Presenter: Professor Evgeny Burnaev
Affiliation: Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Russia)
Meeting Venue: Activity Center 320
Report Time: 14:00-15:00 on Friday, April 11, 2025
Inviter: Professor Zhang Weinan
Host: Professor Zhang Weinan
Topology strikes back: everything you always wanted to know about the shape of your data, but were afraid to ask
Abstract: Real-world data has form, and form "makes a difference". However, standard machine learning methods often do not take into account the shape of the data. In turn, modern topological data analysis methods precisely analyze the form of the data as its most important property. In the presentation, we will discuss how topological data analysis works. We will show how topological features make it possible to describe the shape of data and significantly increase the efficiency of machine learning models for processing information from seemingly completely different areas - text data and speech data. Based on a new topological measure of similarity, an approach will be described for constructing a low-dimensional description of a data shape that has the property of "disentanglement”, i.e., when various parameters of this description are automatically responsible for different properties of the data, which makes it possible to increase the interpretability of machine learning models.
Bio:Evgeny Burnaev is the Director of Skoltech Artificial Intelligence Center, Professor, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and a member of the Scientific Council of the AI Alliance.
His research interests focus on the mathematical foundations of generative AI and the development of predictive analytics technologies, including industrial applications. Between 2019 and 2025, Professor Burnaev published around 120 scientific papers, over 60 of which appeared in top-tier journals and A/A* AI-conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, CVPR, etc.). For the second consecutive year, he is listed among the top 2% of the world’s most cited researchers, according to Stanford University and Elsevier.
Previously, Evgeny led the Laboratory for Intelligent Data Analysis and Predictive Modeling at the Institute for Information Transmission Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IITP RAS). In parallel, Evgeny collaborated with Huawei, Airbus, SAFT, IHI, Sahara Force India (Formula 1), and other industrial partners. These collaborations, ongoing since 2007, have given him extensive experience in deploying machine learning methods in real-world industrial systems.
Since 2021, Evgeny has headed Skoltech Applied AI Center — launched as part of the National “Digital Economy” Project with support from the Analytical Center under the Government of the Russian Federation and various industry partners. In late 2024, the center was rebranded as the Skoltech Artificial Intelligence Center, bringing together all existing university research groups and labs dedicated to AI technologies.
Among Professor Burnaev’s awards are the Moscow Government Award for Young Scientists in the category “Transmission, Storage, Processing, and Protection of Information,” the Yandex Ilya Segalovich Award in the “Scientific Supervisors” category, and numerous best paper honors (including research in esports and geometric data analysis). In 2024, he received the Government of the Russian Federation Award in Science and Technology, departmental insignia of the Autonomous non-profit organization «Digital Economy» for «Significant contribution to the development of scientific research in the field of artificial intelligence», departmental insignia of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation «Gratitude of the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation» for achievements in the development of Artificial Intelligence, as well as the Sber Science Award in the “Digital Universe” nomination.