I am currently a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Central Florida, advised by Prof. Cüneyt Gürcan Akçora. My research focuses on Topological Data Analysis (TDA) and Large Language Models (LLMs), with a particular emphasis on understanding model behavior, robustness, and representation dynamics in modern AI systems.

I received my M.S. in Computer Science from Georgia State University. I completed my undergraduate studies in the Department of Computer Engineering at Bilkent University.

Here is a link to my CV.

Publications

• Playing Devil’s Advocate: Unmasking Toxicity and Vulnerabilities in Large Vision-Language Models
  A. Erol, T. Padhi, A. Saha, M. E. Aktas, U. Kursuncu
  arXiv

• From Reddit to Generative AI: Evaluating Large Language Models for Anxiety Support Fine-tuned on Social Media Data
  U. Kursuncu, T. Padhi, G. Kumar, A. Erol, J. K. Mandivarapu, C. R. Larrison
  arXiv

• Echoes of Human Malice in Agents: Benchmarking LLMs for Multi-Turn Online Harassment Attacks T. Padhi, P. Lu, A. Erol, T. Sutar, G. Sharma, M. Sonmez, M. D. Choudhury, U. Kursuncu
  arXiv

Selected Honors and Awards

• Bilkent University Comprehensive Scholarship: Full tuition waiver & stipend during the B.Sc. Program.
• 2023 Ranked 18th in the Academic Personnel and Postgraduate Education Entrance Exam (ALES) among 150 thousand applicants in Turkey.
• 2017 Ranked 934th in the Nationwide University Entrance Exam (LYS) among 2 million students
• 2017 Ranked 1st in Yozgat Şehitler Science High School, GPA: 97.6/100
• 2015 Outstanding Performance in AP Computer Science, North Oconee High School
• 2013 1st place in Regional & Finalist in National TUBITAK “Bu Benim Eserim” Math and Science Project Competition
• 2010 National finalist in National Chess Tournament