MATH+ is pleased to welcome Vijay Natarajan from the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore) as a MATH+ Visiting Scholar hosted by MATH+ Co-Chair and President of ZIB, Christof Schütte, at the Zuse Institute Berlin. The MATH+ Visiting Scholarship Program aims to enhance the international profile of MATH+ by providing support for extended visits by exceptional scientists and scholars from around the world.

Vijay Natarajan has become a valuable member of the MATH+ community since the beginning of his visiting scholar stay at the Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB) in Summer 2023, and he will continue to be part of the community until Summer 2024.

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Currently serving as a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Automation at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, Vijay Natarajan earned his PhD in computer science from Duke University (USA) in 2004. He holds a BE degree in computer science and an MSc in mathematics from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (India). He held the Mindtree Chair Professor at IISc from 2018-2021 and served as a Guest Professor at ZIB from 2013-2014. Recognized as a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), he has also been honored with the Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers.

His research interests encompass scientific visualization, topological data analysis, and computational topology. Lately, he has focused on topological methods for time-varying and multi-field data visualization, applications in biology, material science, and climate science.

Reflecting on his Visiting Scholar stay, Natarajan expressed, “The visiting scholar fellowship from MATH+ is an excellent initiative that has supported my extended research stay in a thriving research ecosystem. In addition to collaborations with researchers at ZIB, I have had the opportunity to participate in and contribute to multiple research and academic activities such as the TES workshops, research seminars at the different participating universities, and advanced graduate-level classes at FU Berlin.”

Throughout his one-year-stay at the ZIB from June 2023 to June 2024, Natarajan is involved in active collaborations with Daniel Baum and his group on the development of Morse theory based methods for segmentation, feature extraction, and visual analysis of image and volumetric data arising from different applications. Working alongside Marcus Weber and his group, he is applying topological descriptors for visual analysis of a high-dimensional point cloud representing molecular conformations. Additionally, Natarajan is engaged in discussions with Vikram Sunkara on the possible use of topological tools towards the development of explainable AI methods.

His host, MATH+ Co-Chair and President of the Zuse Institute Berlin, Christof Schütte, commented on Vijay Natarajan’s visiting scholar stay: “His expertise in topological analysis of both low- and high-dimensional data is of great interest for MATH+. With Marcus Weber, for example, Vijay Natarajan investigates the high-dimensional space of molecular conformations, and together with Daniel Baum on topological image analysis in different fields. It’s great to have Vijay here, and we look forward to building further collaborations.”

LINKS

• Vijay Natarajan
  • at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
  • at the Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB)
• Christof Schütte at the Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB)
• MATH+ (Distinguished) Visiting Scholarship Program