Myrto Kalouptsidi is a Professor of Economics at Harvard University. She specializes in Industrial Organization, International Trade, and Transportation Markets. Her research explores industrial policy impacts, global trade dynamics, firm investment patterns in volatile industries, and structural modeling of transportation markets. Education: BA from University of Athens, PhD from Yale University Former faculty at Princeton University Foreign Editor at Review of Economic Studies Research Fellow at NBER and CEPR Notable awards include the Frisch Medal (2022) for her work in Econometrica and the Bodossaki Young Scientist Prize (2021) . She has secured multiple NSF grants, including a CAREER grant in 2019. Her research has been widely recognized in outlets like The Economist, LSE Business Review, and Microeconomic Insights. She advises graduate students and contributes to structural modeling advancements through publications in top journals including American Economic Review, Econometrica, and Review of Economic Studies.
Vivek Srikumar is an Associate Professor in the Kahlert School of Computing at the University of Utah, co-leading the Utah NLP group and affiliated with the Utah Center for Data Science. His research focuses on Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing, particularly in structured prediction, bias mitigation, and healthcare NLP applications. He teaches Machine Learning (CS 6350/DS 4350) and has been supported by NSF, NIH, and corporate grants from Intel, Google, and others. Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2013) Postdoctoral Researcher at Stanford University's NLP Group (2013-2014) Visiting Researcher at Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (2022 sabbatical) Research Interests: Srikumar explores text understanding, structured learning, and robust AI systems. His work addresses challenges in table-based reasoning, adversarial robustness, and ethical AI. He develops methods to ensure models use appropriate evidence and mitigate biases in representations. Grants & Collaborations: Supported by NSF, NIH, BSF, and industry partnerships with Intel, Google, Verisk, Bloomberg, and Nvidia. Notable projects include table QA systems (TempTabQA), bias mitigation (OSCaR/VERB), and crisis counseling NLP tools (ClientBot). Advising: Supervised over 30 students, including 15+ Ph.D./M.S. alumni now in academia and industry (e.g., Google, Amazon, Microsoft). Current advisees focus on multimodal reasoning, healthcare NLP, and AI ethics. Labs/Teams: Utah NLP Group and Utah Center for Data Science. Active in reproducibility efforts (LogFlux) and open-source tools (CogCompNLP/Pylon frameworks).
Jonathan S. Phillips is an Assistant Professor in the Program in Cognitive Science at Dartmouth College , with affiliations in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and the Department of Philosophy . He directs the PhilLab , which explores cognition through interdisciplinary methods integrating philosophy, psychology, linguistics, and computer science . Education: B.A., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Ph.D., Yale University (Philosophy/Psychology) Research focuses on modal cognition , including how humans represent possibilities ( possible worlds ), moral judgment , causal reasoning , and theory of mind . The lab investigates how these representations influence language and decision-making , with empirical work spanning fMRI studies , computational modeling , and developmental psychology . Recent publications examine modal decomposition , counterfactual neural substrates , and moral constraints on possibility representation . Collaborators include scholars from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and MIT. The lab has trained graduate students in Cognitive Science and Psychology , with alumni pursuing computational, moral, and developmental research.
Dr. Hengrui Cai is an Assistant Professor of Statistics at the University of California Irvine (UCI), affiliated with the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences. She holds a Ph.D. in Statistics from North Carolina State University (NCSU) and a B.S. in Statistics from Zhejiang University. Her research focuses on causal inference, reinforcement learning, and graphical models, with applications in precision medicine, healthcare analytics, and epidemiology. She develops interpretable solutions for individualized decision-making, particularly in healthcare settings such as ICU patient treatment optimization and pandemic analysis. Notable achievements include the NSF CDS&E-MSS Award (2024), ICS Research Awards (2023–2024), and recognition for contributions to causal discovery and policy evaluation. Dr. Cai advises graduate and undergraduate students on projects involving causal AI, machine learning, and healthcare data analysis. She teaches courses like 'Causal Machine Learning' and 'Introduction to Probability and Statistics,' emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to real-world problems. Her work integrates statistical theory with practical applications, exemplified by software tools like ANOCE-CVAE for causal mediation analysis and the Sepsis EHR Benchmark Environment for reinforcement learning. Dr. Cai collaborates widely, contributing to projects such as quantifying the impact of the 2020 Hubei lockdowns on virus spread in China through causal graph analysis.
