10-715: Advanced Topics in Machine Learning
Fall 2026
Key Information
| Days: | Monday, Wednesday, *Friday |
| Time: | 2:00 PM — 3:00 PM |
| Location: | POS 152 |
| *Fridays are reserved for recitations and makeup classes. | |
| Units: | 12 |
| Grading and Logistics: | Will be discussed in the first lecture. |
Syllabus
Course Description
This course covers advanced topics in machine learning, taught by faculty in the Machine Learning Department at CMU. Rather than cover a fixed syllabus in machine learning, each instructor will prepare a separate unit on a topic of their choosing. The structure and content of each module will vary over instructors, and can vary year-to-year. However, each module will have an associated homework, and there will be a single final exam for the course.
As this is an advanced topics course, students are expected to have already completed a graduate level course in machine learning. Students without such a course should take 10-701 offered by the department instead.
Course Technologies
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
If you have a disability and have an accommodations letter from the Disability Resources office, I encourage you to discuss your accommodations and needs with me as early in the semester as possible. I will work with you to ensure that accommodations are provided as appropriate. If you suspect that you may have a disability and would benefit from accommodations but are not yet registered with the Office of Disability Resources, I encourage you to contact them at access@andrew.cmu.edu.
Schedule
| Date | Day of Week | Lecture | Lecture Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 24, 2026 | Monday | Course intro | |
| Aug 26, 2026 | Wednesday | LLM Speedrun (Kolter) | |
| Aug 28, 2026 | Friday | ||
| Aug 31, 2026 | Monday | LLM Speedrun (Kolter) | |
| Sep 2, 2026 | Wednesday | LLM Speedrun (Kolter) | |
| Sep 4, 2026 | Friday | ||
| Sep 7, 2026 | Monday | Break — Labor Day | |
| Sep 9, 2026 | Wednesday | LLM Speedrun (Kolter) | |
| Sep 11, 2026 | Friday | LLM Speedrun (Kolter) | |
| Sep 14, 2026 | Monday | LLM Speedrun (Kolter) | |
| Sep 16, 2026 | Wednesday | LLM Speedrun (Kolter) | |
| Sep 18, 2026 | Friday | Recitation | |
| Sep 21, 2026 | Monday | (Delayed to Friday) | |
| Sep 23, 2026 | Wednesday | History and Future of ML (Mitchell) | |
| Sep 25, 2026 | Friday | History and Future of ML (Mitchell) | |
| Sep 28, 2026 | Monday | Applied Agents for Autonomous Research (Dettmers) | Slides |
| Sep 30, 2026 | Wednesday | Applied Agents for Autonomous Research (Dettmers) | Slides |
| Oct 2, 2026 | Friday | ||
| Oct 5, 2026 | Monday | Applied Agents for Autonomous Research (Dettmers) | Slides |
| Oct 7, 2026 | Wednesday | Applied Agents for Autonomous Research (Dettmers) | Slides |
| Oct 9, 2026 | Friday | ||
| Oct 12, 2026 | Monday | Break — Fall Break | |
| Oct 14, 2026 | Wednesday | Break — Fall Break | |
| Oct 16, 2026 | Friday | Break — Fall Break | |
| Oct 19, 2026 | Monday | Generative Models / Control / Robot Imitation and RL (Simchowitz) | Slides |
| Oct 21, 2026 | Wednesday | Generative Models / Control / Robot Imitation and RL (Simchowitz) | Slides |
| Oct 23, 2026 | Friday | Recitation | |
| Oct 26, 2026 | Monday | Generative Models / Control / Robot Imitation and RL (Simchowitz) | Slides |
| Oct 28, 2026 | Wednesday | Generative Models / Control / Robot Imitation and RL (Simchowitz) | |
| Oct 30, 2026 | Friday | Recitation | |
| Nov 2, 2026 | Monday | Recent Advances in Reinforcement Learning (Kumar) | |
| Nov 4, 2026 | Wednesday | Recent Advances in Reinforcement Learning (Kumar) | |
| Nov 6, 2026 | Friday | ||
| Nov 9, 2026 | Monday | Multi-Modal Machine Learning / Agentic Learning (Salakhutdinov) | |
| Nov 11, 2026 | Wednesday | Multi-Modal Machine Learning / Agentic Learning (Salakhutdinov) | |
| Nov 13, 2026 | Friday | ||
| Nov 16, 2026 | Monday | Multi-Modal Machine Learning / Agentic Learning (Salakhutdinov) | |
| Nov 18, 2026 | Wednesday | Multi-Modal Machine Learning / Agentic Learning (Salakhutdinov) | |
| Nov 20, 2026 | Friday | Recitation | |
| Nov 23, 2026 | Monday | Recent Advances in Reinforcement Learning (Kumar) | |
| Nov 25, 2026 | Wednesday | Break — Thanksgiving Break | |
| Nov 27, 2026 | Friday | Break — Thanksgiving Break | |
| Nov 30, 2026 | Monday | Recent Advances in Reinforcement Learning (Kumar) | |
| Dec 2, 2026 | Wednesday | Recent Advances in Reinforcement Learning (Kumar) | |
| Dec 4, 2026 | Friday | Recitation | |
| Dec 7, 2026 | Monday | Exam Review Session | |
| Dec 10, 2026 | Thursday | Final Exam |