nikks.io

math · computer science · ai safety

nikhil shah.

i’m a first-year at yale, interested in theoretical computer science, mathematics, and making advanced ai go well.

i like thinking about algorithms, proofs, and what it means to do useful work. i’m also part of yale’s ai alignment and effective altruism communities.

get in touch currently at yale
01

selected work

research, writing,
and things i’ve built.

expedition aya2025 · research projectexploring how language changes the biases of a language model.

Led a team during Cohere’s six-week Expedition Aya challenge, studying bias across languages in the Aya language model using Google’s TyDi QA dataset and BERT sentiment analysis.

diophantine equations2025 · expository mathematicsa paper developed during promys, alongside work on continued fractions.

Wrote an expository paper as part of PROMYS. Studied Diophantine approximation and continued fractions, worked through daily number theory problem sets, and presented at the end of the summer.

gatherpersonal projecta grocery list app built around the things you actually buy.

Built a grocery list web app with React, TypeScript, and Vite, using Supabase for authentication, database storage, and images. Worked on per-user access policies, email authentication with Resend, and deployment on Vercel.

02

at yale

people and ideas
i’m spending time with.

yale ai alignmentfall 2026–present · organizing team memberthinking about the safety of increasingly capable ai systems.

Completed the summer fellowship through weekly readings and discussions, then joined the organizing team in fall 2026.

yale effective altruism2026–present · memberasking how evidence and careful reasoning can help us do more good.

Completed the summer fellowship, with weekly readings and discussions on effective altruism, and continued as a member of the Yale group.

03

learning

a few formative
mathematical summers
and saturdays.

pact2024–25 · algorithms & combinatoricstwo summer curricula at once, followed by the year-round program.

Completed both years of the Program in Algorithmic and Combinatorial Thinking in one summer. Studied proofs, graph theory, probability, algorithm design and analysis, approximation, randomization, streaming, and linear programming; continued in the year-round program.

columbia science honors program2024–26 · saturday courseworkdata structures, algorithms, topology, computing, and astrophysics.

Weekend courses covered data structures and algorithms with a competitive programming focus, topology, quantum and classical computing systems, and astronomy and astrophysics.

hcssim2023 · mathematicssix weeks immersed in proofs and unfamiliar mathematical worlds.

At Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics, explored surreal numbers, category theory, number theory, set theory, and group theory, with an emphasis on proof writing and mathematical exploration.

more background in my cv
04

off the page

i sing, do theater, and fence sabre. before yale, i co-captained hackley’s sabre team, captained the math team, and helped run model un.

a few roles i’ve played
  • anon — anon(ymous), 2026
  • grandpa — you can’t take it with you, 2025
  • underling — the drowsy chaperone, 2023