Michalis Vazirgiannis is a Professor at LIX, École Polytechnique (France) leading the Data Science and Mining (DaSciM) group. With academic backgrounds in Physics (Athens University), AI (Heriot-Watt University), and Informatics (Athens University), he has conducted research at Fraunhofer, Max Planck MPI, and INRIA/FUTURS while teaching at institutions across Greece, France, China, and Spain. His research spans Machine/Deep Learning for Graphs (GNNs, graph kernels, embeddings) Text Mining & NLP (Graph-of-Words, biomedical text analysis) Combinatorial Optimization for pandemic forecasting and energy systems Event/Anomaly Detection in time series and sensory data Industrial collaborations with Airbus, Google, Tencent, and BNP . He has supervised 29 completed PhD theses, published over 250 papers, and received prestigious awards including Marie Curie and Tencent Rhino-Bird Fellowships. His team leads the ANR-HELAS Chair (2020-2025) focusing on heterogeneous data deep learning.
Leland Bybee is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business . He leverages machine learning and natural language processing to address economic and financial questions, particularly focusing on belief measurement with applications to asset pricing and behavioral economics. Ph.D. in Financial Economics, Yale School of Management (2024) M.S. in Statistics, University of Michigan (2017) B.A. in Economics, University of Chicago (2013) His research integrates computational methods with economic theory to analyze: Textual analysis of business news for macroeconomic tracking Narrative-driven asset pricing models Memory-based belief formation using kernel methods Macroeconomic determinants of currency returns He has received multiple awards including: Dimension Fund Advisors Distinguished Paper Award BlackRock Applied Research Award HEC Top Finance Graduate Award The Brattle Group PhD Candidates Award EFA Engelbert Dockner Memorial Prize Bybee teaches Machine Learning in Finance and participates in finance seminars, contributing computational tools like regIPCA (Python) and changepointsHD (R) to the research community.
Luo Mai is an Assistant Professor at the University of Edinburgh's School of Informatics , with an upcoming promotion to Associate Professor (UK Reader) in August 2025. He leads the Large-Scale Machine Learning Systems Group and co-leads the UK EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Machine Learning Systems and an ARIA Project on Scaling AI Compute by 1000X . PhD in Computer Science (Imperial College London, 2018) MRes in Advanced Computing (Imperial College London, 2012) His research focuses on the intersection of computer systems , machine learning , and data management . Key contributions include award-winning systems like WaferLLM (wafer-scale LLM inference), Tenplex (elastic ML), and ServerlessLLM (serverless LLM serving), published at top venues (OSDI, SOSP, ICML, NeurIPS, JMLR). Recent publications demonstrate trends in GPU-based distributed systems , LLM optimization , and adaptive machine learning . His team has developed groundbreaking open-source projects including TensorLayer , TorchOpt , and ServerlessLLM . Awarded Microsoft Research StarTrack Scholar (2024) , secured ARIA grant (2024) with Imperial College & Cambridge University, and received Google Fellowship during PhD (2012-2016). As an educator, he designed Edinburgh's popular Machine Learning Systems course (150+ students). His group supervises multiple PhD students including Yao Fu (recognized as 2024 Rising Star in ML & Systems) and Leyang Xue .
Andrea Meilán-Vila is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid since 2021, holding a Juan de la Cierva Fellowship since 2023. She earned her PhD in Statistics from Universidade da Coruña (2021) and previously served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Universidade de Santiago de Compostela's Department of Statistics, Mathematical Analysis and Optimisation. Her research focuses on nonparametric methods for analyzing complex data types, including directional, spatial, and functional data. Key areas include kernel smoothing techniques, goodness-of-fit testing for regression models, and spatial trend estimation. She serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Nonparametric Statistics . Recent work emphasizes applications in climate science (temperature curve modeling), fluid dynamics (wake flow control), and biomedical imaging (hippocampus shape analysis). Her methodologies address challenges like sparse data estimation and spatial correlation in regression frameworks. Key Projects: STENED (Stein-based goodness-of-fit tests for non-Euclidean data) Awards: Juan de la Cierva Fellowship (2023) Publications span journals like Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Statistical Papers , and TEST , with a focus on methodological advancements in statistical modeling and computational validation.
