diff --git a/flashlight/nn/modules/Container.h b/flashlight/nn/modules/Container.h
index 55af9fe55..013998609 100644
--- a/flashlight/nn/modules/Container.h
+++ b/flashlight/nn/modules/Container.h
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ class Container : public Module {
   /**
    * A collection of modules contained within a `Container`.
    */
-  std::vector<ModulePtr> modules_;
+  std::vector<std::pair<std::string /* module name */, ModulePtr>> modules_;
 
   Container();
 
@@ -68,16 +68,23 @@ class Container : public Module {
    * @param module the module to add.
    */
   template <typename T>
-  void add(std::shared_ptr<T> module) {
+  void add(std::shared_ptr<T> module, std::string const& name) {
+    // TODO: Assert that there is no other module with this name
     if (!module) {
       throw std::invalid_argument("can't add null Module to Container");
     }
-    modules_.emplace_back(module);
+    modules_.emplace_back({name, module});
     for (int i = 0; i < module->params().size(); i++) {
       childParamIdx_[params_.size()] = std::make_tuple(modules_.size() - 1, i);
-      params_.push_back(module->param(i));
+      auto pn = module->paramNamed(i);
+      pn.first = name + "." + pn.first;
+      params_.push_back(pn);
     }
   }
+  template <typename T>
+  void add(std::shared_ptr<T> module) {
+    add(module, std::to_string(modules_.size()));
+  }
 
   /**
    * Returns a pointer to the module at the specified index in the container's
diff --git a/flashlight/nn/modules/Module.cpp b/flashlight/nn/modules/Module.cpp
index 3868f54a6..a8d1fe4f6 100644
--- a/flashlight/nn/modules/Module.cpp
+++ b/flashlight/nn/modules/Module.cpp
@@ -16,60 +16,111 @@
 
 #include <stdexcept>
 
+#include "flashlight/common/Logging.h"
 #include "flashlight/nn/modules/Module.h"
 
-
 #include "flashlight/nn/Init.h"
 
 namespace fl {
 
 Module::Module() = default;
 
-Module::Module(const std::vector<Variable>& params)
-    : params_(params.begin(), params.end()) {}
+Module::Module(const std::vector<std::pair<std::string, Variable>>& params) : params_(params.begin(), params.end()) {}
+Module::Module(const std::vector<Variable>& params) {
+  for (auto const& p : params) {
+    params_.push_back({std::to_string(params_.size()), p});
+  }
+}
 
 Variable Module::param(int position) const {
+  return paramNamed(position).second;
+}
+
+std::pair<std::string, Variable> Module::paramNamed(int position) const {
   if (!(position >= 0 && position < params_.size())) {
     throw std::out_of_range("Module param index out of range");
   }
   return params_[position];
+  
 }
 
 void Module::setParams(const Variable& var, int position) {
   if (!(position >= 0 && position < params_.size())) {
     throw std::out_of_range("Module param index out of range");
   }
-  params_[position] = var;
+  params_[position].second = var;
 }
 
 void Module::train() {
   train_ = true;
   for (auto& param : params_) {
-    param.setCalcGrad(true);
+    param.second.setCalcGrad(true);
   }
 }
 
 void Module::zeroGrad() {
   for (auto& param : params_) {
-    param.zeroGrad();
+    param.second.zeroGrad();
   }
 }
 
 void Module::eval() {
   train_ = false;
   for (auto& param : params_) {
-    param.setCalcGrad(false);
+    param.second.setCalcGrad(false);
   }
 }
 
 std::vector<Variable> Module::params() const {
-  return params_;
+  std::vector<Variable> out(params_.size());
+  std::transform(params_.begin(), params_.begin(), std::back_inserter(out), [](std::pair<std::string, Variable> p) { return p.second; });
+  return out;
 }
 
 std::vector<Variable> Module::operator()(const std::vector<Variable>& input) {
   return this->forward(input);
 }
 
