Yiping Lu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences at Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering. His research focuses on developing interdisciplinary approaches combining domain knowledge (differential equations, stochastic processes), machine learning, and experiments. Key interests include scientific machine learning (AI4Science), stochastic simulation, and robust machine learning. Education: Ph.D. in Applied and Computational Mathematics, Stanford University (2023) B.S. in Computational Mathematics, Peking University (2019) Research Highlights: Hybrid research integrating ML with scientific domains like PDEs and inverse problems Development of Physics-Informed Learning frameworks Contributions to deep learning theory (ResNets, neural collapse) Advances in kernel operator learning and adversarial robustness Awards: CPAL Rising Star Award (2024) University of Chicago Data Science Rising Star (2022) Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship (2021) Labs/Teams: SCALE Lab (Scientific Computation and Learning at Northwestern) Collaborations with NYU's Courant Institute and Stanford
Damek Davis serves as an Associate Professor of Statistics and Data Science and Co-Academic Director of the Dual Master's Degree in Statistics at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. His academic base is the Department of Statistics and Data Science within the Wharton School, with his office located at the Academic Research Building in Philadelphia, PA. His research expertise centers on optimization theory for data science, with deep specialization in nonsmooth and stochastic optimization problems. Key focus areas include convergence analysis of first-order methods, variance reduction techniques, and theoretical guarantees for algorithms in nonconvex settings. His work bridges mathematical rigor with practical applications in machine learning and statistical inference, particularly in developing efficient computational frameworks for large-scale data analysis. Analysis of his 2022-2024 publications reveals dominant themes in optimization for modern data challenges: nonsmooth stochastic approximation, linear convergence under sharpness conditions, and global optimality in mixture models. His research consistently appears in premier venues across optimization (Mathematical Programming, SIAM Journal), statistics (The Annals of Statistics), and machine learning (IEEE Transactions), demonstrating cross-disciplinary impact in both theoretical foundations and computational methodologies.
Prof. Dr. Michael Ulbrich is a full professor and Chair of Mathematical Optimization at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), within the School of Computation, Information and Technology. He has held this position since 2006 and previously served as Dean of Studies (2007–2010) and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics (2012–2015). His research focuses on nonlinear optimization, optimal control, and numerical analysis, with applications in fluid dynamics, shape optimization, and PDE-constrained systems. He leads projects in the DFG SPP 1962 and IGDK 1754, and has received prestigious awards including the Howard Rosenbrock Prize (2015) and the Doctoral Award from the TUM Association of Friends (1996). Ulbrich is Editor-in-Chief of Optimization and Engineering and contributes to multiple journals. His work bridges theoretical foundations and practical applications, including CO2 sequestration, fluid-structure interaction, and distributed optimization algorithms. Education: PhD (1996), Habilitation (2002) in Mathematics at TUM. Research stays at Rice University (USA) under DFG funding. Research Areas: Semismooth Newton methods, PDE-constrained optimization, optimal control of Navier-Stokes equations, and distributed parameter systems. Awards: Rosenbrock Prize, Teaching Excellence Awards, and recognition for doctoral work. Leadership Roles: Department Head of Mathematics (2022–), Member of TUM Senate (2019–2022), and Co-Chair of GAMM 2018. Ulbrich has authored influential textbooks like Semismooth Newton Methods for Variational Inequalities and Nichtlineare Optimierung . His recent projects include OptiGeoS (2024–2026) and collaborations on nonsmooth optimization and stochastic algorithms. His academic contributions span over 100 publications, emphasizing both algorithmic innovation and rigorous mathematical analysis.
