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Robert WestView profile

Associate Professor

• Natural Language Processing (NLP)
• Machine Learning
• Computational Social Science
• +4 more

Robert West is an Associate Professor at EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences , leading the Data Science Lab (dlab) . His research focuses on Natural Language Processing , Machine Learning , and Computational Social Science , analyzing human-generated data from the web, social media, and online platforms. Education : PhD in Computer Science (2016) - Stanford University MSc in Computer Science (2010) - McGill University BSc in Computer Science (2007) - Technische Universität München Research Interests : West develops algorithms for analyzing large-scale web data, with emphasis on multilingual NLP , social network analysis , and AI ethics . His work bridges machine learning with social science to understand digital human behavior. Scientific Awards : ICWSM’22 Adamic–Glance Distinguished Young Researcher Award Google Faculty Research Award Facebook Research Award Multiple Outstanding Paper Awards at ICWSM and WWW Advising & Grants : He advises 12 PhD students and has secured funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation , Swiss Data Science Center , and industry partners. His lab maintains collaborations with Microsoft Research and CROSS . Labs & Collaborations : West leads the Data Science Lab at EPFL, which focuses on web-scale data analysis , privacy-preserving machine learning , and AI for social good . The lab develops tools like Wikispeedia and Quotebank for public data exploration.

• Machine Learning
• Statistics
• Theoretical Machine Learning
• +7 more

Fanny Yang is an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department at ETH Zurich . She previously held postdoctoral positions at Stanford University and a Junior Fellowship at the Institute for Theoretical Studies at ETH Zurich, advised by Nicolai Meinshausen . Her PhD was completed at the EECS Department of UC Berkeley , supervised by Martin Wainwright . Research Interests : Theoretical foundations of machine learning and statistics , particularly focusing on overparameterized models and high-dimensional data . Developing trustworthy ML models with emphasis on distributional robustness , domain generalization , and interpretability . Applications in medical diagnostics and treatment effect analysis , aiming to address reliability issues in real-world domains. Recent Work Trends : 2025 Articles : Theoretical analysis of semi-supervised multi-objective learning , test-time scaling with verifiers, and foundation models for efficient randomized experiments . 2024 Articles : Studies on robust mixture learning , privacy-preserving data synthesis via optimal transport , confounding quantification in causal inference , and semi-private learning frameworks. 2023 Articles : Investigations into active vs. passive learning in high dimensions, inductive bias in noisy interpolation , and semi-supervised novelty detection using model ensembles .

• Mathematics of Data
• Numerical Linear Algebra
• Randomized Algorithms
• +5 more

Liza Rebrova is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering (ORFE) at Princeton University's School of Engineering and Applied Science. She is also an associated faculty member of the Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics (PACM) and the Center for Statistics and Machine Learning (CSML). Her research focuses on randomized numerical linear algebra and the mathematics of data science, with connections to high-dimensional probability and stochastic optimization. She develops mathematically justified randomized algorithms for large-scale data, particularly interested in settings where data exhibits mathematical structure such as spectral decay, multi-modality, or non-negativity. Her work addresses challenges in data compression, recovery, and optimization under structured noise conditions. Dr. Rebrova's recent publications show a strong trend toward developing robust algorithms for linear systems, tensor data compression, and nonnegative matrix factorization. Her work bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications in machine learning and data science, with emphasis on memory efficiency and handling corrupted or incomplete data. NSF DMS-2309685 (Single PI, 2024-2026): "Outliers are not what they seem: data-aware, flexible, and robust randomized iterative methods" NSF DMS-2108479 (Collaborative, 2022-2024): "Fast, Low-Memory Embeddings for Tensor Data with Applications" (co-PIs Mark Iwen and Deanna Needell) She currently advises three PhD students (Jackie Lok, Shambhavi Suryanarayanan, and Sofiia Shvaiko) and has previously advised Abraar Chaudhry (PhD 2024) and Nicolo Grometto (Masters thesis 2023). At Princeton, she teaches graduate courses including ORF526 (Graduate Probability), ORF387 (Networks), and ORF523 (Convex and Conic Optimization).

