Dr. George Cantwell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge, affiliated with Cambridge Infectious Diseases. He specializes in computational methods for inference problems, particularly in disease spreading across networks. Education: PhD in Physics from the University of Michigan; postdoctoral fellowship at the Santa Fe Institute His research focuses on network science , complex systems , and statistical inference , with an emphasis on computational approaches. His work spans theoretical and applied domains, including: Message passing algorithms for heterogeneous networks Bias correction in social network analysis (friendship paradox) Statistical inference of network structure from noisy data Modeling judicial voting behavior through network interactions Computational cognitive neuroscience of category learning Recent publications highlight interdisciplinary applications in epidemiology, physics, and cognitive science. He actively mentors students in networks, complex systems, and statistical inference.
Pragya Sur is an Assistant Professor of Statistics at Harvard University and currently on leave as a Visiting Professor at MIT’s Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS). Her research focuses on high-dimensional statistics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, particularly in overparametrized models, causal inference, and learning under distribution shifts. She has held postdoctoral positions at Harvard’s Center for Research on Computation and Society (hosted by Cynthia Dwork) and was a Simons Institute Long-Term Participant at UC Berkeley. She earned her Ph.D. in Statistics from Stanford University under Emmanuel Candès, and completed her B.Stat and M.Stat at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. Sur’s work has been supported by NSF awards, the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund, and the William F. Milton Fund. She was named an International Strategy Forum (ISF) Fellow (2023) and led the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS) New Researchers Group (2022–2024). She serves as an Associate Editor for Statistical Science and Guest Co-Editor for a special issue on AI and statistics. Her research contributions span theoretical guarantees for machine learning, transfer learning, and debiasing techniques in high-dimensional inference. Awards: NSF CAREER Award, Theodore W. Anderson Dissertation Award, Ric Weiland Fellowship Education: Ph.D. in Statistics (Stanford, 2019); M.Stat (ISI Kolkata, 2014); B.Stat (ISI Kolkata, 2012) Professional Roles: Associate Editor, Statistical Science ; ISF Fellow (2023); former IMS New Researchers Group Lead Her current research emphasizes statistical theory for modern machine learning, including foundational work on overparametrized models and robust inference across heterogeneous environments.
William Gropp is the Grainger Distinguished Chair and Director of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University (1982) and has contributed extensively to parallel computing, software for scientific computing, and numerical methods for PDEs. His research focuses on high performance computing, programming models, and scalable algorithms. Education: B.S. Mathematics (Case Western Reserve, 1977), M.S. Physics (University of Washington, 1978), Ph.D. Computer Science (Stanford, 1982). Research Interests: Gropp's work spans HPC, parallel computing, and numerical methods. He co-developed the MPI standard and MPICH implementation, and contributed to the PETSc library. His current projects include the Delta and DeltaAI supercomputers, Illinois Computes, and exascale initiatives. Scientific Awards: AAAS Fellow (2018), ACM/IEEE-CS Ken Kennedy Award (2016), SIAM/ACM Prize (2015), and 2024 ACM Software System Award. Member of the National Academy of Engineering. Grants & Leadership: Director of NCSA, leader of the Midwest Big Data Hub, and contributor to NSF-funded projects. His teams support AI/ML infrastructure and exascale computing. He advises on HPC policy and serves on committees like the Computing Community Consortium. Labs/Teams: NCSA, Siebel School research groups, collaborations with DOE, NSF, and industry partners. His work drives advancements in cyberinfrastructure and computational science.
Neil Shah is a Lead Research Scientist at Snap Inc., leading initiatives in user modeling, personalization, and trust and safety across Snapchat. His research focuses on advancing machine learning algorithms for large-scale structured data, including graph and sequential representations, with applications to recommendation systems and social platform security. PhD in Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University (2017), advised by Christos Faloutsos B.S. in Computer Science, North Carolina State University Current research interests span: Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) for real-time inference and scalable training Cross-domain recommendation systems and generative modeling Test-time augmentation and hyperbolic geometry in representation learning Explainability methods for GNNs and fairness-aware outlier detection Recent publications highlight productionized GNN frameworks (GiGL), multimodal graph benchmarks, and novel approaches to link prediction and collaborative filtering. His work has appeared at top venues like KDD, ICLR, NeurIPS, and WWW. Scientific recognition includes: Outstanding Service Award at WSDM 2022 Best Paper Honorable Mention at CHI 2019
Nir Piterman is a Professor in Computer Science at the University of Gothenburg's Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Previously, he was a Lecturer and later Reader (Associate Professor) at the University of Leicester (2010-2019), following postdoctoral research at EPFL (2005-2007) and a Research Fellowship at Imperial College London (2007-2010). PhD from Weizmann Institute of Science (2005), supervised by Amir Pnueli Postdoc at EPFL with Tom Henzinger (2005-2007) Research Fellow at Imperial College London (2007-2010) Lecturer at University of Leicester (2010-2019), promoted to Reader in 2012 Universitets Lektor (Associate Professor) at University of Gothenburg (2019-2021), promoted to Professor in 2021 His research focuses on formal verification, automata theory, and synthesis from temporal specifications. Current work under the ERC Consolidator Project dSynMA extends reactive synthesis to multi-agent systems, exploring frameworks combining message passing and variable sharing, algorithmic analysis of games with partial information, and logic extensions for agent interaction. He has supervised eight PhD students, including Prabhat Kumar Jha (path planning in game solving), David Lidell (automata constructions for LTL with past), and Claudia Cauli (cloud infrastructure security reasoning, 2022), with theses covering program verification, temporal logic, and game algorithms. ERC Consolidator Grant (2021-?, dSynMA) Editor-in-Chief, Formal Methods in System Design Editor, Acta Informatica Nir has taught courses such as Principles of Concurrent Programming (Chalmers, 2019-2025), Advanced C++ Programming (University of Leicester, 2012-2017), and Synthesis from Temporal Specifications (University of Buenos Aires, 2010). He actively recruits PhD candidates and has hosted postdoctoral researchers at multiple institutions.
Martin Grohe is a Professor at the School of Logic and Theory of Discrete Systems , part of the Department of Computer Science at RWTH Aachen University . His research spans Algorithms and Complexity , Logic , Database Theory , Graph Theory , and Machine Learning , with a focus on integrating logical frameworks into computational models. His recent work explores graph neural networks , Weisfeiler-Leman algorithms , and parameterized complexity , as seen in publications on isomorphism testing , database repairing , and probabilistic query evaluation . While no specific scientific awards are mentioned, his contributions to graph theory and machine learning are widely recognized through numerous peer-reviewed publications.
Yi-Jun Chang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He previously held a Junior Fellow position at the Institute for Theoretical Studies, ETH Zurich (2019–2021), and earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan (2019). His research focuses on theoretical computer science, particularly distributed, parallel, and sublinear graph algorithms. Ph.D., University of Michigan (2019) M.S., National Taiwan University (2015) B.S., National Taiwan University (2013) Chang’s research explores the complexity and optimization of algorithms in distributed systems, including leader election, graph shattering, expander decomposition, and subgraph detection. His work addresses fundamental challenges in time-energy trade-offs, communication efficiency, and deterministic vs. randomized approaches in models like LOCAL and CONGEST. Recent publications highlight advancements in distributed triangle enumeration, optimal coloring, shortest path computation, and certification in bounded pathwidth graphs. Awards include the PODC 2019 Best Paper and Best Student Paper Awards, followed by the 2020 PODC Doctoral Dissertation Award. PODC 2019 Best Paper Award PODC 2019 Best Student Paper Award 2020 PODC Doctoral Dissertation Award Chang teaches courses such as CS3230 (Design and Analysis of Algorithms) and CS5275 (The Algorithm Designer's Toolkit). He advises Ph.D. students Hung Thuan Nguyen and Haoran Zhou, and has collaborated with postdoctoral researchers including Gopinath Mishra and Dean Leitersdorf.
