Simon Birrer is an Assistant Professor in Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University, specializing in cosmology and gravitational lensing. He holds a PhD from ETH Zurich (2016) and previously served as Kavli Fellow at Stanford University. Birrer leads research probing dark matter and dark energy using gravitational lensing phenomena. His group develops computational tools for analyzing strong gravitational lensing data to study cosmic expansion and dark matter distribution. Research areas include time-delay cosmography, Hubble constant measurements, and machine learning applications in astrophysics. Recent publications focus on multi-messenger gravitational lensing (2025), LSST survey applications (2025), and AI-powered lens modeling pipelines (2025). His work consistently addresses fundamental cosmological tensions like the Hubble constant discrepancy. Awards: Kavli Postdoctoral Fellowship (2019-2022) Kugelpyramide Lifetime Achievement Award Experimental Innovation Award (ETH Zurich) Research Group: Leads the SBU Strong Lensing group with 9+ graduate students and postdocs. The group participates in major collaborations including LSST Strong Lensing Science Collaboration (co-chair), LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration, and TDCOSMO.
Kwang Moo Yi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where he conducts research in computer vision and machine learning. He is affiliated with the Computer Vision Lab, CAIDA (Centre for Artificial Intelligence Decision-making and Action), and ICICS (Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems) at UBC. Education: B.Sc. from Seoul National University Ph.D. from Seoul National University under Prof. Jin Young Choi Post-doctoral researcher at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) with Prof. Pascal Fua and Prof. Vincent Lepetit Dr. Yi's research focuses on Visual Geometry with the goal of understanding local environments, adapting to them, and acting within them. His work spans applications in autonomous vehicles, drones, robots, and Augmented/Mixed Reality systems. He employs machine learning, particularly deep learning, as the primary tool for advancing computer vision capabilities. His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on neural rendering techniques, especially 3D Gaussian Splatting and Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF). The research trends show increasing sophistication in handling occlusions, improving rendering quality, and developing more efficient training methods for neural fields. There's also significant work connecting computer vision with practical applications in industrial settings and energy systems. Dr. Yi serves as an area chair for top computer vision and machine learning conferences including CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, ICML, and AAAI. He was part of the organizing committee for CVPR 2023. He supervises graduate students including Eric (who recently completed his PhD), Gopal (now at Samsung Research), and Jeong-Gi (joining as a postdoctoral fellow). His teaching includes CPSC 425: Computer Vision and CPSC 533Y: 3D Computer Vision with Deep Learning. Dr. Yi is actively involved with the Computer Vision Lab at UBC, collaborating with researchers across CAIDA and ICICS. His work bridges theoretical computer vision with practical applications in various domains including astronomy, industrial automation, and energy systems.
Prof. Dr. Dominik Schwarz is a faculty member at the Faculty of Physics , Bielefeld University. His research focuses on Cosmology and Particle Physics , particularly in the areas of Dark Energy , Dark Matter , Cosmological Inflation , and Large-Scale Structure Formation . He contributes to projects like the International LOFAR Telescope Consortium and the SFB-TRR 211 on strongly interacting matter. APART Fellow of Austrian Academy of Sciences Humboldt Fellow CERN Fellow His recent work explores the cosmic dipole anisotropy , axion density perturbations , and multi-wavelength cosmic web mapping . He also advances data science infrastructure through the PUNCH4NFDI consortium.
University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUnited States
Gautham Narayan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), with affiliations in Physics and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). He holds roles as Deputy Director for Astrophysics Research at the NSF-Simons SkAI Institute and Deputy Director of the Center for AstroPhysical Surveys. His research focuses on multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics, cosmology, and machine learning applications in astronomy. Education: PhD in Physics from Harvard University (2013) and BS (Hons) in Physics from Illinois Wesleyan University (2005). His work includes pioneering AI methods for transient detection, leading collaborations like the Young Supernova Experiment (YSE), and developing standards for LSST and WFIRST. He is a Simonyi NSF-CAREER Fellow and Analysis Coordinator for the LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration. Research interests span cosmology, supernovae, and survey science. Key projects include establishing spectrophotometric standards via HST observations and advancing real-time analysis pipelines like ANTARES. Recent work emphasizes Bayesian models for supernova cosmology and multi-messenger astrophysics. Awards: Simonyi NSF-CAREER Fellowship. Collaborations include DESC, SCiMMA, and the KEGS team. Teaching includes courses on astrophysics and data science, with mentorship of students across undergraduate and graduate levels. Public outreach efforts include Astronomy on Tap events and science communication initiatives.