Mark Baker is a Professor of Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Rutgers University. His work focuses on comparative syntax, linguistic universals, semantic roles, and the study of Amerindian and African languages. He holds the title of Distinguished Professor and maintains an office in Scott Hall. As of 2021, his office hours were by appointment due to sabbatical leave. His research interests include syntactic diversity, its limits, and patterns across languages. Notable themes in his work involve logophoric pronouns, switch-reference mechanisms, and the relationship between case systems and agreement structures. He has contributed to discussions on language typology, formal syntax, and the cognitive foundations of linguistic structures. Baker teaches advanced syntax courses and has published extensively on topics ranging from Panoan languages to theoretical models in generative grammar. His recent articles explore syntactic variation, morphosyntactic alignment, and interdisciplinary connections between linguistics and cognitive science. He serves on editorial boards and has reviewed for journals such as Journal of East Asian Linguistics and Yearbook of Corpus Linguistics and Pragmatics . His work bridges formal linguistic theory with empirical cross-linguistic analysis, emphasizing the interplay between universal grammatical principles and lineage-specific traits.
David Jerison is a Professor of Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he conducts research in Fourier analysis and partial differential equations. His work focuses primarily on free boundary problems and, more recently, on internal Diffusion Limited Aggregation (internal DLA), a stochastic growth model. He maintains an active research program with numerous publications in leading mathematical journals. Professor Jerison's research spans several interconnected areas of mathematical analysis. His primary interests include Fourier analysis and partial differential equations, with particular emphasis on free boundary problems. In recent years, he has expanded his research to include internal Diffusion Limited Aggregation, a stochastic growth model that has connections to probability theory and mathematical physics. His work often bridges geometric analysis, spectral theory, and probabilistic methods, demonstrating the deep connections between different branches of mathematics. Analysis of Professor Jerison's recent publications reveals a consistent focus on geometric aspects of partial differential equations, particularly free boundary problems. His research shows progression from classical PDE theory toward more stochastic and probabilistic approaches, as evidenced by his work on internal DLA. The publications demonstrate interdisciplinary connections between mathematical analysis, probability theory, and mathematical physics, with applications ranging from geometric measure theory to quantum mechanics. Professor Jerison is actively involved in teaching and mentoring at MIT. He has taught courses including Differential Equations (18.03), Fourier Analysis and Applications (18.103), and Differential Analysis (18.155). He also directs the Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR), which is exclusively for MIT undergraduates, and organizes the mathematics section of the Research Science Institute (RSI) for high school students. His teaching materials are available through MIT's Open Courseware platform, indicating his commitment to educational outreach and accessibility.
Mikaela Iacobelli is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics at ETH Zürich. During the 2024-25 academic year, she was a von Neumann Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Previously, she held faculty positions at Durham University and a research fellowship at the University of Cambridge. Her educational background includes: PhD in Mathematics from Sapienza University of Rome and École Polytechnique in Paris (2015) Master's degree from Sapienza University of Rome (2012) Bachelor's degree from Sapienza University of Rome (2009) Mikaela's research lies at the interface of analysis, kinetic theory, and statistical mechanics. She studies partial differential equations that model the collective behavior of many-particle systems, with a focus on Vlasov-type plasmas and gravitational dynamics. Her current projects range from quasineutral and singular-limit problems for Vlasov-type systems to quantization of measures, ultrafast diffusion, and gradient-flow structures that link microscopic particle models to macroscopic fluid descriptions. She makes extensive use of PDEs techniques, optimal transport, probability, calculus of variations, and Riemannian geometry in her work. Her recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on Vlasov-type equations, particularly examining quasineutral limits, stability properties, and connections to other physical systems like Euler equations and magnetohydrodynamics. She has made significant contributions to understanding Landau damping, quantization problems on manifolds, and the mathematical foundations of plasma physics. Her notable scientific awards include: SNSF Starting Grant (Swiss ERC) Challenges and Breakthroughs in the Mathematics of Plasmas (2025-2030) von Neumann Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (2024-2025) Invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematical Physics (2021) CO-PI of the Germaine de Staël Funding Program for French-Swiss cooperation (2021-2023) L'Oréal prize for Women in Science (2015) Mikaela actively mentors postdocs, PhD, Master's, and Bachelor's students. Her current mentees include postdocs Dennis Chemnitz, Rishabh Gvalani, Stefano Rossi, and Simon Becker, as well as PhD students Thérèse Moerschell, Ata Deniz Aydin, and Antoine Gagnebin. She has served as PI for the Starting Research Grant from the University of Rome Sapienza and is currently the PI for the SNSF Starting Grant. She co-organizes several academic seminars including the Zurich Colloquium in Mathematics, the PDE and Mathematical Physics seminar at ETH Zürich and UZH, and the Analysis Seminar. She also serves on various committees including as Chair of the European Mathematical Society Committee for Women in Mathematics.
