Department of Computer Science
The Data+, Code+, and CS+ undergraduate summer programs will hold an online expo to showcase student projects leveraging big data, mobile app and web development, and computer science on July 30 and 31. Over 50 student teams -- more than 180 students -- will participate. Join us as we celebrate the efforts and accomplishments of our students! read more about Data+, Code+ and CS+ Summer 2020 Expo »
Jun Yang has been named chair of Duke Computer Science, effective July 1, 2020. Yang, Bishop-MacDermott Family Professor at Duke, has been with the department since 2001 and served as associate chair from 2017-2020. Yang assumes the position from outgoing chair Pankaj Agarwal. In an email to faculty and staff, Yang thanked Agarwal for his service. “We will have more opportunities later to thank Pankaj for his visionary leadership and tireless service as chair in the… read more about Jun Yang named Chair of Duke Computer Science »
Duke Computer Science students and professors presented nine (9) research papers at the ICML 2020 37th International Conference on Machine Learning July 12-18. Duke had an overall combined total of 22 paper presentations. A prestigious machine learning conference, this year ICML was virtual. Duke Computer Science Research Papers at ICML 2020 Bandits for BMO Functions - Tianyu Wang (Duke), Cynthia Rudin (Duke) Customizing ML Predictions for… read more about Duke Computer Science at ICML 2020 »
By Glenn McDonald For more than 40 years now, Duke Computer Science has been known as a place where people can get things done. The department has a celebrated tradition of generating projects, initiatives and startup companies that spin up and out from campus, bringing critical solutions into the larger world. Duke Computer Science associate professor Ashwin Machanavajjhala is piloting one of these startups just now. Tumult Labs is an… read more about Research, Startups and Event Horizons »
Duke Computer Science Professor Alvin Lebeck is the recipient of the 2020 Alan D. Berenbaum Distinguished Service Award for creating, curating, and architecting the Computer Architecture Today blog, which transformed how the computer architecture community connects and communicates. This annual award is given by ACM SIGARCH to recognize an individual who has contributed important service to the computer architecture community. Congratulations! read more about Alvin Lebeck Wins the 2020 SIGARCH Berenbaum Award »
The third annual Computer Science Undergraduate Project Showcase celebrated student inquiry in computer science. Students submitted 16 videos on projects from mentored research, class projects, and independent work. The projects showcased students creatively applying skills and concepts from their computer science coursework. read more about Undergraduate Research Showcase 2020 »
Duke Professor of the Practice in Computer Science Susan Rodger won the 2020 Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award from the National Center for Women and IT. A competitive award recognizing a senior faculty member's outstanding mentorship, efforts to encourage undergraduates in computing-related fields and to advance women and minority students at a PhD granting research institution, it is a great honor for Dr. Rodger to be selected for the NCWIT URM award. Congratulations! read more about Susan Rodger Wins the NCWIT 2020 Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award »
Congratulations to all recipients of the 2020 undergraduate student awards! Alex Vasilos Memorial Award Friends and colleagues of the late Alex Vasilos donated the Alex Vasilos Memorial Award to the Department of Computer Science to recognize graduating seniors in computer science for excellence in computer science research. This year's recipients: Sachit Menon Caroline Linjun Wang DeNardis Memorial Award Family, friends… read more about Undergraduate Awards 2020 »
Since our 2020 Commencement is postponed because of ongoing uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, Duke CS is recognizing the Class of 2020 with faculty and student videos + messages to mark the moment of graduation from Duke. We're proud of our students and their accomplishments. Congratulations to all! Pankaj Agarwal Department Chair Jun Yang Associate Chair Jeff Chase Director of Graduate Studies… read more about Duke Computer Science Celebrates the Class of 2020 »
Duke Computer Science professors Kartik Nayak, Ashwin Machanavajjhala, and Jun Yang are collaborating with Lavanya Vasudevan from Duke FMCH in an NSF-funded COVID-19 exposure detection project, Poirot. A privacy-preserving system that uses smartphones to detect contact with potentially infectious individuals, Poirot also provides users with proactive alerts, a personalized assessment, and the ability to add retroactive information… read more about Kartik Nayak, Ashwin Machanavajjhala, Jun Yang and Lavanya Vasudevan receive an NSF award for COVID-19 exposure detection project »
Bruce Donald's research paper in the Journal of Computational Chemistry is among the top 10% most downloaded papers! "OSPREY 3.0: Open‐source protein redesign for you", a collaborative effort with 13 Duke students and postdocs whom Donald advised, including 4 undergrads, received some of the most downloads in the 12 months following online publication. Congratulations! read more about Bruce Donald's research paper in the Journal of Computational Chemistry is one of the top downloaded articles »
Duke Computer Science and Engineering students joined together to create their own internships, as consequences from the coronavirus pandemic led many companies to cancel their plans for interns. The new Project Phoenix program teams up technology-minded Duke students to work remotely on business, governmental and academic projects over the summer. read more about Hundreds of Duke students have lost internships. Now they’re creating their own. »
Jun Yang is Bishop-MacDermott Family Professor of Computer Science and co-director of the Duke Database Research Group. One of only five Duke professors selected for this honor, he is recognized for demonstrating excellence in research and undergraduate instruction, and also for being a good university citizen. Congratulations! read more about Jun Yang selected as 2020 Bass Fellow »
Duke Computer Science, ECE, Math and Statistics professor Cynthia Rudin, who runs a top interpretable machine learning lab, is interviewed in Chance Magazine by Sam Behseta and Michelle Dunn. read more about Meet Cynthia Rudin, A Champion of Interpretable Machine Learning »
Duke Computer Science professors accommodate students over multiple time zones as classes transition online. Reinventing education and teaching worldwide classes, Vincent Conitzer and Owen Astrachan support students through an unimaginably disruptive time with a focus on preparing resilient leaders of tomorrow. read more about Duke students, professors scattered around the world work across time zones »
Phitonex, Inc., a startup co-founded by Duke Computer Science Professor Alvin Lebeck, has pushed flow cytometry to the upper limit of what is currently possible and announced the first data set showing 40 colors measured simultaneously on single cells in an experiment. The timing is critical, as these developers of next-gen fluorescent labels for biomarker detection collaborate in the fight against diseases like COVID-19 to understand the immune response. Congratulations! read more about Duke Comp Sci Startup Phitonex Pushes the Envelope of Immunology Research »
Nikos Pitsianis and Xiaobai Sun with Aristotle University's Dimitris Floros announce the launch of a a COVID-19 scholarly articles website, database and literature graph which contain more than 100,000 hot-off-the-press (HOTP) articles worldwide. read more about COVID-19 Scholarly Articles Website, Database & Literature Graph »
Duke students developed an app to trace contacts of coronavirus patients and help stop the spread. Shehzan Maredia, computer science/math major + developer and junior Alyssa Nicholas, who's marketing ContainIt say "With this app, you can help other people in your community stay informed." read more about Duke students develop an app that can trace contacts of coronavirus patients »
During #WomensHistoryMonth, Working@Duke recently recognized Susan Rodger, Duke Computer Science Professor of the Practice for her accomplishments. read more about Working@Duke recognizes Susan Rodger »
In compliance with Duke’s COVID-19 policies, Duke Computer Science is moving events like in-person seminars to a virtual platform. Information about how to join these events via Zoom will be posted when available. read more about Duke CS Presents Virtual Events »
Duke Computer Science Professor Emerita Carla Ellis recently won the 2020 CRA A. Nico Habermann Award for her tireless efforts to address diversity at all stages of the computing education pipeline. Congratulations! read more about Professor Emerita Carla Ellis Receives the 2020 CRA Habermann Award »
Duke Computer Science Associate Professor Alberto Bartesaghi and colleagues Tamir Bendory of Tel Aviv University and Princeton University's Amit Singer published an article "Single-Particle Cryo-Electron Microscopy: Mathematical Theory, Computational Challenges, and Opportunities" in the IEEE Signal Processing Magazine that is featured on the cover page. Congratulations! read more about Alberto Bartesaghi and colleagues publish article in the IEEE Signal Processing Magazine »
Duke's Computer Science and Linguistics departments have joined forces to create a new interdepartmental major. Students can choose one of two defined pathways, focusing on cognitive neurolinguistics or sociolinguistics, preparing for future careers in a wide variety of fields. This new major is one of only three such programs in the U.S. read more about Duke CS+Linguistics Major Opens New Pathways »
Distinguished from research proposals originating in 26 countries and more than 100 universities worldwide, Lisa Wu Wills' project "Accelerating and Deploying Natural Language Processing Systems in Data Centers" placed Duke in the top 10 Facebook award winners for most prestigious universities for architecture and systems research. Wills plans to explore how accelerated NLP systems can help with drug discovery and more. read more about Lisa Wu Wills, Duke's Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of CS/ECE selected for the Systems for ML Facebook Research Award »
Duke Computer Science Professor Vince Conitzer is a meritorious prize winner of the National Science Foundation (NSF) 2026 Idea Machine competition for his grand challenge "Theory of Conscious Experience." While Conitzer's idea was identified as "exciting, ambitious, creative, and highly interdisciplinary" and his team won a $10K prize, the real win is the opportunity to promote the progress of science by helping NSF identify new areas of research. Congratulations! read more about Vince Conitzer wins NSF 2026 Idea Machine Meritorious Prize »
The 2020 Information Fair for Data+, Code+ and CS+ summer programs took place on January 17. Applications are open through February 2020. read more about Data+/Code+/CS+ Information Fair »
Professor Emeritus of Computer Science and former Department Chair Donald Loveland was among seven Duke University faculty to be named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Loveland was recognized for distinguished contributions to the field of automated deduction and development of the model elimination theorem-proving procedure. read more about Professor Emeritus Donald Loveland Named AAAS Fellow »
Four Duke Computer Science students received awards from the Computing Research Association (CRA) for Outstanding Undergraduate Research in 2020. Finalists: Caroline L. Wang, Rohith Kuditipudi, and Sachit Menon. Liang "Charles" Lyu received an Honorable Mention. Congratulations! read more about Duke CS Students Win CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Research Awards for 2020 »
Vince Conitzer, University Professor of New Technologies and Professor of Computer Science, Economics, and Philosophy has been named an ACM Fellow for his contributions to game theory, social choice theory, and mechanism design. Conitzer joins a select group of the top 1% of 2019 ACM professional members recognized for far-reaching accomplishments that define the digital age. ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society. read more about Vince Conitzer Named ACM Fellow »
Duke CS Alumnus Kevin Zheng was named a Schwarzman Scholar, and will pursue a master's degree in AI in China. Just 4 additional Duke students were chosen for this prestigious honor. As an undergrad, Zheng served as an EMT and then co-founded Optiml, which uses AI to detect eye diseases. Zheng's long-term goal is to develop equitable health care technologies through global collaboration. Congratulations! read more about Kevin Zheng, Trinity '19 Biology/Computer Science Double Major named a Schwarzman Scholar »