Andrea W. Richa is a President's Professor at Arizona State University (ASU), holding positions in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence (SCAI), Barrett Honors College, and multiple research centers including the Biodesign Institute's Center for Biocomputing, Security, and Society. She specializes in distributed algorithms, programmable matter, and bio-inspired computing. Richa has led major research initiatives, including a DoD MURI award and an NSF CAREER Award, and has delivered keynote speeches at top conferences like DISC and LATIN. Her work focuses on self-organizing particle systems, wireless networks, and algorithmic foundations of active matter. Educations: PhD (Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, 1998), M.S. (Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, 1995), B.S. (Computer Science, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1989). Research Interests: Distributed algorithms, programmable matter, bio-inspired systems, wireless communication models, graph algorithms, combinatorial optimization, and resource allocation. She leads the Self-Organizing Particle Systems Lab and is part of SCAI's Theory and Algorithms group. Awards: 2024 ASU Mentorship Award, 2021 Mentor of the Year, 2017 SCAI Research Excellence Award, NSF CAREER Award (1999), and multiple grants including DoD MURI. Her research spans theoretical and applied domains, with over 150 publications in top venues. Grants: Current DoD MURI funding (2019-25), NSF awards on Markov chain algorithms and active matter (2021-25), and prior funding on programmable matter (2014-2017). Labs/Teams: SOPS Lab (sops.engineering.asu.edu), contributing to interdisciplinary research in algorithmic matter and bio-inspired systems.
Pietro Liò is Full Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Technology at the University of Cambridge, where he leads research in Artificial Intelligence and Computational Biology as part of the AI group and the Cambridge Centre for AI in Medicine. He holds additional affiliations as Fellow and Council member of Clare Hall College, member of Ellis (European Lab for Learning & Intelligent Systems), and member of Academia Europaea. Professor Liò earned dual PhDs in Complex Systems and Non Linear Dynamics from the University of Florence and in Theoretical Genetics from the University of Pavia, Italy. His educational background bridges theoretical computer science with biological sciences, forming the foundation for his interdisciplinary research approach. His research focuses on developing Artificial Intelligence and Computational Biology models to understand disease complexity and advance personalized medicine. Current work emphasizes Graph Neural Network modeling for integrating multi-scale, multi-omics, and multi-physics data; combining deep learning with mechanistic approaches; explainability in medical AI; and developing AI-based medical digital twins and personal decision support systems. His work spans from fundamental algorithm development to clinical applications, with particular emphasis on translating computational advances into medical solutions. Analysis of his recent publications reveals strong activity in geometric deep learning , explainable AI for healthcare , and multi-omics integration , with increasing focus on clinically applicable tools that maintain both predictive power and interpretability. Member of Academia Europaea Listed among Top Italian Scientists by VIA-Academy Professor Liò has mentored over 40 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, including notable names such as Petar Velickovic, David Buterez, and Chaitanya Joshi. His research is supported through collaborations with the Cambridge Centre for AI in Medicine and various international partnerships. He serves on departmental committees including Student Complaints and Postdoc Mentoring, and has completed equality and diversity training essentials. He leads research within the Artificial Intelligence group at Cambridge, focusing on creating computational frameworks that bridge biological complexity with clinical applications through advanced machine learning techniques.
Subhabrata Sen is an Assistant Professor of Statistics at Harvard University, located in Science Center 713, Cambridge. His research focuses on Applied Probability, Statistics of Networks, Signal Detection, and Machine Learning. He holds a PhD from Stanford University (2017), advised by Amir Dembo and Andrea Montanari, and prior degrees from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. His work bridges statistical theory, high-dimensional data analysis, and applications in networks and physics-inspired methods. Key contributions include foundational studies on spin glasses, community detection, and causal inference in complex systems. His research often employs mean-field techniques and explores universality principles in estimation problems. Selected awards and recognition are not explicitly mentioned in the provided text. His advising and grants include postdoctoral mentoring at Microsoft Research and MIT (2017-19). He collaborates on projects involving spectral methods, random matrix theory, and multi-layer network analysis. Labs/teams: Active in Harvard's Statistics Department research groups focused on statistical theory and network science. Maintains an academic website with preprints and resources.
