Greg Durrett is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at University of Texas at Austin, leading the TAUR Lab (Text Analysis, Understanding, and Reasoning ). His research focuses on advancing Large Language Models (LLMs) for knowledge-intensive tasks in medical information processing scientific discovery legal reasoning . He received his B.S. in Computer Science and Mathematics from MIT (2010) and Ph.D. in Computer Science from UC Berkeley (2016). His work develops techniques to train LLMs with new capabilities augment models for reliability assess model outputs improve reasoning frameworks . His 15 most recent publications (2021-2025) span knowledge propagation in LLMs chain-of-thought reasoning code generation benchmarks multi-modal reasoning fact verification discourse analysis . Scientific honors include NSF CAREER Award (2024) NSF grants (2018, 2024) Bloomberg Data Science Grant (2017) Facebook Fellowship (2014) Best Paper Finalist (EMNLP 2013) . Teaching: CS388: Natural Language Processing (graduate) CS371N: NLP (undergraduate) High school NLP module .
Osbert Bastani is an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania, leading the trustml@Penn research group. He is affiliated with the ASSET , PRECISE , and PRiML centers, and the PLClub research group. His research focuses on Trustworthy Neurosymbolic Systems , Synthesizing Neurosymbolic Programs , and Machine Learning for Programmer Productivity , with applications in verification, fairness, and human-AI collaboration. He received the NSF CAREER Award in 2023. His recent publications (2024-2025) emphasize AI Safety , LLM Robustness , and Algorithmic Fairness , including work on adversarial robustness, conformal prediction, and program synthesis. Students he has advised include Sagnik Anupam, Stephen Mell, Jason Ma, Shuo Li, and others. Awards: NSF CAREER Award (2023)
Eric Wong is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania, affiliated with the ASSET Center and leading the Brachio Lab. His research focuses on robust and reliable machine learning, including model debugging, adversarial robustness, and explainable AI. He holds a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), advised by J. Zico Kolter, and completed a postdoc with Aleksander Madry. His work bridges theory and practice, addressing challenges in model interpretability, safety, and scalability. Teaching includes CIS 5200 (Machine Learning), CIS 3333 (Mathematics for Machine Learning), and a specialized course on debugging ML pipelines. Notable contributions include the FIX Benchmark for interpretable features and defenses against LLM jailbreaking attacks. He received an Amazon Research Award in 2024 and has published extensively in top conferences like ICML, NeurIPS, and ICLR. Affiliations: University of Pennsylvania (CIS), ASSET Center, Brachio Lab Education: PhD in Machine Learning (CMU), Postdoc at MIT Key Projects: FIX Benchmark, DOLPHIN framework, SmoothLLM defense Awards: Amazon Research Award (2024) Lab Focus: Safe AI, model debugging, neurosymbolic learning
Rajeev Alur is the Zisman Family Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania, leading the School of Engineering and Applied Science. He is the Founding Director of the ASSET Center for Trustworthy AI and a member of the PRECISE Center. His research focuses on formal methods for system design, integrating AI, cyber-physical systems, and machine learning with logical reasoning to ensure safety in autonomous systems. Alur has held leadership roles in major NSF projects like ExCAPE and has directed the Embedded and Multi-Scale Systems (EMBS) program. His research interests span formal verification, temporal logics, programming abstractions, and synthesis techniques. Notable contributions include the development of Nested Words (visibly pushdown languages), streaming string transducers, and tools like AutomataTutor for education. He has advised over 60 PhD students and postdocs, many of whom now hold academic and industry leadership positions. Alur’s awards include the 2024 Knuth Prize and the 2016 Alonzo Church Award. His work on Verisig and compositional verification of neural networks has advanced safety-critical AI applications. He teaches foundational courses like CIS 2620 and develops educational tools, emphasizing both theoretical rigor and practical impact. Key projects include the ASSET Center’s focus on trustworthy AI, integration of logical specifications in reinforcement learning, and formal verification of closed-loop systems with neural components. His publications span over 350 papers, with recent work addressing neurosymbolic learning, security in large language models, and efficient neural network verification.
