Julien Mairal

Julien Mairal is a Senior Research Scientist at Inria Grenoble within the Thoth research team, focusing on machine learning, optimization, and computer vision. His research spans theoretical foundations and practical applications across multiple domains including signal processing, bioinformatics, and neuroimaging.

His primary research interests include machine learning, particularly optimization algorithms for large-scale problems, computer vision with applications in image restoration and super-resolution, and kernel methods for structured data. His work demonstrates strong connections between theoretical optimization and practical implementations, as evidenced by his Cyanure toolbox for empirical risk minimization.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals a consistent focus on optimization techniques for machine learning, with increasing emphasis on large-scale applications, self-supervised learning, and connections between kernel methods and deep learning architectures. His work shows strong interdisciplinary applications spanning computer vision, neuroscience, and remote sensing.

• ERC Consolidator Grant (2023) for the Apheleia project
• ICML Test of Time Award (2019)
• ERC Starting Grant (2016) for the SOLARIS project

Mairal serves extensively in editorial capacities as area chair for major conferences including ICML, NeurIPS, CVPR, and ECCV. He is an associate editor for the Journal of Machine Learning Research (JMLR) and previously served for IEEE PAMI and IJCV. His Cyanure toolbox has become a significant contribution to the field of large-scale optimization in machine learning. His research demonstrates strong connections between theoretical foundations and practical implementations across multiple application domains.