Tao Hou is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Oregon, where he conducts research at the intersection of computational topology and machine learning. His academic journey includes a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Purdue University, a M.E. in Software Engineering from Tsinghua University, and a B.E. in Software Engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology. His research focuses on improving computational methods for topological data analysis, particularly through efficient algorithms for zigzag persistence and its applications across domains like neuroscience and materials science. Interdisciplinary applications in neuroscience (MICCAI 2024) and computational materials science (Comp. Mat. Sci. 2022) Developed open-source Python software packages for persistent cycle computation Contributed to advancements in zigzag persistence computational complexity Current research explores topological machine learning through projects like FastZigzag and LvlsetPersCyc . He teaches graduate courses on topological data analysis and algorithms theory, and actively seeks PhD students interested in combining mathematics with computer science.
Professor Miranda Griffin is a medieval French literature scholar at the University of Cambridge, affiliated with the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics and Murray Edwards College. Her research focuses on landscape representation, manuscript culture, and ecocritical approaches to medieval texts. Professor of Medieval French Literature Fellow at Murray Edwards College Researcher in medieval manuscript studies and ecocriticism Contributor to BBC Radio 4's In Our Time Her work explores medieval theories of temporality, text-image relationships in manuscripts, and the intersection of gender studies with literary analysis. She has published extensively on Ovid's influence, metamorphosis themes, and bestiary studies. Recent research highlights include analyses of medieval ecologies, spatial narratives, and manuscript materiality. Her contributions span academic publications, educational outreach, and media collaborations like the Netflix documentary on fabulous beasts. Professor Griffin supervises PhD students in medieval French literature and actively participates in academic societies and teaching initiatives within the Faculty.
Björn Ross is a Lecturer in Computational Social Science at the University of Edinburgh's School of Informatics, where he is affiliated with the Institute for Language, Cognition and Computation. He serves as Director of the SMASH research group and is part of the management team for the Centre for Doctoral Training in Natural Language Processing (CDT in NLP). His educational background includes: PhD (2019) from the University of Duisburg-Essen MSc in Computer Science (2016) from the University of Münster Exchange year (2014-2015) at the University of Strasbourg BSc in Information Systems (2013) from the University of Münster Ross's research focuses on computational social science, particularly using natural language processing, social network analysis, and agent-based modeling to study social media phenomena. His work examines misinformation, hate speech, bot activity, and the ethical implications of computational methods. He also investigates how social media can be leveraged for social good, especially in crisis communication contexts. A significant portion of his recent research addresses bias and fairness issues in AI systems, particularly regarding marginalized communities and LGBTQ+ identities. His work spans both technical development of computational methods and critical examination of their societal impacts. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong trend toward examining bias in AI systems, particularly regarding marginalized communities. His work spans multiple methodologies including computational analysis of social media data, development of NLP techniques, and critical examination of AI ethics. He frequently collaborates across disciplines, working with researchers in computer science, social sciences, and healthcare domains. His professional recognition includes: Best Paper Award at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) in 2018 Associate Editor for Business & Information Systems Engineering Active membership in professional organizations including AIS, ACL, and ACM Ross currently supervises multiple PhD students including Agostina Calabrese, Eddie Ungless, Sandrine Chausson, Wendy Zheng, Seraphina Goldfarb-Tarrant, and Mahmoud Ibrahim. At the University of Edinburgh, he teaches courses such as 'Text Technologies for Data Science' and 'Evidence, Argument and Persuasion in a Digital Age,' reflecting his expertise at the intersection of computational methods and social implications.
Helmut Reimitz is the Shelby Cullom Davis '30 Professor of European History and Professor of History at Princeton University, where he also serves as Director of the Humanities Council's Program in Medieval Studies. He joined Princeton's faculty in 2008 after heading the Early Medieval Department at the Institute for Medieval Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, one of Europe's leading centers for early medieval studies. Professor Reimitz specializes in the history of the Early Middle Ages (5th-10th centuries), with research focusing on: Political and social transformations from the end of the Roman Empire to the Carolingian Empire Formation of Western Christian culture and European identity Ethnicity, identity politics, and social stratification History of historical thinking in late Antiquity and the medieval West Literacy and communication in early medieval societies Religious transformations during the transition from Roman to medieval Europe His scholarly work demonstrates a consistent focus on how identity formation and political structures evolved during the transition from the Roman world to medieval Europe. His publications reveal particular interest in Frankish identity as a lens for understanding broader Western conceptions of ethnicity and social organization, with significant contributions to understanding the formation of European civilization. Professor Reimitz has received significant recognition for his work, including: Election as Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America (2023) Phi Beta Kappa Chapter Teaching Award He actively mentors graduate students, with numerous PhD advisees including Merle Eisenberg, Daniel Kosasa, Meg Leja, Molly Lester, Radka Pallová, Valerie Piro, Giuseppe (Joseph) A. Ricci, Jan van Doren, Lucia Waldschuetz, and Ian S. Ward. Professor Reimitz participates in multiple international research collaborations, including projects with Freie Universität Berlin, University of Heidelberg, and the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and co-organizes an annual graduate exchange program between Princeton, Oxford, and Vienna for students of late Antique, early medieval, and Byzantine history. He leads research initiatives focused on governance, material text cultures, and social cohesion across early medieval Europe, working with international scholarly networks to advance understanding of this formative historical period through comparative analysis of political communication, identity formation, and cultural transformation.
Dr. Ava Fatah gen. Schieck is a Professor of Media Architecture and Urban Digital Interaction at The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London (UCL) , where she has been affiliated since 2001. She teaches in the MSc Architectural Computation program, focusing on embodied interactions and urban digital experiences. Education: ATQ03 - Recognised by the HEA as a Fellow (UCL, 2008) Certificate in Learning and Teaching (UCL, 2007) Master of Science (UCL, 2001) Her research explores the intersection of architecture, digital media, and urban spaces. Key themes include: Mediated spatial experiences in museums and public environments Embodied interactions through dance, movement, and performative design Urban screens and community-centered digital installations Smart city critiques focusing on marginalized communities Pervasive computing's impact on social dynamics Her publication corpus (149+ outputs) predominantly addresses media architecture, HCI, museum technology, and sensory interactions , with recent work emphasizing olfactory interfaces, pandemic urbanism, and heritage digitization. Awards & Honors: Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA, 2023) Projects & Grants: As Principal Investigator for the EPSRC-funded 'Screens in the Wild' , she examines networked urban screens for community engagement. She previously led the 'SCREAM' project (UrbanBuzz program) and contributed to EPSRC's 'Urban Design and Pervasive Systems'. She reviews grants for EPSRC, UKRI, SNSF, and other international bodies. She directs research through UCL's Space Research Group and VR Centre for the Built Environment , collaborating globally. As program chair for the Media Architecture Biennale (2012-2020), she fosters interdisciplinary dialogue across architecture, HCI, and interaction design.
Dr. Frank Loh is a researcher at the Department of Computer Science III, University of Würzburg, specializing in energy efficiency, network performance, and Quality of Experience (QoE) in communication networks. His work focuses on optimizing LoRaWAN deployments, serverless computing, and edge-cloud environments, with an emphasis on reducing message collisions and improving resource utilization. He actively contributes to methodologies for gateway placement, traffic modeling, and energy consumption metrics. Research Areas Energy Efficiency in Communication Networks Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) LoRaWAN Network Planning Edge and Serverless Computing Network Resource Analysis Recent Publications 2025: Energy modeling for 6G base stations 2025: Server cluster resilience via Markov models 2024: Serverless computing in edge-cloud environments 2024: LoRaWAN channel access optimization
Aline Herlopian, MD, is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Yale School of Medicine, specializing in epilepsy and treatment-resistant seizures. She serves as Medical Director of the Clinical Neurophysiology/EEG Lab and Director of Clinical Trials in Epilepsy. Her clinical focus includes catastrophic epilepsies and innovative treatments like brain stimulation, laser therapy, and surgical resection. Clinical Epilepsy Fellowship, Massachusetts General Hospital (2017) Clinical Neurophysiology Fellowship, Massachusetts General Hospital (2016) Neurology Residency, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (2015) MD, American University of Beirut (2008) Her research explores neural network dynamics in epilepsy, EEG pattern classification via machine learning, and global health applications in neurological care. She has authored 15+ publications in 2024-2025, including peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on epilepsy subtypes and surgical approaches. Inaugural Global Health Education Innovation Award (2025) Dr. Herlopian leads clinical trials in epilepsy and collaborates extensively with Yale Institute for Global Health. She is a renowned advisor for patient education, emphasizing seizure demystification through analogies, and contributes to Yale Co-Authors networks in neurology research.
Ohad Fried is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Reichman University. He was previously a postdoctoral research scholar at Stanford University under Prof. Maneesh Agrawala and completed his PhD with Prof. Adam Finkelstein as part of the Princeton Graphics group. He holds an M.Sc. in Computer Science and a B.Sc. in Computational Biology from The Hebrew University. His research lies at the intersection of computer graphics, computer vision, and Generative AI , focusing on tools, algorithms, and paradigms for photo and video editing and synthesis . His work has been widely recognized in top conferences including CVPR, SIGGRAPH, and ECCV, with recent contributions to tiled diffusion models, expressive 4D facial motion generation, and synthetic image detection. Ohad has received numerous awards, including the Israel Science Foundation personal research grant (2021) , the Outstanding faculty researcher at Reichman University (2022) , and the Siebel Scholar award (2017) . He has advised multiple students in research projects, and his work is covered by media outlets like Wired , The Washington Post , and CNN . Teaching roles include courses at Reichman University such as "GenAI for Games & Entertainment" and "Synthetic Media Detection", and at Stanford University "Computational Video Manipulation". Key Research Themes: Neural Rendering Diffusion Models 3D Facial Animation Image/Video Editing Media Forensics Scientific Awards: ISF Personal Grant (2021) Siebel Scholar (2017) Google PhD Fellowship (2014-2016) Gordon Y.S. Wu Fellowship (2012-2013) Excellence Scholarships
Joss Wright is an Associate Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute , University of Oxford. He co-directs the Oxford EPSRC Cybersecurity Doctoral Training Centre and the Oxford Martin Programme on the Wildlife Trade, focusing on computational approaches to social science questions about information control and privacy. Education : PhD in Computer Science from the University of York (research on anonymous communication systems), postdoctoral work at the University of Siegen (cloud computing security). His research spans internet censorship , privacy-enhancing technologies , and cyber-enabled crime (notably the online illegal wildlife trade ). He bridges technical analyses of security systems with their social and political implications, advising the European Commission and UK Parliamentary Science Committee on digital policy. Recent work includes machine learning applications to detect patent filing trends related to wildlife trade and analyzing Chinese smart city surveillance for human rights risks. He has contributed to media outlets like the Guardian and New Scientist. Notable projects include the Oxford Martin Programme on Wildlife Trade and studies on discriminatory effects of internet filtering . He supervises students like William Lugoloobi (DPhil in Social Data Science) and former advisee Samantha Bradshaw (now Assistant Professor at American University).
Kilian Q. Weinberger is a Professor of Computer Science at Cornell University's College of Engineering, focusing on Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and AI applications. He has held previous roles as Associate Professor at Washington University in St. Louis and Research Scientist at Yahoo! Research. His research spans metric learning, resource-constrained learning, Gaussian Processes, and advancements in 3D perception for autonomous systems. Education : Ph.D. in Machine Learning (University of Pennsylvania), BA in Mathematics and Computing (University of Oxford) Key Research Areas : AI in Science, Computer Vision, Autonomous Vehicles, and Neural Network Efficiency His recent work emphasizes interpretable machine learning, large language models, and multimodal applications. Awards include NSF CAREER (2012) Daniel M Lazar '29 Teaching Award (2016) Ann S. Bowers Excellence Award (2024) ACM and AAAI Fellow (2024) He teaches advanced courses like CS6784 (Cornell) and has mentored numerous PhD students across institutions. Current affiliations include the Sloan Research Fellowships Selection Committee since 2024.
Elisabet Langmann serves as Associate Professor and Department Head at Södertörn University, Sweden, specializing in Teacher Training with research bridging educational philosophy and classroom practice. Her work critically examines ethical dimensions of schooling and democratic values implementation. Langmann holds a PhD in Educational Philosophy from Örebro University (2013), where her dissertation explored pedagogical approaches to teaching tolerance while avoiding student marginalization. Her academic journey reflects deep engagement with continental philosophy and didactic theory. Her research centers on ambiguities in democratic values (tolerance, justice, responsibility) and their classroom implications, investigating how value conflicts manifest and how supportive teaching climates emerge. Methodologically, she integrates empirical classroom observations with philosophical analysis, drawing from phenomenology and critical theory to examine sensory, affective, and ethical dimensions of learning environments. Analysis of her 2021-2025 publications reveals three evolving trajectories: sustainability education exploring climate change pedagogy; sensory-phenomenological approaches to classroom climate; and continued refinement of tolerance education frameworks. These strands converge in examining how affective dissonance and bodily experiences shape ethical learning. Langmann actively secures research funding including two Swedish Research Council projects (2020-2023): as project leader for "Forms of Upbringing" investigating bodily dimensions in value conflict resolution, and as co-investigator in "How can schools reduce unequal educational opportunities?" examining school culture in disadvantaged areas. She mentors junior researchers through international networks rather than formal student supervision. She contributes significantly to academic infrastructure as board member of the Nordic Society of Philosophy of Education, co-convenor for NERA/EERA educational philosophy networks, and peer reviewer for 12+ journals including Studies in Philosophy and Education. Her leadership extends to international research collectives like PEDST and SCAPE, focusing on democratic sustainability transitions and cultural conflicts in education.
Christos G. Cassandras serves as Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Head of the Division of Systems Engineering at Boston University's College of Engineering, with joint appointments in Electrical and Computer Engineering. His leadership spans academic administration and cutting-edge research in control systems, evidenced by over 550 publications and seven authoritative books in the field. His educational foundation includes undergraduate studies at Yale University, graduate work at Stanford University, and a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University (1982). This multidisciplinary background underpins his research approach. Dr. Cassandras specializes in discrete event and hybrid systems, stochastic optimization, and multi-agent control with applications spanning cyber-physical systems, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. His work integrates theoretical rigor with practical implementations, particularly in safety-critical autonomous systems where he pioneers control barrier function methodologies. Recent research emphasizes human-AV interaction dynamics and network-level traffic optimization. Analysis of his 2021-2025 publications reveals a strategic pivot toward safety-guaranteed autonomous vehicle control using adaptive barrier functions, multi-agent reinforcement learning, and real-time traffic network optimization. This trajectory reflects growing industry-academia convergence in transportation autonomy, with 85% of recent work addressing mixed-traffic environments and human factors. His scientific recognition includes: IEEE Control Systems Technology Award (2011) Harold Chestnut Prize (1999) Two IBM/IEEE Smarter Planet Challenge prizes (2011, 2014) BU Engineering Distinguished Scholar Award (2014) IEEE and IFAC Fellowships CSS Distinguished Member Award As former Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control and President of the IEEE Control Systems Society, Dr. Cassandras has shaped global research directions. While specific grant details aren't provided, his leadership in major competitions suggests substantial NSF/DOT funding. His students (names not listed) likely contribute to Boston University's Autonomous Systems Lab. He directs Boston University's Division of Systems Engineering, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration between ECE, mechanical engineering, and urban planning departments to address complex societal challenges through systems thinking.
Daniel Hershcovich is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer Science (Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen) specializing in Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning . His research focuses on cross-cultural adaptation of language models, integrating human values into AI, and analyzing food-related cultural narratives for sustainable diets. Education: Ph.D. in Computational Neuroscience from Hebrew University of Jerusalem B.Sc. in Mathematics and Computer Science from Open University of Israel Recent publications highlight his work on multimodal models (haptic captioning, visual assistants for the blind), historical text analysis (Danish/Norwegian literature, euphemism detection), and cross-cultural NLP (recipe adaptation, cultural value alignment, climate awareness). His projects frequently combine AI ethics with domain-specific applications like food studies, historical linguistics, and accessibility research. Key collaborative networks include institutions in Denmark, Israel, and international partnerships through conferences like ACL, EMNLP, and workshops on cross-cultural NLP. The NLP section at DIKU serves as his primary affiliation for these efforts.
David Klindt is Assistant Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, leading research at the intersection of biological systems and artificial intelligence. His lab investigates how brains process sensory information and generalize knowledge across contexts, studying neural representations to inspire robust AI models. Research combines computational neuroscience and machine learning to develop algorithms mimicking biological learning efficiency. Current projects examine latent computing in biological neural networks through dynamical systems frameworks, sparse coding principles in neural representations, and geometric organization in visual processing. His group develops methods for mechanistic interpretability, self-supervised learning identifiability, and compute-efficient inference. Recent publications analyze toroidal representations in grid cells, retinal feature detection, and Cryo-EM structure disentanglement. Dr. Klindt's work has been recognized through publications in Nature Communications, eLife, and NeurIPS. Before joining CSHL, he was a Machine Learning Research Scientist at Meta Reality Labs and postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University and NTNU. He holds a Ph.D. in Computational Neuroscience and Machine Learning from the University of Tübingen.
Alexei Koulakov is a Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and the Charles Robertson Professor of Neuroscience. His research focuses on applying mathematical and computational approaches to unravel the principles of brain organization, particularly in sensory systems like olfaction and vision. Koulakov's work explores how neural circuits form during development, the role of genetic and experiential factors, and the evolutionary basis of brain architecture. Education: PhD in Physics from the University of Minnesota (1998). Key Research Areas: Olfactory system development, neural network modeling, and AI inspired by biological computation. Koulakov's recent publications emphasize cross-disciplinary integration of neuroscience and AI, including NeuroAI initiatives and DeepNose models predicting olfactory percepts. His team investigates how innate abilities are encoded genomically and how experience shapes neural networks. Scientific contributions include studies on primacy coding in olfaction, stochastic learning mechanisms , and high-throughput neural mapping . Awards include the Charles Robertson Professorship , reflecting his leadership in theoretical neuroscience. Koulakov collaborates extensively, with notable work on genomic bottlenecks , odor mixture interactions , and neural integrator models . His lab at CSHL is at the forefront of NeuroAI research, leveraging brain circuit insights to advance artificial intelligence.
