Carl Vondrick is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Columbia University. His research focuses on creating robust and versatile perception systems that leverage video and interaction with the natural world, with applications in 3D reconstruction, visual question answering, and robot manipulation. Former research scientist at Google Visiting researcher at Cruise Education: PhD (2017) from MIT, advised by Antonio Torralba BS (2011) from UC Irvine, advised by Deva Ramanan His research explores multimodal approaches for cross-task and cross-modal transfer, scene dynamics, audiovisual perception, interpretable models, and spatial awareness systems. The lab emphasizes zero-shot generalization and neuro-symbolic methods while addressing safety and robustness in AI systems. Key publication trends include: 2025: Video generation for robotics 2024: Differentiable rendering and cross-modal reasoning 2023: Robust perception and 3D modeling Scientific Awards: 2024 PAMI Young Researcher Award 2021 NSF CAREER Award Teaching Roles: Teaching Computer Vision II (2021-2025), Computer Vision I (2018-2019), and Representation Learning (2020-2022). Advising: Advises 8 current PhD students and has mentored 5 graduated students now at institutions like MBZUAI and UMD. The lab recruits 1-2 PhD students annually through Columbia’s PhD program. Grants and Collaborations: Funded by NSF, DARPA, Toyota Research Institute, Amazon Research, and Google.
Christian Theobalt is a Professor of Computer Science at Saarland University and Scientific Director of the Visual Computing and Artificial Intelligence Department at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics . He leads the Saarbruecken Center for Visual Computing as a strategic partnership between Google and MPI. PhD in Computer Science (2005) from MPI-INF/Saarland University Postdoctoral Researcher at MPI (2005-2007) Visiting Assistant Professor at Stanford (2007-2009) His research focuses on the intersection of Computer Graphics, Computer Vision, and Artificial Intelligence , with specializations in: 3D/4D Human Reconstruction Neural Rendering Performance Capture Geometric Deep Learning Volumetric Video Quantum Visual Computing Recent article trends show emphasis on: Quantum computing applications in visual reconstruction Neural rendering with radiance fields Human motion capture from egocentric views Gesture-language interaction modeling Multi-modal scene understanding Real-time free-viewpoint rendering Scientific Awards : Fellow of EUROGRAPHICS (2022) CVPR Best Student Paper Honorable Mention (2020) ERC Consolidator Grant (2017) Karl Heinz Beckurts Award (2017) Busy Beaver Teaching Award (2016) ERC Starting Grant (2013) Advising over 50 students and researchers including: Current researchers: Viktor Rudnev, Linjie Lyu, Mohit Mendiratta Postdocs: Kwang In Kim, Kiran Varanasi Alumni: Franziska Mueller (Google), Dushyant Mehta (Qualcomm), Ayush Tewari (MIT) Grants include ERC grants, Google Glass Research Award, and multiple industry partnerships. His lab maintains cutting-edge facilities with: Multi-camera capture systems Quantum annealing infrastructure HDR radiance field technology GPU clusters for AI research Time-of-flight imaging systems Event camera arrays
Prof. Niki Kilbertus is an Assistant Professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in the Department of Informatics, and Group Leader at Helmholtz AI. His research focuses on causal machine learning, ethical AI systems, and applications in healthcare, climate science, and dynamical systems. He earned his PhD from the University of Cambridge (2020) and has held positions at DeepMind, Google, and Amazon during his studies. His research interests include causal discovery, fairness in AI, counterfactual reasoning, and integrating physics-based constraints into neural networks. Key contributions include foundational work on fair machine learning (e.g., avoiding discrimination through causal models) and developing methods for causal inference in complex systems like healthcare and climate modeling. Recent work emphasizes generative models for causal interventions, robust treatment effect estimation, and physically consistent neural differential equations. He leads a large interdisciplinary group with over 20 students and postdocs working on projects funded by Helmholtz Association, ERC, and industry collaborations. Notable awards include the Leopoldina Prize for Young Scientists (2024) and membership in the Junge Akademie. His lab maintains active partnerships with ELLIS, MCML, and the Zuse Institute Berlin.