Prof. Dr. Gordana Gardašević is a full professor at the Department of Telecommunications, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She has been actively contributing to telecommunications research and education since the early 2000s and was appointed to full professor in September 2020. Her research interests focus on advanced networking technologies, particularly in these areas: Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and 6TiSCH networks Visible Light Communication and audio/speech quality assessment Quality of Service (QoS) in heterogeneous wireless networks Smart healthcare applications using IoT technologies Network protocols for time-sensitive industrial applications Professor Gardašević's publication record shows consistent research activity over two decades with a strong recent focus on 6TiSCH networks and Visible Light Communication. Her work combines theoretical analysis with experimental validation using platforms like OpenMote-B. She has published in reputable journals including IEEE Sensors, Entropy, and Wireless Personal Communications, with increasing emphasis on healthcare applications of IoT technologies in recent years. She has served as principal investigator for numerous research projects including: Algoritmi za lokalizaciju u IoT mrezama (2025, active) Eksperimentalno testiranje performansi industrijskih 6TiSCH mreza (2022-2023) Razvoj Internet of Things (IoT) aplikacija primjenom opticko-bezicnih tehnologija (2021-2022) Projectovanje industrijskih Internet of Things aplikacija (2021) Razvoj algoritama za vremenski osjetljive aplikacije u industrijskim IoT mrezama (2019-2021) Professor Gardašević collaborates extensively with researchers across Europe through COST Actions and Horizon Europe initiatives. Her laboratory work focuses on experimental testbeds for IoT and industrial communication systems, particularly using OpenMote platforms for 6TiSCH network evaluation. She has also contributed to standardization efforts through white papers and collaborative projects.
Martin Wainwright is a Professor at the University of California at Berkeley with joint appointments in the Department of Statistics and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS). His research spans high-dimensional statistics , information theory , statistical machine learning , and optimization theory . He has made significant contributions to understanding computational and statistical trade-offs in high-dimensional settings, as well as developing advanced message-passing algorithms for graphical models. His educational background includes a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and a Ph.D. in EECS from MIT . His work has been recognized with prestigious awards such as the COPSS Presidents' Award (2014) , IEEE Joint Paper Award (2012) , and Sloan Research Fellowship (2005) . He has advised numerous prominent researchers, including Nihar Shah , John Duchi , and Yuchen Zhang . Publications by Wainwright reflect trends in machine learning , high-dimensional data analysis , and graphical model inference . Notable works include advancements in Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms , pairwise comparison models , and distributed computation methods . He has also contributed extensively to signal processing and LDPC codes . COPSS Presidents' Award (2014) IEEE Joint Paper Award (2012) Institute of Mathematical Statistics Fellow (2011) NSF CAREER Award (2006) Okawa Research Grant (2005) Sloan Research Fellow (2005)
Dr. Hongwei Wang is a Senior Researcher at Tencent AI Lab Seattle , specializing in applied machine learning for Natural Language Processing and Interconnected Systems . His work bridges Knowledge Graphs , Recommender Systems , and Graph Neural Networks , with a focus on large language models and retrieval-augmented generation. Ph.D. (2018), B.E. (2014) in Computer Science from Shanghai Jiao Tong University Postdoctoral Researcher : Stanford University (2019-2021), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2021-2022) Dr. Wang’s research explores integrating Knowledge Graphs with Graph Neural Networks to enhance recommendation systems, language models, and information retrieval. His work spans Retrieval-Augmented Generation , Representation Learning , and GAN-based Graph Modeling , with recent papers on State-Space Exploration for LLM agents and Semantic Watermarking . His 15 most recent publications (2022-2024) focus on Retrieval Granularity , Interactive Memory , and Agent Systems , with keywords spanning Computer Science , Machine Learning , and Knowledge Graphs . Trends highlight advancements in Token-Level Semantic Matching , Schema-Guided Event Prediction , and Multi-Document Summarization . Scientific Awards: 2020 CCF Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award 2018 Google Ph.D. Fellowship Dr. Wang contributes to open-source projects like DKN and RippleNet , with 11 repositories on GitHub. He actively engages in Knowledge Graph Conferences (KDD, WWW, AAAI) and studies Chinese Classical Poetry and Film Arts .
