Amir Kafshdar Goharshady (Persian: امیر کفشدار گوهرشادی) is a theoretical computer scientist. He is a Professor at the Gran Sasso Science Institute and the University of Oxford and a fellow of St Catherine's College, Oxford. He is known for his work in formal methods, compilers and blockchain, as well as his history in informatics and mathematical Olympiads.
Education Goharshady began university studies at the age of 16 and obtained his undergraduate degrees in computer science and mathematics from the University of Yazd and the University of London at the age of 19. He obtained his MSc from the Georgia Institute of Technology and completed his PhD in 2020 at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria, supervised by Krishnendu Chatterjee.
Career Previously, he was an assistant professor of computer science and mathematics at HKUST. In July 2024, he joined the University of Oxford as an associate professor of computer science. He was promoted to professor and joined the Gran Sasso Science Institute in 2026. He has served as a Program Committee Chair for several international conferences in blockchain, including MARBLE and SETTA, as well as a Program Committee Member at AAAI, POPL, TACAS, PLDI, CAV, and ESOP. He is also a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and served as an advisor and trainer to the Pakistani team at the International Olympiad in Informatics.
Awards
ERC Starting Grant, 2025 ACM SIGPLAN Distinguished Paper Award - OOPSLA, 2024 ACM SIGPLAN Distinguished Paper Award - OOPSLA, 2023 EAPLS Best Dissertation Award, 2022 IST Austria Outstanding PhD Dissertation Award, 2021 Khwarizmi Award (Iranian Presidential Medal of Science), 2019 IEEE Computer Society Larson Best Paper Awards, 2018 and 2019 IBM PhD Fellowship, 2018 Facebook PhD Fellowship, 2019 International Mathematics Competition for University Students, Gold Medal (2015), Silver Medal (2014), Bronze Medals (2012-2013) ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, World Finalist, 2025 Southeastern European Mathematics Olympiad for University Students (SEEMOUS), Gold Medal, 2014 Iranian Mathematics Competition for University Students, Silver Medal (2013), Bronze Medal (2012) Iranian National Olympiad in Informatics, Silver Medals (2011-2012)
References