Abu Dhabi, 2 December 2022 – ADIA Lab, focused on basic and applied research in data and computer science, began operations today, the 51st National Day of the United Arab Emirates. As part of its launch, the lab announced the composition of its advisory board, details of its first academic collaborations, and the launch of a US$100,000 research grant.
ADIA Lab is supported by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and operates as an independent and autonomous entity with broad research objectives that are not specific to investment-related applications. From its base in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, the lab explores the latest trends and technologies in data science and computing across all major fields of study.
“We have attracted a world-class advisory board to guide and oversee the activities of ADIA Lab, and we begin operations today with a schedule of activities that will continue to grow over the coming weeks and months,” said Dr. Horst Simon, Director. from the ADIA Laboratory.
The first members of the ADIA Lab Advisory Board were announced today. They include global thought leaders from a variety of data- and compute-intensive disciplines, and are responsible for advising on the development and overseeing the implementation of the lab’s research agenda and programs. The inaugural advisory council is made up of:
- Professor Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland, Toshiba Professor of Media, Arts and Sciences at MIT, co-creator of the MIT Media Lab and founder of the MIT Connection Science and Human Dynamics Labs.
- Professor Miguel Hernan, winner of the 2022 Rousseeuw Prize in Statistics, Kolokotrones Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at Harvard Chan School of Public Health and Director of CAUSALab.
- Professor Jack Dongarra, 2021 ACM AM Turing Award Recipient, Fellow of the US National Academy of Engineering, Foreign Fellow of the Royal Society, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tennessee, Distinguished Research Fellow at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Turing Scholar in the School of Mathematics at the University of Manchester, and Adjunct Professor in the Computer Science Department at Rice University.
- Dr. Edward Jung, co-founder and chief technology officer of Intellectual Ventures, and co-founder of Microsoft Research. Dr. Jung holds more than 1,200 patents worldwide, covering discoveries in the fields of biomedicine, computing, networking, energy, and materials science.
- Professor Marcos López de Prado, Global Head – Quantitative Research and Development at ADIA, Professor of Practice in the School of Engineering at Cornell University and Professor of Practice in the Department of Mathematics at Khalifa University. Quant of the Year 2019 by The Journal of Portfolio Management and Buy-Side Quant of the Year 2021 by Risk.net
- Professor Alex Lipton, Global Head of Quantitative Research and Development at ADIA, Visiting Professor and Dean of HUJI Faculty of Business Administration, Professor of Practice in the Department of Mathematics at Khalifa University and Research Scientist connecting to the MIT Media Lab. Quant of the Year 2000 and Buy-Side Quant of the Year 2021 by Risk.net.
- Dr. Horst Simon, two-time Gordon Bell Prize winner (1988, 2009), Director of the ADIA Laboratory, former Deputy Director and Director of Research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and former Director of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center.
Additional advisory board members are expected to be appointed as ADIA Lab grows.
In pursuit of its far-reaching goals, ADIA Lab is exploring collaborations with academic institutions, industry and international partners. In line with this approach, ADIA Lab has entered into agreements with a number of national and international universities to carry out a range of activities, including joint research projects, academic programs, internship opportunities, publications, seminars and other forms of collaboration. To date, agreements have been concluded with the following organisations:
- Khalifa University of Science and Technology
- Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi
- New York University Abu Dhabi
- University of Toronto Canada
- Louis Bachelier Institute France
“A key driver of ADIA Lab is our collaboration with leading academic institutions, here in the UAE and around the world, to support Abu Dhabi’s growth as an international hub for technology and of innovation,” said Dr Simon. “We are proud to announce today our first agreements with leading national and international educational institutions, and we plan to expand our relationships in the weeks to come.”
ADIA Lab has released details of its inaugural research prize, calling for entries for the “ADIA Lab Prize for Causal Research in Investments,” with a total prize of US$100,000 to be divided among the authors of the top three submissions. .
The award aims to promote the use of the formal language of causal inference to express conclusions in the fields of finance and economics, with a particular focus on investment strategies. The deadline for submission is December 31, 2023. Further details on the call for papers are available on the ADIA Lab website: https://www.adialab.ae/call-for-papers. The ADIA Lab website also has details of January’s ADIA Lab seminar series, which includes talks from Marcos Lopez de Prado (“Causal Factor Investing”) and Alex Lipton (“Where Does Money Come From?”). The ADIA Lab seminar series will continue to run throughout the year. The seminars are open to people with relevant experience, who can register at https://www.adialab.ae/news-and-events.
As ADIA Lab’s collaborations continue to grow, it plans to announce further details about its activities, including seeking agreements with academic and other institutions around the world to design educational programs, sponsoring research projects and the financing of reproducible research, the offer of scholarships and internships, the organization of seminars and by organizing competitions and Best Paper Awards. “At ADIA Lab, we conduct the highest quality science, encourage multidisciplinary collaboration, and solve complex, large-scale problems through a team-based scientific approach,” said Dr. Simon. “To achieve these goals, we seek in-depth collaborations with academic institutions, industry and international partners and scientists. Our doors are open, and now we are excited to explore new collaborations and play a part in Abu Dhabi’s growing and vibrant ecosystem.
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