Tailored for undergraduate researchers, this calendar is a curated list of research seminars at the University of Illinois. Explore the diverse world of research and expand your knowledge through engaging sessions designed to inspire and enlighten.

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Statistics Seminar - Guanyang Wang (Rutgers) "Strong Performance from “Weak” Diffusion Models"

Oct 15, 2026   3:30 pm  
106B1 Engineering Hall
Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor
Department of Statistics
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Originating Calendar
Department of Statistics Event Calendar

Title: Strong Performance from “Weak” Diffusion Models

 Abstract: Can a diffusion model trained on bedrooms recover a face? Starting from this surprising example, I will explore how seemingly weak diffusion models can still be useful for reconstruction and generation—from using mismatched priors to unlocking faithful previews with just a few sampling steps. Joint work with Jing Jia, and other collaborators including Sifan Liu and Liyue Shen.

 Paper: 

 https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.22443 (ICML26)

 https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.34406

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