Dr. Vincent Fortuin is a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and a research group leader at Helmholtz AI in Munich. He leads the Efficient Learning and Probabilistic Inference for Science (ELPIS) group and holds multiple prestigious fellowships including the Branco Weiss Fellowship. His academic affiliations include the TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology, the Konrad Zuse School of Excellence in Reliable AI, and the Munich Center for Machine Learning. Dr. Fortuin earned his BSc in Molecular Life Sciences from the University of Hamburg (2012-2015), followed by an MSc in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics from ETH Zürich (2015-2017), where he received the ETH Excellence Scholarship and the Willi Studer Prize. He completed his PhD in Machine Learning at ETH Zürich (2017-2021) under the supervision of Gunnar Rätsch and Andreas Krause, supported by a Swiss Data Science Center PhD Fellowship. Prior to joining TUM, he was a Research Fellow at St. John's College, University of Cambridge (2022-2023). His research focuses on the intersection of Bayesian statistics and deep learning, specifically developing methods for more robust, data-efficient AI systems with reliable uncertainty estimates. His work addresses critical limitations in standard deep learning approaches, particularly their tendency to be overconfident in predictions and require large datasets for training. He investigates better priors and more efficient inference techniques for Bayesian deep learning, deep generative modeling, meta-learning, and PAC-Bayesian theory, with applications in scientific and biomedical domains. Dr. Fortuin's recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on improving uncertainty quantification in deep learning systems, with increasing emphasis on practical applications in scientific contexts. His work spans from theoretical foundations of Bayesian deep learning to practical implementations in protein design, materials science, and medical applications. A notable trend is his exploration of how to make Bayesian methods more scalable and applicable to modern large-scale AI systems while maintaining theoretical guarantees. Branco Weiss Fellowship (2023) St John's College Research Fellowship (2022) Swiss National Science Foundation Postdoc.Mobility Fellowship (2022) Swiss Data Science Center PhD Fellowship (2018) ETH Excellence Scholarship (2015) Willi Studer Award (2018) Dr. Fortuin actively supervises PhD and Master's students through his ELPIS research group at Helmholtz AI. He serves as a regular reviewer and area chair for major machine learning conferences and is an action editor for TMLR. He co-organizes the Symposium on Advances in Approximate Bayesian Inference (AABI) and the ICBINB initiative, demonstrating his commitment to advancing the field through community building. His research group receives funding from multiple sources including Helmholtz AI, the Branco Weiss Fellowship, and collaborations with international institutions. Dr. Fortuin leads the Efficient Learning and Probabilistic Inference for Science (ELPIS) group at Helmholtz AI, which focuses on fundamental machine learning research motivated by real-world scientific problems. The group collaborates extensively with researchers across Helmholtz centers and international institutions, particularly in biomedical applications where reliable uncertainty estimates are crucial.
