list of machine learning thesis

Machine Learning - CMU

PhD Dissertations

[all are .pdf files].

Reliable and Practical Machine Learning for Dynamic Healthcare Settings Helen Zhou, 2023

Automatic customization of large-scale spiking network models to neuronal population activity (unavailable) Shenghao Wu, 2023

Estimation of BVk functions from scattered data (unavailable) Addison J. Hu, 2023

Rethinking object categorization in computer vision (unavailable) Jayanth Koushik, 2023

Advances in Statistical Gene Networks Jinjin Tian, 2023 Post-hoc calibration without distributional assumptions Chirag Gupta, 2023

The Role of Noise, Proxies, and Dynamics in Algorithmic Fairness Nil-Jana Akpinar, 2023

Collaborative learning by leveraging siloed data Sebastian Caldas, 2023

Modeling Epidemiological Time Series Aaron Rumack, 2023

Human-Centered Machine Learning: A Statistical and Algorithmic Perspective Leqi Liu, 2023

Uncertainty Quantification under Distribution Shifts Aleksandr Podkopaev, 2023

Probabilistic Reinforcement Learning: Using Data to Define Desired Outcomes, and Inferring How to Get There Benjamin Eysenbach, 2023

Comparing Forecasters and Abstaining Classifiers Yo Joong Choe, 2023

Using Task Driven Methods to Uncover Representations of Human Vision and Semantics Aria Yuan Wang, 2023

Data-driven Decisions - An Anomaly Detection Perspective Shubhranshu Shekhar, 2023

Applied Mathematics of the Future Kin G. Olivares, 2023

METHODS AND APPLICATIONS OF EXPLAINABLE MACHINE LEARNING Joon Sik Kim, 2023

NEURAL REASONING FOR QUESTION ANSWERING Haitian Sun, 2023

Principled Machine Learning for Societally Consequential Decision Making Amanda Coston, 2023

Long term brain dynamics extend cognitive neuroscience to timescales relevant for health and physiology Maxwell B. Wang

Long term brain dynamics extend cognitive neuroscience to timescales relevant for health and physiology Darby M. Losey, 2023

Calibrated Conditional Density Models and Predictive Inference via Local Diagnostics David Zhao, 2023

Towards an Application-based Pipeline for Explainability Gregory Plumb, 2022

Objective Criteria for Explainable Machine Learning Chih-Kuan Yeh, 2022

Making Scientific Peer Review Scientific Ivan Stelmakh, 2022

Facets of regularization in high-dimensional learning: Cross-validation, risk monotonization, and model complexity Pratik Patil, 2022

Active Robot Perception using Programmable Light Curtains Siddharth Ancha, 2022

Strategies for Black-Box and Multi-Objective Optimization Biswajit Paria, 2022

Unifying State and Policy-Level Explanations for Reinforcement Learning Nicholay Topin, 2022

Sensor Fusion Frameworks for Nowcasting Maria Jahja, 2022

Equilibrium Approaches to Modern Deep Learning Shaojie Bai, 2022

Towards General Natural Language Understanding with Probabilistic Worldbuilding Abulhair Saparov, 2022

Applications of Point Process Modeling to Spiking Neurons (Unavailable) Yu Chen, 2021

Neural variability: structure, sources, control, and data augmentation Akash Umakantha, 2021

Structure and time course of neural population activity during learning Jay Hennig, 2021

Cross-view Learning with Limited Supervision Yao-Hung Hubert Tsai, 2021

Meta Reinforcement Learning through Memory Emilio Parisotto, 2021

Learning Embodied Agents with Scalably-Supervised Reinforcement Learning Lisa Lee, 2021

Learning to Predict and Make Decisions under Distribution Shift Yifan Wu, 2021

Statistical Game Theory Arun Sai Suggala, 2021

Towards Knowledge-capable AI: Agents that See, Speak, Act and Know Kenneth Marino, 2021

Learning and Reasoning with Fast Semidefinite Programming and Mixing Methods Po-Wei Wang, 2021

Bridging Language in Machines with Language in the Brain Mariya Toneva, 2021

Curriculum Learning Otilia Stretcu, 2021

Principles of Learning in Multitask Settings: A Probabilistic Perspective Maruan Al-Shedivat, 2021

Towards Robust and Resilient Machine Learning Adarsh Prasad, 2021

Towards Training AI Agents with All Types of Experiences: A Unified ML Formalism Zhiting Hu, 2021

Building Intelligent Autonomous Navigation Agents Devendra Chaplot, 2021

Learning to See by Moving: Self-supervising 3D Scene Representations for Perception, Control, and Visual Reasoning Hsiao-Yu Fish Tung, 2021

Statistical Astrophysics: From Extrasolar Planets to the Large-scale Structure of the Universe Collin Politsch, 2020

Causal Inference with Complex Data Structures and Non-Standard Effects Kwhangho Kim, 2020

Networks, Point Processes, and Networks of Point Processes Neil Spencer, 2020

Dissecting neural variability using population recordings, network models, and neurofeedback (Unavailable) Ryan Williamson, 2020

Predicting Health and Safety: Essays in Machine Learning for Decision Support in the Public Sector Dylan Fitzpatrick, 2020

Towards a Unified Framework for Learning and Reasoning Han Zhao, 2020

Learning DAGs with Continuous Optimization Xun Zheng, 2020

Machine Learning and Multiagent Preferences Ritesh Noothigattu, 2020

Learning and Decision Making from Diverse Forms of Information Yichong Xu, 2020

Towards Data-Efficient Machine Learning Qizhe Xie, 2020

Change modeling for understanding our world and the counterfactual one(s) William Herlands, 2020

Machine Learning in High-Stakes Settings: Risks and Opportunities Maria De-Arteaga, 2020

Data Decomposition for Constrained Visual Learning Calvin Murdock, 2020

Structured Sparse Regression Methods for Learning from High-Dimensional Genomic Data Micol Marchetti-Bowick, 2020

Towards Efficient Automated Machine Learning Liam Li, 2020

LEARNING COLLECTIONS OF FUNCTIONS Emmanouil Antonios Platanios, 2020

Provable, structured, and efficient methods for robustness of deep networks to adversarial examples Eric Wong , 2020

Reconstructing and Mining Signals: Algorithms and Applications Hyun Ah Song, 2020

Probabilistic Single Cell Lineage Tracing Chieh Lin, 2020

Graphical network modeling of phase coupling in brain activity (unavailable) Josue Orellana, 2019

Strategic Exploration in Reinforcement Learning - New Algorithms and Learning Guarantees Christoph Dann, 2019 Learning Generative Models using Transformations Chun-Liang Li, 2019

Estimating Probability Distributions and their Properties Shashank Singh, 2019

Post-Inference Methods for Scalable Probabilistic Modeling and Sequential Decision Making Willie Neiswanger, 2019

Accelerating Text-as-Data Research in Computational Social Science Dallas Card, 2019

Multi-view Relationships for Analytics and Inference Eric Lei, 2019

Information flow in networks based on nonstationary multivariate neural recordings Natalie Klein, 2019

Competitive Analysis for Machine Learning & Data Science Michael Spece, 2019

The When, Where and Why of Human Memory Retrieval Qiong Zhang, 2019

Towards Effective and Efficient Learning at Scale Adams Wei Yu, 2019

Towards Literate Artificial Intelligence Mrinmaya Sachan, 2019

Learning Gene Networks Underlying Clinical Phenotypes Under SNP Perturbations From Genome-Wide Data Calvin McCarter, 2019

Unified Models for Dynamical Systems Carlton Downey, 2019

Anytime Prediction and Learning for the Balance between Computation and Accuracy Hanzhang Hu, 2019

Statistical and Computational Properties of Some "User-Friendly" Methods for High-Dimensional Estimation Alnur Ali, 2019

Nonparametric Methods with Total Variation Type Regularization Veeranjaneyulu Sadhanala, 2019

New Advances in Sparse Learning, Deep Networks, and Adversarial Learning: Theory and Applications Hongyang Zhang, 2019

Gradient Descent for Non-convex Problems in Modern Machine Learning Simon Shaolei Du, 2019

Selective Data Acquisition in Learning and Decision Making Problems Yining Wang, 2019

Anomaly Detection in Graphs and Time Series: Algorithms and Applications Bryan Hooi, 2019

Neural dynamics and interactions in the human ventral visual pathway Yuanning Li, 2018

Tuning Hyperparameters without Grad Students: Scaling up Bandit Optimisation Kirthevasan Kandasamy, 2018

Teaching Machines to Classify from Natural Language Interactions Shashank Srivastava, 2018

Statistical Inference for Geometric Data Jisu Kim, 2018

Representation Learning @ Scale Manzil Zaheer, 2018

Diversity-promoting and Large-scale Machine Learning for Healthcare Pengtao Xie, 2018

Distribution and Histogram (DIsH) Learning Junier Oliva, 2018

Stress Detection for Keystroke Dynamics Shing-Hon Lau, 2018

Sublinear-Time Learning and Inference for High-Dimensional Models Enxu Yan, 2018

Neural population activity in the visual cortex: Statistical methods and application Benjamin Cowley, 2018

Efficient Methods for Prediction and Control in Partially Observable Environments Ahmed Hefny, 2018

Learning with Staleness Wei Dai, 2018

Statistical Approach for Functionally Validating Transcription Factor Bindings Using Population SNP and Gene Expression Data Jing Xiang, 2017

New Paradigms and Optimality Guarantees in Statistical Learning and Estimation Yu-Xiang Wang, 2017

Dynamic Question Ordering: Obtaining Useful Information While Reducing User Burden Kirstin Early, 2017

New Optimization Methods for Modern Machine Learning Sashank J. Reddi, 2017

Active Search with Complex Actions and Rewards Yifei Ma, 2017

Why Machine Learning Works George D. Montañez , 2017

Source-Space Analyses in MEG/EEG and Applications to Explore Spatio-temporal Neural Dynamics in Human Vision Ying Yang , 2017

Computational Tools for Identification and Analysis of Neuronal Population Activity Pengcheng Zhou, 2016

Expressive Collaborative Music Performance via Machine Learning Gus (Guangyu) Xia, 2016

Supervision Beyond Manual Annotations for Learning Visual Representations Carl Doersch, 2016

Exploring Weakly Labeled Data Across the Noise-Bias Spectrum Robert W. H. Fisher, 2016

Optimizing Optimization: Scalable Convex Programming with Proximal Operators Matt Wytock, 2016

Combining Neural Population Recordings: Theory and Application William Bishop, 2015

Discovering Compact and Informative Structures through Data Partitioning Madalina Fiterau-Brostean, 2015

Machine Learning in Space and Time Seth R. Flaxman, 2015

The Time and Location of Natural Reading Processes in the Brain Leila Wehbe, 2015

Shape-Constrained Estimation in High Dimensions Min Xu, 2015

Spectral Probabilistic Modeling and Applications to Natural Language Processing Ankur Parikh, 2015 Computational and Statistical Advances in Testing and Learning Aaditya Kumar Ramdas, 2015

Corpora and Cognition: The Semantic Composition of Adjectives and Nouns in the Human Brain Alona Fyshe, 2015

Learning Statistical Features of Scene Images Wooyoung Lee, 2014

Towards Scalable Analysis of Images and Videos Bin Zhao, 2014

Statistical Text Analysis for Social Science Brendan T. O'Connor, 2014

Modeling Large Social Networks in Context Qirong Ho, 2014

Semi-Cooperative Learning in Smart Grid Agents Prashant P. Reddy, 2013

On Learning from Collective Data Liang Xiong, 2013

Exploiting Non-sequence Data in Dynamic Model Learning Tzu-Kuo Huang, 2013

Mathematical Theories of Interaction with Oracles Liu Yang, 2013

Short-Sighted Probabilistic Planning Felipe W. Trevizan, 2013

Statistical Models and Algorithms for Studying Hand and Finger Kinematics and their Neural Mechanisms Lucia Castellanos, 2013

