{"id":579961,"date":"2019-04-30T09:01:26","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T16:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/?p=579961"},"modified":"2019-05-13T15:17:36","modified_gmt":"2019-05-13T22:17:36","slug":"investing-in-leading-minds-microsoft-research-faculty-fellowship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/blog\/investing-in-leading-minds-microsoft-research-faculty-fellowship\/","title":{"rendered":"Investing in leading minds\u2014Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-582466 size-large aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788-1066x600.jpg 1066w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788-655x368.jpg 655w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788-343x193.jpg 343w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>How does a leading research institution ensure the flow of computer science talent and keep the most talented minds in the space focused on solving today\u2019s truly challenging problems? The <a href=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/academic-program\/faculty-fellowship\/\">Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship<\/a> recognizes innovative, promising new faculty members with $100,000 USD annually for two years to pursue breakthrough, high-impact research. The grant is an unrestricted gift, providing the Fellows the freedom to plan their research, hire graduate students, build labs, and acquire equipment.<\/p>\n<p>These researchers were chosen through a rigorous, multi-tier selection process that involved 22 reviewers. The reviewers looked for future leaders who are at the beginning of their careers. The selection criteria included not only the capability to pursue cutting-edge research, but also the skills that are necessary to bring those ideas to fruition and to communicate complex concepts. The review process narrowed the list of candidates down to 13 finalists, who were then interviewed in person by a panel of Microsoft Research executives and researchers, along with prominent faculty from the University of Washington.<\/p>\n<p>Out of this process emerged five researchers who not only have interesting research agendas, but who also have demonstrated the potential to do great work throughout their careers. Here are this year\u2019s Microsoft Research Faculty Fellows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mohammad Alizadeh, Assistant Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for research in learning-augmented network systems, programmable networks, and network protocols and algorithms for datacenters.<\/li>\n<li>Stefano Ermon, Assistant Professor, Stanford University, for research in techniques for modeling probabilistic data, inference and optimization, and applications in the emerging field of computational sustainability.<\/li>\n<li>Jessica Hullman, Assistant Professor, Northwestern University, for research in the development of computational tools to improve how people reason with and make decisions from data, with a focus on uncertainty representation through interactive visual interfaces that enable users to articulate and reason about prior beliefs.<\/li>\n<li>Yin Tat Lee, Assistant Professor, University of Washington, for research in theoretical algorithms, convex optimization, convex geometry, spectral graph theory, and online algorithms.<\/li>\n<li>Raluca Ada Popa, Assistant Professor, University of California, Berkeley, for research in computer security and applied cryptography.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The finalists were asked about their inspirations, approaches to research, the people who helped them along the way, and what was the one thing about their research that people should know.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Internet has been so successful, and we are all so accustomed to it, that it\u2019s easy to think that networking is a \u2018solved problem,\u2019\u201d shared Mohammad Alizadeh of MIT. \u201cThis is far from the truth,\u201d he said. As a discipline, he explained, networking is a relatively immature field, in constant flux. \u201cJust in the last decade, the networking landscape has changed dramatically, with the emergence of massive datacenters and the cloud, and the proliferation of mobile devices. Underlying this rapid growth is a tremendous amount of complexity, creating significant research opportunity to rethink how we build networks to better meet the needs of future applications, including those that have yet to be invented,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_582607\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cc87a811753d-5cc87a811753fMohammad-Alizadeh-MIT.jpg.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-582607\" class=\"wp-image-582607\" src=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cc87a811753d-5cc87a811753fMohammad-Alizadeh-MIT.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Mohammad Alizadeh, MIT\" width=\"300\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cc87a811753d-5cc87a811753fMohammad-Alizadeh-MIT.jpg.jpg 614w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cc87a811753d-5cc87a811753fMohammad-Alizadeh-MIT.jpg-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-582607\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mohammad Alizadeh, MIT<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe goal of my research is to enable innovative solutions to problems of broad societal relevance through advances in machine learning, optimization, probabilistic reasoning and inference,\u201d said Stefano Ermon. \u201cI develop new foundational methods by combining rigorous theoretical analysis with a principled experimental component, and apply these techniques to concrete real-world applications, focusing on a new area that bridges computer science with other disciplines to address core questions in sustainability, like poverty mitigation and food security.