Christian List is a Professor of Philosophy and Decision Theory at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU Munich) and Co-Director of the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP). He holds concurrent visiting professorships at the London School of Economics (LSE) and has held prestigious positions globally, including at Harvard Law School and Princeton University. His work bridges philosophy with social sciences, focusing on decision theory, free will, consciousness, and group agency. Education: D.Phil. in Politics (Oxford, 2001), M.Phil. and B.A. in Mathematics & Philosophy (Oxford). Key roles include Fellow of the British Academy and Member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. Research interests span metaphysical questions (free will, consciousness), formal methods in decision theory, and the philosophy of the social sciences. His monograph Why Free Will is Real (2019) is a landmark work. Recent articles explore AI ethics, probability aggregation, and consciousness theories. Scientific awards include the Joseph B. Gittler Award (2020) and the Social Choice and Welfare Prize (2010). He has edited major journals like Economics and Philosophy and contributed to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . His advisory and editorial work spans multiple disciplines, reflecting his interdisciplinary approach to philosophy and social science.
Christopher Walters is a Professor at the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics, University of Chicago, and previously served as an Assistant Professor at UC Berkeley (2013-2025). He is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, Research Fellow at IZA, and Faculty Affiliate at MIT's School Effectiveness and Inequality Initiative (SEII). PhD in Economics, MIT (2013) B.A. in Economics and Philosophy, University of Virginia (2008) Walters specializes in Labor Economics and the Economics of Education , focusing on school choice, early childhood interventions, and program evaluation. His work combines applied econometric methods with discrete choice modeling to analyze educational investments and labor market outcomes. Walters' recent publications examine class size effects, teacher quality impacts, and school finance policies, reflecting his interest in improving educational equity through rigorous empirical analysis. Research Fellow at IZA He collaborates with institutions like J-PAL North America and MIT Blueprint Labs, contributing to evidence-based policy design in education and labor economics.
Associate Professor LIN Zhenhua serves as a Presidential Young Professor in the Department of Statistics and Data Science at the National University of Singapore (NUS), with additional affiliation at the Institute of Data Science since 2021. His research develops cutting-edge statistical methodologies for complex data structures across multiple domains. Dr. LIN completed his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto in 2017 under Fang Yao's supervision, following M.Sc. degrees from Simon Fraser University (2013, 2010) and a B.Sc. from Fudan University (2008). Ph.D., University of Toronto, 2017 (Advisor: Fang Yao) M.Sc., Simon Fraser University, 2013, 2010 B.Sc., Fudan University, 2008 His research program spans functional data analysis (developing techniques for curves and surfaces), non-Euclidean data analysis (statistical methods on manifolds), high-dimensional statistics (p > n problems), and constrained statistical modeling. LIN's work bridges theoretical statistics with practical applications through rigorous mathematical frameworks and computational implementations. Recent publications reveal strong emphasis on bootstrap methods for high-dimensional inference, Riemannian geometry approaches for manifold-valued data, and innovative functional data techniques. His research shows consistent output with multiple 2025 publications in top journals including Biometrika, Bernoulli, and Journal of the American Statistical Association. Professional Recognition Presidential Young Professor, NUS (2019-present) Associate Editor, Bernoulli (2022-2024) Associate Editor, Statistics (2023-present) Young Researchers Committee, Bernoulli Society (2020-2024) Professor LIN actively mentors graduate students as evidenced by numerous collaborative publications with trainees. He teaches advanced courses including ST5215 Advanced Statistical Theory, DSA4211 High-dimensional Statistical Analysis, and ST5223 Statistical Models across multiple academic years. His research group develops specialized software packages including hdanova, matrix-manifold, synfd, mcfda, and iRFDA, making advanced statistical methods accessible to practitioners.