Adriana Schulz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington's College of Engineering. She leads a research group focused on computational design, computer-aided design (CAD), and digital fabrication. Her work bridges computer science with practical applications in manufacturing, robotics, and sustainable design. Dr. Schulz received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT in 2018 under the supervision of Professor Wojciech Matusik. Prior to her doctoral studies, she earned a Master's degree in Mathematics from IMPA (Instituto Nacional de Matemática Pura e Aplicada) in Rio de Janeiro, where she worked with Professor Luiz Velho, and a Bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering from UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). Her research interests center around computational tools that enhance design and manufacturing processes. She develops novel algorithms for CAD systems, computational fabrication techniques, and sustainable design approaches. Her work spans multiple domains including robotics, textiles, electronics, and architecture, with a strong emphasis on creating practical tools that designers and engineers can use in real-world applications. She explores how machine learning, particularly neurosymbolic approaches, can improve design workflows and enable new capabilities in computational design systems. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong trend toward more intelligent and user-centered design tools. Her research increasingly integrates machine learning with traditional CAD systems to create more intuitive interfaces, supports sustainable design practices with computational tools, and develops novel fabrication techniques that push the boundaries of what's possible with digital manufacturing. She has made significant contributions to zero-waste fashion design, immersion cooling for high-performance computing, and CAD program understanding through novel representation learning techniques. Innovators Under 35 - MIT Technology Review Bolsa Aluno Nota 10 from FAPERJ Engineer 20000 award Dr. Schulz actively mentors several PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, including Haisen Zhao, Ben Jones, Yuxuan Mei, and others, often in collaboration with colleagues across different departments. Her research has attracted significant media attention, with coverage in major outlets including MIT News, BBC, IEEE Spectrum, Wired, and TechCrunch. Her work on Interactive Robogami was noted as the most read article in the International Journal of Robotics Research in its publication year. She leads a vibrant research group at the University of Washington that focuses on computational design systems, with particular emphasis on creating tools that bridge the gap between digital design and physical fabrication. Her team develops novel algorithms for CAD systems, computational fabrication techniques, and sustainable design approaches that have practical applications across multiple industries.
Nadia Polikarpova is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, San Diego . She earned her PhD from ETH Zurich in 2014 under Bertrand Meyer , followed by postdoctoral research at MIT CSAIL with Armando Solar-Lezama . Her academic contributions have been recognized with prestigious awards including the 2020 Sloan Fellowship , 2020 Intel Rising Stars Award , and 2020 NSF CAREER Award . Polikarpova's research focuses on program synthesis , program verification , and type systems . She leads the Programming Systems group at UCSD and contributes to the IFIP Working Group 2.8 on Functional Programming since 2022. Her work spans foundational research and practical tools, including projects like Synquid , SuSLik , and Laurel that combine formal methods with machine learning for code generation. Her recent publications in venues like OOPSLA , NeurIPS , and ICFP reveal trends in AI-assisted programming , live programming environments , and formal verification . She has advised numerous PhD and Master’s students including Shraddha Barke , Zheng Guo , and Tristan Knoth , many of whom have moved to prominent academic and industry positions. Notable artifacts from her lab include tools like ColDeco for spreadsheet inspection and Superfusion for eliminating intermediate data structures. 2020 : Sloan Fellow 2020 : Intel Rising Stars Award 2020 : NSF CAREER Award 2021 : Distinguished Paper at POPL 2023 : Distinguished Artifact at PLDI 2023 : Distinguished Paper at OOPSLA Polikarpova actively contributes to academic service, serving on program committees for PLDI , POPL , and OOPSLA , and co-chairing the OOPSLA Review Committee in 2023. She has delivered keynotes at APLAS'20 and PLDI'24 , emphasizing the integration of large language models with formal methods.