\u201d Ermon was quick to attribute much of the success of his Stanford AI group\u2019s research efforts to his students as well as his PhD advisors Carla Gomes and Bart Selman.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_579976\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f3106a041-5cb8f3106a043Stefano-Ermon-Stanford-University.jpg.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-579976\" class=\"wp-image-579976\" src=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f3106a041-5cb8f3106a043Stefano-Ermon-Stanford-University.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Stefano Ermon, Stanford University\" width=\"300\" height=\"451\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f3106a041-5cb8f3106a043Stefano-Ermon-Stanford-University.jpg.jpg 530w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f3106a041-5cb8f3106a043Stefano-Ermon-Stanford-University.jpg-199x300.jpg 199w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-579976\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stefano Ermon, Stanford University<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Raluca Ada Popa summarized, \u201cI build systems with strong security properties via a synergy of systems design and advanced cryptography. This fellowship will fund brilliant PhD students working to strengthen computer security.\u201d Popa expressed her immense gratitude to Bill Bolosky, who championed her cryptography research early on. \u201cWhile advanced cryptography is often admired for its magical capabilities, it is all too often dismissed as impractical for real world systems,\u201d she said. \u201cMy work shows that there are many settings where one can build practical systems using advanced cryptography. The key is designing new cryptography tailored to the systems setting and architecting a new system that leverages the cryptography.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_579982\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f3d3c5cbd-5cb8f3d3c5cbeRaluca-Ada-Popa-University-of-California-Berkeley.jpg.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-579982\" class=\"wp-image-579982\" src=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f3d3c5cbd-5cb8f3d3c5cbeRaluca-Ada-Popa-University-of-California-Berkeley.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Raluca Ada Popa, University of California, Berkeley\" width=\"300\" height=\"451\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f3d3c5cbd-5cb8f3d3c5cbeRaluca-Ada-Popa-University-of-California-Berkeley.jpg.jpg 530w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f3d3c5cbd-5cb8f3d3c5cbeRaluca-Ada-Popa-University-of-California-Berkeley.jpg-199x300.jpg 199w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-579982\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Raluca Ada Popa, University of California, Berkeley<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m trying to push the boundaries of how we represent and support reasoning about uncertainty in data with my work,\u201d explained Fellow Jessica Hullman of Northwestern University. \u201cI think too often we build interactive data analysis and visualization systems that are agnostic to a user\u2019s prior knowledge and preferences, and this prevents a system from actually building on or enhancing inferences about data,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship will give my students and me more freedom to explore how our ideas around uncertainty visualization and reasoning can be useful in other domains. I see exciting new research opportunities related to supporting understanding of statistical model results and technology-aided decision making under uncertainty. I&#8217;m excited to use the fellowship to expand our thinking to problems like machine learning model interpretability and bias, education, and medical decision making, to name a few.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_579985\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f40c1b3b3-5cb8f40c1b3b5Jessica-Hullman-Northwestern-University.jpg.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-579985\" class=\"wp-image-579985\" src=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f40c1b3b3-5cb8f40c1b3b5Jessica-Hullman-Northwestern-University.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Jessica Hullman, Northwestern University\" width=\"300\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f40c1b3b3-5cb8f40c1b3b5Jessica-Hullman-Northwestern-University.jpg.jpg 541w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f40c1b3b3-5cb8f40c1b3b5Jessica-Hullman-Northwestern-University.jpg-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-579985\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Hullman, Northwestern University<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Yin Tat Lee expounded on his wide-open approach to chasing ideas. \u201cWhile I devote my energy on theoretical algorithmic research such as how to solve some decades- or even centuries-old problems faster, I am often surprised how much these ideas can be used to solve difficult modern problems,\u201d said Lee. \u201cTheoretical computer scientists are like particle physicists, instead of understanding the limits of physics, we understand the limits of computation. Although it looks impractical for outsiders, it often leads to important useful results. Fascinatingly, this research sometimes splits into new fields as we focus on the next fundamental question,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Faculty Fellowship provides a unique opportunity to accelerate frontier research.