Approximation Algorithms and New Models for Clustering and Learning Pranjal Awasthi, 2013

Uncovering Structure in High-Dimensions: Networks and Multi-task Learning Problems Mladen Kolar, 2013

Learning with Sparsity: Structures, Optimization and Applications Xi Chen, 2013

GraphLab: A Distributed Abstraction for Large Scale Machine Learning Yucheng Low, 2013

Graph Structured Normal Means Inference James Sharpnack, 2013 (Joint Statistics & ML PhD)

Probabilistic Models for Collecting, Analyzing, and Modeling Expression Data Hai-Son Phuoc Le, 2013

Learning Large-Scale Conditional Random Fields Joseph K. Bradley, 2013

New Statistical Applications for Differential Privacy Rob Hall, 2013 (Joint Statistics & ML PhD)

Parallel and Distributed Systems for Probabilistic Reasoning Joseph Gonzalez, 2012

Spectral Approaches to Learning Predictive Representations Byron Boots, 2012

Attribute Learning using Joint Human and Machine Computation Edith L. M. Law, 2012

Statistical Methods for Studying Genetic Variation in Populations Suyash Shringarpure, 2012

Data Mining Meets HCI: Making Sense of Large Graphs Duen Horng (Polo) Chau, 2012

Learning with Limited Supervision by Input and Output Coding Yi Zhang, 2012

Target Sequence Clustering Benjamin Shih, 2011

Nonparametric Learning in High Dimensions Han Liu, 2010 (Joint Statistics & ML PhD)

Structural Analysis of Large Networks: Observations and Applications Mary McGlohon, 2010

Modeling Purposeful Adaptive Behavior with the Principle of Maximum Causal Entropy Brian D. Ziebart, 2010

Tractable Algorithms for Proximity Search on Large Graphs Purnamrita Sarkar, 2010

Rare Category Analysis Jingrui He, 2010

Coupled Semi-Supervised Learning Andrew Carlson, 2010

Fast Algorithms for Querying and Mining Large Graphs Hanghang Tong, 2009

Efficient Matrix Models for Relational Learning Ajit Paul Singh, 2009

Exploiting Domain and Task Regularities for Robust Named Entity Recognition Andrew O. Arnold, 2009

Theoretical Foundations of Active Learning Steve Hanneke, 2009

Generalized Learning Factors Analysis: Improving Cognitive Models with Machine Learning Hao Cen, 2009

Detecting Patterns of Anomalies Kaustav Das, 2009

Dynamics of Large Networks Jurij Leskovec, 2008

Computational Methods for Analyzing and Modeling Gene Regulation Dynamics Jason Ernst, 2008

Stacked Graphical Learning Zhenzhen Kou, 2007

Actively Learning Specific Function Properties with Applications to Statistical Inference Brent Bryan, 2007

Approximate Inference, Structure Learning and Feature Estimation in Markov Random Fields Pradeep Ravikumar, 2007

Scalable Graphical Models for Social Networks Anna Goldenberg, 2007

Measure Concentration of Strongly Mixing Processes with Applications Leonid Kontorovich, 2007

Tools for Graph Mining Deepayan Chakrabarti, 2005

Automatic Discovery of Latent Variable Models Ricardo Silva, 2005

Available Master's thesis topics in machine learning

Main content.

Here we list topics that are available. You may also be interested in our list of completed Master's theses .

Learning and inference with large Bayesian networks

Most learning and inference tasks with Bayesian networks are NP-hard. Therefore, one often resorts to using different heuristics that do not give any quality guarantees.

Task: Evaluate quality of large-scale learning or inference algorithms empirically.

Advisor: Pekka Parviainen

Sum-product networks

Traditionally, probabilistic graphical models use a graph structure to represent dependencies and independencies between random variables. Sum-product networks are a relatively new type of a graphical model where the graphical structure models computations and not the relationships between variables. The benefit of this representation is that inference (computing conditional probabilities) can be done in linear time with respect to the size of the network.

Potential thesis topics in this area: a) Compare inference speed with sum-product networks and Bayesian networks. Characterize situations when one model is better than the other. b) Learning the sum-product networks is done using heuristic algorithms. What is the effect of approximation in practice?

Bayesian Bayesian networks

The naming of Bayesian networks is somewhat misleading because there is nothing Bayesian in them per se; A Bayesian network is just a representation of a joint probability distribution. One can, of course, use a Bayesian network while doing Bayesian inference. One can also learn Bayesian networks in a Bayesian way. That is, instead of finding an optimal network one computes the posterior distribution over networks.

Task: Develop algorithms for Bayesian learning of Bayesian networks (e.g., MCMC, variational inference, EM)

Large-scale (probabilistic) matrix factorization

The idea behind matrix factorization is to represent a large data matrix as a product of two or more smaller matrices.They are often used in, for example, dimensionality reduction and recommendation systems. Probabilistic matrix factorization methods can be used to quantify uncertainty in recommendations. However, large-scale (probabilistic) matrix factorization is computationally challenging.

Potential thesis topics in this area: a) Develop scalable methods for large-scale matrix factorization (non-probabilistic or probabilistic), b) Develop probabilistic methods for implicit feedback (e.g., recommmendation engine when there are no rankings but only knowledge whether a customer has bought an item)

Bayesian deep learning

Standard deep neural networks do not quantify uncertainty in predictions. On the other hand, Bayesian methods provide a principled way to handle uncertainty. Combining these approaches leads to Bayesian neural networks. The challenge is that Bayesian neural networks can be cumbersome to use and difficult to learn.

The task is to analyze Bayesian neural networks and different inference algorithms in some simple setting.

Deep learning for combinatorial problems

Deep learning is usually applied in regression or classification problems. However, there has been some recent work on using deep learning to develop heuristics for combinatorial optimization problems; see, e.g., [1] and [2].

Task: Choose a combinatorial problem (or several related problems) and develop deep learning methods to solve them.

References: [1] Vinyals, Fortunato and Jaitly: Pointer networks. NIPS 2015. [2] Dai, Khalil, Zhang, Dilkina and Song: Learning Combinatorial Optimization Algorithms over Graphs. NIPS 2017.

Advisors: Pekka Parviainen, Ahmad Hemmati

Estimating the number of modes of an unknown function

Mode seeking considers estimating the number of local maxima of a function f. Sometimes one can find modes by, e.g., looking for points where the derivative of the function is zero. However, often the function is unknown and we have only access to some (possibly noisy) values of the function. 

In topological data analysis,  we can analyze topological structures using persistent homologies. For 1-dimensional signals, this can translate into looking at the birth/death persistence diagram, i.e. the birth and death of connected topological components as we expand the space around each point where we have observed our function. These observations turn out to be closely related to the modes (local maxima) of the function. A recent paper [1] proposed an efficient method for mode seeking.

In this project, the task is to extend the ideas from [1] to get a probabilistic estimate on the number of modes. To this end, one has to use probabilistic methods such as Gaussian processes.

[1] U. Bauer, A. Munk, H. Sieling, and M. Wardetzky. Persistence barcodes versus Kolmogorov signatures: Detecting modes of one-dimensional signals. Foundations of computational mathematics17:1 - 33, 2017.

Advisors:  Pekka Parviainen ,  Nello Blaser

Causal Abstraction Learning

We naturally make sense of the world around us by working out causal relationships between objects and by representing in our minds these objects with different degrees of approximation and detail. Both processes are essential to our understanding of reality, and likely to be fundamental for developing artificial intelligence. The first process may be expressed using the formalism of structural causal models, while the second can be grounded in the theory of causal abstraction.        

This project will consider the problem of learning an abstraction between two given structural causal models. The primary goal will be the development of efficient algorithms able to learn a meaningful abstraction between the given causal models.

Advisor: Fabio Massimo Zennaro

Causal Bandits

"Multi-armed bandit" is an informal name for slot machines, and the formal name of a large class of problems where an agent has to choose an action among a range of possibilities without knowing the ensuing rewards. Multi-armed bandit problems are one of the most essential reinforcement learning problems where an agent is directly faced with an exploitation-exploration trade-off.

This project will consider a class of multi-armed bandits where an agent, upon taking an action, interacts with a causal system. The primary goal will be the development of learning strategies that takes advantage of the underlying causal system in order to learn optimal policies in a shortest amount of time.

Causal Modelling for Battery Manufacturing

Lithium-ion batteries are poised to be one of the most important sources of energy in the near future. Yet, the process of manufacturing these batteries is very hard to model and control. Optimizing the different phases of production to maximize the lifetime of the batteries is a non-trivial challenge since physical models are limited in scope and collecting experimental data is extremely expensive and time-consuming.        

This project will consider the problem of aggregating and analyzing data regarding a few stages in the process of battery manufacturing. The primary goal will be the development of algorithms for transporting and integrating data collected in different contexts, as well as the use of explainable algorithms to interpret them.

Reinforcement Learning for Computer Security

The field of computer security presents a wide variety of challenging problems for artificial intelligence and autonomous agents. Guaranteeing the security of a system against attacks and penetrations by malicious hackers has always been a central concern of this field, and machine learning could now offer a substantial contribution. Security capture-the-flag simulations are particularly well-suited as a testbed for the application and development of reinforcement learning algorithms.

This project will consider the use of reinforcement learning for the preventive purpose of testing systems and discovering vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. The primary goal will be the modelling of capture-the-flag challenges of interest and the development of reinforcement learning algorithms that can solve them.

Approaches to AI Safety

The world and the Internet are more and more populated by artificial autonomous agents carrying out tasks on our behalf. Many of these agents are provided with an objective and they learn their behaviour trying to achieve their objective as best as they can. However, this approach can not guarantee that an agent, while learning its behaviour, will not undertake actions that may have unforeseen and undesirable effects. Research in AI safety tries to design autonomous agent that will behave in a predictable and safe way. 

This project will consider specific problems and novel solution in the domain of AI safety and reinforcement learning. The primary goal will be the development of innovative algorithms and their implementation withing established frameworks.

The Topology of Flight Paths

Air traffic data tells us the position, direction, and speed of an aircraft at a given time. In other words, if we restrict our focus to a single aircraft, we are looking at a multivariate time-series. We can visualize the flight path as a curve above earth's surface quite geometrically. Topological data analysis (TDA) provides different methods for analysing the shape of data. Consequently, TDA may help us to extract meaningful features from the air traffic data. Although the typical flight path shapes may not be particularly intriguing, we can attempt to identify more intriguing patterns or “abnormal” manoeuvres, such as aborted landings, go-arounds, or diverts.

Advisor:  Odin Hoff Gardå , Nello Blaser

Automatic hyperparameter selection for isomap

Isomap is a non-linear dimensionality reduction method with two free hyperparameters (number of nearest neighbors and neighborhood radius). Different hyperparameters result in dramatically different embeddings. Previous methods for selecting hyperparameters focused on choosing one optimal hyperparameter. In this project, you will explore the use of persistent homology to find parameter ranges that result in stable embeddings. The project has theoretic and computational aspects.

Advisor: Nello Blaser

Validate persistent homology

Persistent homology is a generalization of hierarchical clustering to find more structure than just the clusters. Traditionally, hierarchical clustering has been evaluated using resampling methods and assessing stability properties. In this project you will generalize these resampling methods to develop novel stability properties that can be used to assess persistent homology. This project has theoretic and computational aspects.

Topological Ancombs quartet

This topic is based on the classical Ancombs quartet and families of point sets with identical 1D persistence ( https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.00577 ). The goal is to generate more interesting datasets using the simulated annealing methods presented in ( http://library.usc.edu.ph/ACM/CHI%202017/1proc/p1290.pdf ). This project is mostly computational.

Persistent homology vectorization with cycle location

There are many methods of vectorizing persistence diagrams, such as persistence landscapes, persistence images, PersLay and statistical summaries. Recently we have designed algorithms to in some cases efficiently detect the location of persistence cycles. In this project, you will vectorize not just the persistence diagram, but additional information such as the location of these cycles. This project is mostly computational with some theoretic aspects.