Ronald Parr is a Professor of Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering. He has been at Duke since 2000, progressing from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor with tenure, and ultimately to Full Professor. From 2014 to 2017, he served as Department Chair and delivered graduation speeches in 2015, 2016, and 2017. Dr. Parr received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1998, with a dissertation titled "Hierarchical Control and Learning in Markov Decision Processes" under advisor Stuart Russell. He earned his A.B. in Philosophy, cum laude, from Princeton University in 1990. His primary research focuses on methods for solving large stochastic planning problems using Markov Decision Processes and approximate dynamic programming techniques. His work spans reinforcement learning, value function approximation, game theory, sensing, and robotics. Dr. Parr's research has been consistently funded by major agencies including NSF, DARPA, and ARO, with recent projects focusing on feature encoding for reinforcement learning, neurosymbolic hierarchical reinforcement learning, and reasoning in large, structured, uncertain domains. His publication record demonstrates consistent contributions to top venues including NeurIPS, ICML, and AAAI, with work that bridges theoretical foundations and practical applications. Dr. Parr has received numerous honors including being elected as an AAAI Fellow in 2023, receiving an AAAI Outstanding Paper Honorable Mention in 2013, winning the IJCAI-JAIR Best Paper Award in 2007, receiving an NSF CAREER award in 2006, and being named an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow in 2003. He has advised ten graduate students to completion across various research areas within AI and robotics. His research has been supported by over $1.5 million in direct funding to his lab, with additional collaborative funding from multiple NSF, DARPA, and ARO grants. Dr. Parr has served extensively on program committees for major AI conferences including ICML, NeurIPS, AAAI, and UAI, and has held leadership roles such as Program Co-Chair and General Chair for UAI. Dr. Parr maintains an active research group focused on reinforcement learning and sequential decision making, with ongoing projects in neurosymbolic AI, hierarchical reinforcement learning, and interpretable machine learning models, continuing to bridge theoretical foundations with practical applications in robotics and AI systems.
Vaishak Belle is a Reader in Logic and Learning at the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, and serves as Director of Research and Innovation at the Bayes Centre (40% position). His academic career focuses on the critical intersection of artificial intelligence, formal logic, and machine learning systems. His research spans multiple domains within AI: Neurosymbolic AI integration approaches Logic-based machine learning frameworks Ethics, fairness, and responsibility in AI systems Generative AI and its societal impact Robotics with advanced reasoning capabilities Causal modeling and probabilistic reasoning Belle leads a research laboratory dedicated to advancing neurosymbolic AI, which combines the explainability of symbolic systems with the learning capabilities of neural networks. His recent work has explored abduction in logical frameworks, formal languages for AI safety, and the relevance of logic for general-purpose AI systems. He has made significant contributions to bridging the gap between theoretical AI foundations and practical applications. His publications demonstrate consistent focus on creating AI systems that can reason formally while learning from data, with applications ranging from robotics to ethical decision-making frameworks. His research addresses fundamental challenges in developing trustworthy, explainable AI that can operate safely in complex environments. Beyond technical research, Belle is actively engaged in AI education through executive programs on AI leadership and ethics, and has contributed to public understanding through his children's book "The girl and the robot" which explores human-robot relationships and emotional projection onto artificial agents. He maintains an active presence in the international AI research community, regularly participating in major workshops including Dagstuhl seminars on neurosymbolic AI, and collaborating with researchers across disciplines from computer science to philosophy.
Jiajun Wu is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science and, by courtesy, of Psychology at Stanford University. He holds multiple affiliations including membership in Bio-X, Faculty Affiliate status at the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), and membership in both the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance and Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute. Dr. Wu earned his Ph.D. and S.M. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before joining Stanford. Dr. Wu's research program focuses on creating AI systems that understand and interact with the physical world through the integration of computer vision, machine learning, robotics, and cognitive science. His work emphasizes physics-based modeling combined with deep learning to develop systems capable of perceiving, reasoning about, and predicting physical interactions. Key research areas include 3D scene understanding, neurosymbolic AI approaches, multimodal perception (combining vision, sound, and language), and embodied intelligence for robotics applications. His lab develops novel frameworks that bridge the gap between neural networks and symbolic reasoning to create more interpretable and robust AI systems. Analysis of Dr. Wu's recent publications reveals a strong trajectory toward integrated multimodal understanding for embodied AI. His work increasingly combines vision, sound, and language processing with physical reasoning to create systems that can interact meaningfully with the physical world. There's a clear progression from foundational computer vision research toward practical robotics applications, with significant emphasis on foundation models for robotics, sim2real transfer techniques, and creating comprehensive datasets for embodied AI research. Dr. Wu's exceptional contributions have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards including the NSF CAREER award (2024), Young Investigator Programs from ONR (2024) and AFOSR (2023), the Okawa research grant (2024), and being named to IEEE Intelligent Systems' 'AI's 10 to Watch' (2024). He has received multiple best paper awards at leading conferences including ICRA (2024), SIGGRAPH Asia (2023), and CoRL (2023). Dr. Wu actively mentors a large cohort of students across multiple levels, serving as primary advisor for doctoral candidates, master's students, and numerous independent researchers. His research is supported by substantial funding from major technology companies including Google, Meta, Amazon, Samsung, and J.P. Morgan, as well as government agencies like NSF, ONR, and AFOSR, reflecting the significance and impact of his work in physical AI and multimodal perception systems. Dr. Wu leads a dynamic research group at Stanford that collaborates extensively with the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute and Institute for Human-Centered AI. Current projects include developing neurosymbolic models for computer graphics, creating multisensory datasets like OBJECTFOLDER 2.0 for sim2real transfer in robotics, and building foundation models for embodied intelligence that can understand and manipulate objects with human-like physical intuition.
