Rate My Professor Naoki Masuda

Naoki Masuda was Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University at Buffalo (UB), serving from September 2021 to June 2025 after being Associate Professor from August 2019 to August 2021. He also served as Director of Graduate Studies from July 2022 to June 2025. Earlier in his career, he held tenured positions at the University of Bristol and the University of Tokyo. Masuda obtained his B.Sc. in Engineering in 1998, M.Sc. in 2000, and Ph.D. in 2002 from the Department of Mathematical Engineering and Information Physics at the University of Tokyo.

Masuda's research centers on network science and mathematical biology. Key areas include temporal and multilayer networks, hypergraphs, random walks and diffusion, epidemic spreading, evolutionary game dynamics, and energy landscape analysis, with applications to genomics, neuroimaging (fMRI), behavioral biology, and social networks for public health. During his time at UB, he secured funding as PI for NSF grants on temporal network embedding (2022–2026) and multilayer network approaches to tandem repeat variation in genomes (2022–2026), among others. He received the JSPS Prize in 2020 for his pioneering work on theory and data-analysis methods for temporal networks. With over 220 publications, notable ones include “Random walks and diffusion on networks” (Physics Reports, 2017; 906 citations), “A guide to temporal networks” (2016; 443 citations), “Switch-like gene expression modulates disease risk” (Nature Communications, 2025), and “Applicability of spatial early warning signals to complex network dynamics” (Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 2025). Masuda contributed to UB through extensive service on hiring, executive, and graduate committees, and as faculty advisor to the AMS student chapter. He has served as editor or on editorial boards for journals such as PLoS ONE (Long Service Award, 2023), Journal of Complex Networks, and Journal of Computational Science, underscoring his influence in the field.