• Distributed Computing
• Wireless Networks
• Distributed Systems
• +4 more

Prof. Roger Wattenhofer is a Full Professor at the Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and Deputy head of the Computer Engineering and Networks Lab. He holds a doctorate in Computer Science from ETH Zurich (1998) and has held positions at Brown University and Microsoft Research before returning to ETH. His research focuses on distributed computing, wireless networks, and algorithmic systems design, with contributions to Byzantine agreement protocols, blockchain technologies, and neural network architectures. He teaches courses such as Distributed Systems and Computational Thinking. Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science (ETH Zurich, 1998). Research interests include distributed systems, network algorithms, and the intersection of machine learning with distributed computing. His work spans both theoretical foundations and practical implementations, addressing challenges in fault tolerance, consensus mechanisms, and algorithmic efficiency. Recent publications explore topics like adversarial robustness in voting systems, privacy in reinforcement learning, and generative music models. He actively contributes to open-source frameworks and benchmarks for neural algorithmic reasoning.

Michael MoorView profile

Assistant Professor

• Medical AI
• Machine Learning in Healthcare
• Causal Learning
• +3 more

Prof. Michael Moor is a tenure-track Assistant Professor for Medical AI at ETH Zurich's Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering in Basel. Previously, he conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University under Prof. Jure Leskovec, focusing on medical foundation models. His work spans causal learning, multimodal AI, and sepsis prediction. Moor holds an MD from the University of Basel and a PhD from ETH Zurich's Machine Learning and Computational Biology Lab under Prof. Karsten Borgwardt. Research Interests: Generalist medical AI models Multimodal medical reasoning Zero-shot and few-shot learning Clinical causal inference Retrieval-augmented language models Sepsis prediction systems Key Achievements: Published foundational work in Nature (2023) on generalist medical AI Developed Med-Flamingo multimodal model (2023) Zero-shot causal learning framework accepted to NeurIPS 2023 (Spotlight) International sepsis prediction study with 156k ICU patients (2023) Lab Activities: Leads ETH's Medical Foundation Models group, collaborating with Stanford HAI and NASA Ames. Active in creating medical AI benchmarks like AgentClinic and developing retrieval-augmented systems like Almanac.

Afonso S. BandeiraView profile

Professor

• High Dimensional Probability
• Random Matrices
• Mathematical Statistics
• +3 more

Afonso S. Bandeira is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics (D-MATH) at ETH Zurich, where he conducts research at the intersection of mathematics, statistics, and computer science. He maintains strong affiliations with several interdisciplinary research centers including the Institute For Operations Research (IFOR), the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems, the ETH Foundations of Data Science, and the ETH AI Center, with a courtesy appointment at D-ITET. Bandeira actively teaches courses including Mathematics of Signals, Networks, and Learning, and Mathematics of Data Science. His research focuses on High Dimensional Probability, Random Matrices, Mathematical Statistics, Theoretical Computer Science, Combinatorics, and Mathematical Optimization. Bandeira's work often explores the theoretical foundations of data science, examining phase transitions in statistical problems, computational barriers, and the geometry of high-dimensional spaces. He maintains a research group blog called Randomstrasse101 that emphasizes open problems in his field. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong focus on matrix and tensor concentration inequalities, synchronization problems, nonconvex optimization landscapes, and computational-statistical tradeoffs in high-dimensional inference. His work bridges theoretical mathematics with practical applications in machine learning and data analysis, particularly examining where computational limitations arise in statistical problems. Bandeira actively mentors students and researchers, currently supervising several doctoral candidates including Daniil Dmitriev, Konstantin Donhauser, Anastasia Kireeva, Kevin Lucca, Chiara Meroni, Gil Kur, Petar Nizic-Nikolac, and Almut Roedder. He emphasizes that students working with him should participate in the DACO seminar and group meetings, and encourages prospective students to have completed his Mathematics of Signals, Networks, and Learning or Mathematics of Data Science courses. He leads a research group focused on the mathematics of data science, with regular group meetings and seminars. Bandeira has developed comprehensive lecture notes including 'A Tour Through the Mathematics of Signals, Learning, and Networks' (2025) and 'Mathematics of Machine Learning' (2021), and previously authored 'Ten Lectures and Forty-Two Open Problems in the Mathematics of Data Science' (2015).

