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The two researchers from the Empirical Inference and Haptic Intelligence Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems are among 650 young scientists from across the world who are given the opportunity to participate in a week of scientific exchange with some of the world’s greatest minds.
Tübingen/Stuttgart/Lindau – Zhijing Jin, a doctoral researcher at MPI-IS Tübingen, and Andrew Schulz, a postdoc at MPI-IS Stuttgart, were selected to attend this year’s 73rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. From June 30 to July 5, 2024, Zhijing and Andrew will be among 650 young scientists from more than 90 countries who will be able to meet each other and around 30 Nobel Laureates in person.
“I have wanted to be a great scientist since childhood. This honor to be selected as a Young Scientist at the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting really helps me to be one step closer to my dream,” says Zhijing Jin. “I really appreciate the support from MPI-IS, recognizing my work and endorsing me to represent our institute at this once-in-a-lifetime prestigious event for junior scientists.”
“I have always been fascinated by the physics of the living systems that surround us each day and I am so excited to meet and connect with scientists from all around the world. I am incredibly grateful to the MPI-IS community, especially to my mentor Dr. Katherine J. Kuchenbecker, for the constant support and endorsement for this event. I look forward to the scientific event of a lifetime,” says Andrew Schulz.
Since 1951, the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings has made a name for itself as a unique international scientific forum, enabling exchange between generations, disciplines, and cultures.
Zhijing Jin has prominent work on artificial intelligence, natural language processing (NLP), and causal inference. Having authored over 50 papers, many of which appear at top AI conferences (e.g., ACL, EMNLP, NAACL, NeurIPS, ICLR, AAAI), she has received three Rising Star awards, two PhD Fellowships, and wide recognition by the NLP community, which is rare for a junior scientist at a young age of 26.
“AI has brought lots of break-throughs these years, but also introduced unprecedented challenges for science and society. I aspire to connect AI technology, more specifically the rapid rise of large language models, better with social needs, by making the AI algorithms more reliable and transparent, and also in the meantime reducing their unintended harm and ethical problems.” In addition to her technical research on Responsible AI, Zhijing is also a dedicated community-builder, co-leading five workshops on Responsible AI across various AI conferences, including the NLP for Positive Impact Workshop at EMNLP 2024, and Moral AI Workshop at NeurIPS 2023.
Meanwhile, Andrew Schulz has prominent work in the field of comparative biomechanics, tissue engineering, and engineering-zoo collaborations. Andrew has given over 30 international invited talks on five continents on topics ranging from bio-inspired robotics of the elephant to creating skin mimics for new materials. Andrew’s work has been featured in hundreds of news articles from over 40 countries around the world including articles in the New York Times and Science Friday. His work on biomechanics of elephant trunks is currently on display at the American Museum of Natural History visited by millions per year.
Previously, Andrew obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics from Oklahoma State University and then immediately started his Ph.D. at Georgia Institute of Technology in Mechanical Engineering working with Dr. David Hu. After finishing in 2022, he moved to pursue a postdoctoral position at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems where he is an IMPRS-IS Associated Scientist and in 2024 began his position as an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow. He has worked to advocate for scientists that struggle with mental health, advocating for others who have experienced challenges with neurodiversity helping make scientific communities more accessible for those with ADHD and Autism.
Meanwhile, Zhijing obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Hong Kong with First Class Honors, and then started her Ph.D. directly with the Max Planck Institute for Intelligence Systems with a special exemption to skip the Master’s degree due to her excellence in research. “I am really grateful to have received lots of help and mentorship support in my academic journey,” says Zhijing. “This Lindau Meeting will further have a profound impact on me, and inspire me to be a better scientist. I also look forward to passing on the knowledge and inspirations gained from the Meeting to more people through mentoring and sharing.” Zhijing is very active in helping diversity and mentorship, as she co-leads the ACL Year-Round Mentorship Program from 2021, a global network providing mentorship suggestions to hundreds of students all over the world interested in NLP research.
Find out more about the Meeting here.