Scientia Professor Gary Froyland is a Professor at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), affiliated with the School of Mathematics & Statistics. He leads the ARC Laureate Centre for Dynamical Systems and Data and holds an Einstein Visiting Fellowship from the Einstein Foundation Berlin. His academic credentials include a BSc (Hons 1, Medal) in Pure and Applied Mathematics from the University of Queensland and a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Western Australia. Professor Froyland's research spans two primary domains: dynamical systems and optimization. In dynamical systems, he investigates the interplay of probability and geometry in nonlinear and chaotic systems, employing tools from ergodic theory, functional analysis, and differential geometry. His work extends to applications in oceanography, atmospheric science, and granular flows. In optimization, he focuses on decision-making in complex systems with uncertain information, developing novel approaches in mathematical programming that have been applied to mining, logistics, and medical treatment planning. His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on coherent structures in dynamical systems, linear response theory, and applications to geophysical phenomena. The research shows increasing interdisciplinary collaboration, particularly with climate scientists and data analysts, reflecting a trend toward applying advanced mathematical techniques to real-world problems in environmental science and engineering. J.D. Crawford Prize (2025) Elected Member of the Academy of Europe / Academia Europaea (2024) ARC Laureate Fellow (2024-2029) Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) (2021) Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (2020) Vice-Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence - Postgraduate Research Supervision (2015) Professor Froyland actively supervises PhD and honors students, with current advisees including Kevin Felipe Kühl Oliveira, Nicholas Peters, and Kathrin Völkner. His research is supported by multiple grants, including an ARC Laureate Fellowship (2024-2029) for "Breakthrough mathematics for dynamical systems and data," an Einstein Visiting Fellowship (2022-2026), and several ARC Discovery Projects. His work has practical applications in climate science, mining optimization, and medical treatment planning, particularly in radiotherapy. He leads the ARC Laureate Centre for Dynamical Systems and Data, which brings together researchers to develop new mathematical approaches for analyzing complex dynamical systems. The center focuses on creating methods to identify coherent structures in spatiotemporal data, with applications spanning environmental science, social science, health science, and engineering.
Nicholas Kortessis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Wake Forest University, within The Undergraduate College. His research lies at the intersection of ecology, evolution, and theoretical modeling, focusing on how environmental variability shapes biological diversity. Research Interests: His primary areas include statistical and theoretical ecology, adaptation in variable environments, population and community dynamics, and ecosystem modeling. He uses mathematical frameworks to simulate ecological processes across large spatial and temporal scales, bridging experimental data with predictive theory. Publication Trends: His recent work spans topics such as habitat fragmentation, disease in invasive species, character displacement, seed dormancy evolution, and pandemic transmission dynamics. These reflect a strong emphasis on theoretical and synthetic approaches to ecological problems, often involving collaboration across institutions. Scientific Awards: No awards are mentioned in the provided text. Advising and Grants: While no specific students or grants are listed, Dr. Kortessis leads an active research lab and collaborates widely, indicating ongoing mentorship and likely grant-supported research. His lab engages in theoretical and data-driven ecological studies, suggesting funding from agencies supporting environmental and theoretical biology. Labs and Teams: He runs the Kortessis Lab at Wake Forest University, which focuses on modeling ecological and evolutionary processes. The lab emphasizes mathematical and conceptual tools to explore biodiversity, coexistence, and ecosystem responses to environmental change.
Andrea Marchese is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Trento since 2019. He holds a PhD from the University of Pisa (2013) and has held academic positions at the University of Pavia, University of Zurich, and Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (Leipzig). His research focuses on Geometric Measure Theory, Calculus of Variations, and Optimal Transport, with contributions to minimal surfaces, branched transportation networks, and singular measure analysis. Education: PhD in Mathematics, University of Pisa (2013), Thesis: 'Two applications of the theory of currents' Master's in Mathematics, University of Milan (2008), Thesis: 'Singular points for coverings of Banach spaces' Bachelor's in Mathematics, University of Milan (2006), Thesis: 'Weak topologies and their metrizability in Banach spaces' Research Interests: Geometric Measure Theory, Calculus of Variations, Optimal Transport, Minimal Surfaces, and their applications to real analysis and geometric flows. Awards & Grants: Habilitation for Full Professor in Mathematical Analysis (2022) ERC Starting Grant (2020, ranked A with a score of 484/3272 proposals) Coordinated multiple INdAM/GNAMPA projects totaling over €25,000 Awarded grants from the University of Pavia, SNF, and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Teaching: Has taught courses on Mathematical Analysis, Geometric Measure Theory, and Functional Analysis at the University of Trento, Pavia, Zurich, and Freiburg. Professional Activities: Organized international workshops, served as referee for over 30 journals (e.g., Inventiones Mathematicae , Journal of Differential Geometry ), and contributed to conferences worldwide.