Elliott AshView profile

Associate Professor

• Law and Economics
• Political Economy
• Econometrics
• +5 more

Elliott Ash is an Associate Professor of Law, Economics, and Data Science at ETH Zurich's Center for Law & Economics. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics and J.D. from Columbia University, a B.A. in Economics, Government, and Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin, and an LL.M. in International Criminal Law from the University of Amsterdam. His research focuses on empirical legal studies using econometrics, NLP, and ML, examining topics like judicial behavior, legislative impact, and AI-driven governance. He has been funded by the ERC, Swiss NSF, and others. Research Interests: Elliott explores automation of legal decisions, text-as-data analysis in law, and the intersection of AI with legal systems. He develops tools like BallotBot and LePaRD to enhance legal transparency and public understanding. His work bridges law, economics, and computer science, with publications in top journals like the American Economic Journal and Review of Economics and Statistics . Teaching: Courses include Building a Robot Judge , Natural Language Processing for Law , and Big Data for Public Policy . He co-organizes the Zurich Workshop in AI+Economics and Monash-Warwick-Zurich Text-as-Data Workshops. Awards: European Research Council Starting Grant, Swiss National Science Foundation Grant, and multiple grants from U.S. and Swiss institutions. His work has been featured in NPR , VoxEU , and Georgetown Law Journal . Labs/Teams: Leads the Swiss AI Initiative's Human-AI Alignment team, collaborates with the CEPR on Political Economy research, and serves as an Economic Journal Associate Editor.

Alessandro ChiesaView profile

Associate Professor

• Cryptography
• Complexity Theory
• Computer Security
• +3 more

Alessandro Chiesa is an Associate Professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences, holding positions across multiple departments including Computer Security (COMPSEC), SSC, SIN, and EDIC. His office is located at BC 245 in Building BC, Station 14, Lausanne, Switzerland. Chiesa's research spans cryptography, complexity theory, and computer security, with particular focus on the theoretical foundations and practical implementations of cryptographic proofs that are short and easy to verify. His work bridges theoretical computer science with real-world applications, especially in blockchain technology and privacy-preserving systems. He has made significant contributions to zero-knowledge proof systems, including zkSNARKs, and their applications in cryptocurrency. His publications reveal a strong focus on cryptographic protocols, with particular emphasis on privacy-preserving technologies. The analysis of his articles shows consistent work in applying mathematical foundations to practical security problems, especially in the domain of blockchain and digital currencies. His research demonstrates expertise in both theoretical aspects of cryptography and their implementation in real systems. IEEE SP Test-of-Time Award (2024) Sloan Research Fellowship (2021) Okawa Foundation Research Grant (2020) Google Faculty Research Awards (2018 and 2017) MIT Technology Review's 35 Innovators Under 35 list (2018) Chiesa has supervised multiple PhD students including Di Zijing, Fenzi Giacomo, Guan Ziyi, Knabenhans Christian Louis, Manzur Ignacio, Weissenberg Guy, and Zheng Yuxi. His teaching includes Algorithms I, Foundations of Probabilistic Proofs, and Lattice-based Cryptography. He co-founded Zcash and StarkWare Industries, translating his theoretical research into practical applications that have significantly impacted the cryptocurrency space.

