Center for Decoding the Universe Annual Conference

The Center for Decoding the Universe brings together researchers across scientific disciplines to answer the biggest questions about our Universe by leveraging complex data with the most advanced computational methods.

Conference Motivation

From anomaly detection in massive data sets and foundation models that compactly describe multi-modal data, to simulation-based inference that bridges the gap between the observed and simulated Universe, new methodologies will enable new insights from large and complex datasets. These new approaches are poised to impact the next big thing in astrophysics: data from the Vera C Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). This meeting will gather leading researchers in astrophysics, AI/ML, data science, and statistics, and will identify new opportunities for inference and data-driven discovery with the imminent LSST data.

Conference Schedule (all times in PT)

June 5

8:30 - 9:00: Breakfast & Registration

9:00 - 9:30: Welcome and Introduction to Rubin Data Challenges

Susan Clark, Assistant Professor of Physics, Stanford University

Guido Imbens, Stanford Data Science Faculty Director, and Applied Econometrics Professor

Phil Marshall, Senior Scientist, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory; Deputy Director of Operations, Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST)

Risa Wechsler, Professor of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University; Director, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC); Director, Center for Decoding the Universe

9:30 - 12:30: Session 1: Time-Domain Data and Anomaly Detection

9:30 - 10:30: Faculty Talks

Josh Bloom, Professor of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley

Ben Nachman, Associate Professor of Particle Physics and Astrophysics and, by courtesy, of Physics and Statistics, Stanford University

Ashley Villar, Assistant Professor of Astronomy, Harvard University

10:30 - 11:00: Small Group Discussion

11:00 - 11:20: Break

11:20 - 12:05: Short Talks

12:05 - 12:30: Large-Group Discussion

12:30 - 2:00: Lunch and posters

2:00 - 5:00: Session 2: Cosmology and Modern Inference Frameworks

2:00 - 3:00: Faculty Talks

Laurence Perreault Levasseur, Assistant Professor of Physics, Université de Montréal

Vasilis Syrgkanis, Assistant Professor in Management Science and Engineering and (by courtesy) in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Stanford University

Ben Wandelt, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, and of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Johns Hopkins University

3:00 - 3:30: Small-Group Discussion

3:30 - 3:50: Break

3:50 - 4:35: Short Talks

4:35 - 5:00: Large-Group Discussion

5:00 - 6:00: Reception and posters

6:00 - 7:00: Panel discussion

Emma Brunskill, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University

Siddharth Mishra-Sharma, Assistant Professor of Computing & Data Sciences and Physics, Boston University

Brant Robertson, Professor of Astronomy, UC Santa Cruz

Diyi Yang, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University

Moderator: Risa Wechsler

June 6

8:30 - 9:00: Breakfast

9:00 - 12:00: Session 3: Galaxies and Foundation Models

9:00 - 10:00: Faculty Talks

David Fouhey, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and of Electrical Engineering, New York University

Marc Huertas-Company, Staff Research Scientist and Group Leader, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (Spain); Associate Professor (on leave), University of Paris and the Paris Observatory (France)

François Lanusse, Cosmologist and Astrostatistician, CNRS; Guest Researcher, Flatiron Institute

10:00 - 10:30: Small-Group Discussion

10:30 - 10:50: Break

10:50 - 11:35: Short Talks

11:35 - 12:00: Large-Group Discussion

12:00 - 1:00: Lunch

1:00 - 4:00: Half-day “unconference”

4:00 - 5:00: Closing Remarks

5:00: Event Concludes

Conference Format

With time devoted to small group discussion and half a day of unconference, the two-day conference on "Data-Driven Discovery in the Rubin Era" is designed to promote discussion about the hard questions and methodological innovations that will be especially relevant in the upcoming large astronomical data era. Three sessions that combine an astronomical subfield with a data science/AI methodology will focus on:

1. Anomaly detection with applications to variable and transient science
2. Astronomical foundation models and applications to galaxy evolution
3. Inference, including simulation-based inference, with applications to cosmology

Special thanks to our Conference Organizers:

Tom Abel, Dalya Baron, Susan Clark, Surya Ganguli, Sanmi Koyejo, Phil Marshall, Risa Wechsler