PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Jake Topping

Jake Topping is a machine learning researcher whose first-author paper on over-squashing in graph neural networks won an Outstanding Paper Honorable Mention at ICLR 2022. They hold a BA in Mathematics and an MS from the University of Oxford and began doctoral studies at Oxford in 2020. In November 2021, they posted "Understanding over-squashing and bottlenecks on graphs via curvature" with Francesco Di Giovanni, Benjamin Paul Chamberlain, Xiaowen Dong and Michael Bronstein, which introduced a new edge-based combinatorial curvature and proved that negatively curved edges are responsible for over-squashing. ICLR 2022 presented the paper as an oral, and in 2022 they also coauthored a Cognitive Science Society paper comparing machine and human learning in a planning task. They are affiliated with the University of Oxford, with machine learning and statistics as their research areas.

Timeline

  1. By 2020

    Mathematics degrees at Oxford

    They earn a BA in Mathematics and an MS from the University of Oxford, and begin doctoral studies at Oxford in 2020.

  2. November 2021

    A curvature view of over-squashing

    In November 2021, they post "Understanding over-squashing and bottlenecks on graphs via curvature" as first author, with Francesco Di Giovanni, Benjamin Paul Chamberlain, Xiaowen Dong and Michael Bronstein. The paper introduces a new edge-based combinatorial curvature, proves that negatively curved edges are responsible for over-squashing in graph neural networks, and tests a curvature-based graph rewiring method.

  3. 2022

    An ICLR honorable mention

    ICLR 2022 presents the paper as an oral and gives it an Outstanding Paper Honorable Mention. The award committee notes that it draws on discrete differential geometry to describe over-squashing in GNNs.

  4. 2022

    Machine and human learning compared

    They coauthor "Comparing machine and human learning in a planning task of intermediate complexity" in the Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society in 2022. The work evaluates behavioral differences in strategic planning between algorithmic models and human subjects.

  5. October 2026

    A fourth arXiv version

    In October 2026, they submit a fourth version of the over-squashing paper to arXiv, where its first version appeared in November 2021.

  6. As of October 2026

    Affiliated with Oxford

    They are affiliated with the University of Oxford, with machine learning and statistics as their research areas. Their over-squashing paper has more than 1,000 citations.

Career

  1. NowUniversity of OxfordMachine learning researcher

Education

  1. From 2020University of OxfordBA in Mathematics

From the biography.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Oxford. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of Oxford. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. Companies supply the most prior-work hires at 7 of the 9 frontier AI labsIncludes University of Oxford. Our estimates of the organizations where 550 people worked directly before joining 9 frontier AI labs across 620 career transitions, comparing the main feeder organizations per lab.
  4. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorateIncludes University of Oxford. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorate. Across 2,116 people with both an undergraduate degree and a doctorate recorded, we trace which undergraduate schools feed which doctoral programs, how often students stay at the same school, and how paths differ by birth-country region.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Jake Topping yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Jake Topping | alphaXiv alphaxiv.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  2. [2111.14522] Understanding over-squashing and bottlenecks on graphs via curvature arxiv.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  3. ICLR Oral Understanding over-squashing and bottlenecks on graphs via curvature iclr.cc. Checked 22 October 2026.
  4. awards – ICLR Blog blog.iclr.cc. Checked 22 October 2026.
  5. ICLR 2022 Awards iclr.cc. Checked 22 October 2026.
  6. Jake Topping - Google Scholar scholar.google.com. Checked 22 October 2026.