Olga FinkView profile

Assistant Professor

• Machine Learning
• Predictive Maintenance
• Industrial IoT
• +3 more

Olga Fink is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), affiliated with the Department of Intelligent Maintenance and Operations Systems (IMOS) within the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC). She also holds roles in PhD program committees for Civil and Environmental Engineering (EDCE) and Robotics, Control, and Intelligent Systems (EDRS). Her research focuses on machine learning for infrastructure monitoring, predictive maintenance, and physics-informed AI models. She teaches courses on machine learning, data science for infrastructure, and advanced deep learning topics. Fink advises multiple PhD students and is involved in interdisciplinary projects such as ThermoNeRF (multimodal 3D thermal modeling) and physics-informed neural networks for fault diagnostics. Her work bridges AI and engineering with applications in smart infrastructure, energy systems, and industrial IoT. Education: PhD in Engineering (inferred from role) Affiliations: IMOS Lab, ENAC-SGC, EPFL PhD Committees (EDCE, EDRS) Key Research Themes: Explainable AI, Digital Twins, Structural Health Monitoring, Domain Adaptation Her publications (2023–2025) emphasize robust AI for industrial systems, including fault detection in high-voltage equipment, multimodal data fusion, and physics-consistent models. She collaborates on EU and industry-funded projects, focusing on real-world applications like predictive maintenance and energy efficiency.

Claudia R. BinderView profile

Professor

• Urban Sustainability
• Transition Research
• Urban Metabolism
• +5 more

Claudia R. Binder is Full Professor at EPFL's School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, leading the Laboratory for Human-Environment Relations in Urban Systems (HERUS) since 2016. Previously, she held professorships at the University of Munich (2011-2016), University of Graz (2009-2011), and University of Zurich (2006-2009). She served as Dean of EPFL's ENAC School from 2020-2023 and holds advisory roles with Swiss federal institutions including the Mercator Foundation since 2024. Her academic foundation includes a Biochemistry degree and PhD in Environmental Sciences from ETH Zurich, followed by postdoctoral research at the University of Maryland. This interdisciplinary background underpins her research approach spanning natural and social sciences. Professor Binder's work centers on urban sustainability transitions, examining urban metabolism dynamics through systems science frameworks. She investigates energy-food-transport interdependencies in cities using transdisciplinary methods that integrate material flow analysis, spatial modeling, and socio-technical assessments. Her research particularly emphasizes regulatory mechanisms and transformation drivers in human-environment systems, with case studies across Swiss and global urban contexts. Recent publications reveal evolving focus from foundational urban metabolism studies toward actionable transition strategies. Her 2024-2025 work increasingly addresses social tipping dynamics, circular decarbonization, and spatially explicit waste management, demonstrating methodological innovation through geo-referenced material flow analysis and participatory backcasting frameworks. Key thematic clusters include energy innovation diffusion, plastic waste governance, and demand-side flexibility in residential systems. She actively mentors 7 current PhD candidates while supervising 11 graduates since 2018, with research spanning urban metabolism modeling, sustainability assessment, and transition governance. Her leadership extends to Swiss National Science Foundation committees and National Research Program 71 on energy consumption management. At EPFL, she directs the HERUS laboratory which develops the Sustainability Solution Space methodology for urban assessment. The lab operates at the intersection of data science, environmental engineering, and social theory, maintaining strong field connections in Switzerland, Indonesia, and Germany for empirical validation of transition models.

Andrea MartinelliView profile

Lecturer

• Optimal Control
• Reinforcement Learning
• Decentralized Control
• +4 more

Dr. Andrea Martinelli is a Lecturer and Postdoctoral Researcher at the Automatic Control Laboratory (IfA), ETH Zurich. He holds a PhD in Automatic Control from ETH Zurich (2024) under Prof. John Lygeros, an MSc in Control Engineering (2017) from Politecnico di Milano, and a BSc in Management Engineering (2015). His research focuses on optimal control, reinforcement learning, and decentralized control strategies for large-scale systems, emphasizing scalability and applicability to renewable energy systems. He received the ETH Medal for his doctoral thesis on data-driven control methods. Education: BSc in Management Engineering, Politecnico di Milano (2015) MSc in Control Engineering with Honours, Politechnico di Milano (2017) PhD in Automatic Control, ETH Zurich (2024) Research Interests: Optimal control and reinforcement learning Data-driven methods for control systems Decentralized control of interconnected systems Dissipativity theory and passivity-based approaches Applications in renewable energy systems (DC microgrids) Teaching & Outreach: Program Manager for the CAS ETH in Automation Teaching a post-graduate course on automation in 2025 Professional Activities: Worked at Laboratoire d'Automatique (EPFL) during MSc thesis (2017) Research Assistant with Prof. R. Scattolini, Politecnico di Milano (2018)

