About the Program

The Designated Emphasis (DE) in Computational and Data Science and Engineering Program (CDSE) at the University of California, Berkeley trains students to use and manage scientific data, whether it is in analyzing complex physical systems or in using statistics and machine learning, along with data visualization to extract useful information from the massive amount of data that can be collected from sensors today. The CDSE program is committed to the development of new curricula and expanded programs aimed at the development and propagation of the use of numerical and computational tools to further research across multiple disciplines. To that end, the CDSE program will actively support the training and multidisciplinary education of scientists, engineers, and technical specialists who are experts in relevant areas.

The CDSE program crosses numerous disciplines, and participating departments include computer science, mathematics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, astronomy, neuroscience, and political science, among many others. Upon graduation, the student receives a “PhD in X with a Designated Emphasis in Computational Data Science and Engineering” on their transcript and diploma. This designation certifies that he or she has participated in and successfully completed a designated emphasis in addition to the departmental requirements for the PhD. Completion of the DE-CDSE will also be posted to the student’s transcript.

Some of the CDSE activities include:

• Identifying existing and encouraging the development of new courses that best serve to educate computational science and engineering students.
• Encouraging involvement in CDSE research activities by undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, and potentially by experienced professionals seeking to develop new skills that can benefit their careers.
• Supporting formal short “boot-camp” education programs involving both live and web-based course offerings, with certificates if completed.
• Supporting summer schools, seminar series, and tutorials.
• Integration of these activities with LBNL.

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Admissions

Applicants must already be students within a PhD program at UC Berkeley.

Students must be accepted into the program and petition to add the DE-CDSE before taking their Qualifying Exam.

Applicants for the DE-CDSE program are required to:

1. Submit an online application; for access to the application, please see the program's website.
   • With this form, the student must specify their proposed area of CDSE study and list which three courses they will take to fulfill the requirements.
   • Curriculum Vitae (CV)
   • Transcripts (most recent copy of all undergraduate and graduate transcripts) 
   • Letter of recommendation from their advisor
   • One-page statement about why they are applying to the program
2. The prospective student's Current Graduate Advisor must Initiate and Approve the "Graduate Petition for Change of Major or Degree Goal" form electronically (eform) in calcentral.berkeley.edu, instructions for Initiating and Approving the form can be found by clicking the links below:
   • How to initiate an eform: https://sis.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/cpp_grad_ja.pdf
   • How to evaluate an eform: https://sis.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/evaluate_an_acad_plan_cpp_eform_1.pdf

For further information regarding admission to graduate programs at UC Berkeley, please see the Graduate Division's Admissions website.

Designated Emphasis Requirements

Coursework/Curriculum

The student must take one course from each of the categories below; all courses taken to fulfill the DE requirements must be taken for a letter grade.

Qualifying Exam

Students must have a DE-CDSE component in their qualifying exam, with a DE-CDSE faculty member on the exam committee.

Dissertation

At least one member of the DE-CDSE faculty be on the dissertation committee.

Faculty and Instructors

Faculty

Pieter Abbeel, Associate Professor. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Control, Intelligent Systems, and Robotics (CIR), Machine Learning.
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Dmitris Achlioptas, Professor.

Ramakrishna Akella, Professor.

Venkatesh Akella, Professor.

George A. Akerlof, Professor. Economics, macroeconomics, poverty, family problems, crime, discrimination, monetary policy, German unification.
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Richard Allen, Professor. Seismology earthquakes earthquake hazard mitigation earth structure tomography natural hazards.
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Nina Amenta, Professor.

Rajeevan Amirtharajah, Professor.

