Removing and adding assumptions in network information theory Natasha Devroye University of Illinois at Chicago The capacity of networks is often defined under idealized assumptions. In this talk, we explore how some of these assumptions affect capacity results. In particular, we focus first on the effect of removing the assumption 1) of full codebook of interfering messages in an interference channel, and 2) of synchronization in point-to-point, interference, and multiple-access channels. We then briefly look at an example of a channel where adding an assumption — i.e. forcing zero-error communication rather than small-error communication in a primitive relay channel, surprisingly simplifies the problem. Bio: Natasha Devroye is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), which she joined in January 2009. From July 2007 until July 2008 she was a Lecturer at Harvard University. Dr. Devroye obtained her Ph.D in Engineering Sciences from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University in 2007, and a Honors B. Eng in Electrical Engineering from McGill University in 2001. Dr. Devroye was a recipient of an NSF CAREER award in 2011 and was named UIC's Researcher of the Year in the ``Rising Star'' category in 2012. She has been an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, IEEE Journal of Selected Areas in Communications, and is currently an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Cognitive Communications and Networking. Her research focuses on multi-user information theory and applications to cognitive and software-defined radio, radar, relay, zero-error and two-way communication networks.