Prof. Dr. Raphael Sznitman serves as Director of the ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research and Head of the Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging group at the University of Bern, Switzerland, holding a Full Professor position in AI for Medical Imaging since 2015. Education: PhD in Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University (2011) MSc in Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University (2009) BSc in Cognitive Systems, University of British Columbia (2007) Research Interests: Sznitman's work centers on computational vision , probabilistic methods , and statistical learning applied to medical imaging challenges. His group develops AI algorithms for ophthalmic diagnostics, surgical robotics, and medical image analysis, with emphasis on OCT, surgical phase recognition, and domain adaptation techniques. Key application areas include retinal disease detection and cataract surgery automation. Publication Trends: His 2021-2025 publications reveal concentrated efforts in deep learning for medical imaging , particularly in ophthalmology (OCT analysis) and surgical video understanding. Emerging themes include LLM applications for clinical monitoring, unsupervised out-of-distribution detection for surgical safety, and physics-informed AI for multimodal medical data fusion. Research Leadership: As ARTORG Center Director, Sznitman oversees interdisciplinary research bridging computer science and clinical medicine. His group collaborates extensively with Bern University Hospital clinicians on translational projects, securing funding for AI-driven diagnostic tools and surgical assistance systems. Current initiatives focus on real-time intraoperative guidance and spaceflight ophthalmology applications. Laboratory: The Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging group operates within ARTORG's dedicated facilities, maintaining partnerships with surgical robotics labs and ophthalmology departments for clinical validation of AI systems. Their work integrates multimodal data streams including OCT, VR perimetry, and surgical video feeds.
Jay Strader is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University, where he serves as Graduate Director for the astronomy PhD program and Associate Chair for astronomy. His research focuses on compact objects, particularly black holes and neutron stars in globular clusters, neutron star binaries in Fermi gamma-ray sources, and intermediate-mass black holes. He has received a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering and grants from NSF and NASA. His research group includes postdoc Ryan Urquhart, graduate students Thomas Do and Rebecca Kyer, and several undergraduates, with past students like Teresa Panurach (now director of NoVEL Consortium) and Samuel Swihart (NRC fellow at Naval Research Lab). Education: PhD in Astronomy, UC-Santa Cruz/Lick Observatory Awards: Packard Fellowship Collaborations: Member of Rubin Observatory's Stars, Milky Way, and Local Volume science collaboration since 2008 Previous Positions: Hubble Fellow and Menzel Fellow at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (2007-2012) Program Initiatives: Co-founder of PAREDS program for early research opportunities at MSU His work has been supported by NSF and NASA grants, and he has contributed to studies on black holes in M22, hypervelocity globular clusters around M87, and transitional millisecond pulsars. His group collaborates with Laura Chomiuk and contributes to data catalogs like the M31 globular cluster velocity dispersion database.
Professor Byung S. Lee is a distinguished faculty member in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Vermont's College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences. He joined UVM in 1999 and continues to be actively engaged in teaching, research, and service. His office is located in Innovation Hall at the Burlington campus, where he maintains regular office hours and oversees his research lab. Professor Lee holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University, an MS from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and a BS from Seoul National University. His educational background provided the foundation for his extensive career in computer science research and education. Professor Lee's research spans multiple domains within computer science, with a particular focus on database systems, data mining, and data science. His work increasingly integrates machine learning techniques with traditional database approaches, especially in the analysis of time series data. He has made significant contributions to graph theory applications, anomaly detection methods, and environmental data analysis. His research often bridges computer science with practical applications in healthcare, environmental science, transportation, and astrophysics through interdisciplinary collaborations. An analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong trend toward time series analysis and anomaly detection, particularly applied to environmental monitoring and healthcare data. His work demonstrates a consistent evolution from foundational database research to more applied machine learning approaches, with increasing emphasis on real-world problem solving across multiple scientific domains. Professor Lee has served as primary advisor for numerous graduate students across multiple cohorts, including PhD candidates, Master's students, and postdoctoral researchers. His advising portfolio reflects the breadth of his research interests, with students working on topics ranging from graph neural networks to medical informatics applications. He has also been actively involved in professional service, serving on program committees for major conferences including SAC, PAKDD, DASFAA, and CIKM. Professor Lee leads a vibrant research laboratory that focuses on cutting-edge data science methodologies and their applications. His team collaborates extensively with researchers in environmental science, hydrology, and healthcare, demonstrating the interdisciplinary nature of modern data science research. The lab maintains active projects in time series analysis, graph analytics, and environmental monitoring systems, often working with large-scale datasets from real-world applications.
Dr. Alvin J. K. Chua is an Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS) under the NUS Presidential Young Professorship. He holds a joint appointment in the Department of Mathematics and a courtesy appointment in the Department of Statistics and Data Science. His research focuses on gravitational-wave astronomy , particularly extreme mass ratio inspirals (EMRIs) as key sources for the LISA mission. He develops computational and statistical methods for modeling GW sources and analyzing detector data, with recent work on machine learning and Bayesian inference techniques. His selected publications highlight advancements in modeling beyond-vacuum-GR effects in EMRIs non-local parameter degeneracies rapid relativistic waveform generation neural networks for GW inference statistical sampling on manifolds These works span gravitational-wave astrophysics , computational relativity , and applied statistics . Scientific recognition includes the NUS Presidential Young Professorship. He collaborates with the LISA Consortium and the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav).