Venkat Anantharam, Professor. Communications & Networking (COMNET), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Control, Intelligent Systems, and Robotics (CIR), Security (SEC), Signal Processing (SP).
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Affiliated Faculty

Ilan Adler, Professor. Financial engineering, optimization theory, combinatorial probability models.
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Alice M. Agogino, Professor. New product development, computer-aided design and databases, theory and methods, intelligent learning systems, information retrieval and data mining, digital libraries, multiobjective and strategic product, nonlinear optimization, probabilistic modeling, supervisory.
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Lisa Alvarez-Cohen, Professor. Environmental microbiology, biodegradation of environmental contaminants, microbial carbon cycling, molecular tools for microbial ecology, metagenomics, biological hazardous waste treatment, bioremediation of groundwater pollutants such as PCE, TCE, DCE, VC, TCA, DCA, MTBE, BTEX, PBDEs, NDMA, Dioxane, PFOS, PFOA, fire-fighting foams.
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Adam Arkin, Professor. Systems modeling.
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Francisco Armero, Professor. Computational mechanics, nonlinear continuum mechanics.
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Jonathan Arons, Professor Emeritus. Astrophysics, compact astrophysical objects, Neutron Stars, ionized plasmas, cosmic rays, magnetized accretion disks, black holes pulsars, magnetic fields, planets.
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Alper Atamturk, Professor. Logistics, integer programming, computational optimization, robust optimization.
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David M. Auslander, Professor Emeritus. Control systems, simulation, mechatronics, real time software, energy management, satellite attitude control, demand response, machine control.
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Ruzena Bajcsy, Professor. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Biosystems & Computational Biology (BIO), Control, Intelligent Systems, and Robotics (CIR), Graphics (GR), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Computer vision, Bridging information technology to humanities and social sciences, Security (SEC).
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Peter L. Bartlett, Professor. Statistics, machine learning, statistical learning theory, adaptive control.
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Alexandre M. Bayen, Professor. Transportation, modelling and control of distributed parameters systems, large scale infrastructure systems, water distribution.
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Francesco Borrelli, Associate Professor. Automotive control systems, distributed and robust constrained control, manufacturing control systems, energy efficient buildings, model predictive control .
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Henry Brady, Professor. Comparative politics, public policy, electoral politics, political participation, survey research, program evaluation, statistical methods in the social sciences, social welfare policy, Soviet Union, inequality in America.
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Jose M. Carmena, Professor. Brain-machine interfaces, neural ensemble computation, neuroprosthetics, sensorimotor learning and control.
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Willian D. Collins, Professor in Residence. Interactions of clouds and aerosols with solar and terrestrial radiation.

