Saarland University Computer Science Professor wins ERC Grant

Measurements with the world’s largest particle accelerator, customer information on the Internet, gene sequences in biology and medicine - vast amounts of data emerge in the fields of research and business. It is not possible to evaluate these data manually. Therefore it is becoming more and more important for industry and science both to search these complex data for patterns automatically, and to evaluate them automatically.

Matthias Hein, Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics at Saarland University, has received a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant of 1.27 million euros over 5 years to improve the methods for automatic data analysis. Working in the field of machine learning Professor Hein’s research group will use methods which mathematicians subsume under the term “Nonlinear Eigenproblems” for the analysis of complex data, his research group

“With nonlinear eigenproblems, we not only get better solutions for existing problems, but also possibilities to research completely new questions”, Professor Hein explained. He added that the approach worked even if the data have been manipulated or quantified incorrectly. The group will be working to develop methods which enable researchers to express their questions as eigenproblems and then solve them in this way as eigenproblems appear in other disciplines such as physics or economics.