Pratul Srinivasan is a Researcher at Google DeepMind specializing in Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF) , 3D scene reconstruction , and view synthesis at the intersection of computer vision , graphics , and machine learning . He earned his PhD from the EECS Department at UC Berkeley in 2020 under Ren Ng and Ravi Ramamoorthi , with prior research at Duke University on medical computer vision under Sina Farsiu . Research Interests: Pratul focuses on 3D reconstruction using neural fields, light field synthesis , illumination modeling , and diffusion-based 3D generation . His work addresses challenges in photorealistic rendering , real-time view synthesis , and inverse rendering with applications in astronomy and medical imaging . Publication Trends: Recent articles emphasize real-time NeRF (e.g., Bolt3D), refractive material modeling , shadow-based illumination recovery , and cross-scale generative synthesis . Collaborations span institutions including MIT , NVIDIA , and ETH Zurich . Scientific Awards: 2025 SIGGRAPH Significant New Researcher Award 2021 ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award Honorable Mention 2020 David J. Sakrison Memorial Prize Best Paper Awards at ECCV 2020, ICCV 2021, and CVPR 2022 Advising & Collaborations: Advised by Ren Ng and Ravi Ramamoorthi during his PhD, Pratul collaborates with researchers like Jonathan T. Barron , Ben Mildenhall , and Katherine L. Bouman . His work integrates differentiable simulations , Fourier feature networks , and multiplane image extrapolation . Technical Contributions: Key innovations include anti-aliased NeRF , memory-efficient rendering , refractive relighting , and multi-view relighting techniques , with impacts on virtual reality , astronomical imaging , and 3D content creation .
Paata Ivanisvili is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), Department of Mathematics, School of Physical Sciences. His research focuses on Analysis, Probability, Harmonic Analysis, and Functional Analysis, with a particular emphasis on isoperimetric inequalities, functional inequalities, and discrete structures such as the Hamming cube. He has held visiting positions at institutions including the Hausdorff Research Institute for Mathematics and Princeton University. Ivanisvili has organized conferences such as the Dual Trimester Program at the Hausdorff Institute on Boolean Analysis in Computer Science (2024) and annual Summer/Fall Schools since 2021. He earned his PhD in Mathematics from Michigan State University (2015) and a BS from Saint Petersburg State University (2011). His research interests include sharp inequalities in analysis (e.g., Poincaré, Beckner, Ehrhard), hypercontractivity, and applications to discrete mathematics and probability. He has collaborated with prominent mathematicians such as Fedor Nazarov, Alexander Volberg, and Roman Vershynin. Notable awards include the NSF CAREER Award (2021–2025) and Simons Fellowship in Mathematics (2025–2026). Ivanisvili’s recent work explores the interface between harmonic analysis and discrete mathematics, including studies on additive energies, convex hulls of space curves, and learning theory. His articles frequently address foundational questions in geometric functional analysis, often using tools like Bellman functions and optimal control theory. He actively advises PhD students and has mentored visiting researchers at UCI.
Peter McGrath is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics at North Carolina State University (NC State), part of the College of Sciences. His research focuses on geometric analysis, minimal surfaces, and partial differential equations. He holds a PhD in Mathematics from Brown University (2017). His expertise spans Ordinary Differential Equations, Partial Differential Equations and Analysis, and Topology, Geometry, and Mathematical Physics research groups. McGrath’s work explores advanced topics such as spectral geometry, free boundary problems, and geometric flows. His recent research emphasizes minimal surface constructions, topological asymptotics, and applications of eigenvalue optimization. Notable contributions include studies on free boundary minimal surfaces in the unit ball and advancements in understanding the Canham problem in biomembrane modeling. McGrath is affiliated with NC State’s Department of Mathematics, located at 2108 SAS Hall, Raleigh, NC. His contact information includes pjmcgrat@ncsu.edu and office SAS Hall 3248.