Divisive covers

Divisive covers are a divisive technique for generating filtered simplicial complexes. They original used a naive way of dividing data into a cover. In this project, you will explore different methods of dividing space, based on principle component analysis, support vector machines and k-means clustering. In addition, you will explore methods of using divisive covers for classification. This project will be mostly computational.

Learning Acquisition Functions for Cost-aware Bayesian Optimization

This is a follow-up project of an earlier Master thesis that developed a novel method for learning Acquisition Functions in Bayesian Optimization through the use of Reinforcement Learning. The goal of this project is to further generalize this method (more general input, learned cost-functions) and apply it to hyperparameter optimization for neural networks.

Advisors: Nello Blaser , Audun Ljone Henriksen

Stable updates

This is a follow-up project of an earlier Master thesis that introduced and studied empirical stability in the context of tree-based models. The goal of this project is to develop stable update methods for deep learning models. You will design sevaral stable methods and empirically compare them (in terms of loss and stability) with a baseline and with one another.

Advisors:  Morten Blørstad , Nello Blaser

Multimodality in Bayesian neural network ensembles

One method to assess uncertainty in neural network predictions is to use dropout or noise generators at prediction time and run every prediction many times. This leads to a distribution of predictions. Informatively summarizing such probability distributions is a non-trivial task and the commonly used means and standard deviations result in the loss of crucial information, especially in the case of multimodal distributions with distinct likely outcomes. In this project, you will analyze such multimodal distributions with mixture models and develop ways to exploit such multimodality to improve training. This project can have theoretical, computational and applied aspects.

Learning a hierarchical metric

Often, labels have defined relationships to each other, for instance in a hierarchical taxonomy. E.g. ImageNet labels are derived from the WordNet graph, and biological species are taxonomically related, and can have similarities depending on life stage, sex, or other properties.

ArcFace is an alternative loss function that aims for an embedding that is more generally useful than softmax. It is commonly used in metric learning/few shot learning cases.

Here, we will develop a metric learning method that learns from data with hierarchical labels. Using multiple ArcFace heads, we will simultaneously learn to place representations to optimize the leaf label as well as intermediate labels on the path from leaf to root of the label tree. Using taxonomically classified plankton image data, we will measure performance as a function of ArcFace parameters (sharpness/temperature and margins -- class-wise or level-wise), and compare the results to existing methods.

Advisor: Ketil Malde ( [email protected] )

Self-supervised object detection in video

One challenge with learning object detection is that in many scenes that stretch off into the distance, annotating small, far-off, or blurred objects is difficult. It is therefore desirable to learn from incompletely annotated scenes, and one-shot object detectors may suffer from incompletely annotated training data.

To address this, we will use a region-propsal algorithm (e.g. SelectiveSearch) to extract potential crops from each frame. Classification will be based on two approaches: a) training based on annotated fish vs random similarly-sized crops without annotations, and b) using a self-supervised method to build a representation for crops, and building a classifier for the extracted regions. The method will be evaluated against one-shot detectors and other training regimes.

If successful, the method will be applied to fish detection and tracking in videos from baited and unbaited underwater traps, and used to estimate abundance of various fish species.

See also: Benettino (2016): https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-48881-3_56

Representation learning for object detection

While traditional classifiers work well with data that is labeled with disjoint classes and reasonably balanced class abundances, reality is often less clean. An alternative is to learn a vectors space embedding that reflects semantic relationships between objects, and deriving classes from this representation. This is especially useful for few-shot classification (ie. very few examples in the training data).

The task here is to extend a modern object detector (e.g. Yolo v8) to output an embedding of the identified object. Instead of a softmax classifier, we can learn the embedding either in a supervised manner (using annotations on frames) by attaching an ArcFace or other supervised metric learning head. Alternatively, the representation can be learned from tracked detections over time using e.g. a contrastive loss function to keep the representation for an object (approximately) constant over time. The performance of the resulting object detector will be measured on underwater videos, targeting species detection and/or indiviual recognition (re-ID).

Time-domain object detection

Object detectors for video are normally trained on still frames, but it is evident (from human experience) that using time domain information is more effective. I.e., it can be hard to identify far-off or occluded objects in still images, but movement in time often reveals them.

Here we will extend a state of the art object detector (e.g. yolo v8) with time domain data. Instead of using a single frame as input, the model will be modified to take a set of frames surrounding the annotated frame as input. Performance will be compared to using single-frame detection.

Large-scale visualization of acoustic data

The Institute of Marine Research has decades of acoustic data collected in various surveys. These data are in the process of being converted to data formats that can be processed and analyzed more easily using packages like Xarray and Dask.

The objective is to make these data more accessible to regular users by providing a visual front end. The user should be able to quickly zoom in and out, perform selection, export subsets, apply various filters and classifiers, and overlay annotations and other relevant auxiliary data.

Learning acoustic target classification from simulation

Broadband echosounders emit a complex signal that spans a large frequency band. Different targets will reflect, absorb, and generate resonance at different amplitudes and frequencies, and it is therefore possible to classify targets at much higher resolution and accuracy than before. Due to the complexity of the received signals, deriving effective profiles that can be used to identify targets is difficult.

Here we will use simulated frequency spectra from geometric objects with various shapes, orientation, and other properties. We will train ML models to estimate (recover) the geometric and material properties of objects based on these spectra. The resulting model will be applied to read broadband data, and compared to traditional classification methods.

Online learning in real-time systems

Build a model for the drilling process by using the Virtual simulator OpenLab ( https://openlab.app/ ) for real-time data generation and online learning techniques. The student will also do a short survey of existing online learning techniques and learn how to cope with errors and delays in the data.

Advisor: Rodica Mihai

Building a finite state automaton for the drilling process by using queries and counterexamples

Datasets will be generated by using the Virtual simulator OpenLab ( https://openlab.app/ ). The student will study the datasets and decide upon a good setting to extract a finite state automaton for the drilling process. The student will also do a short survey of existing techniques for extracting finite state automata from process data. We present a novel algorithm that uses exact learning and abstraction to extract a deterministic finite automaton describing the state dynamics of a given trained RNN. We do this using Angluin's L*algorithm as a learner and the trained RNN as an oracle. Our technique efficiently extracts accurate automata from trained RNNs, even when the state vectors are large and require fine differentiation.arxiv.org

Scaling Laws for Language Models in Generative AI

Large Language Models (LLM) power today's most prominent language technologies in Generative AI like ChatGPT, which, in turn, are changing the way that people access information and solve tasks of many kinds.

A recent interest on scaling laws for LLMs has shown trends on understanding how well they perform in terms of factors like the how much training data is used, how powerful the models are, or how much computational cost is allocated. (See, for example, Kaplan et al. - "Scaling Laws for Neural Language Models”, 2020.)

In this project, the task will consider to study scaling laws for different language models and with respect with one or multiple modeling factors.

Advisor: Dario Garigliotti

Applications of causal inference methods to omics data

Many hard problems in machine learning are directly linked to causality [1]. The graphical causal inference framework developed by Judea Pearl can be traced back to pioneering work by Sewall Wright on path analysis in genetics and has inspired research in artificial intelligence (AI) [1].

The Michoel group has developed the open-source tool Findr [2] which provides efficient implementations of mediation and instrumental variable methods for applications to large sets of omics data (genomics, transcriptomics, etc.). Findr works well on a recent data set for yeast [3].

We encourage students to explore promising connections between the fiels of causal inference and machine learning. Feel free to contact us to discuss projects related to causal inference. Possible topics include: a) improving methods based on structural causal models, b) evaluating causal inference methods on data for model organisms, c) comparing methods based on causal models and neural network approaches.

References:

1. Schölkopf B, Causality for Machine Learning, arXiv (2019):  https://arxiv.org/abs/1911.10500

2. Wang L and Michoel T. Efficient and accurate causal inference with hidden confounders from genome-transcriptome variation data. PLoS Computational Biology 13:e1005703 (2017).  https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005703

3. Ludl A and and Michoel T. Comparison between instrumental variable and mediation-based methods for reconstructing causal gene networks in yeast. arXiv:2010.07417  https://arxiv.org/abs/2010.07417

Advisors: Adriaan Ludl ,  Tom Michoel

Space-Time Linkage of Fish Distribution to Environmental Conditions

Conditions in the marine environment, such as, temperature and currents, influence the spatial distribution and migration patterns of marine species. Hence, understanding the link between environmental factors and fish behavior is crucial in predicting, e.g., how fish populations may respond to climate change.   Deriving this link is challenging because it requires analysis of two types of datasets (i) large environmental (currents, temperature) datasets that vary in space and time, and (ii) sparse and sporadic spatial observations of fish populations.

Project goal   

The primary goal of the project is to develop a methodology that helps predict how spatial distribution of two fish stocks (capelin and mackerel) change in response to variability in the physical marine environment (ocean currents and temperature).  The information can also be used to optimize data collection by minimizing time spent in spatial sampling of the populations.

The project will focus on the use of machine learning and/or causal inference algorithms.  As a first step, we use synthetic (fish and environmental) data from analytic models that couple the two data sources.  Because the ‘truth’ is known, we can judge the efficiency and error margins of the methodologies. We then apply the methodologies to real world (empirical) observations.

Advisors:  Tom Michoel , Sam Subbey . 

Towards precision medicine for cancer patient stratification

On average, a drug or a treatment is effective in only about half of patients who take it. This means patients need to try several until they find one that is effective at the cost of side effects associated with every treatment. The ultimate goal of precision medicine is to provide a treatment best suited for every individual. Sequencing technologies have now made genomics data available in abundance to be used towards this goal.

In this project we will specifically focus on cancer. Most cancer patients get a particular treatment based on the cancer type and the stage, though different individuals will react differently to a treatment. It is now well established that genetic mutations cause cancer growth and spreading and importantly, these mutations are different in individual patients. The aim of this project is use genomic data allow to better stratification of cancer patients, to predict the treatment most likely to work. Specifically, the project will use machine learning approach to integrate genomic data and build a classifier for stratification of cancer patients.

Advisor: Anagha Joshi

Unraveling gene regulation from single cell data

Multi-cellularity is achieved by precise control of gene expression during development and differentiation and aberrations of this process leads to disease. A key regulatory process in gene regulation is at the transcriptional level where epigenetic and transcriptional regulators control the spatial and temporal expression of the target genes in response to environmental, developmental, and physiological cues obtained from a signalling cascade. The rapid advances in sequencing technology has now made it feasible to study this process by understanding the genomewide patterns of diverse epigenetic and transcription factors as well as at a single cell level.

Single cell RNA sequencing is highly important, particularly in cancer as it allows exploration of heterogenous tumor sample, obstructing therapeutic targeting which leads to poor survival. Despite huge clinical relevance and potential, analysis of single cell RNA-seq data is challenging. In this project, we will develop strategies to infer gene regulatory networks using network inference approaches (both supervised and un-supervised). It will be primarily tested on the single cell datasets in the context of cancer.

Developing a Stress Granule Classifier

To carry out the multitude of functions 'expected' from a human cell, the cell employs a strategy of division of labour, whereby sub-cellular organelles carry out distinct functions. Thus we traditionally understand organelles as distinct units defined both functionally and physically with a distinct shape and size range. More recently a new class of organelles have been discovered that are assembled and dissolved on demand and are composed of liquid droplets or 'granules'. Granules show many properties characteristic of liquids, such as flow and wetting, but they can also assume many shapes and indeed also fluctuate in shape. One such liquid organelle is a stress granule (SG). 

Stress granules are pro-survival organelles that assemble in response to cellular stress and important in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. They are liquid or gel-like and can assume varying sizes and shapes depending on their cellular composition. 

In a given experiment we are able to image the entire cell over a time series of 1000 frames; from which we extract a rough estimation of the size and shape of each granule. Our current method is susceptible to noise and a granule may be falsely rejected if the boundary is drawn poorly in a small majority of frames. Ideally, we would also like to identify potentially interesting features, such as voids, in the accepted granules.