Robert M. Weikle, II is a Professor in the Charles L. Brown Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Virginia, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Physics. He earned his B.S. from Rice University (1986), M.S. (1987), and Ph.D. (1992) in Electrical Engineering from Caltech, followed by postdoctoral work at Chalmers University of Technology (1992). His research focuses on millimeter-wave and terahertz electronics , applied electromagnetics, integrated antennas, low-noise sensors, and heterogeneous integration of compound semiconductors. His work bridges electronics and photonics for spectrum access, with applications in astronomy, spectroscopy, and metrology. He has published extensively on micromachined silicon substrates, superconducting materials, and emerging technologies. Scientific Awards: IEEE Microwave Prize (1993) David A. Harrison III Award (1999) University of Virginia All-University Outstanding Teaching Award (2000) Edlich-Henderson Innovator of the Year (2016) Fulbright Scholar (2001) As Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Dominion Microprobes, Inc., he commercializes micromachined wafer probes for high-frequency metrology. His lab, located in E220 Thornton Hall and the Jesse W. Beams Physics Building, has produced 15+ recent publications on submillimeter-wave devices, THz probes, and calibration techniques.
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)United States
Kishalay De is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Astronomy at Columbia University and an Associate Research Scientist at the Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute. His research focuses on using wide-field imaging surveys to study cosmic transients from stellar binaries in the Milky Way and distant Universe. He specializes in analyzing data from missions like Palomar Gattini-IR (PGIR), Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), and NASA's WISE telescope to understand stellar cataclysms and their role in shaping the universe via gravitational waves and electromagnetic signatures. Affiliations: Columbia University, Flatiron Institute Education: PhD in Astrophysics (Caltech, 2021), B.Sc. Physics (Indian Institute of Science, 2016) His work includes discovering heavily obscured novae in the Galactic plane and characterizing infrared transients linked to stellar mergers and black hole accretion. He is leading a project analyzing 15 years of WISE archival data to study transient mid-infrared phenomena. Awards: NASA Einstein Fellowship (2021–2024), Kavli Institute Fellowship.
Jean Ponce is a Professor at Ecole Normale Supérieure - PSL and a Global Distinguished Professor at New York University's Courant Institute and Center for Data Science. He serves as Scientific Director of PRAIRIE Interdisciplinary AI Research Institute and co-founded Enhance Lab, commercializing super-resolution imaging software. His research focuses on computer vision, machine learning, robotics, and image processing. Ponce has held roles at Inria, MIT, Stanford, and the University of Illinois, and is an IEEE and ELLIS Fellow. He has served as chair of major conferences like CVPR, ECCV, and ICCV, and authored the textbook 'Computer Vision: A Modern Approach.' Research interests include statistical models for exoplanet detection, neural networks for 3D reconstruction, and self-supervised learning. His work combines theoretical foundations with practical applications in astrophysics, robotics, and imaging. Notable awards include the IEEE CVPR Longuet-Higgins Prize (2016, 2020) and ICML Test-of-Time Award (2019). Key projects include Enhance Lab's high dynamic range imaging and PRAIRIE's interdisciplinary AI initiatives. Ponce's articles explore cutting-edge topics like neural object priors, geodesic motion planning, and satellite image analysis. His contributions bridge academic research and industrial applications, emphasizing both fundamental theory and real-world impact.
David W. Hogg is Professor of Physics and Data Science in the Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics in the Department of Physics at New York University. He serves as Senior Research Scientist in the Astronomical Data Group in the Center for Computational Astrophysics of the Flatiron Institute and maintains an affiliation with the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie in Heidelberg. His primary research focuses on observational cosmology, particularly approaches that use galaxies to infer physical properties of the Universe. He also conducts significant research on stellar kinematics in the Milky Way and the measurement and discovery of exoplanets. Across all domains, Hogg develops engineering systems and statistical methodologies that enable large-scale astrophysical projects for both his research group and the broader community. Recent work demonstrates expertise in robust statistical methods, particularly dimensionality reduction techniques like Robust-HMF. His research bridges theoretical statistics with practical applications in major astronomical surveys including Gaia, SDSS-V, and SPHEREx. He frequently explores connections between Bayesian and frequentist approaches to astronomical data analysis, with recent work on nuisance parameter integration, anomaly detection, and robust matrix factorization. Research supported by NYU, NASA, NSF, Moore Foundation, Sloan Foundation Additional support from Max Planck Society, Humboldt Foundation, ERC, Simons Foundation Hogg is actively involved in major astronomical projects including Astrometry.net, Gaia, and SDSS, with long-term comprehensive goals of analyzing all galaxies, stars, and astronomical images. His work emphasizes open science principles, reproducible research practices, and the development of publicly accessible tools for the astronomical community.
