Sven Wang

Welcome to my research webpage. I am a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at the Institute of Mathematics at EPFL, where I lead the Chair of Statistics and Learning Theory (SLT).

Our work lies in mathematical statistics and its intersections with analysis, data science, computation and PDE.

Research interests:

Statistical inference in complex systems (PDE/SDE/inverse problems)
Mathematics of data science
High-dimensional Bayesian inference
Social choice theory (models for democratic processes)

Email: sven.wang [at] epfl [dot] ch

Before joining EPFL, I was an assistant professor at HU Berlin (2023-2025), a postdoc at MIT (2021-2023) and obtained my PhD at Cambridge University (2021) under the supervision of Richard Nickl. From 2024-2029, I am elected member of the Junge Akademie which fosters interdisciplinary and societal dialogue.

Google Scholar CV (PDF)

📣 Prospective PhD students: Please apply through the EPFL doctoral school.

Upcoming: Talks at ETH Zurich (March 2026), IMS Annual Meeting in Salzburg, FoCM Vienna, ISBA Nagoya, EMS Lugano (Summer 2026)

Papers and Preprints

[16] Global polynomial-time estimation in statistical nonlinear inverse problems via generalized stability

Preprint. Slides ETH-FDS seminar

[15] Statistical Learning Theory for Neural Operators (with N. Reinhardt and J. Zech)

Preprint

[14] Statistical algorithms for low-frequency diffusion data: A PDE approach (with M. Giordano)

Annals of Statistics (2025)

[13] Wasserstein-based Minimax Estimation of Dependence in Multivariate Regularly Varying Extremes (with X. Zhang, J. Blanchet, Y. Marzouk and V.A. Nguyen)

Preprint

[12] Distribution learning via neural differential equations: a nonparametric statistical perspective (with Y. Marzouk, R. Ren and J. Zech)

Journal of Machine Learning Research (2024)

[11] Manipulation-Robust selection of Citizens' Assemblies (with B. Flanigan and A. Procaccia)

Proceedings of AAAI (2024)

[10] Infinite-dimensional diffusion models for function spaces (with J. Pidstrigach, Y. Marzouk, S. Reich)

Journal of Machine Learning Research (2024)

[9] Voters with Stakes can Ward Off Bad Candidates (with B. Flanigan and A. Procaccia)

Foundations of Responsible Computing (2023)

[8] On free energy barriers in Gaussian priors and failure of MCMC for high-dimensional unimodal distributions (with A.S. Bandeira, A. Maillard, and R. Nickl)

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 381 (2023)

[7] Distortion under Public-Spirited Voting (with B. Flanigan and A. Procaccia)

Economics and Computation (2023)

[6] On minimax density estimation via measure transport (with Y. Marzouk)

Preprint, extended version forthcoming

[5] Wasserstein Distributionally Robust Gaussian Process Regression and Linear Inverse Problems (with X. Zhang, J. Blanchet, Y. Marzouk, V.A. Nguyen)

Annals of Applied Probability (2025)

[4] Laplace priors and spatial inhomogeneity in Bayesian inverse problems (with S. Agapiou)

Bernoulli (2024)

[3] On polynomial-time computation of high-dimensional posterior measures by Langevin-type algorithms (with R. Nickl)

Journal of the European Mathematical Society (2024)

[2] Convergence rates for Penalised Least Squares estimators in PDE-constrained regression problems (with R. Nickl and S. van de Geer)

SIAM/ASA Journal of Uncertainty Quantification (2020)

[1] The nonparametric LAN expansion for discretely observed diffusions

Electronic Journal of Statistics (2019)

[A] Statistical inference and computation in PDE models

PhD thesis, University of Cambridge (2021)

Miscellanea

I love playing piano, singing and composing music. Some groups I've been lucky to be part of:

The wonderful Pembroke lieder scheme where I studied with Joseph Middleton
Michael Schopper, my mentor and singing teacher
I had a great time being staff collaborative pianist for the MIT music deparment
Here is me playing some late Schubert (D958) in 2019, recorded in Trinity College Chapel
Munich Bach Choir
A recording of some piano music by Daniel Tetlow, for BBC Radio 3

In former years, I was also very active outdoors.

In 2015, I biked through 22 European countries for 6 months (with my very good friend Niklas from Berlin). We paired our trip with a fundraising project towards medical care for refugees from the war in Syria.
In 2012, my friend Nick came up with the glorious idea of hiking across the alps with a donkey (named Thomas) from our German hometown Aschaffenburg to the Mediterranean Sea in Italy. It was truly life-changing for 16-year-old me. Thomas had a solar panel on his back, and we funded our trip by playing the accordion in the streets. We were (unintentionally) discovered by the Italian media amidst an apparent summer drought of stories to report about.

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