We are interested in applying a machine learning approach to develop a descriptor for a 'classic' granule and furthermore classify them into different functional groups based on disease status of the cell. This method would be applied across thousands of granules imaged from control and disease cells. We are a multi-disciplinary group consisting of biologists, computational scientists and physicists. 

Advisors: Sushma Grellscheid , Carl Jones

Machine Learning based Hyperheuristic algorithm

Develop a Machine Learning based Hyper-heuristic algorithm to solve a pickup and delivery problem. A hyper-heuristic is a heuristics that choose heuristics automatically. Hyper-heuristic seeks to automate the process of selecting, combining, generating or adapting several simpler heuristics to efficiently solve computational search problems [Handbook of Metaheuristics]. There might be multiple heuristics for solving a problem. Heuristics have their own strength and weakness. In this project, we want to use machine-learning techniques to learn the strength and weakness of each heuristic while we are using them in an iterative search for finding high quality solutions and then use them intelligently for the rest of the search. Once a new information is gathered during the search the hyper-heuristic algorithm automatically adjusts the heuristics.

Advisor: Ahmad Hemmati

Machine learning for solving satisfiability problems and applications in cryptanalysis

Advisor: Igor Semaev

Hybrid modeling approaches for well drilling with Sintef

Several topics are available.

"Flow models" are first-principles models simulating the flow, temperature and pressure in a well being drilled. Our project is exploring "hybrid approaches" where these models are combined with machine learning models that either learn from time series data from flow model runs or from real-world measurements during drilling. The goal is to better detect drilling problems such as hole cleaning, make more accurate predictions and correctly learn from and interpret real-word data.

The "surrogate model" refers to  a ML model which learns to mimic the flow model by learning from the model inputs and outputs. Use cases for surrogate models include model predictions where speed is favoured over accuracy and exploration of parameter space.

Surrogate models with active Learning

While it is possible to produce a nearly unlimited amount of training data by running the flow model, the surrogate model may still perform poorly if it lacks training data in the part of the parameter space it operates in or if it "forgets" areas of the parameter space by being fed too much data from a narrow range of parameters.

The goal of this thesis is to build a surrogate model (with any architecture) for some restricted parameter range and implement an active learning approach where the ML requests more model runs from the flow model in the parts of the parameter space where it is needed the most. The end result should be a surrogate model that is quick and performs acceptably well over the whole defined parameter range.

Surrogate models trained via adversarial learning

How best to train surrogate models from runs of the flow model is an open question. This master thesis would use the adversarial learning approach to build a surrogate model which to its "adversary" becomes indistinguishable from the output of an actual flow model run.

GPU-based Surrogate models for parameter search

While CPU speed largely stalled 20 years ago in terms of working frequency on single cores, multi-core CPUs and especially GPUs took off and delivered increases in computational power by parallelizing computations.

Modern machine learning such as deep learning takes advantage this boom in computing power by running on GPUs.

The SINTEF flow models in contrast, are software programs that runs on a CPU and does not happen to utilize multi-core CPU functionality. The model runs advance time-step by time-step and each time step relies on the results from the previous time step. The flow models are therefore fundamentally sequential and not well suited to massive parallelization.

It is however of interest to run different model runs in parallel, to explore parameter spaces. The use cases for this includes model calibration, problem detection and hypothesis generation and testing.

The task of this thesis is to implement an ML-based surrogate model in such a way that many surrogate model outputs can be produced at the same time using a single GPU. This will likely entail some trade off with model size and maybe some coding tricks.

Uncertainty estimates of hybrid predictions (Lots of room for creativity, might need to steer it more, needs good background literature)

When using predictions from a ML model trained on time series data, it is useful to know if it's accurate or should be trusted. The student is challenged to develop hybrid approaches that incorporates estimates of uncertainty. Components could include reporting variance from ML ensembles trained on a diversity of time series data, implementation of conformal predictions, analysis of training data parameter ranges vs current input, etc. The output should be a "traffic light signal" roughly indicating the accuracy of the predictions.

Transfer learning approaches

We're assuming an ML model is to be used for time series prediction

It is possible to train an ML on a wide range of scenarios in the flow models, but we expect that to perform well, the model also needs to see model runs representative of the type of well and drilling operation it will be used in. In this thesis the student implements a transfer learning approach, where the model is trained on general model runs and fine-tuned on a most representative data set.

(Bonus1: implementing one-shot learning, Bonus2: Using real-world data in the fine-tuning stage)

ML capable of reframing situations

When a human oversees an operation like well drilling, she has a mental model of the situation and new data such as pressure readings from the well is interpreted in light of this model. This is referred to as "framing" and is the normal mode of work. However, when a problem occurs, it becomes harder to reconcile the data with the mental model. The human then goes into "reframing", building a new mental model that includes the ongoing problem. This can be seen as a process of hypothesis generation and testing.

A computer model however, lacks re-framing. A flow model will keep making predictions under the assumption of no problems and a separate alarm system will use the deviation between the model predictions and reality to raise an alarm. This is in a sense how all alarm systems work, but it means that the human must discard the computer model as a tool at the same time as she's handling a crisis.

The student is given access to a flow model and a surrogate model which can learn from model runs both with and without hole cleaning and is challenged to develop a hybrid approach where the ML+flow model continuously performs hypothesis generation and testing and is able to "switch" into predictions of  a hole cleaning problem and different remediations of this.

Advisor: Philippe Nivlet at Sintef together with advisor from UiB

Explainable AI at Equinor

In the project Machine Teaching for XAI (see  https://xai.w.uib.no ) a master thesis in collaboration between UiB and Equinor.

Advisor: One of Pekka Parviainen/Jan Arne Telle/Emmanuel Arrighi + Bjarte Johansen from Equinor.

Explainable AI at Eviny

In the project Machine Teaching for XAI (see  https://xai.w.uib.no ) a master thesis in collaboration between UiB and Eviny.

Advisor: One of Pekka Parviainen/Jan Arne Telle/Emmanuel Arrighi + Kristian Flikka from Eviny.

If you want to suggest your own topic, please contact Pekka Parviainen ,  Fabio Massimo Zennaro or Nello Blaser .

The Future of AI Research: 20 Thesis Ideas for Undergraduate Students in Machine Learning and Deep Learning for 2023!

A comprehensive guide for crafting an original and innovative thesis in the field of ai..

By Aarafat Islam

“The beauty of machine learning is that it can be applied to any problem you want to solve, as long as you can provide the computer with enough examples.” — Andrew Ng

This article provides a list of 20 potential thesis ideas for an undergraduate program in machine learning and deep learning in 2023. Each thesis idea includes an  introduction , which presents a brief overview of the topic and the  research objectives . The ideas provided are related to different areas of machine learning and deep learning, such as computer vision, natural language processing, robotics, finance, drug discovery, and more. The article also includes explanations, examples, and conclusions for each thesis idea, which can help guide the research and provide a clear understanding of the potential contributions and outcomes of the proposed research. The article also emphasized the importance of originality and the need for proper citation in order to avoid plagiarism.

1. Investigating the use of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) in medical imaging:  A deep learning approach to improve the accuracy of medical diagnoses.

Introduction:  Medical imaging is an important tool in the diagnosis and treatment of various medical conditions. However, accurately interpreting medical images can be challenging, especially for less experienced doctors. This thesis aims to explore the use of GANs in medical imaging, in order to improve the accuracy of medical diagnoses.

2. Exploring the use of deep learning in natural language generation (NLG): An analysis of the current state-of-the-art and future potential.

Introduction:  Natural language generation is an important field in natural language processing (NLP) that deals with creating human-like text automatically. Deep learning has shown promising results in NLP tasks such as machine translation, sentiment analysis, and question-answering. This thesis aims to explore the use of deep learning in NLG and analyze the current state-of-the-art models, as well as potential future developments.

3. Development and evaluation of deep reinforcement learning (RL) for robotic navigation and control.

Introduction:  Robotic navigation and control are challenging tasks, which require a high degree of intelligence and adaptability. Deep RL has shown promising results in various robotics tasks, such as robotic arm control, autonomous navigation, and manipulation. This thesis aims to develop and evaluate a deep RL-based approach for robotic navigation and control and evaluate its performance in various environments and tasks.

4. Investigating the use of deep learning for drug discovery and development.

Introduction:  Drug discovery and development is a time-consuming and expensive process, which often involves high failure rates. Deep learning has been used to improve various tasks in bioinformatics and biotechnology, such as protein structure prediction and gene expression analysis. This thesis aims to investigate the use of deep learning for drug discovery and development and examine its potential to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the drug development process.

5. Comparison of deep learning and traditional machine learning methods for anomaly detection in time series data.

Introduction:  Anomaly detection in time series data is a challenging task, which is important in various fields such as finance, healthcare, and manufacturing. Deep learning methods have been used to improve anomaly detection in time series data, while traditional machine learning methods have been widely used as well. This thesis aims to compare deep learning and traditional machine learning methods for anomaly detection in time series data and examine their respective strengths and weaknesses.

Photo by  Joanna Kosinska  on  Unsplash

6. Use of deep transfer learning in speech recognition and synthesis.

Introduction:  Speech recognition and synthesis are areas of natural language processing that focus on converting spoken language to text and vice versa. Transfer learning has been widely used in deep learning-based speech recognition and synthesis systems to improve their performance by reusing the features learned from other tasks. This thesis aims to investigate the use of transfer learning in speech recognition and synthesis and how it improves the performance of the system in comparison to traditional methods.

7. The use of deep learning for financial prediction.

Introduction:  Financial prediction is a challenging task that requires a high degree of intelligence and adaptability, especially in the field of stock market prediction. Deep learning has shown promising results in various financial prediction tasks, such as stock price prediction and credit risk analysis. This thesis aims to investigate the use of deep learning for financial prediction and examine its potential to improve the accuracy of financial forecasting.

8. Investigating the use of deep learning for computer vision in agriculture.

Introduction:  Computer vision has the potential to revolutionize the field of agriculture by improving crop monitoring, precision farming, and yield prediction. Deep learning has been used to improve various computer vision tasks, such as object detection, semantic segmentation, and image classification. This thesis aims to investigate the use of deep learning for computer vision in agriculture and examine its potential to improve the efficiency and accuracy of crop monitoring and precision farming.

9. Development and evaluation of deep learning models for generative design in engineering and architecture.

Introduction:  Generative design is a powerful tool in engineering and architecture that can help optimize designs and reduce human error. Deep learning has been used to improve various generative design tasks, such as design optimization and form generation. This thesis aims to develop and evaluate deep learning models for generative design in engineering and architecture and examine their potential to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the design process.

10. Investigating the use of deep learning for natural language understanding.

Introduction:  Natural language understanding is a complex task of natural language processing that involves extracting meaning from text. Deep learning has been used to improve various NLP tasks, such as machine translation, sentiment analysis, and question-answering. This thesis aims to investigate the use of deep learning for natural language understanding and examine its potential to improve the efficiency and accuracy of natural language understanding systems.

Photo by  UX Indonesia  on  Unsplash

11. Comparing deep learning and traditional machine learning methods for image compression.

Introduction:  Image compression is an important task in image processing and computer vision. It enables faster data transmission and storage of image files. Deep learning methods have been used to improve image compression, while traditional machine learning methods have been widely used as well. This thesis aims to compare deep learning and traditional machine learning methods for image compression and examine their respective strengths and weaknesses.

12. Using deep learning for sentiment analysis in social media.

Introduction:  Sentiment analysis in social media is an important task that can help businesses and organizations understand their customers’ opinions and feedback. Deep learning has been used to improve sentiment analysis in social media, by training models on large datasets of social media text. This thesis aims to use deep learning for sentiment analysis in social media, and evaluate its performance against traditional machine learning methods.

13. Investigating the use of deep learning for image generation.

Introduction:  Image generation is a task in computer vision that involves creating new images from scratch or modifying existing images. Deep learning has been used to improve various image generation tasks, such as super-resolution, style transfer, and face generation. This thesis aims to investigate the use of deep learning for image generation and examine its potential to improve the quality and diversity of generated images.