Prof. Kai S. Exner is a Professor of Theoretical Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Duisburg-Essen's Faculty of Chemistry and a member of the Zentrum für Medizinische Biotechnologie (ZMB). His research focuses on electrocatalysis , particularly optimizing electrode materials for energy applications such as batteries, electrolyzers, and fuel cells. He employs computational methods like ab initio calculations and microkinetic modeling to bridge theoretical insights with experimental and industrial applications, emphasizing sustainable catalyst design without relying on noble metals. His work integrates basic research with applied medical biotechnology through ZMB collaborations, though his primary affiliation lies in the Faculty of Chemistry. Exner has pioneered concepts like the electrochemical-step asymmetry index and free-energy span model, which are critical for screening electrocatalysts. His research group, 'Theoretical Inorganic Chemistry,' actively explores mechanisms behind oxygen and chlorine evolution reactions, emphasizing selectivity control and reaction pathway complexity. Exner received the Gottschalk-Diederich-Baedeker-Preis (2024) for advancing the energy transition through foundational electrocatalysis research. He leads Aktuelles Projekt funded by third-party grants and collaborates with facilities like the Analytics Core Facility Essen (ACE) and Imaging Center Campus Essen (ICCE). His advisory role focuses on guiding theoretical and computational approaches in electrochemistry, and he has established a reputation for interdisciplinary research connecting computational chemistry with practical energy solutions.
Michael Carbin is the Jamieson Career Development Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and leads the MIT Programming Systems Group. His research focuses on programming systems that address system uncertainty to enhance performance, energy efficiency, and resilience, particularly in environments involving neural networks , approximate computing , and unreliable hardware . His work spans probabilistic programming , quantum computing , and machine learning systems . Articles highlight contributions in pruning neural networks , quantum data structures , and compiler optimization , reflecting trends in deep learning , formal verification , and language-driven systems . Scientific Awards : MIT Frank E. Perkins Award (2020) Sloan Research Fellowship (2020) Facebook Research Award (2019) NSF CAREER Award (2018) Best Paper Awards at OOPSLA (2013, 2014) He has advised numerous graduate students and postdocs including Eric Atkinson, Cambridge Yang, and Charles Yuan, and served on program committees for conferences like POPL, OOPSLA, and ICLR. His group collaborates with institutions such as MIT CSAIL and explores applications in quantum algorithms and probabilistic inference .
Professor Thomas Bein is affiliated with the Department of Chemistry at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) , where he leads the Functional Nanosystems research group. His work focuses on synthesizing and characterizing nanostructured materials with applications in energy, catalysis, and biomedical delivery. Mesoporous nanoparticles for drug delivery Semiconductor nano-morphologies for photovoltaics Photoelectrochemical water splitting Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) Electroactive networks His research emphasizes atomic-scale control of material architectures using self-assembly, hydrogen bonding, and covalent interactions, enabling precise tuning of electronic, optical, and catalytic properties. A review of his recent publications reveals cutting-edge investigations into covalent organic frameworks (COFs), perovskite-inspired solar materials, and functional nanoparticle systems. Key trends include optimizing energy conversion efficiency, enhancing stability in optoelectronic devices, and exploring bio-compatible nanocarriers for targeted therapies. Professor Bein’s group actively contributes to interdisciplinary projects at the intersection of chemistry, physics, and biomedical engineering, with ongoing collaborations in solar energy, sustainable materials, and nanomedicine.
Lutz Schubert is a researcher at the Institute of Computer Science , University of Cologne. He focuses on efficient distributed and parallel execution environments for heterogeneous systems, notably the MyThOS operating system in collaboration with Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus-Senftenberg. His interdisciplinary work bridges computer science and digital archaeology , addressing modeling of non-deterministic events from sparse excavation data and exploring human behavior constraints in archaeological contexts. Research Interests Design of modular, scalable operating systems for distributed systems Optimization of execution environments for heterogeneous hardware Application of complex systems modeling to digital archaeology Statistical and probabilistic methods for archaeological interpretation Autonomic resource distribution and adaptation in computing Publication Trends : His work spans operating systems , parallel computing , and digital humanities , with recent emphasis on probabilistic reasoning in archaeology and adaptive OS design for multicore architectures. Labs & Collaborations : He collaborates with Brandenburg University of Technology on MyThOS and leads research in computational archaeology as chair of Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA) , Germany.
