New research group at UBC brings computer science, math and data together
Some people love math. Others love data science. Some find machine learning to be fascinating. And then there are those that love how they all intersect.
UBC Computer Science Professor Nick Harvey is one of them, as well as his fellow colleague, Dr. Michael Friedlander, who is a professor in computer science and mathematics.
Without a formal group to house and promote these cross-interests, the professors—together with UBC Associate Professor of Mathematics, Yaniv Plan—decided there was a need to create a cross-disciplinary community for faculty and students. Thus, MILD was born.
MILD (Mathematics of Information, Learning and Data) is a new research group that crosses the departments of Computer Science (CS), Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Mathematics, and Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS).
Dr. Harvey said, “The intention was to create a way to tie people together with common research interests. Before the existence of MILD, for example, I wouldn’t see people in the math department very often. So it was difficult to know who their grad students were and what research they were working on. So MILD is a way of creating that community and connecting people via seminars and joint activities.”
The group has already hosted about a dozen seminars since its launch last year, featuring talks by grad students as well as from guests outside UBC, and there are more seminars being planned for the upcoming school year. Past seminars have covered topics like: “Statistical and Computational Phenomena in Deep Learning,” and “Implicit Regularization and Benign Overfitting for Neural Networks in High Dimensions.”
The formalized group has been enabling and facilitating the collaboration of disciplines and spurring on new research in the areas of math, machine learning, privacy, high-dimensional probability, and optimization.
Additionally, the group provides an easy way for students to learn about UBC courses that span their interests outside of just one department. “Prior to MILD,” Dr. Harvey explained, “there was no easy way to find out who was teaching which courses that might be relevant for our grad students. Our website lists courses taught by various MILD members, that may be of value for a student’s grad studies. It’s an easy way of passing information along, highlighting the variety of courses available, and satisfying varied interests.”
Twelve faculty belong to the research group, including five from computer science, and they are always on the lookout for grad students who are keen to explore these cross-discipline research topics. For those who are interested, please contact Dr. Harvey at nickhar@cs.ubc.ca
Visit the MILD website to learn more.