Nils Strand

Nils Strand is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Chicago, working with Profs. Aaron Dinner (Chemistry) and Yuehaw Khoo (Statistics). He builds tensor-network algorithms to enable scalable density estimation and uncertainty quantification in biological modeling. His current focus is on tensor-train approaches that compress probability distributions and other high-dimensional functions, with the aim to boost the efficiency of commonly used strategies, such as inference and molecular simulation. Nils completed in 2023 a PhD in Chemistry at Northwestern University with Todd Gingrich, where he developed numerical methods for nonequilibrium stochastic systems to understand steady-state and reactive behavior in interacting classical processes. Across these projects, his goal is to bring ideas from modern AI and many-body physics to core problems in computational biology, reducing exponential bottlenecks that limit today’s simulations and parameter estimation.