Prof. Matthias Nießner is a Professor at the Technical University of Munich, leading the Visual Computing Lab. His research intersects computer graphics, vision, and AI, focusing on 3D reconstruction, semantic understanding, and AI-driven video synthesis. He holds a PhD from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (2013) and was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Stanford University (2013–2017). Notable awards include the ERC Starting Grant (2018), Nvidia Professorship Award, and Eurographics Young Researcher Award (2019). His work has been featured in mainstream media and led to startups like Synthesia Inc. Research spans Gaussian splatting, neural radiance fields, and generative AI for 3D avatars. Over 150 publications include SIGGRAPH, CVPR, and ECCV, with best paper awards. Projects like Face2Face and ScanNet have driven innovation in facial reenactment and 3D scene datasets. Education: PhD in Computer Science, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (2013) Diploma in Computer Science, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (2010) Research Interests: 3D digitization, neural rendering, generative AI, non-rigid reconstruction, and applications in AR/VR. Awards: ERC Starting Grant (2018) Nvidia Professorship Award (2018) Google Faculty Award (2018) SIGGRAPH Best Emerging Tech Award (2016) Grants: Over €1.5M from ERC and industry partnerships. Labs/Teams: Visual Computing Lab at TUM and Synthesia Inc. (co-founder). Key projects include ScanNet (large 3D indoor dataset), Face2Face (real-time facial reenactment), and Gaussian-based 3D avatars. Current work focuses on diffusion models, neural radiance fields, and AI-generated media detection.
Prof. Stefan Leutenegger is a tenure-track Assistant Professor at Technische Universität München (TUM), leading the Machine Learning for Robotics group within the TUM School of Computation, Information, and Technology. Previously, he held roles as Senior Lecturer (2018–2021) and Lecturer (2014–2018) at Imperial College London's Dyson Robotics Lab, where he founded the Smart Robotics Lab. He earned his PhD (2014) from ETH Zurich, focusing on autonomous solar-powered aircraft navigation, and holds BSc (2006) and MSc (2009) in Mechanical Engineering from ETH Zurich. His research centers on mobile robotics, particularly enabling robots (e.g., drones) to perceive and navigate complex environments using machine learning and sensor data fusion. Key focus areas include SLAM, event-based vision, 3D reconstruction, and autonomous exploration. He has pioneered algorithms like BRISK (2011), OKVIS (2014), and ElasticFusion (2016), advancing real-time robotics perception. Notable Awards: Imperial College President's Award (2018), Best ECCV Paper (2016), ETH Medal for Dissertations (2015). Labs: TUM's Machine Learning for Robotics Group, Imperial's Smart Robotics Lab. Publications: Over 100 papers, including seminal works in CVPR, ECCV, and Robotics: Science and Systems. Current projects include DigiForests (forest inventory via robotics), aerial additive manufacturing, and object-centric semantic mapping. His work bridges theory and practice, with applications in autonomous drones, construction robotics, and human-robot interaction.
Jonas Fischer is the head of the Explainable Machine Learning group at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Department of Computer Vision and Machine Learning. His research focuses on interpreting complex machine learning models, particularly in genomics and healthcare, aiming to enhance robustness and alignment with human decision-making. Prior to his role at MPI, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University's Department of Biostatistics, where he worked on interpretable models for gene regulatory systems in cancer. Education: PhD in Computer Science from Saarland University (2022), with a thesis titled More than the sum of its parts , exploring the intersection of pattern mining and deep learning. He has contributed to advancing methods in neural network pruning, federated learning, and low-dimensional embeddings (e.g., dtSNE, Mercat). His work bridges computational biology, data mining, and machine learning, with applications in DNA methylation analysis, graph-based differential networks, and biomedical informatics. Key research areas include: (1) Explainable AI and neural network interpretability, (2) Biomedical applications of machine learning (e.g., gene regulatory networks, cancer genomics), (3) Low-dimensional embeddings and visualization techniques, (4) Federated learning for privacy-preserving collaborative models, and (5) Pattern mining for error analysis in NLP and classification tasks. Publications span top venues like NeurIPS, ICLR, Bioinformatics, and Genome Biology. His group develops tools such as BONOBO for omics data integration and node2vec2rank for scalable graph analysis. He actively collaborates with biomedical researchers to address challenges in data-driven healthcare and precision medicine.