Anjalie Field is an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department at the Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University. She is also affiliated with the Data Science and AI Institute and the Center for Language and Speech Processing (CLSP). Dr. Field completed her PhD at the Language Technologies Institute at Carnegie Mellon University under Yulia Tsvetkov, where she was a member of TsvetShop. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, she was a postdoctoral researcher in the Stanford NLP Group and at the Stanford Data Science Institute, working with Dan Jurafsky and Jennifer Eberhardt. She also spent time as a visiting student at the University of Washington from 2021 to 2022. Her research focuses on the ethics and social science aspects of natural language processing, developing computational models to address societal issues like discrimination and propaganda while critically assessing and improving privacy, transparency, and fairness in AI pipelines. Her work spans social media analysis, bias detection in multilingual content, police accountability systems, and ethical considerations in large language model applications. Dr. Field's publications demonstrate a consistent focus on identifying and addressing biases in language technologies, with particular attention to racial, gender, and cultural dimensions. Her recent work has expanded into domain-specific applications of NLP in astronomy, healthcare, and social justice contexts, showing the breadth of impact that ethical AI considerations can have across disciplines. Among her notable recognitions are: AI2050 Fellow by Schmidt Sciences 2022 Wikimedia Foundation Research Award of the Year Best Paper nomination at Socinfo (2020) Dr. Field teaches AI Ethics and Social Impact (Fall 2023; Fall 2024) and NLP for Computational Social Science (Spring 2024; Spring 2025). She plans to take PhD students for the 2024-2025 admissions cycle. Her work bridges technical NLP research with important social considerations, making significant contributions to both the technical community and broader societal discourse around AI ethics. She is an active member of the Center for Language and Speech Processing, where she collaborates with researchers working at the intersection of language technologies and real-world applications. Her research focuses on developing methods that not only advance NLP capabilities but also ensure these technologies serve diverse communities equitably.
Paul Wiegert is a Full Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Western Ontario , where he has been since 1996 after positions at York University and Queen's University. He is a member of the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration (IESX) and the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration (CPSX) . His research spans asteroid dynamics , exoplanet systems , and celestial mechanics , with notable work on Earth co-orbital asteroids like (3753) Cruithne and Earth's first Trojan asteroid 2010 TK7. Education : PhD in Astronomy (University of Toronto, 1996) Research Domains : Planetary Science, Astronomy, Big Data Analytics His recent publications focus on interstellar transport mechanisms , asteroid impact risks , and exomoon detection . Key findings include quantifying risks from asteroid 2024 YR4's potential lunar impact and demonstrating the feasibility of detecting alpha Centauri-origin material in our solar system. He actively supervises graduate students like Cole Gregg and participates in NSERC-funded summer research programs for undergraduates. For planetary defense, he has analyzed collision probabilities for Apophis and developed meteoroid hazard models for spacecraft. His work appears in Planetary Science Journal , Nature Astronomy , and Astrophysical Journal Letters , with media coverage in 60+ outlets and 126 X (Twitter) mentions .
Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyUnited States
Valery Kiryukhin is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rutgers University, where he also serves as a Member of the Graduate Faculty. His research focuses on electronic, structural, and magnetic properties of novel materials, particularly in strongly-correlated systems, quantum magnetism, and multiferroics. He leads the Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials (RCEM), emphasizing collaborations to explore spin liquids, frustrated magnets, and materials with self-organized nanostructures using advanced neutron and x-ray scattering techniques. His experimental work combines campus-based facilities with national labs like Brookhaven National Laboratory and NIST, offering students unique exposure to cutting-edge scattering facilities and crystal growth. Key areas include magnetoelectric coupling, spin-phonon interactions, and domain dynamics in antiferromagnetic materials. His group has pioneered visualization methods for antiferromagnetic domains, as seen in recent publications. Kiryukhin has received prestigious awards including the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award, NSF CAREER Award, and Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society (2014) and co-recipient of a W. M. Keck Foundation grant. His research bridges fundamental condensed matter physics with applications in quantum information technologies. Awards: Donald H. Jacob’s Chair in Applied Physics, Alexander von Humboldt Bessel Award, NSF CAREER Award Grants: W. M. Keck Foundation Award (2014), DOE and NSF projects Collaborations: RCEM, Brookhaven National Lab, NIST His lab provides advanced training in scattering techniques, crystallography, and interdisciplinary collaborations, shaping the next generation of materials physicists.