José E. Chacón is a Professor of Statistics at the Department of Mathematics, University of Extremadura, Spain. He is also a member of the Institute of Mathematics at the same university. His research focuses on nonparametric kernel smoothing, cluster analysis, and mathematical statistics. He earned his PhD in Statistics from the University of Extremadura in 2004. Chacón’s work emphasizes methodological advancements in density estimation, clustering algorithms, and statistical theory. His recent publications address topics like geodesic distributions, Bayesian taut splines for mode estimation, and bump detection via density curvature. He has contributed to applied areas such as animal home range estimation and data science for pandemic analysis. His articles often explore cross-validation techniques, bandwidth selection, and mixture model clustering. He co-authored the textbook Multivariate Kernel Smoothing and Its Applications (2018), consolidating his expertise in kernel-based methods. Chacón’s research bridges theoretical statistics with practical applications, influencing both academic and applied domains.
Marta Arias is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, and a member of the LARCA research group. She has held academic positions since 2007, including roles at Columbia University and the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on Machine Learning, Data Mining, Algorithm Design, and Logic in Computer Science. She teaches advanced courses in Machine Learning, Information Retrieval, and Complex Networks at undergraduate and master's levels, including the Erasmus Mundus program in Data Mining and Knowledge Management. Educations: PhD in Computer Science from Tufts University (2000-2004), Postgraduate Studies at University of Edinburgh (1999-2000), B.Sc. in Computer Science from UPC (1992-1997). Professional experience includes software engineering and research roles in New York and Barcelona. Research highlights include developing algorithms for real-time ranking systems, Twitter-based financial forecasting, and causal network analysis. Notable contributions include the 'Best Paper Award' at AIPESW@ECAI 2020 and a 3rd place award in football performance research. Her work spans theoretical foundations (e.g., Horn clause learning) and applied domains like cybersecurity, healthcare analytics, and energy systems. Teaching responsibilities include labs and lectures on Machine Learning, Information Retrieval, and Programming, with active involvement in curriculum design and pedagogical innovation. Ongoing projects include enterprise risk analysis, synthetic data generation, and network modeling.
Ian Dew-Becker serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and as a Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. His academic work centers on theoretical and empirical asset pricing and macroeconomics, with particular emphasis on uncertainty, skewness, and tail risk in economic systems. He received his PhD in economics from Harvard University and has held prior positions at Northwestern University, Duke University, and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. His educational background includes: PhD in Economics, Harvard University Dew-Becker's research explores how agents form beliefs about economic fundamentals and how these beliefs translate into asset prices and macroeconomic outcomes. He investigates the dynamics of uncertainty and skewness across business cycles, develops novel measures using options data, and examines how production networks propagate economic shocks. His work demonstrates that firm-level uncertainty does not significantly forecast aggregate output, challenging existing models, while revealing how interconnectedness can reduce sensitivity to small shocks while amplifying vulnerability to large ones. Recent studies focus on real-time skewness measurement and tail risk transmission through input-output structures. Analysis of his publication record shows a consistent focus on risk measurement and pricing across financial and macroeconomic domains. Collaborating frequently with Stefano Giglio, he has pioneered methodologies using options data to construct cross-sectional uncertainty indices and measure conditional skewness. His research demonstrates that while exchange-traded options earn negative alphas implying rising risk aversion during downturns, synthetic options show constant risk aversion, suggesting intermediary frictions drive pricing anomalies. Key contributions include establishing empirical regularities about macro skewness and demonstrating how production networks generate left-skewed economic activity. No scientific awards were mentioned in the available information. Information regarding graduate student advising, research grants, or specific funding sources was not provided in the source materials. Dew-Becker teaches the Investments course at Chicago Booth during Autumn quarters but no details about mentored students or grant-supported projects are available. Dr. Dew-Becker actively collaborates with researchers across institutions including Stefano Giglio (Yale University), Andrea Vedolin (London School of Economics), and Bryan Kelly (Yale University), forming a network focused on financial economics and macro-finance linkages. His work bridges theoretical modeling with empirical analysis of market data, particularly options markets, to address fundamental questions about risk and uncertainty in economic systems.
