The research foci of MCML are divided into three areas:
A | Foundations of Machine Learning aims at strengthening the competence in Statistical Foundations and Explainability, Mathematical Foundations, and Computational Methods. These fields form the basis for all methodological advances and Munich has a high concentration of strong experts in all mentioned areas. The two universities combine some of the best Departments of Statistics, Mathematics, and Informatics in the country and are contributing significantly to the mathematical, statistical, and computational foundations of ML.
B | Perception, Vision, and Natural Language Processing constitutes one of the hottest areas of ML. Here, Munich offers unique strengths in Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Multimodal Perception. In the MCML, some of the leading experts in Computer Vision and Multimodal Perception from TUM join forces with some of the leading NLP researchers from LMU to develop novel ML methods that will have a significant impact on all areas of ML and data science.
C | Domain-specific Machine Learning shows an immense potential in Munich, as both universities have several highly visible scientific domains with internationally renowned experts. The fields of Medicine, Biology, Physics and Geo Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities were chosen as initial selections for collaboration, due to their scientific excellence and because there already exist strong connections in joint research and education activities. Future extensions in these and further fields are envisioned. The rich environment in the Munich scientific ecosystem inside and outside the universities facilitates translating ML concepts and technologies to many different domains.