Andrea Tagliasacchi is an Associate Professor in the School of Computing Science at Simon Fraser University (SFU), where he holds the Visual Computing Research Chair. He is also a part-time (20%) Staff Research Scientist at Google DeepMind in Toronto and holds an associate professor (status only) appointment in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. Education: PhD in Computing Science – Simon Fraser University (NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Fellow) Postdoctoral Research – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) MSc in Computer Science – Politecnico di Milano (Gold Medalist) His research lies at the intersection of computer vision, computer graphics, and machine learning, with a focus on 3D visual perception. Key areas include neural radiance fields (NeRF), 3D Gaussian splatting, inverse rendering, and geometric deep learning, with applications in robotics, augmented reality, and autonomous systems. His work emphasizes robust and efficient scene understanding and reconstruction from visual data. His recent publications, appearing in top venues like CVPR, SIGGRAPH, NeurIPS, and ECCV, demonstrate a strong emphasis on neural fields, 3D reconstruction, and generative modeling. Trends include improving rendering efficiency, enhancing robustness to noise and distractors, and enabling controllable and 3D-aware generation. His group has made significant contributions to Gaussian splatting, NeRF optimization, and diffusion-based 3D/4D synthesis. Scientific Awards: 2024 CVPR Best Paper Award (Honorable Mention) 2020 CVPR Best Student Paper Award 2015 SGP Best Paper Award NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship MITACS Best Paper Award (SIGGRAPH Asia 2009) NSF Best Poster Award (SGP 2012) He has advised numerous PhD and MSc students, many of whom are now researchers at leading institutions and companies. His research has been supported through collaborations with Google, Intel, and academic partners. He serves the community as a Senior Area Chair for CVPR 2025, Associate Editor for IEEE TPAMI (2024–2026), Guest Editor for IEEE TPAMI on 3D GenAI, and Program Chair for 3DV 2024. He leads a vibrant research lab at SFU focused on pushing the boundaries of 3D scene understanding with machine learning.
Paul Gölz is an Assistant Professor at Cornell University's School of Operations Research and Information Engineering (ORIE), with affiliations in Computer Science. His research focuses on computational social choice, algorithmic fairness, and AI ethics, addressing topics like democratic innovation, fair resource allocation, and AI systems for diverse users. Education: Undergraduate studies at Saarland University (Germany), PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, followed by postdoctoral research at Harvard University, UC Berkeley, and the Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute. His work has been recognized with awards including the JPMorgan Chase AI Research Fellowship (2021) and honorable mentions for prestigious dissertation awards (Dantzig and ACM SIGecom). Research Highlights : Developed Panelot, a tool for selecting citizens' assemblies using state-of-the-art algorithms. His work on fair refugee resettlement and apportionment methods has been featured in Operations Research and Nature . Recent projects include AI alignment distortion analysis and generative social choice mechanisms. Teaching : Teaches Optimized Democracy (Spring 2025) and Mathematical Programming (Fall 2024). Supervises PhD students in ORIE, focusing on interdisciplinary applications of optimization and social choice. Awards & Grants : Received a $40K Structural Democracy Fellowship (Crankstart) and an OpenAI grant for Democratic Inputs to AI. Active in policy briefs (e.g., mini-public selection strategies). Labs/Tools : Co-developed Panelot.org , a nonprofit platform for fair citizen assembly selection. Active in open-source tool development for social choice applications.
