Faculty Directory

Babadi, Behtash

Babadi, Behtash

Associate Professor
Associate Chair for Graduate Studies
Electrical and Computer Engineering
The Institute for Systems Research
Brain and Behavior Institute
2113 A.V. Williams Bldg.

Behtash Babadi received the Ph.D. and M.Sc. degrees in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University in 2011 and 2008, respectively, and the B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran in 2006. From 2011 to 2014, he was a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as at the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. His research interests include statistical and adaptive signal processing, neural signal processing, and systems neuroscience.

Education

Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences, Harvard University, 2011

M.Sc. in Engineering Sciences, Harvard University, 2008

B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, 2006

Honors and awards

E. Robert Kent Teaching Award for Junior Faculty (2019)

NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award (2016)

GSAS Merit Fellowship, Harvard University (2010)

Statistical and adaptive signal processing, neural signal processing, systems neuroscience


  • A. Sheikhattar, S. Miran, J. Liu, J. B. Fritz, S. A. Shamma, P. O. Kanold, and B. Babadi, Extracting Neuronal Functional Network Dynamics via Adaptive Granger Causality Analysis, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 115, No. 17, E3869-E3878, April 2018.
  • S. Miran, S. Akram, A. Sheikhattar, J. Z. Simon, T. Zhang, and B. Babadi, Real-Time Tracking of Selective Auditory Attention from M/EEG: A Bayesian Filtering Approach, Frontiers in Neuroscience, Vol. 12, pp. 262, May 2018.
  • N. A. Francis, D. E. Winkowski, A. Sheikhattar, K. Armengol, B. Babadi, and P. O. Kanold, Small Networks Encode Decision-Making in Primary Auditory Cortex, Neuron, Vol. 97, No. 4, Feb. 21, 2018.
  • P. Das and B. Babadi, Dynamic Bayesian Multitaper Spectral Analysis, IEEE Trans. on Signal Processing, Vol. 66, No. 6, pp. 1394-1409, March 2018.
  • A. Kazemipour, J. Liu, K. Solarana, D. A. Nagode, P. O. Kanold, M. Wu, and B. Babadi, Fast and Stable Signal Deconvolution via Compressible State-Space Models, IEEE Trans. on Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 65, No. 1, pp. 74-86, Jan. 2018.
  • S. Miran, P. L. Purdon, E. N. Brown, and B. Babadi, Robust Estimation of Sparse Narrowband Spectra from Neuronal Spiking Data, IEEE Trans. on Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 64, No. 10, pp. 2462-2474, Oct. 2017.
  • A. Sheikhattar, J. B. Fritz, S. A. Shamma, and B. Babadi, Recursive Sparse Point Process Regression with Application to Spectrotemporal Receptive Field Plasticity Analysis, IEEE Trans. on Signal Processing, Vol. 64, No. 8, pp. 2026—2039, April 2016.

$1.5M in NSF funding secured to improve solar energy conversion systems

The four-year interdisciplinary project could lead to major breakthroughs in control, modeling, sensing, design, and reliability of power electronic interfaces.

Two ECE Graduate Students Win 2023 UMD Three Minute Thesis Competition

Students challenged to present research in just three minutes!

Autism Research Resonates in Hearing-Focused Project

Neurobiologist and Engineer Investigate Neural Networks That Underpin a Common but Little-Understood Disorder

2023 BBI Seed Grants Inspire New Interdisciplinary Collaborations

The six interdisciplinary teams will use state-of-the-art neuroscience tools to translate basic science research into real-world impact.

Giving back: New solar panels support a local urban farm

Clark School staff, students and faculty help historic Silver Spring produce farm become more sustainable.

New robust and scalable computational methodology developed by UMD researchers helps identify directed connectivity within the brain

‘NLGC’ can be used with magnetoencephalography to better understand the neural mechanisms behind sensory processing.

Uncovering the mysteries of networking in the brain

UMD researchers are sorting out how our brains’ neurons organize as we take in, decide and act on information.

How does the brain turn heard sounds into comprehensible language?

$2.88M in NIH funding could lead to brain-aware, tunable hearing devices.

Fu, Marcus team for new AFOSR project on simulation optimization

Simulation optimization aims to guide planning and decision making under uncertainty in complex dynamic settings.

Cornelia Fermüller is PI for 'NeuroPacNet,' a $1.75M NSF funding award

The resulting "network of networks" will further the scientific grand challenge of developing neuromorphic artificial intelligence.

Babadi research to reveal computational principles for the brain's sensory processing and behavior

The research could help improve prosthetics for people with paraplegia and make possible reconfigurable neuromorphic devices.

2020 Dean's Doctoral Student Research Awards

The competition recognizes distinguished graduate student researchers in order to help propel their careers and demonstrate the value of high-quality engineering research.

Clark School faculty 'AIM-HI' to address major health challenges

The new UMB-UMCP program has announced its first grants for projects combining AI and medicine.

Brain and Behavior Initiative Hosts 3rd Annual Seed Grant Symposium

Researchers from across UMD convene to discuss the latest projects funded by BBI

Behtash Babadi Wins Clark School's Junior Faculty Teaching Award

The Clark School gives this award to a junior faculty member for excellence in teaching.

UMD researchers awarded $5.3M NIH BRAIN Initiative grant

BBI-affiliated faculty instrumental to "Readout and control of spatiotemporal neuronal codes for behavior"

Maryland researchers develop computational approach to understanding brain dynamics

This paper published in PNAS develops a signal processing framework for extracting dynamic functional networks from neuronal data at unprecedented resolutions.

Maryland researchers awarded $1M DARPA Lagrange program cooperative agreement

Marcus, Fu, Simon and Babadi will build a scalable, risk-sensitive and real time optimization framework tailored to noninvasive neuroimaging data from the human brain.

UMD researchers find listening to sound changes how neurons interact within the brain

The brain encodes not only the acoustical properties of sounds, but also the behavioral meanings and decisions we make based on what we hear.

Researchers part of two NSF Neural & Cognitive Systems grants worth more than $1.2 million

The NSF awards have been issued to U.S. cross-disciplinary teams to conduct innovative research focused on neural and cognitive systems.

Babadi Wins NSF CAREER Award

Babadi is one of two ECE/ISR professors to win a 2016 NSF CAREER award in signal processing.