+void Module::loadStateDict(StateDict const& sd) {
+  // Mapping of parameters - allows to ensure parameters uniqueness
+  std::unordered_map<std::string, size_t> myParams;
+  for (auto i = 0U; i < params_.size(); ++i) {
+    auto const& p = params_[i];
+    if (myParams.find(p.first) != myParams.end()) {
+      throw std::runtime_error("Duplicate parameter with name " + p.first + " (parameters indices " + std::to_string(myParams[p.first]) + " and " + std::to_string(i) + ") in loadStateDict for module " + prettyString());
+    }
+    myParams[p.first] = i;
+    if (sd.find(p.first) == sd.end()) {
+      VLOG(1) << "Parameter " << p.first << " not in state dict";
+    }
+  }
+
+  for (auto const& p: sd) {
+    auto it = myParams.find(p.first);
+    if (it == myParams.end()) {
+      VLOG(1) << "Parameter " << p.first << " in state dict but not in current Module - ignored";
+      continue;
+    }
+    auto currentParam = params_[it->second].second;
+    if (currentParam.dims() != p.second.dims()) {
+      throw std::runtime_error("Loading parameter with name " + p.first + ": size mismatch in loadStateDict for module" + prettyString());
+    }
+    setParams(p.second, it->second);
+  }
+}
+
+StateDict Module::stateDict() const {
+  std::unordered_map<std::string, Variable> myStateDict;
+  for (auto i = 0U; i < params_.size(); ++i) {
+    auto const& p = params_[i];
+    if (myStateDict.find(p.first) != myStateDict.end()) {
+      throw std::runtime_error("Duplicate parameter with name " + p.first + " in stateDict for module " + prettyString());
+    }
+    myStateDict[p.first] = p.second;
+  }
+  return myStateDict;
+}
+
 UnaryModule::UnaryModule() = default;
 
 UnaryModule::UnaryModule(const std::vector<Variable>& params)
diff --git a/flashlight/nn/modules/Module.h b/flashlight/nn/modules/Module.h
index ad893a000..a75786ab7 100644
--- a/flashlight/nn/modules/Module.h
+++ b/flashlight/nn/modules/Module.h
@@ -22,9 +22,14 @@
 #include <stdexcept>
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
+#include <unordered_map>
 
 namespace fl {
 
+typedef std::unordered_map<std::string, Variable> StateDict;
+// Or maybe recursive? map<string, variant<map, Variable>>
+// Would be better for Container modules (but we can also flatten everything)
+
 /**
  * An abstract computation unit capable of forward computation. Also
  * contains a collection of parameters that can be mutated, and will be
@@ -42,7 +47,7 @@ class Module {
    * Parameters of module, represented as a collection of `Variable`, whose
    * ordering is based on the implementation of the respective module.
    */
-  std::vector<Variable> params_;
+  std::vector<std::pair<std::string /* param name */, Variable>> params_;
 
   /**
    * A flag specifying whether or not the module is in `train` mode. If
@@ -62,6 +67,7 @@ class Module {
    * @param params a vector of `Variable` which will replace `params_`
    */
   explicit Module(const std::vector<Variable>& params);
+  explicit Module(const std::vector<std::pair<std::string, Variable>>& params);
 
  public:
   /**
@@ -90,6 +96,7 @@ class Module {
    * @return a `Variable` tensor for the parameter at the requested position
    */
   Variable param(int position) const;
+  std::pair<std::string, Variable> paramNamed(int position) const;
 
   /**
    * Sets a parameter at a specified position with a new, given one.
@@ -104,6 +111,9 @@ class Module {
    */
   virtual void setParams(const Variable& var, int position);
 
+  void loadStateDict(StateDict const& sd);
+  StateDict stateDict() const;
+
   /**
    * Clears references to gradient Variables for all parameters in the module.
    */
diff --git a/flashlight/optim/Optimizers.h b/flashlight/optim/Optimizers.h
index 4498eb4fc..7cdbf792a 100644
--- a/flashlight/optim/Optimizers.h
+++ b/flashlight/optim/Optimizers.h
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@
 
 namespace fl {
 
+// Does it make sense to have a common abstraction between `Module` and optimizers?
+// Optimizers and Modules both have parameters, can be serialized, have a `prettyString`, have a state_dict...
+// The only thing is that Optimizers don't have `train`/`eval`/`forward`/`backward`
+
 /** An abstract base class for first-order gradient-based optimizers. Any
  * derived class must implement the step() function.
  * Example usage: