Focus Period Lund 2026 Optimization for Learning

Visiting scholars

During the focus period we invited visiting scholars to stay in our environment at Lund University for 3-5 weeks to network through seminars, organised common activities, and informal day-to-day interaction, with the aim of initialising collaborations and formulating novel research challenges.

During the focus period, we invite visiting scholars to spend time in our environment at Lund University to build new connections and seed new collaborations in optimization for learning. The program is organized into two three-week parts, overlapping in the middle symposium week, so participants benefit both from an intensive shared event and extended time for in-depth interaction and joint work.

Outside the symposium week, each part combines short and regular research talks with plenty of structured and informal interaction—matchmaking sessions to connect people with complementary interests, mini-course lectures to build shared foundations, and dedicated time for breakouts and collaborative working sessions. The goal is to create a lively, collaborative atmosphere that turns conversations into concrete research directions, supported by informal social activities that keep ideas and collaborations growing beyond the seminar room.

The list of visiting scholars will be updated continuously.

Part 1

April 20 – May 8

Ahmet Alacaoglu

Ahmet Alacaoglu

Aaron Defazio

Aaron Defazio

- Invited Speaker - Research Scientist at FAIR

Michael Timothy Crawshaw

Michael Timothy Crawshaw

PhD Student at George Mason University

Rustem Islamov

Rustem Islamov

PhD Student at University of Basel

Manish Krishan Lal

Manish Krishan Lal

Postdoctoral Researcher at TU Munich

Frederik Kunstner

Frederik Kunstner

Postdoctoral Researcher at INRIA Paris

Bingcong Li

Bingcong Li

Postdoctoral Research Associate at ETH Zurich

Nicolas Loizou

Nicolas Loizou

- Invited Speaker - Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University

Henry Shugart

Henry Shugart

PhD Student at University of Pennsylvania

Manu Upadhyaya

Manu Upadhyaya

Postdoc at INRIA Paris

Alp Yurtsever

Alp Yurtsever

- Invited Speaker - Assistant Professor at Umeå University

Part 2

May 6 – May 22

Kimon Antonakopoulos

Kimon Antonakopoulos

Postdoctoral Researcher at EPFL

Jaeyoung Cha

Jaeyoung Cha

PhD Student at KAIST

Alex Damian

Alex Damian

- Invited Speaker - Research Fellow at Kempner Institute at Harvard University

Ilyas Fatkhullin

Ilyas Fatkhullin

PhD Student at ETH Zurich and ETH AI Center Fellow

Yan Gao

Yan Gao

PhD Student at Saarland University and CISPA

Kaja Gruntkowska

Kaja Gruntkowska

PhD Student at KAUST

Guy Kornowski

Guy Kornowski

PhD Student at Weizmann Institute of Science

Hanmin Li

Hanmin Li

PhD Student at KAUST

Hooman Maskan

Hooman Maskan

Postdoctoral Researcher at Uppsala University

Henry Shugart

Henry Shugart

PhD Student at University of Pennsylvania

Manu Upadhyaya

Manu Upadhyaya

Postdoc at INRIA Paris