Golnoosh Farnadi is an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Operational Research at the University of Montreal and an Assistant Professor at the School of Computer Science at McGill University. She holds a Canada-CIFAR Chair in Artificial Intelligence and serves as a Senior Academic Member at Mila - Quebec Institute for Artificial Intelligence. Her interdisciplinary work bridges computer science, operations research, and ethical AI considerations. Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Computer Science from KU Leuven and Ghent University (2017), followed by postdoctoral positions at the University of Montreal/MILA (2018-2020) and the University of California, Santa Cruz (2017-2018). Her research focuses on algorithmic fairness, responsible AI, deep learning, and probabilistic models, with applications spanning healthcare, recommender systems, and public policy. Farnadi's recent publications demonstrate a strong emphasis on addressing fairness in machine learning systems, with particular attention to cultural diversity in recommender systems, fairness in healthcare optimization (particularly kidney exchange programs), and mitigating hallucinations in large language models. Her work consistently combines theoretical rigor with practical applications, often employing novel mathematical frameworks to tackle complex ethical challenges in AI. Among her notable recognitions are the Google Scholar Award (2021), Facebook Research Award (2021), Google Award for Inclusion Research (2023), and being named one of the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics (2023). She was also recognized as a Rising Star in AI Ethics in 2021. Farnadi supervises numerous graduate students through her EQUAL Lab (EQuity & EQuality Using AI and Learning algorithms), which focuses on developing AI systems that promote fairness and equity. Her teaching includes courses on Responsible AI, Machine Learning, and Trustworthy Machine Learning at both McGill University and HEC Montreal.
Sebastian Pokutta is a Professor at Technische Universität Berlin, Vice President at the Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB), and Chair of the Cluster of Excellence MATH+ and MODAL. His research lies at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, Optimization, and Machine Learning, with applications in sustainability, quantum computing, and mathematical discovery. Research Interests: Development of novel optimization algorithms, particularly Frank-Wolfe and Conditional Gradient methods. Integration of machine learning with decision-making and combinatorial optimization. AI for Science (AI4Science), including applications in quantum mechanics and ecology. AI and creativity, human-AI co-creativity, and social science modeling using multi-agent LLMs. His recent publications (2025) demonstrate a strong focus on scalable optimization, interpretability, and algorithmic foundations. The work spans theoretical advances in convergence analysis, practical implementations in Julia (FrankWolfe.jl), and real-world deployments in biomass estimation and quantum certification. Scientific Awards: Gödel Prize (2023) STOC Test of Time Award (2022) Science Prize of the Association for Pediatric Orthopedics (2025) Google Research Awards (2021, 2020) NSF CAREER Award (2015) He advises a vibrant research group, with former students and postdocs securing faculty positions at institutions like Inria, Carlos III University, and James Madison University. His group has received funding from Google, DFG, and Math+, and he leads major collaborative efforts such as the Thematic Einstein Semester on Mathematical Optimization for Machine Learning. Labs and Teams: Interactive Optimization and Learning Lab at TU Berlin and ZIB. Leadership in MODAL and MATH+ research clusters, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration in mathematical optimization and AI.
Christian List is Professor of Philosophy and Decision Theory at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he serves as Co-Director of the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP). Previously, he was Professor of Philosophy and Political Science at the London School of Economics until 2020. His work bridges philosophy, economics, and political science with a particular focus on individual and collective decision-making and the nature of intentional agency. Professor List's research spans multiple interconnected domains: theories of individual and collective choice (particularly social choice theory and judgment aggregation), free will and consciousness, the philosophy of mind and action, and the foundations of the social sciences. His work on group agency, developed in his influential book Group Agency with Philip Pettit, has reshaped debates about corporate entities and collective intentionality. His more recent work on free will, culminating in his book Why Free Will is Real , presents a scientifically grounded defense of free will against reductionist skepticism. His recent publications reveal a sophisticated integration of formal methods with deep philosophical questions, particularly regarding consciousness, probability aggregation, and the relationship between different levels of explanation. List's work consistently demonstrates how mathematical precision can illuminate fundamental philosophical problems while maintaining relevance to broader social and scientific contexts. Scientific Awards and Recognition: Elected Fellow of the British Academy (2014) Member of Academia Europaea (2023) Member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (2022) Joseph B. Gittler Award from the American Philosophical Association (2020) Philip Leverhulme Prize in Philosophy (2007) 5th Social Choice and Welfare Prize (2010) List has supervised numerous PhD students and early-career researchers, many of whom have gone on to prominent positions in philosophy and related fields. His collaborative work with Franz Dietrich on judgment aggregation has been particularly influential. As Co-Director of the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, he has secured substantial research funding and established MCMP as a leading international hub for formal and mathematical approaches to philosophical problems. Through the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, List leads a vibrant research community that brings together philosophers, economists, political scientists, and mathematicians to tackle foundational questions using rigorous formal methods. The center hosts regular workshops, seminars, and visiting scholars, creating a dynamic intellectual environment that bridges disciplinary boundaries.