David E. Culler, Professor. Computer Architecture & Engineering (ARC), Energy (ENE), Operating Systems & Networking (OSNT),Programming Systems (PS), Security (SEC), Parallel architecture, High-performance networks, Workstation clusters.
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Yang Dan, Professor. Neuronal circuits, mammalian visual system, electrophysiological, psychophysical and computational techniques, visual cortical circuits, visual neurons.
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Armen Der Kiureghian, Professor Emeritus. Risk analysis, earthquake engineering, structural reliability, random vibrations .
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Michael Deweese, Assistant Professor. Machine learning, computation, systems neuroscience, auditory cortex, neural coding.
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Douglas S. Dreger, Professor. Wave propagation, geophysics, earth and planetary sciences, waveform data, geophysical inverse problems, seismic radiation, regional distance methodology, crustal structure affects on ground motions in the greater San Francisco Bay area.
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David Eisenbud, Professor. Mathematics, algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, computation.
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Laurent El Ghaoui, Professor. Decision-making under uncertainty, convex optimization, robust solutions, semidefinite programming, exhaustive simulation.
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Lawrence C. Evans, Professor. Optimization theory, nonlinear partial differential equations, calculus of variations.
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Steven N. Evans, Professor. Genetics, random matrices, superprocesses and other measure-valued processes, probability on algebraic structures -particularly local fields, applications of stochastic processes to biodemography, mathematical finance, phylogenetics and historical linguistics.
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Richard J. Fateman, Professor Emeritus. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Scientific Computing (SCI), Computer algebra systems, Programming environments and systems, Programming languages and compilers, Symbolic mathematical computation, Document image analysis, multimodal input of mathematics.
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Lee Fleming, Professor. Invention, innovation, patents, big data, leadership.
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Inez Fung, Professor. Global change, environmental policy, ecosystem scienes.
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Jack L. Gallant, Professor. Vision science, form vision, attention, fMRI, computational neuroscience, natural scene perception, brain encoding, brain decoding.
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+ Phillip Lewis Geissler, Professor. Statistical mechanics, theoretical chemistry, microscopic behavior of complex biological and material systems, biomolecular structure and dynamics, nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy.
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David B. Graves, Professor. Plasma processing and electronic materials.
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F. Alberto Grunbaum, Professor Emeritus. Medical imaging, x-ray crystallography, imaging of structures of biological interest, classical and quantum random walks, matrix valued orthogonal polynomials, quasi birth-and-death processes.
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+ Ole H. Hald, Professor. Mathematics, numerical analysis.
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Eugene E. Haller, Professor Emeritus. Semiconductor crystal growth, characterization of impurities and defects in semiconductors: infrared and microwave detectors, isotopically controlled semiconductors.
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Marti A. Hearst, Professor. Information retrieval, human-computer interaction, user interfaces, information visualization, web search, search user interfaces, empirical computational linguistics, natural language processing, text mining, social media.
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Carl E. Heiles, Professor Emeritus. Astronomy, interstellar medium, itsmorphology, supernovas, interstellar magnetic fields, Eridanus superbubble, interstellar gases.
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Paul N. Hilfinger, Teaching Professor. Programming Systems (PS), Scientific Computing (SCI), Software engineering, Parallel programming techniques.
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Dorit S. Hochbaum, Professor. Data mining, integer programming, discrete optimization, network flow techniques, clustering, image segmentation, machine vision, pattern recognition.
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Olga V. Holtz, Professor. Numerical analysis, matrix and operator theory, approximation theory, wavelets and splines, orthogonal polynomials and special functions, analysis of algorithms and computational complexity.
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Nicholas Jewell, Professor. AIDS, statistics, epidemiology, infectious diseases, Ebola Virus Disease, SARS, H1N1 influenza, adverse cardiovascular effects of pharmaceuticals, counting civilian casualties during conflicts.
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Michael I. Jordan, Professor. Computer science, artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, statistics, machine learning, electrical engineering, applied statistics, optimization.
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+ Richard Karp, Professor. Computational molecular biology, genomics, DNA molecules, structure of genetic regulatory networks, combinatorial and statsitical methods.
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Tony M. Keaveny, Professor. Biomechanics of bone, orthopaedic biomechanics, design of artificial joints, osteoporosis, finite element modeling, clinical biomechanics.