Michael Muehlebach leads the independent Learning and Dynamical Systems research group at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Tuebingen, Germany. His interdisciplinary work bridges machine learning, dynamical systems theory, and control engineering to develop algorithms for cyber-physical systems with theoretical guarantees and practical implementations. Dr. Muehlebach received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from ETH Zurich in 2010 and 2013, specializing in robotics and control systems. He completed his Ph.D. at ETH's Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control under Prof. R. D'Andrea in 2018, followed by postdoctoral research with Prof. Michael I. Jordan at UC Berkeley. His research focuses on constrained optimization, reinforcement learning, and control theory with applications in robotics. He pioneered approaches that express constraints in terms of velocities rather than positions, enabling more efficient optimization algorithms. His work spans theoretical foundations to physical implementations, including the One-Wheel Cubli balancing robot and electromagnetic navigation systems. Recent publications reveal a strong trend toward physics-informed machine learning, particularly for robotics applications requiring real-time performance and safety guarantees. Dr. Muehlebach has received numerous prestigious awards: Outstanding D-MAVT Bachelor Award Willi-Studer prize for best Master's degree ETH Medal and HILTI prize for doctoral thesis Branco Weiss Fellowship (2018) Emmy Noether Fellowship (2020) Amazon Fellowship (2024) He actively mentors doctoral researchers including Hao Ma, Melis Ilayda Bal, and Onno Eberhard, with research supported by multiple grants. His group maintains strong collaborations with Bernhard Schölkopf's Empirical Inference group at the Max Planck Institute. The Learning and Dynamical Systems group develops innovative hardware and software platforms, including Floaty (a wind-harnessing flying robot), advanced electromagnetic navigation systems, and data-efficient learning methods for robotic table tennis. Their approach combines rigorous theoretical analysis with practical validation on physical systems, emphasizing the integration of known physical structure into machine learning algorithms to improve sample efficiency and ensure generalization.
Thomas Bäck is a Professor at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) , Leiden University , Netherlands, and a member of the interdisciplinary programme Society, Artificial Intelligence and Life Sciences (SAILS) . His academic career spans roles at Leiden University (1996–present) and leadership positions at the Center for Applied Systems Analysis in Dortmund (1994–2000). Education : Diplom-Informatiker (Computer Science), Technische Universität Dortmund (1990) Dr. rer. nat. (Computer Science), Technische Universität Dortmund (1994) Research Interests : Dr. Bäck specializes in evolutionary computation , machine learning , and their applications in sustainable smart industry and healthcare . Recent work focuses on integrating large language models (LLMs) and quantum computing into optimization frameworks, with projects like CIMPLO (predictive maintenance), ECOLE (experience-based optimization), and SAPPAO (airline operations optimization). Scientific Contributions : His 526+ publications cover evolutionary algorithms, quantum optimization, and LLM-driven design, with recent trends including: Quantum computing (e.g., quantum approximate optimization, quantum advantage challenges) LLM integration (e.g., hyperparameter tuning, mutation control, code evolution graphs) Healthcare and industry (e.g., predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, melt quality prediction) Algorithm benchmarking (e.g., IOHprofiler, MA-BBOB, explainable benchmarking) Scientific Awards : IEEE Fellow (2022) Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) member (2021) Academia Europaea member (2022) IEEE Computational Intelligence Society Evolutionary Computation Pioneer Award (2015) Fellow, International Society of Genetic and Evolutionary Computation (2003) Best Ph.D. thesis award, German Society of Computer Science (GI) (1995) Advising and Grants : He supervises Ph.D. candidates in evolutionary computation and machine learning and has secured 7 major grants from organizations like the Dutch Research Council , European Commission , and The Research Council of Norway . His editorial roles include Editor-in-Chief of the Evolutionary Computation Journal and associate editorships in leading AI journals.