Dennis KommView profile

Associate Professor

• Algorithm Design and Analysis
• Computer Science Education
• Theoretical Computer Science
• +3 more

Prof. Dennis Komm is an Associate Professor at ETH Zurich's Department of Computer Science, leading the group for Algorithms and Didactics. He chairs the Center for Computer Science Education (ABZ) and serves on committees such as the Swiss Maturity Board (Schweizerische Maturitätskommission) and the STEM Commission of the Swiss Academies. Previously, he held roles at RWTH Aachen University (Master's, 2008), ETH Zurich (PhD, 2012), University of Zurich (external lecturer, 2014–2020), and PH Graubünden (including department head and professor of 'Fachdidaktik Informatik'). Education: He completed a Master's in Computer Science at RWTH Aachen (2008), a PhD at ETH Zurich (2012), and studies in Information Technology at Queensland University of Technology (2006). His academic journey includes visiting roles at King's College, Stanford, and Comenius University. He has taught extensively across institutions, emphasizing Python and LOGO-based approaches for beginners. Research focuses on algorithm design, approximation algorithms, reoptimization, and advice complexity in theoretical CS. His work in education explores computational thinking, programming pedagogy (especially for K–12), and interdisciplinary approaches (e.g., robotics in math). Recent trends in his articles highlight advancements in online algorithms, optimization under dynamic conditions, and initiatives to integrate CS into Swiss school curricula sustainably. He actively promotes CS education through platforms like WebTigerPython and collaborates on projects such as CyberQuest and MINTerlink. His outreach includes organizing conferences (e.g., STIU 2025) and workshops on programming and cybersecurity for teachers and students. Despite no listed scientific awards, his contributions to education and theoretical CS are recognized through editorial roles in journals like Informatics in Education and contributions to the TigerJython Group. Grant-related advising includes co-supervising doctoral theses on robotics, USOs, and programming didactics. He advocates for equitable educational opportunities via the Passerelle exam and the Swiss Beaver Competition. His team's work spans teacher training, didactic certifications, and bridging university-school collaborations through initiatives like MINTerlink. Labs and teams: Head of ABZ (ETH's CS education center), collaborator with the Computational Robotics Lab, and part of the TigerJython Group. He also co-organizes the Colloquium on Mathematics, Computer Science, and Education with ETH's Mathematics Department.

• Information Theory
• Statistics
• Machine Learning
• +1 more

Varun Jog is Professor of Information Theory and Statistics in the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics (DPMMS) at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Mathematics. Previously, he served as Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2016-2020) and at the University of Cambridge (2021-2024). His academic background includes a B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering from IIT Bombay (2010) and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from UC Berkeley (2015). Professor Jog's research centers on fundamental questions at the intersection of information theory, statistics, and machine learning. He develops theoretical frameworks for statistical inference under constraints such as limited communication and privacy requirements, with significant contributions to hypothesis testing, differential privacy, adversarial risk analysis, and information-theoretic inequalities. His work bridges abstract mathematical principles with practical applications in data science and robust machine learning. Recent publications demonstrate a concentrated focus on distributed inference systems, particularly examining sample complexity limits in hypothesis testing under information constraints and privacy-preserving mechanisms. His research consistently reveals deep connections between information theory and statistical learning, with increasing emphasis on adversarial robustness and foundational inequalities. His scientific contributions have earned recognition through prestigious awards: NSF-CAREER Award (2020) R. Narasimhan Memorial Lecture Award (2020) Eli Jury Award from UC Berkeley EECS Department (2015) Jack Keil Wolf student paper award at ISIT (2015) Professor Jog maintains an active research group, currently supervising one PhD student while having graduated four PhD students and four Master's students. His mentorship extends to postdoctoral researchers including Amir Asadi, Deepanshu Vasal, and Andre Wibisono. Research funding includes the competitive NSF-CAREER grant. He co-organizes the Cambridge Information Theory Seminar, fostering academic exchange and collaboration within the theoretical research community.