Michael Felsberg is a Professor and Head of Division at the Department of Electrical Engineering (ISY) at Linköping University, leading the Computer Vision Laboratory (CVL). His research focuses on artificial visual systems (AVS), including 3D computer vision, computational imaging, object tracking, and autonomous systems. He emphasizes HVS-inspired approaches to bridge the gap between human and machine vision capabilities. Notable achievements include over 20,000 citations (h-index 47), leadership roles in the Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP), and recognition as Sweden’s top AI researcher by Vinnova. His work spans academic contributions, industry collaborations, and interdisciplinary projects like climate science applications of machine learning. Positions : WASP Executive Committee Member, WASP Area Cluster Leader for Machine Learning, and Vice-Head of Department (Electrical Engineering). Education : Extensive academic background in electrical engineering and computer vision (details not explicitly stated). Research trends in his articles reflect advancements in autonomous systems, multimodal AI, and robust vision models. His teams address challenges like object tracking, generative models for 3D simulation, and culturally diverse AI systems. Awards : Tracking Challenge Winner (OpenCV, 2015) Best Paper Awards (ICPR 2016, VISAPP 2021) Vinnova’s Highest-Ranked Swedish AI Researcher (2018) He advises numerous PhD students and oversees grants in WASP-funded initiatives. CVL collaborates on projects like disaster-response robotics and Berzelius supercomputer utilization for AI.
Mykola Pechenizkiy is a Full Professor at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), holding the Data Mining Chair. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor in Data Mining for Industrial Applications at the University of Jyväskylä. His research focuses on predictive analytics, data mining, and responsible AI, addressing real-world challenges in industry, healthcare, and education. He leads the Customer Journey research program at the Data Science Center Eindhoven, emphasizing ethical and transparent analytics. Academically, he holds a PhD from the University of Jyväskylä (2005) and has held visiting researcher positions at institutions like Columbia University and NYU. He has co-authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications and serves on editorial boards and committees for leading conferences (e.g., AAAI, IJCAI). He is the President of the International Educational Data Mining Society (IEDMS). His research interests include concept drift adaptation, sparsity techniques in neural networks, and fairness-aware AI. He has led projects such as the TKI PPS KPN Smart Two initiative and collaborates with industries like ASML, Philips, and Rabobank. His work contributes to UN SDGs, particularly in sustainable development through AI-driven solutions. Awards: Best Demo Paper Award (IEEE ICDE 2023), Best Paper Awards (ALA 2022, LoG 2022), and SensorKDD 2009 recognition. Grants/Projects: Active projects include TKI PPS KPN Smart Two (2019–2025) and Smart One W&I TKI KPN Flagship (2018–2022). Labs/Teams: Affiliated with EAISI Health, SIKS Scientific Board, and the University of Waikato’s AI Institute.
Aldo Gangemi is a Full Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Bologna, specializing in Informatics (INFO-01/A). His research integrates Semantic Technologies, Natural Language Processing, Data Science, and Cognitive Science to address challenges in knowledge representation, ontology engineering, and cultural heritage informatics. He co-founded the STLab at ISTC-CNR and DHARC at the University of Bologna, and is on leave from Sorbonne Paris Nord University (Computer Science Lab - LIPN). Scientific roles include serving as area chair for Web Semantics , editorial board member for Semantic Web and Applied Ontology , and conference chairs for major events like WWW2015 and ESWC2018. He has led European projects such as GALEN, WonderWeb, NeOn, and MARIO, and developed software tools like FRED, Aemoo, and Framester. Research interests focus on semantic technologies, knowledge patterns, and applications in humanities, medicine, law, and fisheries. Over 250 peer-reviewed publications span these areas, with emphasis on ontology-based knowledge integration, multimodal reasoning, and ethical AI. His work bridges cognitive science and technological innovation, particularly in virtual reality's societal applications and cultural heritage preservation. Notable contributions include the PRIVAFRAME knowledge graph for sensitive data, the ImageSchemaNet ontology for embodied cognition, and the Sandra neuro-symbolic reasoner. His interdisciplinary approach addresses challenges in AI ethics, creative systems, and citizen-driven data curation.
