PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Yair Weiss

Yair Weiss is a professor of computer science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his papers range from motion perception to belief propagation and image segmentation. He earned a PhD in computational neuroscience at MIT in 1998 and then held positions at MIT and UC Berkeley before joining the Hebrew University. In 2002, he, Eero Simoncelli, and Edward Adelson argued in Nature Neuroscience that motion illusions arise in a system that estimates image velocity. He returned to Jerusalem in 2001 and received the Longuet-Higgins Best Paper Award in 2006. As of October 2026, ELLIS lists him as a Program Director and Fellow.

Works
122
Citations
26,780
h-index
48

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1998

    An MIT doctorate

    At MIT, he completes a PhD in computational neuroscience in 1998. Positions at MIT and UC Berkeley come before he joins the Hebrew University faculty.

  2. 1999

    Segmentation using eigenvectors

    In 1999, the paper 'Segmentation using eigenvectors: a unifying view' appears in the Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision.

  3. 2001

    A return to Jerusalem

    He returns to Jerusalem in 2001 and keeps working at the Hebrew University.

  4. 2001–2004

    An Alon Fellowship

    Among his fellowships, the Alon Fellowship runs from 2001 to 2004.

  5. 2002

    Motion illusions as optimal percepts

    With Eero Simoncelli and Edward Adelson, he publishes 'Motion illusions as optimal percepts' in Nature Neuroscience in 2002. The paper argues that these illusions arise naturally in a system that attempts to estimate local image velocity.

  6. July 2005

    Generalized belief propagation

    A paper he co-writes, 'Constructing Free-Energy Approximations and Generalized Belief Propagation Algorithms,' appears in IEEE Transactions on Information Theory in July 2005.

  7. 2006

    A Longuet-Higgins best paper award

    He wins the Longuet-Higgins Best Paper Award in 2006.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at Hebrew University

    At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he is a professor of computer science. ELLIS lists him as a Program Director and Fellow.

Sources and credits

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  1. Yair Weiss | Israel Institute for Advanced Studies iias.huji.ac.il. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. Yair Weiss home page cs.huji.ac.il. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. A Deep Fascination With Human Perception | TUM Campus Heilbronn chn.tum.de. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. Motion illusions as optimal percepts | Nature Neuroscience nature.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. Yair Weiss | European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems ellis.eu. Checked 15 October 2026.