Mahmoud Assran

Research Scientist · Meta FAIR

I work on self-supervised learning and world models, with a focus on Joint-Embedding Predictive Architectures (JEPA) — a framework for learning abstract representations of the world by predicting in latent space rather than pixel space. My work on I-JEPA and V-JEPA has been covered by Quanta Magazine, CNBC, Reuters, Fortune, La Presse, and others. I completed my PhD (ECE) at McGill University and Mila, the Quebec AI Institute, where I was supported by a Vanier Scholarship.

I am also the founder of YETE (Youth Engagement Through Engineering), a Canadian not-for-profit advancing youth education. We have collaborated with the English Montreal School Board and the Kahnawà:ke Education Center to foster a self-guided constructivist approach to learning.

massran at meta dot com

Mahmoud (Mido) Assran
We're all here on this earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for, I have no idea. — W.H. Auden

Selected Publications

Visit Google Scholar for full list of up-to-date publications.

arXiv 2025

V-JEPA 2: Self-Supervised Video Models Enable Understanding, Prediction and Planning

M. Assran, A. Bardes, D. Fan, Q. Garrido, R. Howes, M. Komeili, M. Muckley, A. Rizvi, C. Roberts, K. Sinha, A. Zholus, …, Y. LeCun, M. Rabbat, N. Ballas

CVPR 2023

Self-Supervised Learning from Images with a Joint-Embedding Predictive Architecture

M. Assran, Q. Duval, I. Misra, P. Bojanowski, P. Vincent, M. Rabbat, Y. LeCun, N. Ballas

TMLR 2024

Revisiting Feature Prediction for Learning Visual Representations from Video

A. Bardes, Q. Garrido, J. Ponce, X. Chen, M. Rabbat, Y. LeCun, *M. Assran, *N. Ballas

ICML 2024

Learning and Leveraging World Models in Visual Representation Learning

Q. Garrido, M. Assran, N. Ballas, A. Bardes, L. Najman, Y. LeCun

TMLR 2024

DINOv2: Learning Robust Visual Features without Supervision

M. Oquab, T. Darcet, T. Moutakanni, H. Vo, …, M. Assran, N. Ballas, …, P. Bojanowski

ICLR 2023

The Hidden Uniform Cluster Prior in Self-Supervised Learning

M. Assran, R. Balestriero, Q. Duval, F. Bordes, I. Misra, P. Bojanowski, P. Vincent, M. Rabbat, N. Ballas

ECCV 2022

Masked Siamese Networks for Label-Efficient Learning

M. Assran, M. Caron, I. Misra, P. Bojanowski, F. Bordes, P. Vincent, A. Joulin, M. Rabbat, N. Ballas

ICCV 2021 Oral · Top 3%

Semi-Supervised Learning of Visual Features by Non-Parametrically Predicting View Assignments with Support Samples

M. Assran, M. Caron, I. Misra, P. Bojanowski, A. Joulin, *N. Ballas, *M. Rabbat

ICML 2020

On the Convergence of Nesterov's Accelerated Gradient Method in Stochastic Settings

M. Assran, A. Aytekin, H. Feyzmahdavian, M. Johansson, M. Rabbat

NeurIPS 2019

Gossip-based Actor-Learner Architectures for Deep Reinforcement Learning

M. Assran, J. Romoff, N. Ballas, J. Pineau, M. Rabbat

ICML 2019

Stochastic Gradient Push for Distributed Deep Learning

M. Assran, N. Loizou, N. Ballas, M. Rabbat

Doctoral Students Co-Advised at Meta

Gaoyue Zhou

PhD · NYU · 2025–2026

Academic advisor(s): Lerrel Pinto and Yann LeCun

Emily Kaczmarek

PhD · McGill/Mila · 2025–2026

Academic advisor(s): Tal Arbel

Wancong Zhang

PhD · NYU · 2025

Academic advisor(s): Yann LeCun

Artem Zholus

PhD · UdeM/Mila · 2024–2026

Academic advisor(s): Sarath Chander

Marcel Hussing

PhD · UPenn · 2024

Academic advisor(s): Eric Eaton

Benno Krojer

PhD · McGill/Mila · 2024

Academic advisor(s): Siva Reddy

Open-Source Code

vjepa2

Official codebase for V-JEPA 2, a self-supervised video world model for understanding, prediction, and planning.

