AIMS South Africa Newsletter October 2024

[Linda Camara]

Two collaborators win Nobel Prizes    John Hopfield was Sanjoy Mahajan's PhD supervisor and was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics “for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks”. Sanjoy was our first Curriculum Director when AIMS opened its doors two decades ago, and he taught Bayesian Inference as our first course in the 2024-5 academic year! Press release here.    Demis Hassabis is Google DeepMind's CEO, and co-authored papers with our director, Ulrich Paquet. He was awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for protein structure prediction” and is a supporter of our AI for Science stream! Press release here.       John Hopfield. Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach       Demis Hassabis. Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach    First program chair ever from Africa for NeurIPS    Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) is one of the three primary conferences of high impact in machine learning and artificial intelligence research, machine learning and computational neuroscience. It is the largest of the flagship AI conferences and will be held in Vancouver in December.    For the first time since 1987, one of NeurIPS's program chairs is based in Africa! Our director, Ulrich Paquet, is one of the five program chairs, along with Angela Fan (Meta), Cheng Zhang (Meta), Danielle Belgrave (GSK.ai) and Jakub Tomczak (Eindhoven University of Technology/CZI).       The conference received 20,000 paper submissions, and the program chairs coordinated a team of 200 senior area chairs, 1,400 area chairs and 15,000 reviewers! To host NeurIPS, one would have to glue four copies of the Cape Town International Convention Centre together to get enough floor space.      AIMS is proud to be an integral part of the world's premier AI conference! AIMS Network News          Exciting News! AIMS has received the prestigious 2023 Academy Prize from Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique. Prof. Neil Turok, AIMS founder & Prof. Sam Yala, President of the AIMS Global Network, proudly accepted the award on behalf of the 6 Centres of Excellence on 5 October 2024.       Read more    Student Updates    Structured Master’s students completed: Programming with Python (Jan Hązła, German Research Chair, AIMS Rwanda) and Problem-Solving in Physics: Geometry of Electromagnetism (Tevian Dray & Corinne Manogue, Oregon State University).    AI for Science Stream students completed: Computer Vision (Willie Brink, Stellenbosch University) and Applied Machine Learning at Scale (Ulrich Paquet, AIMS South Africa).    January 2024 Intake students submitted their research projects on 24 October 2024.    A cohort of AIMS South Africa students also had the opportunity to attend a one-day Design Thinking workshop at the Hasso Plattner d-school Afrika at UCT on 30 October 2024.       Students had the opportunity to visit the three partner universities at which they are registered. The UCT visit took place on 28 October, UWC on 31 October and SU on 1 November.                 Automatic detection for bioacoustic research Dr Emmanuel Dufourq was part of a recent publication that represents a significant step forward in applying artificial intelligence (AI) to bioacoustics. A diverse team of researchers from around the globe joined forces to address current challenges and explore future possibilities for integrating AI within bioacoustic research. This work highlights the importance of bridging expertise across fields to foster innovation.       Read more       ‘Cosmic inflation’: did the early cosmos balloon in size? A mirror universe going backwards in time may be a simpler explanation We are proud to share an intriguing article by AIMS founder Prof. Neil Turok, Higgs Chair of Theoretical Physics, University of Edinburgh, on The Conversation.          Read more       Machine Learning for Ecology Group Updates       Matthew Van den Berg recently had the privilege of presenting his scientific poster, "Posture Estimation for the African Penguin," at AI Expo Africa 2024. This opportunity arose after he was recognised as the runner-up for his poster presentation at IndabaX South Africa earlier in the year, which awarded him a VIP ticket and the platform to present his work at the expo. Presenting allowed Matthew to share his research with a wider audience and engage with leading experts in the industry.     He expressed, "I believe I brought something different to the table in terms of the use cases for AI in Africa." His participation highlighted his unique perspective on the applications of AI, particularly in the context of African wildlife conservation.    Tomás Gueifão, a Master’s student in the Group, successfully defended his thesis titled ‘Automatic detection of beaked whale echolocation clicks via convolutional neural networks’. He will graduate with a Master;s in Biostatistics from the University of Lisbon.          AIMS Women in STEM: Inspiring Insights from Prof. Corinne Manogue       On 25 October, the AIMS Women in STEM initiative welcomed Prof. Corinne Manogue as a special guest mentor for its monthly session. Prof. Manogue, a distinguished physicist from Oregon State University, was visiting AIMS as a lecturer.  The theme for the session was, “Mentoring for Personal & Professional Development.” She shared her personal and professional journey during the event, focusing on resilience, identity, and the pursuit of passion.    Read more    Unlocking Potential Imagine attending a school labelled the ‘worst performing school in South Africa.’ How would that impact your sense of identity and potential in mathematical and algorithmic thinking? AIMS South Africa is committed to catering to inquisitive minds. We instil the joy of learning and help learners experience success as they understand it.      It was an indescribable privilege to serve the brilliant young minds of Crestway High School on 12 October 2024.       Read more    Honouring Success Through Partnership and Compassion On 11 October 2024, Dr Sinobia Kenny, AIMSSEC Academic Manager, was honoured to be a special guest at the Grade 12 Valedictory Ceremony at Lavender Hill High School, an event filled with emotion and inspiration.       Read more    Uniting learners – Assisting with the transition from primary to high school On 26 October 2024, a unique gathering took place at Crestway High School, bringing together learners from Lourier Primary School and Crestway High, united by a common interest in computational thinking. This event took a novel approach by mixing different ages in a cross-age setup, allowing them to collaborate on constructing algorithms. This format fostered a sense of camaraderie, encouraging them to share and inspire each other with new ideas.             Read more       Teaching tip for lecturers!       Professors Corinne Manogue and Tevian Dray returned to AIMS South Africa with additional resources for academic lecturers. These include large and small whiteboards for students to share their thinking and make their learning visible. You are welcome to use the boards. Please email sin...@aimssec.ac.za, and we can provide them for your use in the AIMS building or visit us at our AIMSSEC offices. Have a try and see what happens!       ANNOUNCEMENTS Invitation: Public Lecture on the Mathematics & Arts of Paper Folding [Origami]       We are hiring!       We have open positions for:    A Machine Learning Researcher: Earth Observation & Ecology (open until filled.)     A Mathematics Innovation Manager (Application Deadline: 15 November 2024)     A STEM Education Lead (Application Deadline: 15 November 2024)    Please see our applications page for more details!    Read more    Have you ever wondered how Origami, the traditional Japanese art of folding paper, is connected to mathematics? Now’s your chance to find out!      Join Us to Learn, Network, Collaborate and Create Your Own Origami Model      📅 Date: 14 November 2024  ⏰ Time: 18:30 - 20:30  [Lecture, Folding Workshop & Refreshments]  🏛️ Venue: AIMS Lecture Hall  📌 Address: 6 Melrose Road, Muizenberg, Cape Town, 7950  🅿️Parking is available at Muizenberg Pavilion, Beach Rd, Muizenberg.      Registration: Attendance is free, but registration is required.  Limited spaces available: https://forms.gle/L4fS9jGgt1BvK8j49    January 2025 Intake: Applications OPEN          APPLY       Click here to unsubscribe from our mailing list.