Lorenzo Baraldi is an Associate Professor at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, where he leads research in deep learning, vision-language integration, and multimodal AI systems. He serves as an ELLIS Scholar and Coordinator of the Modena ELLIS Unit, and has held the position of deputy director at the Interdepartmental Center on Digital Humanities since 2021. Previously, he worked at Facebook AI Research laboratory in Paris in 2017, developing video-matching algorithms for content moderation. His research spans multiple areas including Vision-and-Language integration, Multimodal Retrieval, Image and Video Captioning, Visual-Semantic alignment, Large-Scale model development, High Performance Computing, and Embodied AI. With over 120 publications in international journals and conferences, his work demonstrates consistent contributions to advancing multimodal AI capabilities. He has served as an Associate Editor for Computer Vision and Image Understanding and Pattern Recognition, and as Area Chair for major conferences including ICCV, WACV 2026, and ACM Multimedia 2025. His recent publication record shows significant impact in the field, with multiple papers accepted to top-tier conferences in 2024-2025 including CVPR, ICCV, BMVC, ICLR, ECCV, and NeurIPS. Notably, his paper "Hyperbolic Safety-Aware Vision-Language Models" was selected as a highlight paper at CVPR 2025. His research often involves collaboration with Rita Cucchiara and other researchers at his institution. ELLIS Scholar and Coordinator of the Modena ELLIS Unit Associate Editor for Computer Vision and Image Understanding Area Chair for ICCV and major multimedia conferences Highlight paper at CVPR 2025 Professor Baraldi teaches courses in Computer Vision and Cognitive Systems, Scalable AI, and Computer Architecture for the Artificial Intelligence Engineering and Computer Engineering programs. His teaching spans both undergraduate and graduate levels, with a focus on providing students with both theoretical foundations and practical implementation skills. He has developed educational materials including Deep Learning tutorials for classroom instruction.
Sainyam Galhotra is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Cornell University. His research focuses on developing data science tools for effective and responsible analytics, leveraging techniques from causal inference, data management, theoretical computer science, machine learning, and human-computer interaction to address challenges in trustworthy system design including robustness, explainability, and fairness. Education: Postdoc: University of Chicago PhD: University of Massachusetts Amherst (supervised by Barna Saha) BTech: Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) (supervised by Prof. Amitabha Bagchi) Research Interests: Dr. Galhotra's research spans several interconnected areas in data science and artificial intelligence. His work primarily focuses on Responsible Data Science , where he develops methods to ensure that data-driven systems operate fairly and transparently. Within this broad area, his specific interests include: Causal Inference techniques for understanding cause-effect relationships in complex data Algorithmic Fairness approaches to mitigate bias in machine learning systems Explainable AI methods that make black-box models more interpretable Data Management systems for efficient and reliable data processing Entity Resolution techniques for integrating data from multiple sources Trustworthy System Design that addresses robustness, explainability, and fairness His recent publications demonstrate a clear trend toward developing frameworks that combine causal reasoning with practical data management systems, particularly focusing on how to make data-driven decisions more transparent and equitable. The intersection of database systems with fairness considerations appears to be a particularly active area of his research. Scientific Awards: Rising Star in Data Science at the Data Science Institute, UChicago (Oct 2021) Computing Innovation Fellowship Award Recipient (by CRA, CCC and NSF) (Apr 2021) DAAD AInet Fellow (Feb 2021) ACM SIGMOD Entity Resolution Programming Contest – Top 5 finalist (May 2020) Most reproducible paper award in SIGMOD 2018 and 2019 (Jun 2019) First recipient of Krithi Ramamritham Computer Science Scholarship (Jun 2019) Best paper award in SIGSOFT FSE 2017 (May 2017) Dr. Galhotra is actively seeking students to collaborate with on his research projects. His work has been supported by various fellowships and awards, including the prestigious Computing Innovation Fellowship. He has mentored several students through his research projects, with a focus on developing the next generation of data scientists who can build responsible and trustworthy systems. His research group appears to focus on the intersection of database systems and responsible AI, developing tools like HypeR for causal reasoning, Ver for view discovery, and Nexus for correlation discovery in spatio-temporal data. This work suggests a cohesive research agenda centered around making data systems more transparent, fair, and user-friendly.