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Sung-Hou Kim, Professor. Computational genomics, Structural Biology, drug discovery, disease genomics.
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Richard I. Klein, Adjunct Professor. Astronomy, star formation, interstellar medium, coupled radiation-gas dynamical flows, supernova shockwaves, hydrodynamic collisions, high-energy astrophysics, photon bubble oscillations, hydro dynamics.
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Stanley A. Klein, Professor. Optometry, vision science, spatial vision modeling, psychophysical methods and vision test design, corneal topography and contact lens design, source localization of evoked potentials, fMRI, amblyopia.
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Robert Thomas Knight, Professor. Cognitive neuroscience, language, physiology, memory, attention, psychology, working memory, neuropsychology, human prefrontal cortex, neural mechanisms of cognitive processing, sensory gating, sustained attention, ad novelty detection.
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Edward A. Lee, Professor. Embedded Software, Real-Time Systems, Cyber-Physical Systems, Concurrency, Design, Modeling and Analysis (DMA), Programming Systems (PS),Signal Processing (SP).
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William Lester, Professor Emeritus. Theoretical and physical chemistry, advances in basic theory, computational methods, study of molecular electronic structure, quantum Monte Carlo method, Born-Oppenheimer approximation.
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Roya Maboudian, Professor. Surface and interfacial science and engineering, thin-film science and technology, micro-/nano-systems technology, harsh-environment sensors, silicon carbide, biologically-inspired materials synthesis.
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Philip Marcus, Professor. Algorithms, fluid mechanics, nonlinear dynamics, atmospheric flows, convection, ocean flows, numerical analysis, turbulence, planet formation, internal gravity waves, inertial waves, desalination.
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Christopher F. Mckee, Professor Emeritus. Astrophysics, interstellar medium, formation of stars, astrophysical fluid dynamics, computational astrophysics, astrophysical blast waves, supernova remnants, interstellar shocks.
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Sara Mcmains, Associate Professor. Geometric and solid modeling, general purpose computation on the GPU (GPGPU), CAD/CAM, computational geometry, layered manufacturing, computer graphics and visualization, virtual prototyping, virtual reality.
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Burkhard Militzer, Associate Professor. Saturn, structure and evolution of Jupiter, and extrasolar giant planets.
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William H. Miller, Professor Emeritus. Theoretical chemistry, chemical dynamics, quantum mechanical and semiclassical theories, dynamical chemical processes at the molecular level, photodissociation, femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy, calculations of rate constants for chemical reactions.
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Joel E. Moore, Professor. Physics, nanotubes, condensed matter theory, the properties of, electron-electron interactions, zero-temperature phase transitions, interaction effects in nanoscale devices, quantum phase transitions.
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Clark Nguyen, Professor. Micro/Nano Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), Integrated Circuits (INC), Physical Electronics (PHY), Design, Modeling and Analysis (DMA).
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+ Deborah Nolan, Professor. Statistics, empirical process, high-dimensional modeling, technology in education.
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James O'Brien, Professor. Computer graphics, fluid dynamics, computer simulation, physically based animation, finite element simulation, human perception, image forensics, video forensics, computer animation, special effects for film, video game technology, motion capture .
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+ Oliver O'Reilly, Professor. Continuum mechanics, vibrations, dynamics.
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Bruno Olshausen, Professor. Visual perception, computational neuroscience, computational vision.
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Shmuel S. Oren, Professor. Economics, algorithms, financial engineering, risk management, planning, optimization, operation of electric power systems, market based coordination of network systems, trading instruments.
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Lior Pachter, Professor. Mathematics, applications of statistics, combinatorics to problems in biology.
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Per-Olof Persson, Associate Professor. Applied mathematics, numerical methods, computational fluid and solid mechanics.
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Thomas M. (Zack) Powell, Professor Emeritus. Aquatic ecology, fish, Invertebrates, oceanography, lakes, estuaries, ocean, planktonic ecosystems, climate, remote sensing.
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Eliot Quataert, Professor. Compact objects, theoretical astrophysics, theoretical physics, black holes, accretion theory, plasma physics, high energy astrophysics, galaxies, stars.
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John A. Rice, Professor Emeritus. Transportation, astronomy, statistics, functional data analysis, time series analysis.
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Mark A. Richards, Professor. Crustal deformation, earth and planetary sciences, mantle convection, large-scale mantle structure, rotational dynamics and gravity fields of terrestrial planets, history and dynamics of global plate motions, igneous processes in the mantle and deep crust.
