Moshe Poliak

PhD student, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT

CV

Download the full CV (PDF), last updated October 2026. Highlights below.

Education

  • 2022–

    PhD student in Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Advisor: Ted Gibson

  • 2018–2022

    AB in Psychology, summa cum laude, Harvard University

    Thesis advisor: Jesse Snedeker

Fellowships and awards

  • 2026–27

    STIRR Graduate Research Assistantship, MIT

    From questionnaire to results section: automated, design-aware reporting in Surveyor. NINDS STIRR program.

  • 2025, 2026

    Walle Nauta Award for continued dedication to teaching, MIT

  • 2024

    Angus MacDonald Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching by a graduate student, MIT

  • 2022

    Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard University

  • 2019–20

    Derek Bok Center Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Harvard University

  • 2019

    Detur Book Prize, Harvard University

Invited talks

  • 2026

    Word informativity drives acoustic enhancement

    Language and Cognition, Harvard University

  • 2024

    Discussant, student-led panel

    Ideas on Consciousness, University of California, Berkeley

  • 2022

    Cross-linguistic noisy channel processing: Investigations in the structural prior

    Language and Cognition, Harvard University

Teaching and mentoring

  • 2023–2026

    Teaching assistant, 9.59 Lab in Psycholinguistics, MIT

    Instructor: Ted Gibson

  • 2023–

    Undergraduate research supervisor, MIT, Wellesley, and Harvard

    31 undergraduate researchers through UROP, MSRP-Bio, and funded positions

  • 2022–

    Statistics practica and consulting, MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences

    Linear, mixed-effects, and Bayesian models

  • 2019–2021

    Teaching fellow, Harvard University

    CS50; Web Programming with Python and JavaScript; Introduction to AI with Python; Computer Science for Managers

  • 2019–2021

    Peer Advising Fellow, Harvard College

Service

  • 2022–

    Ad hoc reviewer

    Cognition, Cognitive Science, Open Mind, PNAS, JEP: General, and others; CogSci

  • 2022–

    Application Assistance Program, MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences

  • 2023–2024

    English teacher for speakers of other languages, The Welcome Project

Software and languages

  • 2023–

    Surveyor, developer and maintainer

  • Languages

    Russian and Hebrew (native); English (fluent); Spanish (proficient); Arabic (MSA, intermediate); American Sign Language (beginner)