PhD Candidate
University of Wisconsin-Madison
liu.yang@wisc.edu
About Me
I am a PhD candidate in computer science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, advised by Prof. Robert D. Nowak, Prof. Dimitris Papailiopoulos, and Prof. Kangwook Lee. My research focuses on understanding in-context learning in transformers, at the intersection of machine learning and optimization, with a recent focus on latent reasoning. Previously, I earned my B.E. in Computer Science from Xi'an Jiaotong University in 2020. During my PhD, I interned on the Meta Ads Ranking team (2023, 2024) and at Google Research (summer 2025).Selected Publications and Preprints
Task Vectors in In-Context Learning: Emergence, Formation, and Benefits
Liu Yang, Ziqian Lin, Kangwook Lee, Dimitris Papailiopoulos, Robert D. Nowak
COLM'25 | summary
Liu Yang, Ziqian Lin, Kangwook Lee, Dimitris Papailiopoulos, Robert D. Nowak
COLM'25 | summary
Looped Transformers are Better at Learning Learning Algorithms
Liu Yang, Kangwook Lee, Robert D. Nowak, Dimitris Papailiopoulos
ICLR'24 | code | 45-Minute Talk | summary
Liu Yang, Kangwook Lee, Robert D. Nowak, Dimitris Papailiopoulos
ICLR'24 | code | 45-Minute Talk | summary
An Empirical Study on the Power of Future Prediction in Partially Observable Environments
Jeongyeol Kwon*, Liu Yang*, Robert Nowak, Josiah Hanna
Arxiv'24
Jeongyeol Kwon*, Liu Yang*, Robert Nowak, Josiah Hanna
Arxiv'24
Unifying Generative and Dense Retrieval for Sequential Recommendation
Liu Yang, Fabian Paischer, Kaveh Hassani, Jiacheng Li, Shuai Shao, Zhang Gabriel Li, Yun He, Xue Feng, Nima Noorshams, Sem Park, Bo Long, Robert D Nowak, Xiaoli Gao, Hamid Eghbalzadeh
TMLR'25 | summary
Liu Yang, Fabian Paischer, Kaveh Hassani, Jiacheng Li, Shuai Shao, Zhang Gabriel Li, Yun He, Xue Feng, Nima Noorshams, Sem Park, Bo Long, Robert D Nowak, Xiaoli Gao, Hamid Eghbalzadeh
TMLR'25 | summary
Service
Student Organizer of SILO, MLOPT seminar
Organizer of Latent and Implicit Thinking workshop at ICLR 2026
