LONDON — Three exceptional young researchers in machine learning have been recognized with the prestigious ELLIS PhD Award for their groundbreaking contributions to artificial intelligence. Anastasiia Koloskova from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Luigi Gresele from the University of Tübingen and Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems received the main prize, while Jonathan Richard Schwarz from University College London (UCL) was awarded the runner-up honor. The award, supported by Kühborth Stiftung GmbH, celebrates outstanding doctoral research in artificial intelligence and machine learning fields.

Recognizing Exceptional Contributions

The competition for the ELLIS PhD Award was particularly strong this year, leading to the inclusion of a runner-up for the first time. The winners’ groundbreaking work stood out for its technical depth, theoretical significance, and practical impact, advancing the boundaries of AI research.

Anastasiia Koloskova (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, EPFL)

Dr. Koloskova’s PhD research, supervised by Professor Martin Jaggi, focused on creating novel algorithms and techniques for privacy-preserving and distributed machine learning. Her work improved the efficiency and scalability of decentralized collaborative learning systems while advancing optimization theory with innovative proof methods. Dr. Koloskova’s contributions have earned her accolades, including EPFL’s Doctoral Program Thesis Distinction award and a Google PhD Fellowship.

“I am deeply honored to receive the ELLIS PhD Award and grateful to my advisors, Martin Jaggi and Sebastian Stich, for their guidance and support,” said Dr. Koloskova, who is now a Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford University.

Luigi Gresele (University of Tübingen and Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems)

Dr. Gresele’s work explored the intersection of machine learning and causality, focusing on identifiability in representation learning and causal inference. His PhD dissertation introduced new identifiability results and estimation methods, with applications in fields like neuroimaging. His research was conducted under the supervision of Bernhard Schölkopf and included collaborations across European institutions.

“I feel incredibly honored by this recognition. Working alongside brilliant researchers across institutions has greatly shaped my thesis,” said Dr. Gresele, who is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen.

Jonathan Richard Schwarz (University College London, UCL)

Dr. Schwarz’s PhD research, conducted in partnership with DeepMind, focused on sparse parameterizations and their efficiency in large-scale systems. His work spanned generative models, continual learning, language modeling, and neural data compression. Despite balancing a full-time role at DeepMind and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Schwarz’s innovative contributions stood out.

“As the first person in my family to attend university, this recognition is incredibly humbling. It marks the culmination of a challenging yet rewarding journey,” said Dr. Schwarz, now Head of AI Research at Thomson Reuters.

The ELLIS PhD Award honors outstanding doctoral research in AI and machine learning conducted at European institutions. The selection committee evaluates dissertations for technical depth, theoretical contributions, and potential impact.

“The quality of PhDs in Europe is outstanding, and this year’s submissions were exceptionally strong. For the first time, we introduced a runner-up honor to recognize the remarkable talent,” said Bernt Schiele, chair of the selection process for the ELLIS PhD Award.

The Kühborth Stiftung GmbH supports the ELLIS PhD Award to promote excellence in AI research. The foundation, established by Dr. Wolfgang and Helga Kühborth, aims to advance teaching and research in technical and economic sciences, fostering innovation and collaboration in Europe.

Learn more about the ELLIS PhD Award and the next nomination process at ellis.eu. The nomination deadline for 2025 is April 15. For questions, please send an email to phd-award@ellis.eu.