Professor Yizhou Sun is affiliated with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science . Her academic work focuses on Machine Learning , Artificial Intelligence , and Graph Neural Networks within the Computer Science department. Her research spans High-Level Synthesis , Causal Inference , and Computational Biology , with recent publications addressing neural network compression, language model safety, and dynamical system modeling. The trends in her recent 2025 and 2024 publications emphasize Deep Learning , Graph Theory , and Language Model Optimization , reflecting interdisciplinary applications in Biomedical Data , Hardware Design , and Physical Simulation .
Jesper Fels Birkelund is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen. His research focuses on education systems, ethnic inequalities, and social mobility, leveraging advanced statistical methods on register and survey data. He teaches courses such as Basic Statistics, Sociology in Danish Society, and Advanced Welfare, Inequality, and Mobility. His work has been published in journals like Social Forces and European Sociological Review . His research on education examines how schooling impacts cognitive and social-psychological skills, influencing long-term labor market outcomes. He has shown vocational training enhances conscientiousness, yielding earnings comparable to academic tracks. In ethnic inequality studies, he analyzes high aspirations among immigrant students despite poor academic performance, proposing counterfactual models to assess systemic challenges for minority students. In social mobility research, he explores how parental resources (human, cultural, social, economic capital) shape children’s career trajectories, particularly when parents and children share the same field of study. He uses firm linkage data to study mechanisms like parental networks and inherited family businesses. Awards: 2022 ECSR Prize for Best PhD Thesis Teaching: Basic Statistics (BA), Sociology in Danish Society (BA), Education and Social Inequality (BA/MA), Advanced Welfare, Inequality, and Mobility (MA) His work integrates micro-class approaches with intergenerational transmission theories, contributing to debates on educational policy and labor market equity. Office hours for Spring 2025: Monday 15:00–16:00 in room 16.0.57.
Gauthier Gidel is an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research (DIRO) within the Faculty of Arts and Science at Université de Montréal, where he also holds the prestigious Canada CIFAR AI Chair position. He is a core faculty member of Mila, Quebec's AI research institute, and maintains active research collaborations with leading institutions. His academic journey includes a PhD in Computer Science under the supervision of Simon Lacoste-Julien, with internships at Sierra, ElementAI, and DeepMind during his doctoral studies. Dr. Gidel's research spans multiple critical areas in machine learning, with particular emphasis on generative modeling , adversarial machine learning , and variational inequalities for machine learning. His work explores the intersection of optimization theory and practical AI systems, focusing on challenges like LLM safety alignment, multi-agent cooperation, and robustness against adversarial attacks. He is particularly known for his contributions to understanding the theoretical foundations of generative adversarial networks through variational inequality frameworks. His recent publications reveal a strong trend toward addressing critical challenges in large language model safety and alignment, with numerous 2024-2025 papers focusing on adversarial robustness, safety evaluation methodologies, and alignment techniques for LLMs. Simultaneously, his foundational work continues in optimization theory, particularly in variational inequalities and performative prediction, demonstrating his dual focus on practical AI safety concerns and theoretical machine learning foundations. Canada CIFAR AI Chair Core member of Mila Organizer of popular NeurIPS workshops on smooth games Co-founder of the ICLR blog post track Dr. Gidel actively supervises an extensive research group with approximately 10 current graduate students and numerous alumni who have secured positions at leading institutions including Inria Lyon, Oxford, and industry research labs. His research is supported by multiple substantial grants from CRSNG, MITACS, and IVADO, including the prestigious CRSNG Discovery Grant program and MITACS Acceleration Québec projects focused on fraud detection in music streaming and conditional generation. His laboratory maintains strong connections with both academic and industry partners, fostering a collaborative environment focused on advancing AI safety and theoretical understanding.