Christian Igel is a Professor at the Department of Computer Science (DIKU) and Director of the SCIENCE AI Centre at the University of Copenhagen. His academic journey includes a Computer Science degree from the Technical University of Dortmund, a Doctoral degree from Bielefeld University, and a Habilitation degree from Ruhr-University Bochum. He has held academic positions since 2003, including a W1 Professorship at Ruhr-University Bochum before joining DIKU in 2010 as a Professor with Special Duties in Machine Learning and becoming a Full Professor in 2014. Research Interests: Deep learning, kernel methods, evolutionary optimization, reinforcement learning, PAC-Bayesian analysis, and ML applications for sustainability. Affiliations: SCIENCE AI Centre (Director), European Lab for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS Fellow). Editorial Roles: Editor of KI – Künstliche Intelligenz , Associate Editor of Evolutionary Computation Journal and Artificial Intelligence Journal . Education: Technical University of Dortmund (Computer Science), Bielefeld University (Doctorate), Ruhr-University Bochum (Habilitation).
Luis Antonio Belanche Muñoz is a Professor at the Department of Computer Science , Faculty of Informatics of Barcelona (FIB) , Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) . He is affiliated with research groups SOCO - Soft Computing and IDEAI-UPC - Intelligent Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Research Group . His career spans over 25 years, with 216 documented activities. His research focuses on Machine Learning , Kernel Methods , and Neural Networks . He has pioneered techniques in feature selection, similarity measures, and hybrid models connecting deep learning with kernel methods. His work applies to diverse domains including finance, microbiology, cancer diagnostics, and environmental engineering. Recent publications highlight trends in kernel matrix analysis using entropy, microbiome data integration , and drug resistance prediction in HIV. Earlier work includes knowledge-based systems for wastewater treatment diagnostics and educational technologies for MOOC environments. He has collaborated with 75+ researchers across UPC's research network, contributing to projects funded under Spain's State Research Plans and Catalonia's RIS3CAT strategy. His 2011 thesis on Feature selection in brain tumor MRS data demonstrates interdisciplinary applications.
Dr. Martha Ivon Cárdenas Domínguez is a Senior Lecturer at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), affiliated with the Department of Computer Science. She is an active member of the IDEAI-UPC - Intelligent Data sciEnce and Artificial Intelligence Research Group, as well as the SOCO (Soft Computing) research group. Education: BSc in Mathematics PhD in Artificial Intelligence (UPC) Master's in Artificial Intelligence Her research focuses on applying computational intelligence and machine learning techniques to biomedical data analysis, particularly for pharmacoproteomic applications involving G protein-coupled receptors. She specializes in kernel-based methods and data visualization techniques for sequence analysis and classification tasks. Recent publications demonstrate her expertise in manifold learning, subtype discrimination of GPCRs, and phylogenetic tree integration with visualization techniques. Her work addresses challenges in classification errors, mislabeling, and sequence transformation for complex biomedical datasets. Dr. Cárdenas employs advanced visualization strategies to explore metabotropic glutamate receptors and analyze protein sequence overlaps through manifold-based approaches. Her research bridges computational methods with biomedical applications, particularly in personalized medicine contexts. She actively contributes to competitive R&D+i projects and participates in international conferences. Her professional activities include 5 conference presentations, 2 book chapters, and 2 journal articles focusing on data science applications in bioinformatics. Dr. Cárdenas utilizes computational intelligence for analyzing receptor sequences and has developed innovative approaches for visualizing complex biological data structures. Her work has implications for drug discovery and personalized treatment development through enhanced understanding of receptor classification.
María José Madero Ayora is a Professor at the Department of Signal Theory and Communications , Universidad de Sevilla , specializing in nonlinear system modeling and digital predistortion for wireless communication systems. Her research focuses on Volterra series applications in power amplifier linearization, microwave measurements , and machine learning techniques for signal processing. Principal Investigator for projects like Statistical Signal Modeling for Brain-Computer Interfaces (PID2021-123090NB-I00) Recipient of the Arftg Roger Pollard Student Fellowship in microwave measurement Her work spans 5G waveform linearization , I/Q modulator impairments , and thermal memory effects in RF amplifiers. Recent publications combine sparse Bayesian methods with Volterra models to address nonlinear distortion in OFDM and visible light communication systems. She has supervised doctoral theses and participated in international conferences across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Ana Perez Gonzalez is a researcher at the Department of Statistics and Operational Research, Faculty of Business Sciences and Tourism, University of Vigo. She earned her PhD from the University of Santiago de Compostela in 2003, focusing on non-parametric inference for regression models with missing responses. Her research centers on robust statistical methods for missing data, functional regression, and non-parametric estimation. Key collaborations with Wenceslao Gonzalez Manteiga, Graciela Boente, and Ana Bianco Contributions to wild bootstrap calibration, bandwidth selection, and imputation techniques Her work addresses applications in biomedical statistics, climate modeling, and spectrometric studies. Notable methodologies include goodness-of-fit tests for missing data models, principal component-based estimators, and asymptotic variance analysis.