Cristopher Moore is a Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, where he conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of physics, computer science, and mathematics. His work focuses on understanding phase transitions in computational problems, statistical inference, and network analysis. Moore has made significant contributions to the fields of complex systems, quantum computing, and algorithmic justice. Moore's primary research areas include phase transitions in computational problems and statistical inference, where he investigates how problems suddenly become hard or impossible to solve when certain thresholds are crossed. His work spans social networks, big data analysis, quantum computing, algorithmic transparency, and decarbonization efforts. He is particularly known for applying physics-inspired approaches to computational problems, using techniques from spin glass theory, network theory, and computational complexity. His recent publications reveal a strong focus on community detection in networks, phase transitions in data science problems, algorithmic fairness in criminal justice systems, and quantum computing applications. Moore's work demonstrates consistent patterns across multiple disciplines, with recurring themes of phase transitions, computational limits, and the application of physics concepts to computational problems. Moore actively mentors students and has advised numerous PhD and Master's students who have gone on to successful careers in academia and industry. His work on algorithmic justice has influenced policy discussions in New Mexico and beyond, particularly regarding risk assessment in the criminal justice system.
Florent Krzakala is a Full Professor at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, holding positions across multiple departments including the School of Basic Sciences (SB), School of Engineering (STI), and specifically within the Department of Physics (IPHYS) and Department of Electrical Engineering (IEM). He leads the Information, Learning and Physics Laboratory (IdePHICS) and maintains an office at ELD 239, Station 11, 1015 Lausanne. His research bridges statistical physics and computational disciplines, with significant contributions to understanding the theoretical foundations of machine learning and optimization problems. Dr. Krzakala received his MSc in Physics from Orsay, France in 1999, followed by a PhD in Statistical Physics from Orsay, Paris XI, France in 2002, and completed a postdoctoral position at Roma La Sapienza in 2004. This strong foundation in physics has informed his interdisciplinary approach to computational problems. His research interests span Statistical Physics, Machine Learning, Probability and Statistics, Computer Science, Information Theory, Inference on Graphs, Random Constraint Optimization, and Computational Optics. Krzakala's work focuses on applying methods from statistical physics to problems in theoretical computer science, probability, and machine learning. He investigates how concepts from disordered systems and phase transitions can illuminate computational barriers in optimization and inference tasks. His research has particular relevance for understanding the behavior of neural networks, compressed sensing, and high-dimensional statistical models. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong trend toward understanding the fundamental limits of learning in high-dimensional settings, with particular emphasis on phase transitions, statistical-to-computational gaps, and the theoretical properties of deep learning architectures. His work frequently bridges rigorous mathematical analysis with practical machine learning applications, demonstrating how insights from statistical physics can inform algorithm design and theoretical understanding in AI. Krzakala actively mentors the next generation of researchers, supervising numerous PhD students whose work continues to advance these interdisciplinary fields. His laboratory serves as a hub for researchers exploring the intersection of physics and computation, fostering collaborations across traditional disciplinary boundaries. He teaches advanced courses including Fundamentals of Inference and Learning, Statistical Physics, and Statistical Physics for Optimization & Learning, which examine the connections between physical principles and computational methods. His educational materials, including lecture notes on statistical physics methods in optimization and machine learning, have become valuable resources for students and researchers worldwide. As founder and scientific advisor of the startup Lighton, Krzakala has also demonstrated a commitment to translating theoretical insights into practical applications, particularly in the realm of optical computing for machine learning tasks.
