Workshop for Women in Machine Learning

Machine learning is one of the fastest growing areas of computer science research. Search engines, face recognition, DNA sequence analysis, speech and handwriting recognition, credit card fraud detection, premature baby monitoring and autonomous locomotion are just some of the applications in which machine learning is routinely used.

In spite of the wide reach of machine learning and the variety of theory and applications it covers, the percentage of female researchers is lower than in many other areas of computer science. Most women working in machine learning rarely get the chance to interact with other female researchers, making it easy to feel isolated and hard to find role models.

This day-long workshop gives female faculty, research scientists, and graduate students in the machine learning community an opportunity to meet, exchange ideas and learn from each other. Undergraduates who are interested in either pursuing graduate school or doing internships in machine learning are encouraged to attend.

WiML 2008

The workshop for Women in Machine Learning (WiML) started two years ago as a way of creating connections within the small community of women working in machine learning, to encourage mentorship and the interchange of ideas. Previous workshops have been positively received at the Grace Hopper Conference for Women in Computing. This year we are looking to connect and strengthen ties with the larger machine learning community by co-locating with NIPS.

The workshop will consist of talks by established researchers, a poster session for graduate students to showcase their research, and panel discussions to address current research trends and career choices in machine learning.

The organizers for this year's workshop are Luiza Antonie, Anna Koop and Jo-Anne Ting, with faculty advisor Joelle Pineau. WiML 2008 will be located in Vancouver, B.C., Canada and held on Monday, December 8, 2008. Details on the workshop program will be coming soon.

To sign up for the Women in ML mailing list, please go here.

Previous Workshops

This workshop was established by Hanna Wallach, Jenn Wortman and Lisa Wainer, with faculty advisor Amy Greenwald in 2006. Info on the 2006 workshop can be found here.

The organizers of the 2007 workshop were Hila Becker and Bethany Leffler, with faculty advisor Lise Getoor.