14. Development and evaluation of deep learning models for anomaly detection in cybersecurity.

Introduction:  Anomaly detection in cybersecurity is an important task that can help detect and prevent cyber-attacks. Deep learning has been used to improve various anomaly detection tasks, such as intrusion detection and malware detection. This thesis aims to develop and evaluate deep learning models for anomaly detection in cybersecurity and examine their potential to improve the efficiency and accuracy of cybersecurity systems.

15. Investigating the use of deep learning for natural language summarization.

Introduction:  Natural language summarization is an important task in natural language processing that involves creating a condensed version of a text that preserves its main meaning. Deep learning has been used to improve various natural language summarization tasks, such as document summarization and headline generation. This thesis aims to investigate the use of deep learning for natural language summarization and examine its potential to improve the efficiency and accuracy of natural language summarization systems.

Photo by  Windows  on  Unsplash

16. Development and evaluation of deep learning models for facial expression recognition.

Introduction:  Facial expression recognition is an important task in computer vision and has many practical applications, such as human-computer interaction, emotion recognition, and psychological studies. Deep learning has been used to improve facial expression recognition, by training models on large datasets of images. This thesis aims to develop and evaluate deep learning models for facial expression recognition and examine their performance against traditional machine learning methods.

17. Investigating the use of deep learning for generative models in music and audio.

Introduction:  Music and audio synthesis is an important task in audio processing, which has many practical applications, such as music generation and speech synthesis. Deep learning has been used to improve generative models for music and audio, by training models on large datasets of audio data. This thesis aims to investigate the use of deep learning for generative models in music and audio and examine its potential to improve the quality and diversity of generated audio.

18. Study the comparison of deep learning models with traditional algorithms for anomaly detection in network traffic.

Introduction:  Anomaly detection in network traffic is an important task that can help detect and prevent cyber-attacks. Deep learning models have been used for this task, and traditional methods such as clustering and rule-based systems are widely used as well. This thesis aims to compare deep learning models with traditional algorithms for anomaly detection in network traffic and analyze the trade-offs between the models in terms of accuracy and scalability.

19. Investigating the use of deep learning for improving recommender systems.

Introduction:  Recommender systems are widely used in many applications such as online shopping, music streaming, and movie streaming. Deep learning has been used to improve the performance of recommender systems, by training models on large datasets of user-item interactions. This thesis aims to investigate the use of deep learning for improving recommender systems and compare its performance with traditional content-based and collaborative filtering approaches.

20. Development and evaluation of deep learning models for multi-modal data analysis.

Introduction:  Multi-modal data analysis is the task of analyzing and understanding data from multiple sources such as text, images, and audio. Deep learning has been used to improve multi-modal data analysis, by training models on large datasets of multi-modal data. This thesis aims to develop and evaluate deep learning models for multi-modal data analysis and analyze their potential to improve performance in comparison to single-modal models.

I hope that this article has provided you with a useful guide for your thesis research in machine learning and deep learning. Remember to conduct a thorough literature review and to include proper citations in your work, as well as to be original in your research to avoid plagiarism. I wish you all the best of luck with your thesis and your research endeavors!

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Analytics Insight

Top 10 Research and Thesis Topics for ML Projects in 2022

This article features the top 10 research and thesis topics for ML projects for students to try in 2022

Text mining and text classification, image-based applications, machine vision, optimization, voice classification, sentiment analysis, recommendation framework project, mall customers’ project, object detection with deep learning.

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10 Compelling Machine Learning Ph.D. Dissertations for 2020

Machine Learning Modeling Research posted by Daniel Gutierrez, ODSC August 19, 2020 Daniel Gutierrez, ODSC

As a data scientist, an integral part of my work in the field revolves around keeping current with research coming out of academia. I frequently scour arXiv.org for late-breaking papers that show trends and reveal fertile areas of research. Other sources of valuable research developments are in the form of Ph.D. dissertations, the culmination of a doctoral candidate’s work to confer his/her degree. Ph.D. candidates are highly motivated to choose research topics that establish new and creative paths toward discovery in their field of study. Their dissertations are highly focused on a specific problem. If you can find a dissertation that aligns with your areas of interest, consuming the research is an excellent way to do a deep dive into the technology. After reviewing hundreds of recent theses from universities all over the country, I present 10 machine learning dissertations that I found compelling in terms of my own areas of interest.

[Related article: Introduction to Bayesian Deep Learning ]

I hope you’ll find several that match your own fields of inquiry. Each thesis may take a while to consume but will result in hours of satisfying summer reading. Enjoy!

1. Bayesian Modeling and Variable Selection for Complex Data

As we routinely encounter high-throughput data sets in complex biological and environmental research, developing novel models and methods for variable selection has received widespread attention. This dissertation addresses a few key challenges in Bayesian modeling and variable selection for high-dimensional data with complex spatial structures. 

2. Topics in Statistical Learning with a Focus on Large Scale Data

Big data vary in shape and call for different approaches. One type of big data is the tall data, i.e., a very large number of samples but not too many features. This dissertation describes a general communication-efficient algorithm for distributed statistical learning on this type of big data. The algorithm distributes the samples uniformly to multiple machines, and uses a common reference data to improve the performance of local estimates. The algorithm enables potentially much faster analysis, at a small cost to statistical performance.

Another type of big data is the wide data, i.e., too many features but a limited number of samples. It is also called high-dimensional data, to which many classical statistical methods are not applicable. 

This dissertation discusses a method of dimensionality reduction for high-dimensional classification. The method partitions features into independent communities and splits the original classification problem into separate smaller ones. It enables parallel computing and produces more interpretable results.

3. Sets as Measures: Optimization and Machine Learning

The purpose of this machine learning dissertation is to address the following simple question:

How do we design efficient algorithms to solve optimization or machine learning problems where the decision variable (or target label) is a set of unknown cardinality?

Optimization and machine learning have proved remarkably successful in applications requiring the choice of single vectors. Some tasks, in particular many inverse problems, call for the design, or estimation, of sets of objects. When the size of these sets is a priori unknown, directly applying optimization or machine learning techniques designed for single vectors appears difficult. The work in this dissertation shows that a very old idea for transforming sets into elements of a vector space (namely, a space of measures), a common trick in theoretical analysis, generates effective practical algorithms.

4. A Geometric Perspective on Some Topics in Statistical Learning

Modern science and engineering often generate data sets with a large sample size and a comparably large dimension which puts classic asymptotic theory into question in many ways. Therefore, the main focus of this dissertation is to develop a fundamental understanding of statistical procedures for estimation and hypothesis testing from a non-asymptotic point of view, where both the sample size and problem dimension grow hand in hand. A range of different problems are explored in this thesis, including work on the geometry of hypothesis testing, adaptivity to local structure in estimation, effective methods for shape-constrained problems, and early stopping with boosting algorithms. The treatment of these different problems shares the common theme of emphasizing the underlying geometric structure.

5. Essays on Random Forest Ensembles

A random forest is a popular machine learning ensemble method that has proven successful in solving a wide range of classification problems. While other successful classifiers, such as boosting algorithms or neural networks, admit natural interpretations as maximum likelihood, a suitable statistical interpretation is much more elusive for a random forest. The first part of this dissertation demonstrates that a random forest is a fruitful framework in which to study AdaBoost and deep neural networks. The work explores the concept and utility of interpolation, the ability of a classifier to perfectly fit its training data. The second part of this dissertation places a random forest on more sound statistical footing by framing it as kernel regression with the proximity kernel. The work then analyzes the parameters that control the bandwidth of this kernel and discuss useful generalizations.

6. Marginally Interpretable Generalized Linear Mixed Models

A popular approach for relating correlated measurements of a non-Gaussian response variable to a set of predictors is to introduce latent random variables and fit a generalized linear mixed model. The conventional strategy for specifying such a model leads to parameter estimates that must be interpreted conditional on the latent variables. In many cases, interest lies not in these conditional parameters, but rather in marginal parameters that summarize the average effect of the predictors across the entire population. Due to the structure of the generalized linear mixed model, the average effect across all individuals in a population is generally not the same as the effect for an average individual. Further complicating matters, obtaining marginal summaries from a generalized linear mixed model often requires evaluation of an analytically intractable integral or use of an approximation. Another popular approach in this setting is to fit a marginal model using generalized estimating equations. This strategy is effective for estimating marginal parameters, but leaves one without a formal model for the data with which to assess quality of fit or make predictions for future observations. Thus, there exists a need for a better approach.

This dissertation defines a class of marginally interpretable generalized linear mixed models that leads to parameter estimates with a marginal interpretation while maintaining the desirable statistical properties of a conditionally specified model. The distinguishing feature of these models is an additive adjustment that accounts for the curvature of the link function and thereby preserves a specific form for the marginal mean after integrating out the latent random variables. 

7. On the Detection of Hate Speech, Hate Speakers and Polarized Groups in Online Social Media

The objective of this dissertation is to explore the use of machine learning algorithms in understanding and detecting hate speech, hate speakers and polarized groups in online social media. Beginning with a unique typology for detecting abusive language, the work outlines the distinctions and similarities of different abusive language subtasks (offensive language, hate speech, cyberbullying and trolling) and how we might benefit from the progress made in each area. Specifically, the work suggests that each subtask can be categorized based on whether or not the abusive language being studied 1) is directed at a specific individual, or targets a generalized “Other” and 2) the extent to which the language is explicit versus implicit. The work then uses knowledge gained from this typology to tackle the “problem of offensive language” in hate speech detection. 

8. Lasso Guarantees for Dependent Data

Serially correlated high dimensional data are prevalent in the big data era. In order to predict and learn the complex relationship among the multiple time series, high dimensional modeling has gained importance in various fields such as control theory, statistics, economics, finance, genetics and neuroscience. This dissertation studies a number of high dimensional statistical problems involving different classes of mixing processes. 

9. Random forest robustness, variable importance, and tree aggregation

Random forest methodology is a nonparametric, machine learning approach capable of strong performance in regression and classification problems involving complex data sets. In addition to making predictions, random forests can be used to assess the relative importance of feature variables. This dissertation explores three topics related to random forests: tree aggregation, variable importance, and robustness. 

10. Climate Data Computing: Optimal Interpolation, Averaging, Visualization and Delivery

This dissertation solves two important problems in the modern analysis of big climate data. The first is the efficient visualization and fast delivery of big climate data, and the second is a computationally extensive principal component analysis (PCA) using spherical harmonics on the Earth’s surface. The second problem creates a way to supply the data for the technology developed in the first. These two problems are computationally difficult, such as the representation of higher order spherical harmonics Y400, which is critical for upscaling weather data to almost infinitely fine spatial resolution.

I hope you enjoyed learning about these compelling machine learning dissertations.

Editor’s note: Interested in more data science research? Check out the Research Frontiers track at ODSC Europe this September 17-19 or the ODSC West Research Frontiers track this October 27-30.

Daniel Gutierrez, ODSC

Daniel D. Gutierrez is a practicing data scientist who’s been working with data long before the field came in vogue. As a technology journalist, he enjoys keeping a pulse on this fast-paced industry. Daniel is also an educator having taught data science, machine learning and R classes at the university level. He has authored four computer industry books on database and data science technology, including his most recent title, “Machine Learning and Data Science: An Introduction to Statistical Learning Methods with R.” Daniel holds a BS in Mathematics and Computer Science from UCLA.

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<span lang="EN-US">The popularity of social media has drawn the attention of researchers who have conducted cross-disciplinary studies examining the relationship between personality traits and behavior on social media. Most current work focuses on personality prediction analysis of English texts, but Indonesian has received scant attention. Therefore, this research aims to predict user’s personalities based on Indonesian text from social media using machine learning techniques. This paper evaluates several machine learning techniques, including <a name="_Hlk87278444"></a>naive Bayes (NB), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), and support vector machine (SVM), based on semantic features including emotion, sentiment, and publicly available Twitter profile. We predict the personality based on the big five personality model, the most appropriate model for predicting user personality in social media. We examine the relationships between the semantic features and the Big Five personality dimensions. The experimental results indicate that the Big Five personality exhibit distinct emotional, sentimental, and social characteristics and that SVM outperformed NB and KNN for Indonesian. In addition, we observe several terms in Indonesian that specifically refer to each personality type, each of which has distinct emotional, sentimental, and social features.</span>

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Open Topics

We offer multiple Bachelor/Master theses, Guided Research projects and IDPs in the area of data mining/machine learning. A  non-exhaustive list of open topics is listed below.