• Satellite positioning
• Inertial navigation
• Integrated navigation systems
• +9 more

Jan Skaloud serves as an Adjunct Professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), affiliated with the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC). He holds positions across multiple departments including SSIE (Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics), EDCE (Doctoral Program in Environmental Sciences and Engineering), and leads the Earth Sensing and Observation (ESO) Lab. His office is located at GC C2 397 in the EPFL campus in Lausanne, Switzerland. Dr. Skaloud's research expertise spans satellite positioning, inertial and integrated navigation systems, sensor orientation and calibration, attitude determination, mobile mapping, airborne laser scanning, and Kalman filtering techniques. His work bridges theoretical development with practical applications in UAV navigation, photogrammetry, and remote sensing. He teaches across three EPFL sections and two faculties, demonstrating his interdisciplinary approach to education. His publication record shows consistent contributions to the field, with recent work (2023-2025) focusing on vehicle dynamic model-based navigation for various UAV platforms, including delta-wing and fixed-wing drones. His research demonstrates a clear trajectory toward increasingly sophisticated navigation systems that integrate aerodynamic modeling with traditional sensor fusion approaches. This trend reflects the growing importance of model-based navigation in achieving higher precision and autonomy in UAV operations. 2021: Samuel Gamble Award for career contribution in photogrammetry & sensing (ISPRS) 2020: U.V. Helava Award for best paper in ISPRS Journal (2016-2019) 2017: Best Demo Award at IEEE International Workshop on Metrology & Aerospace 2014: Hansa Luftbild Award for best paper in PFG journal 2012: Karl Kraus Medal for best textbook in Photogrammetry 2009: GNSS Leader to Watch Innovation Award (GPS World) Dr. Skaloud has supervised numerous PhD students whose work focuses on advanced navigation systems, sensor calibration, and UAV applications. His research has received funding for projects involving direct georeferencing, mobile mapping systems, and UAV-based search and rescue operations. The ESO lab he directs serves as a hub for cutting-edge research in Earth observation technologies. The Earth Sensing and Observation Lab under Dr. Skaloud's direction brings together researchers working on navigation systems, sensor integration, and data processing techniques for geospatial applications. The lab maintains strong connections with industry partners and international research organizations, facilitating technology transfer and collaborative research projects.

• Multiscale Modeling
• Multiphysics Modeling
• Biophysics
• +7 more

Dr. Igor V. Pivkin is a Full Professor at the Institute of Computing within the Faculty of Informatics at the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) in Lugano, Switzerland. His academic journey includes degrees from Novosibirsk State University (B.Sc./M.Sc. Mathematics), Brown University (M.Sc. Computer Science and Ph.D. Applied Mathematics), and postdoctoral research at MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering. His research focuses on multiscale/multiphysics modeling , numerical methods , and large-scale simulations of biological and physical systems. Key areas include biophysics, cellular/molecular biomechanics, stochastic modeling, and coarse-grained molecular simulations. He leverages high-performance computing (HPC) and particle-based methods to address complex biological phenomena. His work spans diverse applications, from understanding cellular mechanosensitivity and biofilm engineering to modeling cancer cell behavior and red blood cell dynamics in the spleen. His contributions bridge computational science, biotechnology, and biomedical research. He has published extensively in top-tier journals, with recent work advancing automated biofilm analysis, deep learning for microbial classification, and systems biology approaches to metal bioleaching. His lab collaborates on interdisciplinary projects, emphasizing computational innovation for real-world biological challenges.