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Barbara A. Romanowicz, Professor. Earth and planetary science, deep earth structure and dynamics, earthquake processes and scaling laws, real time estimation of earthquake parameters, development of modern broadband seismic and geophysical observatories, planetary seismology.
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David Romps, Assistant Professor. Climate, atmosphere, atmospheric science, weather, clouds, fluid dynamics.
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Austin John Roorda, Professor. Adaptive optics, eye, vision, ophthalmoscopy, scanning laser ophthalmoscope, ophthalmology.
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Jaijeet Roychowdhury, Professor. Design, Modeling and Analysis (DMA), Scientific Computing (SCI), Biosystems & Computational Biology (BIO).
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Stuart Russell, Professor. Artificial intelligence, computational biology, algorithms, machine learning, real-time decision-making, probabilistic reasoning.
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S. Shankar Sastry, Professor. Computer science, robotics, arial robots, cybersecurity, cyber defense, homeland defense, nonholonomic systems, control of hybrid systems, sensor networks, interactive visualization, robotic telesurgery, rapid prototyping.
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David Schaffer, Professor. Neuroscience, biomolecular engineering, bioengineering, stem cell biology, gene therapy.
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Lee W. Schruben, Professor. Health care systems, simulation, optimization of simulation system response, foundations of simulation modeling, supply chains, experimental designs, biopharmaceuticals, Production.
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Jasjeet S. Sekhon, Professor. Program evaluation, statistical and computational methods, causal inference, elections, public opinion, American politics .
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Alistair Sinclair, Professor. Theory (THY), Randomized algorithms, applied probability, statistical physics.
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Kimmen Sjolander, Professor. Computational biology, algorithms, phylogenetic tree reconstruction, protein structure prediction, multiple sequence alignment, evolution, bioinformatics, hidden Markov models, metagenomics, statistical modeling, phylogenomics, emerging and neglected diseases, machine-learning, genome annotation, metagenome annotation, systems biology, functional site prediction, ortholog identification.
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Rachel Slaybaugh, Assistant Professor. Computational methods, high performance computing, neutron transport.
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Mark Stacey, Professor. Environmental fluid mechanics, transport and mixing in stratified flows, dynamics of estuaries, lakes and the coastal ocean, interdisciplinary applications of environmental fluid mechanics .
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Philip B. Stark, Professor. Astrophysics, law, statistics, litigation, causal inference, inverse problems, geophysics, elections, uncertainty quantification, educational technology.
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David Steigmann, Professor. Finite elasticity, mechanics, continuum, shell theory, variational methods, stability, surface stress, capillary phenomena, mechanics of thin films.
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Bernd Sturmfels, Professor. Mathematics, combinatorics, computational algebraic geometry.
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Hayden Taylor, Assistant Professor. Manufacturing, microfabrication, nanofabrication, semiconductor manufacturing, computational mechanics, nanoimprint lithography.
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Frederic Theunissen, Professor. Behavior, cognition, brain, psychology, birdsong, vocal learning, audition, neurophysiology, speech perception, computational neuroscience, theoretical neuroscience.
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Martin Wainwright, Professor. Statistical machine learning, High-dimensional statistics, information theory, Optimization and algorithmss .
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K. Birgitta Whaley, Professor. Chemistry, physical and theoretical chemistry, cluster and nano science, quantum information and computations, quantum mechanics of clusters and advanced materials, elucidating and manipulating chemical dynamics in strongly quantum environments.
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Paul K. Wright, Professor. Mechanical and electrical engineering design, 3D-printing, manufacturing, energy systems, wireless sensor networks, sensors/MEMS/NEMS, IT systems, automated manufacturing and inspection.
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Ting Xu, Associate Professor. Polymer, nanocomposite, biomaterial, membrane, directed self-assembly, drug delivery, protein therapeutics, block copolymers, nanoparticles.
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Lotfi A. Zadeh, Professor Emeritus. Artificial intelligence, linguistics, control theory, logic, fuzzy sets, decision analysis, expert systems neural networks, soft computing, computing with words, computational theory of perceptions and precisiated natural language.
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Avideh Zakhor, Professor. Signal Processing (SP), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Control, Intelligent Systems, and Robotics (CIR), Graphics (GR).
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Maciej Zworski, Professor. Mathematics, partial differential equations, mathematical physics, mathematical aspects of quantum mechanics, scattering theory, microlocal analysis.
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Laurel G. Larsen, Associate Professor. Hydroecology, geomorphology, complex systems, restoration ecology, environmental modeling, wetlands, sediment transport, environmental fluid mechanics.
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