If you are interested in a thesis or a guided research project, please send your CV and transcript of records to Prof. Stephan Günnemann via email and we will arrange a meeting to talk about the potential topics.

Robustness of Large Language Models

Type: Master's Thesis

Prerequisites:

• Strong knowledge in machine learning
• Very good coding skills
• Proficiency with Python and deep learning frameworks (TensorFlow or PyTorch)
• Knowledge about NLP and LLMs

Description:

The success of Large Language Models (LLMs) has precipitated their deployment across a diverse range of applications. With the integration of plugins enhancing their capabilities, it becomes imperative to ensure that the governing rules of these LLMs are foolproof and immune to circumvention. Recent studies have exposed significant vulnerabilities inherent to these models, underlining an urgent need for more rigorous research to fortify their resilience and reliability. A focus in this work will be the understanding of the working mechanisms of these attacks.

We are currently seeking students for the upcoming Summer Semester of 2024, so we welcome prompt applications. 

Contact: Tom Wollschläger

References:

• Universal and Transferable Adversarial Attacks on Aligned Language Models
• Attacking Large Language Models with Projected Gradient Descent
• Representation Engineering: A Top-Down Approach to AI Transparency
• Mechanistically analyzing the effects of fine-tuning on procedurally defined tasks

Generative Models for Drug Discovery

Type:  Mater Thesis / Guided Research

• Strong machine learning knowledge
• Proficiency with Python and deep learning frameworks (PyTorch or TensorFlow)
• Knowledge of graph neural networks (e.g. GCN, MPNN)
• No formal education in chemistry, physics or biology needed!

Effectively designing molecular geometries is essential to advancing pharmaceutical innovations, a domain which has experienced great attention through the success of generative models. These models promise a more efficient exploration of the vast chemical space and generation of novel compounds with specific properties by leveraging their learned representations, potentially leading to the discovery of molecules with unique properties that would otherwise go undiscovered. Our topics lie at the intersection of generative models like diffusion/flow matching models and graph representation learning, e.g., graph neural networks. The focus of our projects can be model development with an emphasis on downstream tasks ( e.g., diffusion guidance at inference time ) and a better understanding of the limitations of existing models.

Contact :  Johanna Sommer , Leon Hetzel

Equivariant Diffusion for Molecule Generation in 3D

Equivariant Flow Matching with Hybrid Probability Transport for 3D Molecule Generation

Structure-based Drug Design with Equivariant Diffusion Models

Data Pruning and Active Learning

Type: Interdisciplinary Project (IDP) / Hiwi / Guided Research / Master's Thesis

Data pruning and active learning are vital techniques in scaling machine learning applications efficiently. Data pruning involves the removal of redundant or irrelevant data, which enables training models with considerably less data but the same performance. Similarly, active learning describes the process of selecting the most informative data points for labeling, thus reducing annotation costs and accelerating model training. However, current methods are often computationally expensive, which makes them difficult to apply in practice. Our objective is to scale active learning and data pruning methods to large datasets using an extrapolation-based approach.

Contact: Sebastian Schmidt , Tom Wollschläger , Leo Schwinn

• Large-scale Dataset Pruning with Dynamic Uncertainty

Efficient Machine Learning: Pruning, Quantization, Distillation, and More - DAML x Pruna AI

Type: Master's Thesis / Guided Research / Hiwi

The efficiency of machine learning algorithms is commonly evaluated by looking at target performance, speed and memory footprint metrics. Reduce the costs associated to these metrics is of primary importance for real-world applications with limited ressources (e.g. embedded systems, real-time predictions). In this project, you will work in collaboration with the DAML research group and the Pruna AI startup on investigating solutions to improve the efficiency of machine leanring models by looking at multiple techniques like pruning, quantization, distillation, and more.

Contact: Bertrand Charpentier

• The Efficiency Misnomer
• A Gradient Flow Framework for Analyzing Network Pruning
• Distilling the Knowledge in a Neural Network
• A Survey of Quantization Methods for Efficient Neural Network Inference

Deep Generative Models

Type:  Master Thesis / Guided Research

• Strong machine learning and probability theory knowledge
• Knowledge of generative models and their basics (e.g., Normalizing Flows, Diffusion Models, VAE)
• Optional: Neural ODEs/SDEs, Optimal Transport, Measure Theory

With recent advances, such as Diffusion Models, Transformers, Normalizing Flows, Flow Matching, etc., the field of generative models has gained significant attention in the machine learning and artificial intelligence research community. However, many problems and questions remain open, and the application to complex data domains such as graphs, time series, point processes, and sets is often non-trivial. We are interested in supervising motivated students to explore and extend the capabilities of state-of-the-art generative models for various data domains.

Contact : Marcel Kollovieh , David Lüdke

• Flow Matching for Generative Modeling
• Auto-Encoding Variational Bayes
• Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models 
• Structured Denoising Diffusion Models in Discrete State-Spaces

Graph Structure Learning

Type:  Guided Research / Hiwi

• Optional: Knowledge of graph theory and mathematical optimization

Graph deep learning is a powerful ML concept that enables the generalisation of successful deep neural architectures to non-Euclidean structured data. Such methods have shown promising results in a vast range of applications spanning the social sciences, biomedicine, particle physics, computer vision, graphics and chemistry. One of the major limitations of most current graph neural network architectures is that they often rely on the assumption that the underlying graph is known and fixed. However, this assumption is not always true, as the graph may be noisy or partially and even completely unknown. In the case of noisy or partially available graphs, it would be useful to jointly learn an optimised graph structure and the corresponding graph representations for the downstream task. On the other hand, when the graph is completely absent, it would be useful to infer it directly from the data. This is particularly interesting in inductive settings where some of the nodes were not present at training time. Furthermore, learning a graph can become an end in itself, as the inferred structure can provide complementary insights with respect to the downstream task. In this project, we aim to investigate solutions and devise new methods to construct an optimal graph structure based on the available (unstructured) data.

Contact : Filippo Guerranti

• A Survey on Graph Structure Learning: Progress and Opportunities
• Differentiable Graph Module (DGM) for Graph Convolutional Networks
• Learning Discrete Structures for Graph Neural Networks

NodeFormer: A Scalable Graph Structure Learning Transformer for Node Classification

A Machine Learning Perspective on Corner Cases in Autonomous Driving Perception  

Type: Master's Thesis 

Industrial partner: BMW 

Prerequisites: 

• Strong knowledge in machine learning 
• Knowledge of Semantic Segmentation  
• Good programming skills 
• Proficiency with Python and deep learning frameworks (TensorFlow or PyTorch) 

Description: 

In autonomous driving, state-of-the-art deep neural networks are used for perception tasks like for example semantic segmentation. While the environment in datasets is controlled in real world application novel class or unknown disturbances can occur. To provide safe autonomous driving these cased must be identified. 

The objective is to explore novel class segmentation and out of distribution approaches for semantic segmentation in the context of corner cases for autonomous driving. 

Contact: Sebastian Schmidt

References: 

• Segmenting Known Objects and Unseen Unknowns without Prior Knowledge 
• Efficient Uncertainty Estimation for Semantic Segmentation in Videos  
• Natural Posterior Network: Deep Bayesian Uncertainty for Exponential Family  
• Description of Corner Cases in Automated Driving: Goals and Challenges 

Active Learning for Multi Agent 3D Object Detection 

Type: Master's Thesis  Industrial partner: BMW 

• Knowledge in Object Detection 
• Excellent programming skills 

In autonomous driving, state-of-the-art deep neural networks are used for perception tasks like for example 3D object detection. To provide promising results, these networks often require a lot of complex annotation data for training. These annotations are often costly and redundant. Active learning is used to select the most informative samples for annotation and cover a dataset with as less annotated data as possible.   

The objective is to explore active learning approaches for 3D object detection using combined uncertainty and diversity based methods.  

• Exploring Diversity-based Active Learning for 3D Object Detection in Autonomous Driving   
• Efficient Uncertainty Estimation for Semantic Segmentation in Videos   
• KECOR: Kernel Coding Rate Maximization for Active 3D Object Detection
• Towards Open World Active Learning for 3D Object Detection   

Graph Neural Networks

Type:  Master's thesis / Bachelor's thesis / guided research

• Knowledge of graph/network theory

Graph neural networks (GNNs) have recently achieved great successes in a wide variety of applications, such as chemistry, reinforcement learning, knowledge graphs, traffic networks, or computer vision. These models leverage graph data by updating node representations based on messages passed between nodes connected by edges, or by transforming node representation using spectral graph properties. These approaches are very effective, but many theoretical aspects of these models remain unclear and there are many possible extensions to improve GNNs and go beyond the nodes' direct neighbors and simple message aggregation.

Contact: Simon Geisler

• Semi-supervised classification with graph convolutional networks
• Relational inductive biases, deep learning, and graph networks
• Diffusion Improves Graph Learning
• Weisfeiler and leman go neural: Higher-order graph neural networks
• Reliable Graph Neural Networks via Robust Aggregation

Physics-aware Graph Neural Networks

Type:  Master's thesis / guided research

• Proficiency with Python and deep learning frameworks (JAX or PyTorch)
• Knowledge of graph neural networks (e.g. GCN, MPNN, SchNet)
• Optional: Knowledge of machine learning on molecules and quantum chemistry

Deep learning models, especially graph neural networks (GNNs), have recently achieved great successes in predicting quantum mechanical properties of molecules. There is a vast amount of applications for these models, such as finding the best method of chemical synthesis or selecting candidates for drugs, construction materials, batteries, or solar cells. However, GNNs have only been proposed in recent years and there remain many open questions about how to best represent and leverage quantum mechanical properties and methods.

Contact: Nicholas Gao

• Directional Message Passing for Molecular Graphs
• Neural message passing for quantum chemistry
• Learning to Simulate Complex Physics with Graph Network
• Ab initio solution of the many-electron Schrödinger equation with deep neural networks
• Ab-Initio Potential Energy Surfaces by Pairing GNNs with Neural Wave Functions
• Tensor field networks: Rotation- and translation-equivariant neural networks for 3D point clouds

Robustness Verification for Deep Classifiers

Type: Master's thesis / Guided research

• Strong machine learning knowledge (at least equivalent to IN2064 plus an advanced course on deep learning)
• Strong background in mathematical optimization (preferably combined with Machine Learning setting)
• Proficiency with python and deep learning frameworks (Pytorch or Tensorflow)
• (Preferred) Knowledge of training techniques to obtain classifiers that are robust against small perturbations in data

Description : Recent work shows that deep classifiers suffer under presence of adversarial examples: misclassified points that are very close to the training samples or even visually indistinguishable from them. This undesired behaviour constraints possibilities of deployment in safety critical scenarios for promising classification methods based on neural nets. Therefore, new training methods should be proposed that promote (or preferably ensure) robust behaviour of the classifier around training samples.

Contact: Aleksei Kuvshinov

References (Background):

• Intriguing properties of neural networks
• Explaining and harnessing adversarial examples
• SoK: Certified Robustness for Deep Neural Networks
• Certified Adversarial Robustness via Randomized Smoothing
• Formal guarantees on the robustness of a classifier against adversarial manipulation
• Towards deep learning models resistant to adversarial attacks
• Provable defenses against adversarial examples via the convex outer adversarial polytope
• Certified defenses against adversarial examples
• Lipschitz-margin training: Scalable certification of perturbation invariance for deep neural networks

Uncertainty Estimation in Deep Learning

Type: Master's Thesis / Guided Research

• Strong knowledge in probability theory

Safe prediction is a key feature in many intelligent systems. Classically, Machine Learning models compute output predictions regardless of the underlying uncertainty of the encountered situations. In contrast, aleatoric and epistemic uncertainty bring knowledge about undecidable and uncommon situations. The uncertainty view can be a substantial help to detect and explain unsafe predictions, and therefore make ML systems more robust. The goal of this project is to improve the uncertainty estimation in ML models in various types of task.

