Machine Learning Workshop
The participants of the Machine Learning Workshop at Geneva Observatory. (Photo PlanetS)
Last February the Geneva Observatory hosted a Machine Learning workshop. Machine Learning methods have been around for many years now and their use is growing within the astronomical community. This 3 day workshop focused on the practical use of supervised and unsupervised Machine Learning techniques on astronomical data, with short theoretical introductions followed by extensive hands-on sessions. It provided astronomers with practical skills for direct use in their research. The participation required no prior knowledge of Machine Learning, only some basic knowledge of python.
Two speakers: Prof. Paolo Favaro from Bern University and Prof. Stéphane Canu from INSA Rouen, France, taught the participants the basics of a very diversified palette of ML algorithms and methods, which were then put in practice directly during the workshop. On top of this, Dr Marcin Pietrzyk, founder & CEO of Unit8 – a company providing machine learning solutions for industries – talked about the real-world applications.
Due to the organisation of hands-on sessions, the workshop was limited to 30 participants. The workshop quickly became full with NCCR members reflecting the huge interest in the subject matter. The organising team received many positive feedbacks from the participants, which indicates, that the workshop was a successful experience.
We would like to thank the administrative personnel of Geneva Observatory for their help in the organisation before, during and after the workshop. We also would like to thank Academic and Technology Platforms without whose financial support the workshop would have been impossible to organise.
Geneva Observatory, 13-15 February 2019
http://nccr-planets.ch/event/workshop-machine-learning/
