End-to-end neural generation models have largely displaced the modular architectures that once gave dialogue system designers explicit control over what is said and how it is said. While these models […]
Presenter: Ching-Yao Lai, Assistant Professor, Stanford University Description: I will discuss examples utilizing neural networks (NNs) to find solutions to partial differential equations (PDEs) that facilitate new discoveries. Despite being deemed universal function approximators, neural networks, in practice, struggle to fit functions with sufficient accuracy for rigorous analysis. Here, we developed multi-stage neural networks (Wang […]
Presenter: Amanda Coston, Assistant Professor, University of California Berkeley Description: Performance evaluation plays a central role in decisions about whether and how predictive algorithms should be deployed in high-stakes settings. Yet, in many real-world domains, evaluation is fundamentally difficult: the data available for assessment are often biased, incomplete, or noisy, and the act of deploying […]
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and a leading cause of dementia. Neuroimaging and clinical biomarkers can reveal early disease changes, but building reliable machine learning models is difficult because data come from different scanners and sites, some modalities are missing, labeled cohorts are limited, and factors such as age and scanner/site effects […]
Presenter: Nadia Polikarpova, UCSD Abstract: AI-assisted programming has rapidly moved from novelty to default. Today, most developers use AI coding tools, and increasingly rely on agentic systems capable of making multi-step […]
Current generative vision models struggle with image customization that requires multi-step reasoning or real-world knowledge. This proposal introduces generalized image customization, enabling systems to execute complex, inferential modifications rather than just simple edits. The research focuses on the foundational framework required for this generalization, specifically high-quality training data, scalable evaluation benchmarks, self-improving training paradigms that […]
Presenter: Danny Chou, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Stanford University Description: Since its discovery in 1921, insulin has been at the forefront of scientific breakthroughs. From its amino acid sequencing to […]
As multimodal artificial intelligence systems become increasingly embedded in everyday technology, there is a growing need to design human-centered AI agents that support and amplify human capabilities rather than replace them. This dissertation investigates how to build human-centered multimodal AI agents, framing human-centeredness as an agent-level objective that requires both accessible, assistive interaction and reliable, […]
Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) are commonly organized as modular pipelines that transform raw sensor measurements into low-level actuation commands through perception, planning, and control. While learning-based methods have achieved state-of-the-art performance in perception and environment modeling, the planning layer remains a key bottleneck for reliable autonomy. Highway driving in particular requires long-horizon reasoning and socially […]
Register transfer level (RTL) simulation is an invaluable tool for developing, debugging, verifying, and validating hardware designs. However, the performance of RTL simulation has long been a limiting factor in […]
Game analysts face a significant challenge in understanding problem-solving and decision-making processes from the vast and complex sequential data generated by modern video games. Existing visualization tools often fail to adequately support the exploration, suffering from issues of visual clutter, inflexible cohort construction, and a lack of interactive depth. To address this gap, this dissertation […]
This quarter, make time for you, for reflection, and for community!
The Future of Work in the Age of AI: Chaos, Adaptation, or Growth? Artificial intelligence has reignited an old debate: are we approaching mass technological unemployment, or simply the next phase of economic evolution? Public discourse swings between dystopian predictions of human obsolescence and confident assurances that “new jobs will replace old ones.” This lecture […]
Presenter: Lisa Fauci, Professor, Tulane University Description: The motion of waving or rotating filaments in a fluid environment is a common element in many biological and engineered systems. Examples at the microscale include chains of diatoms moving in the ocean, flagella of individual cells comprising multicellular colonies, as well as engineered nanorobots designed to deliver […]
Presenter: Christopher Fletcher, UC Berkeley Abstract: It is difficult to escape the hype of agentic coding. Is the hype real? Are we still living in ~Summer 2025 — when AI coding would accomplish little more than upset its human supervisor? Or has a level shift in technology finally arrived? In this talk I will argue the latter. I will […]
This quarter, make time for you, for reflection, and for community!
The UCSC Genome Browser is hosting a free workshop for new and advanced users! Beginner session starts at 9 and will include: How to understand genome annotations How to find annotation data Overview of training resources Intermediate + advanced session starts at 10, covering Custom tracks Track hubs BLAT And more!! Join us and be […]
Presenter: Dr. Suchetana (Tuli) Mukhopadhyay, Professor, Indiana University Description: N/A Bio: Suchetana “Tuli” Mukhopadhyay, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Biology at Indiana University, Bloomington. She received her B.A. in chemistry from DePauw University and her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Following her doctoral studies, Mukhopadhyay conducted postdoctoral […]
Presenter: Vaso Rahimzadeh, Assistant Professor, Baylor College of Medicine Description: As humans venture farther into outer space, new scientific discovery awaits including in genomics; but so do new ethical dilemmas. Who bears the risks (and rewards) of space exploration and how should humanity ethically expand beyond our planet? This session will have students think critically […]
Presenter: Yuyin Zhou, Assistant Professor, UCSC Description: Medical AI is undergoing a profound transformation, evolving from simple pattern recognition to systems capable of complex clinical reasoning. This talk will chart […]