Contact: Tom Wollschläger ,   Dominik Fuchsgruber ,   Bertrand Charpentier

• Can You Trust Your Model’s Uncertainty? Evaluating Predictive Uncertainty Under Dataset Shift
• Predictive Uncertainty Estimation via Prior Networks
• Posterior Network: Uncertainty Estimation without OOD samples via Density-based Pseudo-Counts
• Evidential Deep Learning to Quantify Classification Uncertainty
• Weight Uncertainty in Neural Networks

Hierarchies in Deep Learning

Type:  Master's Thesis / Guided Research

Multi-scale structures are ubiquitous in real life datasets. As an example, phylogenetic nomenclature naturally reveals a hierarchical classification of species based on their historical evolutions. Learning multi-scale structures can help to exhibit natural and meaningful organizations in the data and also to obtain compact data representation. The goal of this project is to leverage multi-scale structures to improve speed, performances and understanding of Deep Learning models.

Contact: Marcel Kollovieh , Bertrand Charpentier

• Tree Sampling Divergence: An Information-Theoretic Metricfor Hierarchical Graph Clustering
• Hierarchical Graph Representation Learning with Differentiable Pooling
• Gradient-based Hierarchical Clustering
• Gradient-based Hierarchical Clustering using Continuous Representations of Trees in Hyperbolic Space

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• #5, First Floor, 4th Street Dr. Subbarayan Nagar Kodambakkam, Chennai-600 024 Landmark : Samiyar Madam
• [email protected]
• +91- 81240 01111

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Latest phd thesis topics in machine learning.

• With progressive technological development, the exploration of machine learning has increased a huge number of applications. Consequentially. Machine learning instigates an essential part of implementing smart and automated applications by intelligent data analysis.
• The applicability of machine learning is abundant in many real-world application fields, such as predictive analytics and intelligent decision-making, cyber-security systems, smart cities, healthcare, e-commerce, agriculture, finance, retail, social media, traffic prediction and transportation, computer vision applications, user behavior analytics and context-aware smartphone applications, bioinformatics, cheminformatics, computer networks, DNA sequence classification, economics and banking, robotics, advanced engineering, and many more.
• Recently described branches of machine learning are computational learning theory, adversarial machine learning, quantum machine learning, robot learning, and meta-learning. Efficient data processing and handling the diverse learning algorithms are the constraints that are needed to be the focus in machine learning. PHD thesis on machine learning contributes to the challenges, promising research opportunities, and effective solutions in various application areas. Below is the list of PHD thesis topics on machine learning to effectively explore, scrutinize and discover the new findings of machine learning systems.

List of Sample PHD Thesis in Machine Learning

• Incremental Learning for Large-Scale Data Stream Analytics in a Complex Environment
• Neural Sequential Transfer Learning for Relation Extraction
• Predicting Depression and Suicide Ideation in the Canadian Population Using Social Media Data
• Neural Aspect-based Text Generation
• Leveraging Social Media and Machine Learning for enhanced Communication and Understanding between Organizations and Stakeholders
• Deep Learning Methods for Short,Informal, and Multilingual Text Analytics
• Deep Learning Based Cursive Text Detection and Recognition in Natural Scene Images
• Deep Learning-Based Text Detection and Recognition
• Explaining Deep Neural Networks
• Machine Learning Techniques in Spam Filtering
• Anomaly-Based Network Intrusion Detection Using Machine Learning
• Machine Learning for Financial Products Recommendation
• Sentiment Analysis of Textual Content in Social Networks
• Deep Learning For Time Series Classification
• Deep Learning for Traffic Time Series Data Analysis
• Novel applications of Machine Learning to Network Traffic Analysis and Prediction
• Deep Learning for Animal Recognition
• Neural Transfer Learning for Natural Language Processing
• Scalable and Ensemble Learning for Big Data
• Ensembles for Time Series Forecasting
• Sample-Efficient Deep Reinforcement Learning for Continuous Control
• Towards Generalization and Efficiency in Reinforcement Learning
• Transfer Learning with Deep Neural Networks for Computer Vision
• Deep Learning for Recommender Systems
• CHAMELEON: A Deep Learning Meta-Architecture For News Recommender Systems
• Learning in Dynamic Data-Streams with a Scarcity of Labels
• Learning Meaning Representations For Text Generation With Deep Generative Models
• Social Media Sentiment Analysis with a Deep Neural Network: An Enhanced Approach Using User Behavioral Information
• Global-Local Word Embedding for Text Classification
• Measuring Generalization and Overfitting in Machine Learning
• Handling Class Imbalance Using Swarm Intelligence Techniques, Hybrid Data and Algorithmic Level Solutions
• Using Data Science and Predictive Analytics to Understand 4-Year University Student Churn
• Deep Learning Based Imbalanced Data Classification and Information Retrieval for Multimedia Big Data
• Improving Geospatial Data Search Ranking Using Deep Learning and User Behaviour Data
• An Investigation Into Machine Learning Solutions Involving Time Series Across Different Problem Domains
• Deep Learning Applications for Biomedical Data and Natural Language Processing
• Deep Neural Network Models for Image Classification and Regression
• Deep learning for medical report texts
• Deep multi-agent reinforcement learning
• Artificial intelligence methods to support people management in organisations
• An Intelligent Recommender System Based on Short-term Disease Risk Prediction for Patients with Chronic Diseases in a Telehealth Environment
• Bringing Interpretability and Visualization with Artificial Neural Networks
• Investigating machine learning methods in Recommender systems
• Adaptive Machine Learning Algorithms For Data Streams Subject To Concept Drifts
• Active Learning for Data Streams
• Heart Diseases Diagnosis Using Artificial Neural Networks
• Advanced Natural Language Processing and Temporal Mining for Clinical Discovery
• Uncertainty in Deep Learning
• Parallel Transfer Learning: Accelerating Reinforcement Learning in Multi-Agent Systems
• Sentiment analysis on students Real-time Feedback
• Aspect-Based Opinion Mining From Customer Reviews
• Word Embeddings for Natural Language Processing
• On Effectively Creating Ensembles of Classifiers
• Design of Intelligent Ensembled Classifiers Combination Methods
• ELSE: Ensemble Learning System with Evolution for Content Based Image Retrieval
• Using Hybrid Algorithm to Improve Intrusion Detection in Multi Layer Feed Forward Neural Networks
• Achieving Consistent Near-Optimal Pattern Recognition Accuracy Using Particle Swarm Optimization to Pre-Train Artificial Neural Networks
• Using Assessments of Contextual Learning to Identify Characteristics of Adaptive Transfer in Medical Students
• Recursive Deep Learning for Natural Language Processing and Computer Vision
• Machine learning strategies for multi-step-ahead time series forecasting
• General Attention Mechanism for Artificial Intelligence Systems
• Defense Acquisition University: A Study of Employee Perceptions on Web Based Learning Transfer
• Incremental Learning with Large Datasets
• Machine Learning and Data Mining Methods for Recommender Systems and Chemical Informatics
• Transfer of Learning in Leadership Development: Lived Experiences of HPI Practitioners
• Online Ensemble Learning in the Presence of Concept Drift
• Learning From Data Streams With Concept Drift
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Biomaterials Science

Machine learning in nanozymes: from design to application.

* Corresponding authors

a College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266042, China E-mail: [email protected]

b College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266042, China E-mail: [email protected]

Nanozymes, a distinctive class of nanomaterials endowed with enzyme-like activity and kinetics akin to enzyme-catalysed reactions, present several advantages over natural enzymes, including cost-effectiveness, heightened stability, and adjustable activity. However, the conventional trial-and-error methodology for developing novel nanozymes encounters growing challenges as research progresses. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly machine learning (ML), has ushered in innovative design approaches for researchers in this domain. This review delves into the burgeoning role of ML in nanozyme research, elucidating the advancements achieved through ML applications. The review explores successful instances of ML in nanozyme design and implementation, providing a comprehensive overview of the evolving landscape. A roadmap for ML-assisted nanozyme research is outlined, offering a universal guideline for research in this field. In the end, the review concludes with an analysis of challenges encountered and anticipates future directions for ML in nanozyme research. The synthesis of knowledge in this review aims to foster a cross-disciplinary study, propelling the revolutionary field forward.

• This article is part of the themed collection: Biomaterials Science Emerging Investigator Series

Article information

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Y. Gao, Z. Zhu, Z. Chen, M. Guo, Y. Zhang, L. Wang and Z. Zhu, Biomater. Sci. , 2024, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D4BM00169A

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Computer Science > Machine Learning

Title: a collection of the accepted papers for the human-centric representation learning workshop at aaai 2024.

Abstract: This non-archival index is not complete, as some accepted papers chose to opt-out of inclusion. The list of all accepted papers is available on the workshop website.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Machine learning theory'

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Hussain, Z. "Sparsity in machine learning : theory and practice." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2008. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1444276/.

Menke, Joshua E. "Improving machine learning through oracle learning /." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2007. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd1726.pdf.

Cardamone, Dario. "Support Vector Machine a Machine Learning Algorithm." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2017.

Carlucci, Lorenzo. "Some cognitively-motivated learning paradigms in Algorithmic Learning Theory." Access to citation, abstract and download form provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company; downloadable PDF file 0.68 Mb., p, 2006. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3220797.

Tu, Zhuozhuo. "Towards Robust and Reliable Machine Learning: Theory and Algorithms." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2022. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/28832.

Li, Xiao. "Regularized adaptation : theory, algorithms, and applications /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/5928.

Blankenship, Jessica. "Machine Learning and Achievement Games." University of Akron / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1590713726030926.

Foreman, Samuel Alfred. "Learning better physics: a machine learning approach to lattice gauge theory." Diss., University of Iowa, 2018. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/6944.

Sandberg, Martina. "Credit Risk Evaluation using Machine Learning." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Statistik och maskininlärning, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-138968.

Shi, Bin. "A Mathematical Framework on Machine Learning: Theory and Application." FIU Digital Commons, 2018. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3876.

Mauricio, Palacio Sebastián. "Machine-Learning Applied Methods." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/669286.

Bhat, Sooraj. "Syntactic foundations for machine learning." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/47700.

He, Fengxiang. "Theoretical Deep Learning." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2021. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25674.

Wang, Sinong. "Coded Computation for Speeding up Distributed Machine Learning." The Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1555336880521062.

Ruan, Yongshao. "Efficient inference : a machine learning approach /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/7009.

Narasimhan, Mukund. "Applications of submodular minimization in machine learning /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/5983.

Enver, Asad. "Modeling Trouble Ticket ResolutionTime Using Machine Learning." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Statistik och maskininlärning, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-176779.

Zhendong, Wang. "Error Pattern Recognition Using Machine Learning." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Statistik och maskininlärning, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-150589.

Li, Zheng. "Accelerating Catalyst Discovery via Ab Initio Machine Learning." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/95915.

Osama, Muhammad. "Machine learning for spatially varying data." Licentiate thesis, Uppsala universitet, Avdelningen för systemteknik, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-429234.

Verleyen, Wim. "Machine learning for systems pathology." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/4512.

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Westerlund, Fredrik. "CREDIT CARD FRAUD DETECTION (Machine learning algorithms)." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Statistik, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-136031.

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Undergraduate Researchers Help Unlock Lessons of Machine Learning and AI

From large language models to brain-machine interfaces, students work with faculty on cutting-edge research.

UT College of Natural Sciences undergraduates Prasann Singhal, Nihita Sarma, Shankar Padmanabhan and Jennifer Mickel are conducting research into AI and its applications.