Juan Carlos Vidal Aguiar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electronics and Computing at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), affiliated with the Higher Technical School of Engineering and the Center for Research in Intelligent Technologies (CITIUS). His research focuses on knowledge discovery, semantic technologies, process mining, and AI-driven business intelligence. He holds a PhD from the University of Santiago de Compostela (2010) and a Bachelor's in Computer Science from the University of La Coruña (2000). His work integrates formal methods like Petri nets with machine learning and semantic web technologies, addressing challenges in workflow modeling, predictive monitoring, and healthcare analytics. Key projects include Predictive monitoring and causality for cardiac rehabilitation , Responsible AI for Process Mining 2.0 , and AQUATECHInn 4.0 (digital aquaculture training). He has led research on glucodensity analysis for diabetes monitoring and developed frameworks like OPENET for Petri net-based workflow execution. His contributions span 200+ publications in venues like IEEE Transactions, ACM T-KDD, and Advances in Data Analysis and Classification. Juan Carlos collaborates with institutions across Europe and Latin America on learning analytics, smart manufacturing, and health informatics. His lab's work emphasizes practical applications of AI in education and industry, including gamification analytics and cloud-based process monitoring tools.
Francesc Arandiga Llau is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the Faculty of Mathematics, Universitat de València, Spain. He is affiliated with the ANIMS (Numerical Analysis, Images, Multiresolution and Simulation) research group, where he conducts research in applied mathematics with a focus on numerical methods and their applications. Education: PhD from Universitat de València (1992), thesis on operator approximation and spectral radius continuity, supervised by Dr. Vicent Caselles Costa. His research interests center on Numerical Analysis , Approximation Theory , and Multiresolution Methods , with significant contributions to WENO schemes , nonlinear interpolation , and image and signal compression . His work often bridges theoretical developments with practical implementations in computational mathematics and engineering. He has made notable advances in the stability, accuracy, and adaptability of reconstruction techniques for piecewise smooth and discontinuous functions. The analysis of his recent publications reveals a consistent focus on high-order numerical methods, particularly in the context of image processing and data compression . His work leverages multiresolution analysis , radial basis functions , and adaptive interpolation to improve accuracy and efficiency. Themes across his articles include monotonicity preservation, error control, and the design of nonlinear schemes that avoid spurious oscillations near discontinuities. There are no scientific awards explicitly mentioned in the provided text. Francesc Arandiga has extensive collaborative research, particularly with scholars such as Rosa Donat, Dionisio F. Yáñez, Pep Mulet, and Antonio Baeza. His work has been supported through various research projects, though specific grants are not detailed in the text. He has advised students, including those who have completed theses under his supervision, although a full list is not provided. He is a key member of the ANIMS research group, which focuses on Numerical Analysis, Images, Multiresolution, and Simulation. This team works on developing and analyzing advanced computational methods for scientific and engineering applications, particularly in the areas of data representation, image processing, and numerical solutions to differential equations.
Jordi Muñoz Mari is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electronic Engineering at the School of Engineering, University of Valencia. He is a key member of the Image and Signal Processing (ISP) research group within the Image Processing Laboratory (IPL), a recognized research institute (ERI) at the university. His research focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence, remote sensing, and environmental science. Key areas include machine learning for Earth observation, biophysical parameter retrieval, crop yield forecasting, climate modeling, and causal inference in ecological systems. He also explores applications of AI in education, particularly generative models for assessment and digital learning tools. The most recent publications highlight a strong trend toward physics-aware machine learning, uncertainty quantification, and large-scale applications using platforms like Google Earth Engine. His work spans climate extremes (medicanes, hurricanes, droughts), agricultural monitoring, biodiversity, and educational technology, demonstrating interdisciplinary innovation. Jordi Muñoz Mari completed his PhD at the University of Valencia in 2004 on telemonitoring systems for cardiac patients. His ongoing research involves advanced signal processing, kernel methods, and AI-driven geoinformation systems.
