Dr. Andrew Saxe is an Associate Professor/Joint Group Leader at the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit and Sainsbury Wellcome Centre at University College London. His research seeks to unravel the computational principles governing learning in artificial and biological systems. To do so, his work draws on a range of applied mathematics in order to understand modern ‘deep’ artificial neural networks and develop theories for experimental domains in neuroscience and psychology. Dr. Saxe’s interests span domains from visual perceptual learning in rodents, to the neurobiology of declarative memory and the development of semantic cognition in humans. Visit the Saxe Lab website for more information on their work.

Planned Polymaths Work: Dr. Saxe’s lab, which has so far been theoretical in focus, will use the Polymath Award to begin an experimental component investigating the links between modern deep learning systems and learning in the brain and mind.