Even before The University of Texas at Austin declared 2024 the  Year of AI , artificial intelligence and machine learning had researchers across campus abuzz with activity. Undergraduates under the mentorship of professors in computer science and departments across campus are making their contributions in this fast-growing field. 

Prasann Singhal

Humanizing Responses 

Prasann Singhal, linguistics and computer science junior, works under Greg Durrett, professor of computer science, to research the intersection of machine learning and human feedback. Using data and human preferences, Singhal’s methods seek to tweak machine-learning models to create output more aligned with what a human would want or expect. This alignment attempts to learn appropriate functions in a semi-supervised way without explicit instruction, Singhal said. 

“A question like, ‘What are penguins?’ might produce an output that gives a scientific explanation of how penguins live their lives,” Singhal said. “That gets adjusted through technologies like ChatGPT to generate outputs that are more in line with what humans would expect and make them a little bit easier for the public to use.” 

Shankar Padmanabhan

Knowing More 

Also a student of Durrett’s, mathematics senior Shankar Padmanabhan, researches another side of generative AI: model editing and continual learning. 

“Language models such as ChatGPT are usually trained on a fixed dataset (e.g, the internet before fall 2021),” said Padmanabhan. “As a consequence, they lack knowledge of events happening after this cutoff. The field of continual learning attempts to determine the best way to edit the knowledge base of these models without affecting their knowledge of prior events.” 

Padmanabhan’s first paper discussed exploration of existing techniques, which he found were unable to make common-sense inferences. In a second paper, Padmanabhan found a method to fix discrepancies by placing a statement in context that outperformed prior models, he said. In December, Padmanabhan presented his research at the 2023 Neural Information Processing Systems conference, one of the biggest AI/machine learning conferences. Since then, Padmanabhan has been working on extending what he has learned to apply to information stored in languages other than English.

“In particular, if we inject some information in English into a language model, ideally it should be stored in a language-agnostic manner such that the model can use it even when it isn’t ‘talking’ in English,” Padmabhan explained. 

Nihita Sarma

Brain-Machine Interface 

AI also intersects with language in other research areas. Nihita Sarma, a computer science third-year student and member of Dean’s Scholars and Turing Scholars, researches the intersection of neuroscience and machine learning to understand language in the brain, working with Michael Mauk, professor of neuroscience, and Alexander Huth, an assistant professor of computer science and neuroscience. 

As research subjects listen to podcasts, they lie in an MRI machine and readings track their brain activity. These customized-to-the-subject readings are then used to train machine learning models called encoding models, and Sarma then passes them through decoding models. 

“My research is taking those encodings and trying to backtrack and figure out based on this neural representation — based on the brain activity that was going on at that moment — what could the person inside the MRI machine possibly have been thinking or listening to at that moment?” Sarma said. 

Along with gaining a better understanding of how language is represented in the brain, Sarma said the research has possible applications for a noninvasive communication tactic for people unable to speak or sign. 

“We would be able to decode what they’re thinking or what they’re trying to say, and allow them to communicate with the outside world,” Sarma said. 

Jennifer Mickel

Towards Ethical AI 

Inspired by the Netflix documentary “Coded Bias” about racial biases in facial recognition algorithms, Jennifer Mickel, a computer science fourth-year student, focuses her research on AI fairness. Biases in society are reflected within data, Mickel said, and a great deal of internet data represents a point of view centered on Western viewpoints. 

“We don’t see as much representation from people who are not in the West, and so that means that the ideas of the people whose data we’re using to train our models are replicated within those systems,” Mickel said. 

Improving fairness can involve using data and assessing an AI model’s performance in new and different ways. Much data is demographic-free due or has partial demographic information due to privacy or other barriers; nonetheless, many models perform better when given background information with demographics, Mickel said. That’s why Mickel works to improve models trained with demographic-free data. Using a system of finding intersections in data — and identifying and mitigating the effects of the worst-performing group — proves feasible for improving these models. 

“Practitioners would use our algorithm to find the groups and then they would retrain using that group information to improve the performance for the worst-performing group,” Mickel said. “They would just keep doing that until the worst-performing group was performing as they had hoped.” 

Early Starts 

Besides all studying AI, Singhal, Padmanabhan, Sarma and Mickel have something else in common: their undergraduate research exposure started within their first year and a half at UT. In fact, the University has more first- and second-year college students doing real-world research than any place in the country. 

Singhal said the early start afforded him the opportunity to learn his research interests and lead projects earlier in his research career. He also has formed strong connections with supportive lab members he’s able to ask for advice or learn from. 

“I’m an NLP [natural language processing] researcher,” Singhal said. “I really love most of NLP. So it’s always been very exciting, and it keeps me motivated to keep on doing research.”

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The 4 best programming languages to learn

Learning to code isn’t just about mastering syntax; it’s a gateway to a lucrative career in software development. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics , software developers earned a median annual wage exceeding $127,000 in 2022 and is projected to rise by 25% by 2032.

Rod Garcia, VP of engineering at Slack , succinctly captures the allure: “It’s awesome—the way humans can communicate with machines.” This communication between humans and computers happens through programming languages. Even though the two terms have subtle differences —they are often used interchangeably.

Syracuse University's Online M.S. in Computer Science

Choosing where to begin is like selecting a real-life language to learn. According to the government-run website ShareAmerica, there are between 350 and 430 languages spoken in the United States alone. Similarly, there are hundreds of programming languages out there to choose from. 

Whether it’s Python’s versatility, JavaScript’s ubiquity, or the elegance of SQL, your choice will shape your journey into the intricate world of code. Some languages, like the meme-filled LOLCODE , live in relative obscurity, while others are in high demand, like the leading players JavaScript and Python . 

4 programming languages that are worth learning 

Gone are the days when the best language for beginners was solely determined by the number of available books. Thanks to AI, any language can be a starting point if you possess the determination and requisite skill set to thrive. Ultimately, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer when trying to choose which programming language to learn first. Instead, consider your goals, interests, and the specific problem you aim to solve.

Another important factor to consider is your drive to learn and follow through. “That’s the fuel,” Garcia says. With access to so many resources online, ChatGPT, and AI chatbots, learning a language is becoming easier and easier. “It’s about the fuel you have to want to learn.”

Our methodology in determining the best programming language for beginners draws from two critical sources: the insights provided by Garcia and Stack Overflow’s 2023 Developer Survey , which garnered responses from more than 90,000 professionals.

1. JavaScript

JavaScript simply makes web pages interactive and is also where many other languages stem from. There are more than 80 JavaScript frameworks, including Node.js, Dart, and TypeScript. 

“Not only is [JavaScript] the front-end language of the web, it allows folks to create back-end solutions. If you want to learn one language, JavaScript is great in the early stages of learning how to create full-stack solutions,” Garcia says. 

Classification : JavaScript is a high-level object-oriented scripting language.

Usage : JavaScript allows you to manipulate HTML and CSS, allowing you to create smooth animations, transitions, and visual effects. On the technical side, JavaScript can validate email addresses in web forms. It can also be used to create web-based games, such as Words With Friends 2 and 2048. And with newer frameworks like React Native and Ionic, you can use JavaScript outside the web to create apps for iOS and Android. 

Places to learn it : Fortune found intense bootcamps to teach you how to code JavaScript for less than $21,000. You can learn for free on sites like Udemy , Coursera, and Codecademy. 

Python is the most popular programming language on  GitHub  because of its robust ecosystem of libraries and its general enough nature to fill a variety of programming needs across AI, such as machine learning, deep learning, and computer vision. Its libraries are collections of open-source code modules, which save developers time and effort.

Garcia says that Python has been one of the top languages in the industry for a long time, “but now more than ever, it’s paramount to interact with AI applications or train your own models. It’s the default choice.” According to the World Economic Forum’s 2020 “The Future of Jobs Report,” the artificial intelligence boom will create around 97 million new jobs. 

Classification : Python is a high-level object-oriented scripting language

Usage : Back-end web developers use Python to create web applications, analyze data, and automate tasks. Companies in various industries use it—NASA, Google, and Netflix—to handle big data, perform complex mathematical calculations, and read and modify large files. 

Places to learn it : Bootcamps like General Assembly and CodingNomads teach the language, and you can also learn via the official Python website . Codeacademy’s free course, Python 2 , and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Python are free resources to learn. Beginner projects include creating secure password generators and games like Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Structured query languages or SQL (pronounced “sequel”) give both analysts and programmers access to data stored within databases. Programmers call SQL “Turing complete,” which indicates a language's power. The more powerful a language, the more complex equations it can perform. 

SQL gives developers access to common table expressions (CTEs) and Window functions (such as SUM, AVG, and COUNT), making it a powerful database management system. It’s widely used by mid-to large-sized organizations, such as the tech giants Facebook and Microsoft, to organize and retrieve information. 

Classification : SQL is a high-level data-oriented language. 

Usage : For developers creating mobile or web apps, when a new user inputs their username and password, it goes into a database—most commonly MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite—and then retrieved with an SQL query.  

However, many different industries use SQL. For example, marketing teams can create promotions targeting customers based on data stored in databases and retrieved with an SQL query. Financial organizations can organize sales data with the language, and healthcare clinics can build dashboards to organize patient reports.

Places to learn it : Codecademy and DataCamp provide courses for learners of all levels. Additionally, eCornell , the online platform affiliated with Cornell University, offers certification programs in data management using SQL and data visualization using Tableau.

Java, an almost three-decade-old programming language, remains one of the most popular choices for developers. It is widely used in customer relationship management (CRM) software applications and financial management platforms because of its robustness, cross-platform capabilities, and security. According to IBM , the language is easy to learn, write, compile, and debug. 

Garcia says Java is used in large enterprise organizations: “Where there are complex legacy systems, there is a certain special type of language you need to manage those systems. Java is one of the most used architecture languages in that context.”

With Java’s Abstract Class feature, you can hide intricate, outdated code to only see the necessary information you need. This tool helps you maintain and manage older systems. According to Garcia, this hideaway capability is a massive part of dealing with old code. “It helps engineers abstract complexities.” 

Classification : Java is a high-level, object-oriented language. 

Usage : Java is a backend development tool used to build web applications with common ones, including Spotify and X (formerly Twitter). Tools like Spring Framework and Hibernate ORM make it easier to construct these newer applications using Java. Sectors like AI, fintech, e-commerce, and gaming benefit from the robustness of language. 2023’s most popular video game, Minecraft, sold more than 300 million copies and was built with Java. 

Places to learn it : Sites like Codecademy and Coursera offer ways to learn Java—each teaching topics like design patterns, data structures, and simple algorithms like sorting. Devmountain’s part-time, remote Java Software Engineering Course costs $9,900. The 16-week program covers Java, Git, frameworks, data structures, and SQL. 

Difference between front-end and back-end programming languages 

There are different types of programming languages, but understanding the difference between front-end and back-end languages is essential for anyone interested in web development.

• Front-end languages involve user interfaces and client-side development. ThinkHTML, CSS, and JavaScript.Front-end languages create the site you’re looking at right now. 
• Back-end languages handle server-side logic and data processing. Think Java, Python, and Ruby on Rails.

Difference between high-level and low-level programming 

The other two main categories for programming languages are high-level and low-level. 

• Despite the name, high-level languages are designed for human readability and ease of understanding. They can run on any platform and are widely used.
• Low-level languages are closer to machine code, less human-friendly, and more efficient for specific tasks. However, they are machine-dependent and less commonly used.

So, what is the best programming language to learn?  

There isn’t a definitive answer to the question, but Garcia argues that you have to start somewhere. 

“Programming languages share common structures, have similar workflows, patterns, and things like that,” Garcia says. “Once you get more experience, you’ll start seeing common themes across languages. Motivation will propel you to learn and go deep.”

There are thousands of languages to learn and lines of code to type—so it may sound daunting to take the first step. But learning something new can be exciting, so focus on the problem you want to solve and then find the language that best suits you, he advises.

For more information on software development skills to get you hired, Fortune compiled the most in-demand programming languages for 2024 .

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