usually happens is relatively straightforward. Preparing for what rarely happens, but can have enormous consequences, is much harder. Businesses, governments and financial institutions rely on averages to estimate typical demand, costs and resource needs. But a sudden spike in demand or an unusually large financial loss can fall well beyond those typical…
Read MoreUC Berkeley IEOR and EECS researchers earn INFORMS award for power systems research
As renewable energy reshapes the electric grid, researchers are rethinking how power systems can remain reliable without sacrificing efficiency. Wind and solar generation can vary from forecasts, forcing grid operators to make decisions under uncertainty. A new optimization method developed by UC Berkeley researchers offers a more precise way to account for that risk, potentially…
Read MoreUC Berkeley professor Lee Fleming receives 2026 Dan and Mary Lou Schendel Best Paper Prize
The Strategic Management Society recognized Fleming and co-author Olav Sorenson for influential research showing how scientific knowledge can guide inventors through complex technological problems. Lee Fleming, a professor in UC Berkeley’s Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (Berkeley IEOR) who also holds an appointment at the Haas School of Business, has received the 2026…
Read More$20M NSF Renewal Supports New Frontiers in AI and Optimization
As artificial intelligence takes on increasingly complex decisions, UC Berkeley researchers are helping rethink the mathematical foundations that make those systems possible. The National Science Foundation has awarded $20 million to renew the National Science Foundation Artificial Intelligence Institute for Advances in Optimization, or AI4OPT, for five years through 2031. Under the cooperative agreement, researchers…
Read MoreYing Cui Receives NSF CAREER Award for Optimization Research
Ying Cui, an assistant professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at University of California, Berkeley, has received the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation. The CAREER Award is among the NSF’s most prestigious honors for early-career faculty. It will provide approximately $631,492 over five years to…
Read MoreUC Berkeley researchers tackle bidder collusion in high-stakes auctions
In recent years, economists and regulators have begun examining how artificial intelligence is being used to set prices and bids across a range of markets. In some sectors, including housing, companies rely on automated pricing systems that analyze market conditions and competitors’ data to recommend prices in real time. Supporters argue such tools improve efficiency,…
Read MoreWhen AI Image Generators Refuse
New UC Berkeley benchmark examines the trade-off between safety and usability in text-to-image models Text-to-image (T2I) models have become a central part of today’s artificial intelligence ecosystem, powering tools that generate images from short text descriptions. As these systems grow more capable and widely deployed, concerns about safety have followed closely behind. Developers have introduced…
Read MoreHow AI prompting shapes accuracy, efficiency and cost
New UC Berkeley research maps how AI reasoning strategies affect accuracy, efficiency As large language models (LLMs) move from research labs into classrooms, offices and engineering workflows, “prompt engineering” has become a central practice for shaping how LLMs reason and respond. A new study led by UC Berkeley researchers goes beyond the general understanding that…
Read MoreThe innovation power couple: Study shows how patenting boosts pure research
The new study, published in the journal Science, reveals that researchers who both publish papers and file patents—dubbed “Pasteur’s quadrant researchers” after pioneering microbiologist and chemist Louis Pasteur—produce work that is more novel and more influential than those who stick to just one activity. The finding challenges long-held assumptions that scientists should focus pure research…
Read MoreUC Berkeley IEOR-led Team Takes Second Place for Predictive Model Aiming to Improve Rail Safety
UC Berkeley IEOR PhD student Alberto Gennaro and his team are applying data-driven modeling to a problem that directly affects the safety and reliability of railroads: predicting when train wheels are likely to fail. Their project earned second place in the 2025 INFORMS Railway Applications Section Problem Solving Competition, which invites researchers and practioners to…
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