Skip to main content

The Rising Stars in Data Science workshop at the University of Chicago focuses on celebrating and fast tracking the careers of exceptional data scientists at a critical inflection point in their career: the transition to postdoctoral scholar, research scientist, industry research position, or tenure track position. The Autumn 2021 workshop will showcase the exciting, innovative data science initiatives at UChicago as well as the research work of exceptional PhD students and postdocs from over 15 institutions nationwide and globally.

View the profiles of the Autumn 2021 cohort here, and read more about the program here.

Please note that this is a private workshop. If you are a current UChicago PhD student or postdoc who would like to virtually attend the two panels on November 11th, please register here.

Agenda

Thursday, November 11, 2021

9:30 am–10:00 am

Welcome Breakfast

The events on Thursday November 11th will take place in the David Rubenstein Forum building (1201 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637). Directions to the building and for transportation/parking nearby can be found here.

Upon arrival, please check in at the front desk and take the elevator to the 6th floor. Our team will have name tags and event agendas available.

Breakfast will be served in the Kapani Family Lounge.

10:00 am–10:10 am

Opening Remarks

Rubenstein Forum, Room 601

Rebecca Willett, Faculty Director of AI, Data Science Institute; Professor, Statistics, Computer Science, and the College
10:10 am–11:10 am

Panel: The Academic Job Search – Perspectives from Recent Hires

Rubenstein Forum, Room 601

Rana Hanocka, Assistant Professor, Computer Science
Cong Ma, Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics
Audrey Sedal, Research Assistant Professor, Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago
Chenhao Tan, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Data Science
Victor Veitch, Assistant Professor of Statistics and Data Science
11:10 am–11:30 am

Break

Rubenstein Forum, Kapani Family Lounge

11:30 am–12:15 pm

Opportunities at the Data Science Institute

Rubenstein Forum, Room 601

Julia Lane, Assistant Vice President for Science, University of Chicago
Ningzi Li, Professional Research Specialist, Data Science Institute; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Booth School of Business
Jamie Saxon, Senior Software Engineer, Mapbox
David Uminsky (he/him), Executive Director, Data Science Institute; Senior Research Associate, Department of Computer Science
12:15 pm–1:15 pm

Lunch

Rubenstein Forum, Dining Room

1:15 pm–2:30 pm

Break

2:30 pm–3:30 pm

Rising Stars Lightning Talks – Sessions 1 & 2 (Concurrent)

Session 1: Machine Learning I –Rubenstein Forum, Room 601 | Chair: Lorenzo Orecchia

Rising Stars Speakers:

  • Lingjiao Chen (PhD Candidate, Stanford University)
  • Mengdi Huai (PhD Candidate, University of Virginia)
  • Konstantin Mishchenko (PhD Candidate, King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST))
  • Wei Tang (PhD Candidate, Washington University in St. Louis)

Session 2: Natural Language Processing – Rubenstein Forum, Room 701 | Chair: Chenhao Tan

Rising Stars Speakers:

  • Xiaoan Ding (PhD Candidate, The University of Chicago)
  • Anjalie Field (PhD Candidate, Carnegie Mellon University)
  • Shi Feng (Postdoctoral Scholar, Center for Data and Computing)
  • Abhilasha Ravichander (PhD Candidate, Carnegie Mellon University)
3:30 pm–3:45 pm

Break

Rubenstein Forum, Kapani Family Lounge

3:45 pm–4:45 pm

Panel: Faculty 101 – How to Make the Most of Your First Year

Rubenstein Forum, Room 601

Raul Castro Fernandez, Assistant Professor, Computer Science
Marshini Chetty, Assistant Professor, Computer Science
Ravi Chugh, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science
Samantha Riesenfeld, Assistant Professor, Molecular Engineering and of Genetic Medicine
5:00 pm–6:30 pm

Happy Hour & Poster Session

The happy hour and accompanying poster session will take place in the John Crerar Library, in room JCL 390.

Friday, November 12, 2021

8:15 am–8:45 am

Breakfast

The events on Friday November 12th will take place in the John Crerar Library. Directions to the building and for transportation/parking nearby can be found here.

Upon arrival, please take the stairs or elevator up to the third floor. Go through the third floor doors, make a left, and room 390 is on your right beyond the yellow doors.

Breakfast will be served in the John Crerar Library, outside of room 390.

8:45 am–9:45 am

Rising Stars Lightning Talks – Sessions 3 & 4 (Concurrent)

Session 3: Privacy –  John Crerar Library Room 390 | Chair: Heather Zheng

Rising Stars Speakers:

  • Amrita Roy Chowdhury (PhD Candidate, University of Wisconsin)
  • Arjun Nitin Bhagoji (Postdoctoral Scholar, The University of Chicago)
  • Haojian Jin (PhD Candidate, Carnegie Mellon University)
  • Sainyam Galhotra (Computing Innovation Postdoc Fellow, The University of Chicago)

Session 4: Statistical Foundations of Data Science –  John Crerar Library Room 298

Rising Stars Speakers:

  • Rishabh Dudeja (Postdoctoral Researcher, Harvard University)
  • Lihua Lei (Postdoctoral Researcher, Stanford University)
  • Jeffrey Negrea (PhD Candidate, University of Toronto)
  • Tal Wagner (Postdoctoral Researcher, Microsoft Research Redmond)
9:45 am–10:00 am

Break

10:00 am–10:20 am

Overview of the Data Science Institute

Dan Nicolae, Elaine M. and Samuel D. Kersten, Jr. Distinguished Service Professor, Departments of Statistics, Human Genetics, Medicine, and the College Section of Genetic Medicine; Faculty Co-Director, Data Science Institute
10:20 am–11:20 am

Keynote: Internet Equity & Access Research Initiative

Nick Feamster, Faculty Director of Research, Data Science Institute; Neubauer Professor of Computer Science and the College
Nicole Marwell, Associate Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice
11:20 am–11:30 am

Break

11:30 am–12:30 pm

Rising Stars Lightning Talks – Sessions 5 & 6 (Concurrent)

Session 5: AI for Society – John Crerar Library, Room 390 | Chair: David Uminsky

Rising Stars Speakers:

  • Amanda Kube (PhD Candidate, Washington University in St. Louis)
  • Faidra Monachou (PhD Candidate, Stanford University)
  • Alexander Rodriguez (PhD Candidate, Georgia Institute of Technology

Session 6: AI & Science – John Crerar Library, Room 298 | Chair: David Miller

Rising Stars Speakers:

  • Aditi Krishnapriyan (UC Berkeley & Lawrence Berkeley National Lab)
  • Liyue Shen (PhD Candidate, Stanford University)
  • Tyler Skluzacek (PhD Candidate, The University of Chicago)
  • Jennifer Sun (PhD Candidate, Caltech)
12:30 pm–1:30 pm

Lunch & Tour of the John Crerar Library

Meet outside John Crerar Library Room 390.

Rob Mitchum, Associate Director of Communications for Data Science and Computing
1:30 pm–2:30 pm

Rising Stars Lightning Talks – Sessions 7 & 8 (Concurrent)

Session 7: Computational Social Science – John Crerar Library, Room 390

Rising Stars Speakers:

  • Maria Antoniak (Cornell University)
  • Neil Gaikwad (PhD Candidate, MIT)
  • Martin Saveski (Postdoc, Stanford University)

Session 8: Machine Learning II – John Crerar Library, Room 298 | Chair: Yuehaw Khoo

Rising Stars Speakers:

  • Julian Katz-Samuels (Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Wisconsin)
  • Omar Montasser (Toyota Technological Institute of Chicago)
  • Guanya Shi (PhD Candidate, Caltech)
2:30 pm–3:00 pm

Break

3:00 pm–4:00 pm

Panel: Inside the Search Committee

Michael J. Franklin, Morton D. Hull Distinguished Service Professor; Senior Advisor to the Provost for Computing and Data Science; Faculty Co-Director, Data Science Institute
Dan Nicolae, Elaine M. and Samuel D. Kersten, Jr. Distinguished Service Professor, Departments of Statistics, Human Genetics, Medicine, and the College Section of Genetic Medicine; Faculty Co-Director, Data Science Institute
David Uminsky (he/him), Executive Director, Data Science Institute; Senior Research Associate, Department of Computer Science
4:00 pm–4:15 pm

Closing Comments

David Uminsky (he/him), Executive Director, Data Science Institute; Senior Research Associate, Department of Computer Science

Speakers

Raul Castro Fernandez

Assistant Professor, Computer Science

Marshini Chetty

Assistant Professor, Computer Science

Ravi Chugh

Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science

Nick Feamster

Faculty Director of Research, Data Science Institute; Neubauer Professor of Computer Science and the College

Michael J. Franklin

Morton D. Hull Distinguished Service Professor; Senior Advisor to the Provost for Computing and Data Science; Faculty Co-Director, Data Science Institute

Rana Hanocka

Assistant Professor, Computer Science

Julia Lane

Assistant Vice President for Science, University of Chicago

Ningzi Li

Professional Research Specialist, Data Science Institute; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Booth School of Business

Cong Ma

Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics

Nicole Marwell

Associate Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

Dan Nicolae

Elaine M. and Samuel D. Kersten, Jr. Distinguished Service Professor, Departments of Statistics, Human Genetics, Medicine, and the College Section of Genetic Medicine; Faculty Co-Director, Data Science Institute

Samantha Riesenfeld

Assistant Professor, Molecular Engineering and of Genetic Medicine

Jamie Saxon

Senior Software Engineer, Mapbox

Audrey Sedal

Research Assistant Professor, Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago

Chenhao Tan

Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Data Science

David Uminsky (he/him)

Executive Director, Data Science Institute; Senior Research Associate, Department of Computer Science

Victor Veitch

Assistant Professor of Statistics and Data Science

Rebecca Willett

Faculty Director of AI, Data Science Institute; Professor, Statistics, Computer Science, and the College
arrow-left-smallarrow-right-large-greyarrow-right-large-yellowarrow-right-largearrow-right-long-yellowarrow-right-smallfacet-arrow-down-whitefacet-arrow-downCheckedCheckedlink-outmag-glass