Yusu Wang

Professor, HDSI @ UCSD
Director, NSF National AI Institute TILOS

My CV is available here.

Research interests

Main research areas:

Geometric algorithms and topological data analysis, graph analysis and learning, geometric deep learning

Key application areas:

Chip design, neuroscience, material science and molecular biology

High level description:

Developing effective and theoretically justified algorithms to analyze complex data using geometric and topological ideas and methods, and
Integrating algorithmic, geometric, and topological methods with modern machine learning frameworks, especially in graph learning and in geometric deep learning.
An important theme of my work is to apply theoretical insights obtained to develop effective machine learning methods for practical domains, including chip design, material science, neuroscience, and computational biology.

Textbook:

Computational Topology for Data Analysis. T. K. Dey and Y. Wang. Cambridge University Press, 452 pages, May 2022. [A free PDF version can be downloaded here.]

Honors and Awards

ACM Distinguished Member (2021)
Best Paper Award, ACM SIGSPATIAL GIS, 2015
Best Student Paper Award, Conf. Learning Theory (COLT), 2015
Lumley Research Award, College of Engineering, OSU, 2011
A Best Paper Award, EuroVis 2010
U. S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Award, 2008
Top Reviewer for journal Computational Geometry: Theory and Applciations , 2008
U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) Early Career Principal Investigator (ECPI) Award, 2006
Best PhD Dissertation Award, CS Dept, Duke, 2004
Department Service Award, Duke University (2002-2003)

Recent and Selected Invited Talks

NeurIPS Workshop on New Perspectives in Advancing Graph Machine Learning, Invited speaker, 2025.
LNBL Workshop on Network Algorithms, Analysis, and Learning for Science, Invited speaker, 2025.
The Geometric Realization of AATRN Workshop at IMSI, Invited speaker, 2025.
Simon's Institute Workshop on Graph Learning Meets Theoretical Computer Science, Invited speaker, 2025.
The 11th Conference in the ATMCS Series (ATMCS 11), Invited speaker, 2025.
SIAM Conference on Applied Algebraic Geometry (AG 25), Plenary talk, 2025.
ISI Winter School on Deep Learning, Plenary talk, 2025.
JMM AMS Special Session on Geometric and Combinatorial Methods in Deep Learning Theory, Invited speaker, 2025.
Frontiers of Geometric Algorithms Workshop, Invited speaker, 2024.
Tutorial, Algorithmic Foundations of Machine Learning at IISc, 2024.
Learning on Graphs (LoG) Conference, Keynote Speaker, 2024.
Seminar, Machine learning and analytics group, LBNL (Lawrence Berkeley National Laborary), 2024.
BLISS Seminar, UC Berkeley, 2024.
4th workshop on Computational Persistence, Keynote speaker, 2024.
MMB Online seminar, 2024.
Stats and Data Science Seminar, UCLA, 2024.
D3B Seminar, Allen Institute, 2024.
PNNL (Pacific Northwest National Lab) Workshop on Mathematics for Artificial Reasoning in Science, invited speaker, 2024.
Panelist on "Math for AI" panel, PNNL Workshop on Mathematics for Artificial Reasoning in Science, 2024.
IMSI Workshop on Learning Collective Variables and Coarse-Grained Models, 2024.
AI Seminar, Georgia Tech, 2024.
SIAM International Meshing Round Table (IMR), Plenary speaker, 2024.
Math Seminar, Cal Tech, 2024.
IPAM Workshop on Mathematical Approaches for Connectome Analysis, 2024.
GEOTOP-A International Conference on Applications of Geometry and Topology, Keynote speaker, 2024.
Panelist on the "AI Panel" during San Diego Innovation Day, Sept 2023.
ICML Workshop on TAG-ML (Topology, Algebra and Geometry -- Machine Learning), Keynote speaker, 2023.
MSRI-UCSD Summer School on ML: Organizer and lectures, 2023
Workshop on Discrete and Compuational Geometry, Shape Analysis and applications at Rutgers, 2023
Dagstuhl Workshop on Topological Data Analysis and Applications, 2023
IMSI Workshop on Randomness in Topology, 2023
AMS Southeastern Sectional Meeting, Plenary speaker, 2023
ML-EDA research group at Samsung, 2023
Oxford University Mathematical Brain Modeling Seminar, 2023
Mini-course on Some Theoretical Aspects of Graph Neural Networks (and Higher Order Variants) at Institute Henri Poincare (IHP), 2022.
IHP (Institute Henri Poincare) Workshop on Geometry, Topology and Statistics in Data Sciences, 2022.
Joint Joint AATRN/STMS Seminar Series, 2022
Summer Geometry Initiative (SGI) at MIT, 2022.
Union College Mathematics Conferences, Plenary speaker, 2022.
AWM Research Symposium Special Session on Women in Computational Topology, 2022.
Women in Data Science (WiDS) Ames Regional Event, 2022.
MADDD (Mathematics of Data and Decisions at Davis) Seminar, UC Davis, 2022.
IMSI Workshop on The Mathematics of Soft Matter, 2022.
OT-SDM (Optimal Transport and Structured Data Modeling) Workshop, 2022.
Centre for Topological Data Analysis Seminar, Oxford University, 2021.
Center for Computer Graphics and Geometric Computing Seminar, Technion University, 2021.
Asia-Pacific Applied Topology and Geometry Seminar, 2021.
Topological Insights in Neuroscience Workshop at MSRI (Mathematical Sciences Research Institute), 2021.
Topological Data Analysis Workshop at ISMI (Institute for Statistical and Mathematical Innovation), 2021.
Bioengineering Seminar, George Mason University, 2021.
Thematic Mini-Conference on Computational Topology and Machine Learning, 2021.
Vietories-Rips Seminar, AATRN, 2021.
Waseda Cherry Blossom Workshop on Topological Data Science, 2021.
Computational Persistence workshop, Purdue University, 2021.
Topological Data Analysis and Beyond workshop at NeurIPS, 2020.
CMSE Colloquium, Michigan State University, 2020.
Canadian Conference on Computational Geometry (CCCG), 2020. Plenary speaker, delivered the Godfried Toussaint Memorial Lecture.
Computational aspects of learning and processing metrical data Workshop at CG-Week, 2020.
Statistical Topological Data Analysis Workshop, KAUST, 2020.
34th Summer Conf. Topology and its Applications, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2019. Semi-plenary speaker.
Workshop on Algebraic Methods in Discrete and Computational Geometry , dedicated to Richard Pollack, in Memoriam. CG-Week, Portland, Oregon, 2019.
8th Mini-sym. Comput. Topology, CG-Week, Portland, Oregon, 2019.
IPAM Workshop on Geometry of Big Data, 2019.
TRIPODS Center Seminar, U. Arizona, 2019.
AMS special session on Topological Data Analysis, Joint Math Meetings, 2019.
6th Mini-Symposium on Computational Topology, CG-Week, Australia, 2017. Keynote speaker.
International Workshop on Topological Data Analysis in Biomedicine (TDA-Bio), part of ACM BCB, 2016. Keynote speaker.
48th Spring Topology and Dynamics Conference, Richmond, VA, 2014. Plenary speaker.
Workshop SIGMA at CIRM, Marseille, France, 2012. Plenary speaker.