Celestine Mendler-Dünner is a Principal Investigator at the ELLIS Institute in Tübingen, co-affiliated with the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and the Tübingen AI Center. She leads the Algorithms and Society research group, focusing on machine learning in social contexts and the role of prediction in digital economies. Her work bridges theoretical machine learning with practical societal impact, developing tools for safe, reliable, and equitable AI ecosystems. Her educational background includes a PhD from ETH Zurich in collaboration with IBM Research, followed by an SNSF postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley hosted by Moritz Hardt. She was previously a group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems before joining the ELLIS Institute. Mendler-Dünner's research spans several interconnected themes including performative prediction (where predictions change the behavior they aim to predict), algorithmic collective action (how participants can steer AI systems toward common goals), and the role of LLMs in social science research. Her work combines theoretical foundations with practical implementations, addressing challenges in interactive machine learning, optimization in dynamic environments, and context-specific evaluation of AI systems. She particularly examines how algorithmic predictions mediate services and platforms at societal scale, exploring concepts of economic power in digital markets. Her publication record shows a clear evolution from system-aware machine learning algorithms (including foundational work on IBM Snap ML) toward increasingly sociotechnical questions at the intersection of machine learning, economics, and policy. Recent work focuses on measuring performative power in digital economies, evaluating LLMs as risk scores, and developing frameworks for algorithmic collective action in recommender systems and labor markets. Among her notable recognitions are the ETH Medal for her dissertation, the IBM Research Division Award, the Fritz Kutter Award, and the IBM Eminence and Excellence Award. She is an ELLIS Scholar, a fellow of the Elisabeth-Schiemann-Kolleg, and affiliated with several prestigious research programs including the International Max Planck Research School for Intelligent Systems and the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems. ETH Medal (dissertation award) IBM Research Division Award Fritz Kutter Award IBM Eminence and Excellence Award SNSF Early Postdoc Mobility Fellowship Mendler-Dünner actively mentors the next generation of researchers, advising PhD student Patrik Wolf and supervising research interns including Joachim Baumann, Haiqing Zhu, and Anna Badalyan, as well as Master's student Dorothee Sigg. She serves as core faculty for the International Max Planck Research School and associated faculty for the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems. Her group has secured significant research funding through fellowships and institutional support, enabling work on projects like Powermeter (measuring search engine influence) and Snap ML (resource-efficient machine learning library with over 1 million PyPI downloads). She leads the Algorithms and Society research group, which examines machine learning as part of broader sociotechnical ecosystems. The group explores human-population interactions with algorithmic systems and incorporates these insights into learning system fundamentals. Current projects include investigating economic incentives in digital platforms, developing tools for systematic LLM evaluation in social science contexts, and creating frameworks for collective action in algorithmic systems. Mendler-Dünner also co-organizes the Algorithmic Collective Action workshop at NeurIPS 2025, demonstrating her leadership in emerging research directions at the AI-society interface.
Prof. Laura Leal-Taixé is a Professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in the Department of Informatics, leading the Dynamic Vision and Learning group. She holds the Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Assistant Professorship, promoted to W3 Associate Professorship in 2022. Her research focuses on computer vision and machine learning, particularly video analysis, multi-object tracking, and autonomous driving applications. Education: B.Sc./M.Sc. in Telecommunications Engineering (Technical University of Catalonia, UPC) Ph.D. in Information Processing (Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany) Postdoctoral Research at ETH Zürich (Switzerland) and TUM Research Interests: Laura’s work addresses challenges in video analysis, including motion analysis, semantic segmentation, and integrating social dynamics into urban traffic modeling. Her project socialMaps , funded by the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award, explores decoupling vehicle and pedestrian traffic using dynamic maps. Her research combines optimization techniques, deep learning, and sensor data for real-world applications like autonomous systems. Recent Trends: Her publications highlight advancements in multi-object tracking, 3D LiDAR segmentation, and trajectory forecasting, emphasizing neural networks and geometric approaches. Collaborations with industry and academia underscore her work’s practical impact. Awards: 2017 Sofja Kovalevskaja Award (€1.65M, Humboldt Foundation) 2017 DAAD Australia-German Joint Research Grant Travel grants from Women in CV, CVPR Doctoral Consortium, and Vodafone Foundation Labs & Projects: Leads the Dynamic Vision and Learning group at TUM, focusing on vision-based AI for autonomous systems and environmental monitoring. Active in developing datasets like DynamicEarthNet for semantic change analysis.
Prof. Dr. Jörg E. Drewes is a Full Professor and Chair at the Research Institute for Urban Water Management, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany. He also serves as Academic Program Director for Environmental Engineering at TUM and is a co-founder of Waterloop Solutions GmbH. His work spans advanced water treatment technologies, wastewater reuse, and environmental health surveillance. Affiliations : TUM, Colorado School of Mines, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, UNSW Water Research Centre Research focuses on advanced oxidation processes , membrane fouling mitigation , micropollutant removal , and wastewater epidemiology for public health. His team develops integrated systems for water-energy-food nexus applications and graphene oxide-based treatment solutions. Recent publications address PFAS remediation , UVC-LED pre-treatment for biofouling control, and GIS-based wastewater surveillance models . Awards include the Bayerische Staatsmedaille (2023) and William Dunbar Medal (2022). 2023 : Bayerische Staatsmedaille 2022 : William Dunbar Medal 2018 : IWA Fellow He leads the Nexus@TUM initiative and contributes to EU water resilience strategies. Collaborations include projects in Germany, China, India, and Spain, focusing on climate-resilient water systems and resource recovery .
