STAD80: Analysis of Big Data

Winter 2026

Instructor: Qiang Sun

Lectures: Wed, 12:00 - 13:00, IA2050; Fri, 10:00 - 12:00, IA2160

Office Hours: Wed, 15:00 - 16:00, IA4030; Fri, 15:00 - 16:00, IA4030

Email: qiang.sun@utoronto.ca

TA: Haoqian Zhang, haoqian.zhang@mail.utoronto.ca

Please email if standard office hours times do not work for you.

Course Description

This is a special topics course whose content evolves each year, integrating both theoretical foundations and computational techniques. For Winter 2026, we will focus on three main pillars:

  1. Fundamentals: Core statistical principles and foundational models;
  2. Flow Matching Models: Continuous (state) flow and diffusion models, discrete flow models for generative modeling;
  3. Accelerating Inference: Techniques to improve sampling efficiency.

Textbook

Communications

Disclaimer

All information on this class website is tentative and subject to change. Any substantive change will be accompanied with an announcement to the class via Canvas.