(Jiayi pronounced as jyä′ē′ )

Hello friend! I recently moved from Southern California to Eastern Germany, where I am privileged to work with wonderful colleagues at the Max Planck Institute. Together, we explore questions at the interface of mathematics and the life sciences.

My research focuses on the interplay between theoretical machine learning and numerical algebraic geometry (what is ..?). Specifically, I develop numerical algebro-geometric methods to analyze and characterize the optimization landscapes of neural networks, and I build machine-assisted tools to discover equations and reveal hidden structures—contributing to a deeper theoretical understanding of algebraic geometry.

I spent my PhD years at the (sweet!) Department of Statistics and Data Science at UCLA, exploring mathematical machine learning, statistics, and data science. Earlier, I completed four years of undergraduate study in mathematics split between the University of Hong Kong and SUNY Stony Brook, where I first fell in love with algebraic geometry and other fascinating areas of modern mathematics.

Best way to reach me is by email to jli@mpi-cbg.de
(If you have one of my older email addresses, they still work :)

Here are news and updates on my recent and upcoming professional activities:

• [Mar, 2025]  I will mentor a project at the LOGML Summer School 2025. If this piques your interest, check out the program and apply here.

• [Jan, 2025]  We organized an AMS Special Session on Algebraic Methods in Machine Learning and Optimization at the Joint Mathematics Meetings.

• [Dec, 2024]  I received the Dimitris N. Chorafas Foundation Prize.

• [Dec, 2024]  I spent three memorable months at IPAM as part of the program Mathematics of Intelligences.

I am grateful to the organizations and initiatives whose generous support has fueled my academic journey:

• Dimitris N. Chorafas Foundation Prize

• Dissertation Year Fellowship, UCLA

• Summer Mentored Research Fellowship, UCLA

• ACM-W Scholarship, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

• Cathay Bank Scholarship

• Overseas Research Fellowship, The University of Hong Kong