Speaker: Prof. John Shawe-Taylor (University of Southampton)

When/Where: March 4, Thursday, 16:00--17:00, Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre 

Title: Patterns in Data: from Kepler to the age of information

Abstract: 
Finding patterns in data is discussed as an important aspect of
scientific advance. The surfeit of information now readily available across
a wide range of disciplines and commercial areas heightens the need to
automate and accelerate this process. Placed in a historical context we
review the current challenges of pattern analysis highlighting the
statistical questions it raises and discussing some partial answers.

Bio:
John Shawe-Taylor obtained a PhD in Mathematics at Royal Holloway,
University of London in 1986. He subsequently completed an MSc in
the Foundations of Advanced Information Technology at Imperial
College. He was promoted to Professor of Computing Science in
1996. He has published over 150 research papers. He recently
moved to the University of Southampton, where he heads the ISIS
research group. He has coordinated a number of European wide projects
investigating the theory and practice of Machine Learning,
including the NeuroCOLT projects. He is currently the coordinator
of a Framework VI Network of Excellence in Pattern Analysis,
Statistical Modelling and Computational Learning (PASCAL)
involving 57 partners. He is co-author an 'Introduction to Support
Vector Machines', the first comprehensive account of this new
generation of machine learning algorithms.