ijepa

Official codebase for I-JEPA, a non-generative approach for self-supervised learning from images.

jepa

Official codebase for V-JEPA, a method for self-supervised learning of visual representations from video.

msn

Official codebase for Masked Siamese Networks, a self-supervised learning framework for label-efficient image classification.

suncet

Official codebase for PAWS and SuNCEt, semi-supervised methods for learning visual features with limited labels.

sgp

Official codebase for Stochastic Gradient Push, a method for distributed deep learning over peer-to-peer networks.

Honours & Awards

Vanier Scholarship

NSERC

$150,000

The Vanier CGS plays an important role in fulfilling the Government of Canada's Science and Technology strategy to promote the development and application of leading-edge knowledge and attract and retain the world's top graduate students.

Alexander Graham Bell Scholarship

NSERC

$105,000

Awarded to the top-ranked doctoral students in Canada, to ensure a reliable supply of qualified personnel to meet the needs of Canada's knowledge economy.

McGill Engineering Doctoral Award

McGill University

$72,000

This award aims to recruit the best and brightest new doctoral students from all over the world.

Les Vadasz Doctoral Fellowship

McGill University

$48,000

Established in 2006 by the Vadasz Family Foundation to recruit outstanding students into the Faculty of Engineering's doctoral degree program.

Undergraduate Student Masters Award

McGill University

$35,000

Competitive recruitment funding to assist in attracting and retaining high caliber undergraduate students with demonstrated academic excellence, as well as applied research experience, into the Faculty's research Graduate Programs.

1st Place — Waterloo Hardware Hackathon

Google, O'Reilly, PCH

$55,000

Awarded $5,000 cash scholarship and $50,000 in product services. Developed a solution and prototype to provide Internet access to developing communities using a distributed data mesh with an offline search engine.

Rhodes Scholar Finalist

University of Oxford

One of 12 finalists selected for three available Rhodes Scholarships, an international post-graduate scholarship to study at the University of Oxford.

Graduate Mobility Award

McGill University

To support student engagement in international research experiences outside of McGill.

Graduate Excellence Fellowship

McGill University

Nomination for this award is at the discretion of the Department or School. Selection is based on the excellence of a student's academic and research record.

Ian McLachlin Prize for Entrepreneurship

McGill University, Faculty of Engineering

Established in 1998 by Ian McLachlin, B.Eng. 1960, to encourage Engineering students to undertake Entrepreneurial Studies.

Dean's Honour List

McGill University

Recognizes undergraduate students who rank in the top 10% of the Faculty of Engineering.

Les Vadasz Award in Engineering

McGill University

Awarded annually by the Faculty of Engineering to a student based on high academic standing, with a preference for interest in and contribution towards engineering sustainability and/or design.

Accenture Prize in Engineering and Science

McGill University

Awarded by the Faculty Scholarships Committees on the basis of academic excellence and demonstrated leadership qualities.

Faculty of Engineering Scholarship

McGill University

Awarded based on academic achievement to students in the top 5% of the Faculty. Granted by the Faculty of Engineering Scholarships Committee based on good academic standing.

Undergraduate Student Research Award

NSERC

Granted by the university and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, based on the student's academic record, research aptitude, and merit.

John Howard Ambrose Award

McGill University

Awarded by the Faculty of Engineering Scholarships Committee on the basis of merit to engineering students.

IEEE Signal Processing Society Winter School Scholarship

IEEE Signal Processing Society

Awarded by the IEEE Signal Processing Society on the basis of merit to engineering students.

John Green Memorial Award

McGill University

For the student with highest standing in the penultimate year of Honours Electrical Engineering. Awarded on the recommendation of the Department.

Christie Steinmetz Award

McGill University

Awarded to a second year student in Electrical Engineering on the basis of academic performance and demonstration of exceptional promise as an engineer.

McCaig Family Scholarship in Engineering

McGill University

Awarded by the Faculty of Engineering to undergraduate students who have completed at least one year of the B.Eng. program on the basis of high academic standing.