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_579988\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f441b527e-5cb8f441b5280Yin-Tat-Lee-University-of-Washington.jpg.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-579988\" class=\"wp-image-579988\" src=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f441b527e-5cb8f441b5280Yin-Tat-Lee-University-of-Washington.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Yin Tat Lee, University of Washington\" width=\"300\" height=\"451\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f441b527e-5cb8f441b5280Yin-Tat-Lee-University-of-Washington.jpg.jpg 530w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5cb8f441b527e-5cb8f441b5280Yin-Tat-Lee-University-of-Washington.jpg-199x300.jpg 199w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-579988\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yin Tat Lee, University of Washington<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Alizadeh agreed. \u201cThe Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship will enable new interdisciplinary projects at the intersection of networking, systems, and machine learning, and allow us to expand our research on the algorithmic and systems foundations for learning-augmented network systems,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope this will facilitate opportunities to collaborate with researchers at Microsoft to demonstrate and deploy our solutions in real-world systems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These five academics are pursuing some of the most exciting areas of computer science. Microsoft Research is happy to support these emerging leaders as they continue to conduct their high-impact research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How does a leading research institution ensure the flow of computer science talent and keep the most talented minds in the space focused on solving today\u2019s truly challenging problems? The Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship recognizes innovative, promising new faculty members with $100,000 USD annually for two years to pursue breakthrough, high-impact research. The grant is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38022,"featured_media":582466,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"msr-url-field":"","msr-podcast-episode":"","msrModifiedDate":"","msrModifiedDateEnabled":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","msr-author-ordering":[{"type":"user_nicename","value":"Sandy Blyth","user_id":"36744"}],"msr_hide_image_in_river":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[205397],"tags":[],"research-area":[],"msr-region":[],"msr-event-type":[],"msr-locale":[268875],"msr-post-option":[],"msr-impact-theme":[],"msr-promo-type":[],"msr-podcast-series":[],"class_list":["post-579961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards","msr-locale-en_us"],"msr_event_details":{"start":"","end":"","location":""},"podcast_url":"","podcast_episode":"","msr_research_lab":[],"msr_impact_theme":[],"related-publications":[],"related-downloads":[],"related-videos":[],"related-academic-programs":[493265],"related-groups":[],"related-projects":[],"related-events":[],"related-researchers":[],"msr_type":"Post","featured_image_thumbnail":"<img width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788.jpg\" class=\"img-object-cover\" alt=\"2019 Faculty Fellows\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788.jpg 1400w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788-1066x600.jpg 1066w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788-655x368.jpg 655w, https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Faculty-Fellows-Announcement_Site_04_2019_1400x788-343x193.jpg 343w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/>","byline":"Sandy Blyth","formattedDate":"April 30, 2019","formattedExcerpt":"How does a leading research institution ensure the flow of computer science talent and keep the most talented minds in the space focused on solving today\u2019s truly challenging problems? The Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship recognizes innovative, promising new faculty members with $100,000 USD annually for&hellip;","locale":{"slug":"en_us","name":"English","native":"","english":"English"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38022"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579961"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":583141,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579961\/revisions\/583141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579961"},{"taxonomy":"msr-research-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-area?post=579961"},{"taxonomy":"msr-region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-region?post=579961"},{"taxonomy":"msr-event-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-event-type?post=579961"},{"taxonomy":"msr-locale","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-locale?post=579961"},{"taxonomy":"msr-post-option","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-post-option?post=579961"},{"taxonomy":"msr-impact-theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-impact-theme?post=579961"},{"taxonomy":"msr-promo-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-promo-type?post=579961"},{"taxonomy":"msr-podcast-series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-podcast-series?post=579961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}