Zhe Zeng is an incoming Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Virginia starting July 2025. Currently, she serves as a Faculty Fellow in the Computer Science Department at New York University. She earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science from UCLA in 2024 under Professor Guy Van den Broeck, and her B.S. in Mathematics from Zhejiang University in 2018. Research Focus: Dr. Zeng specializes in neurosymbolic AI and probabilistic machine learning, developing methods that integrate symbolic knowledge (logical constraints, graph structures) with probabilistic uncertainty. Her work spans three core areas: Reasoning: Probabilistic inference, tractable probabilistic models Learning: Constrained deep learning, graph ML, weakly supervised learning Trustworthiness: Explainability, uncertainty quantification, domain-knowledge integration Awards & Honors: Rising Star in EECS (2023) Amazon Doctoral Fellowship (2022) NEC Research Fellowship (2021) ICML Travel Award (2018) Outstanding Graduate, Zhejiang University (2018) Advising & Mentoring: Has supervised six students including PhD candidates and undergraduates at UCLA, Tsinghua, and CAS, with placements at Princeton and UT Austin. Academic Service: Regularly reviews for NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, UAI; served as UAI 2023 discussant; active in WiML mentorship programs.
Professor Alexander Koller is a leading academic in Computational Linguistics at Saarland University's Department of Language Science and Technology. He holds a courtesy appointment in Computer Science and contributes to the Saarland Informatics Campus - one of Europe's premier computer science research centers. He leads the Computational Linguistics group and serves as speaker for the DFG-funded Research Training Group 'Neuroexplicit Models of Language, Vision, and Action'. PhD in Computer Science (Saarland University) Former positions: University of Potsdam, Columbia University, University of Edinburgh Sabbatical experiences: Meta AI (Paris), Allen Institute for AI (Seattle) His research focuses on computational modeling of meaning and reasoning in NLP, combining neural and symbolic approaches. Key contributions include semantic parsing systems like the AM parser and Alto, neurosymbolic models, and the GIVE Challenge for NLG evaluation. His recent work explores LLMs' limitations in problem-solving and compositional generalization. Recent publications highlight diverse applications across semantic parsing, dialogue systems, and LLM evaluation. Awards include ACL 2020 Best Theme Paper and multiple Outstanding Paper recognitions at ACL conferences. 2025 - AI Action Summit keynote speaker 2023 - ACL Outstanding Paper Awards 2022 - ELLIS Faculty appointment He maintains the DialogOS system for spoken dialogue development and teaches advanced computational linguistics topics. His group includes multiple postdocs and PhD students working across LLMs, dialogue systems, and semantic modeling.
Maithilee Kunda is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering at Vanderbilt University's School of Engineering. She leads the Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence and Visual Analogical Systems and co-leads the Vanderbilt Initiative for Autism, Innovation, and the Workforce. Her research focuses on AI-driven cognitive systems, particularly visual reasoning and technology applications for neurodiverse populations, including autism spectrum disorder. Dr. Kunda holds a B.S. in Mathematics with Computer Science from MIT (2007) and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Georgia Tech (2013). She was honored as an MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35 in 2016 for her groundbreaking work. Her research bridges computational models of visual thinking and real-world impact, emphasizing neurodiverse cognition. Notable projects include developing AI systems for autism-related social skills interventions, designing visual analogy problem-solving frameworks, and advancing nonverbal communication understanding in AI. Her work addresses challenges in abstract reasoning tasks (e.g., Raven's Matrices), visual imagery-based learning, and ethical AI integration. She advocates for inclusive technology design, leveraging both generative AI and cognitive principles to create human-centered solutions. Key awards: MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35 (2016) Her labs focus on practical AI applications for education, healthcare, and workforce development, emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration between engineering, psychology, and neuroscience.
