Speaker:

Dr. Neeraj Kayal, Microsoft Research Lab, Bengaluru

Abstract:

How can an intelligent system extract meaning and "understanding" from vast datasets when given no correct answers or labels? Unsupervised Learning (UL) is the mathematical field dedicated to solving this fundamental challenge.

Initially we will survey conceptual ideas underlying recent breakthroughs in this area, analyzing the two main "games" models play to teach themselves: Generative Prediction (learning context by filling in the blanks) and Contrastive Learning (learning similarity by forcing mathematical representations of similar objects together). These methods, coupled with the availability of massive data and powerful GPU-based computation, have led to significant progress. Still, many fundamental mathematical, algorithmic and scientific problems remain unsolved.

In the second part, we present and explore a complementary approach. We begin by examining the algorithmic problem of subspace clustering—a challenge that mathematically models the learning of certain scientific laws. We then hypothesize that complex data structure is built from the iterated combination of a few basic, reusable structural patterns. We illustrate this approach with examples like character recognition and shape recognition, highlighting its potential to create AI that is more robust, learns continuously, and shares understanding with greater ease.

About the speaker:

Dr. Neeraj Kayal is currently a Principal Researcher at the Microsoft Research lab in Bengaluru, where he has worked since 2008. Dr. Kayal works in the areas of complexity theory, algorithms, and related areas of theoretical computer science. He was born in Guwahati, India. As an undergraduate student at IIT- Kanpur, Dr. Kayal in joint work with his advisor Prof. Manindra Agrawal and Dr. Nitin Saxena, discovered the first deterministic polynomial time algorithm for primality testing. Their work won the authors the Godel Prize (2006) and the Fulkerson Prize (2006).

Neeraj Kayal received his Ph.D. from IIT-Kanpur and has held postdoctoral positions at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton and at DIMACS (Rutgers University). In 2012 he was awarded the Young Scientist Award from Indian National Science Academy (INSA). Dr. Kayal’s recent work has been focused on algorithms and lower bounds in algebraic complexity theory.

He was awarded Infosys Prize in Mathematics for 2021 for his outstanding contributions to Computational Complexity.

Speaker:

Prof. L. S. Shashidhara, National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru

Abstract:

The talk traces 3.75 billion years of life on Earth: from the origin of the current cellular form of life to the evolution of our ability to experience ourselves (self awareness). The talk ends with a discussion on how our ability to understand “self” triggered cultural evolution, which in turn enabled us to understand the universe beyond our own sensory perception.

About the speaker:

Prof Shashidhara specializes in Genetics, Molecular Biology and Evolutionary Biology. His group has identified key mechanisms that specify organ development and regulate growth control during embryonic development using Drosophila as a model system. They have also expanded their study to examine the status of these evolutionarily conserved mechanisms in epithelial cancers in human.

Prof Shashidhara is recognized with CSIR SS Bhatnagar and Technology and Prizes and JC Bose National Research Fellowship. He is a Fellow of all three Science Academies of India, and has served in the past as Vice-President of Indian National Science Academy (INSA). In 2018, he was elected as Associate member of European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). He is one of the founding academic members of Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune and Ashoka University. Prof Shashidhara was the Secretary General and of the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), and later being the first Indian to be elected as IUBS President. During this time, he commissioned and edited, an anthology on Impact of Science in Independent India and conceived and initiated the TROPICSU project, which is an international project on Climate Change Education.

Prof Shashidhara has served/is serving as Chair/co-chair/member of various apex committees of Government of India and S&T organizations, particularly those dealing with education, basic/applied/translational research, innovation, policy, international relations, and outreach. In addition, Prof Shashidhara has organized several alternate career workshops for scientists, particularly women scientists, in science journalism, science policy, administration and management.

Every year a cash award, instituted by the INFOSYS FOUNDATION and disbursed through the TIFR Endowment Fund, is given to every Indian student who has won a medal at the International Olympiads in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Astronomy (Junior), Informatics, Earth Science and Junior Science. A function to present these awards and to felicitate the medallists of 2025 and their leaders will be held at V. G. Kulkarni Auditorium, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education on Monday, December 22, 2025 from 9.30 to 13:30 hrs. The function has an important scientific component, which will include talks by two leading scientists.