6–10 Jul 2026
University of the Western Cape
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
**Tours now open!** Registration is now closed - All registration payments are due before 23:39 SAST on 26 June.

Scientific Discovery with Foundation Models

8 Jul 2026, 11:20
20m
Lecture Hall C5 (University of the Western Cape)

Lecture Hall C5

University of the Western Cape

Oral Presentation Track D - Astrophysics & Space Science Astrophysics & Space Science

Speaker

Michelle Lochner (University of the Western Cape)

Description

The next generation of telescopes such as the SKA and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will produce enormous data sets, far too large for traditional analysis techniques. Machine learning has proven invaluable in handling massive data volumes and automating many tasks traditionally done by human scientists. In this talk, I will explore the use of machine learning for automating the discovery and follow-up of interesting astronomical phenomena, both in the image and time domains. I will discuss how the human-machine interface plays a critical role in maximising scientific discovery with automated tools, demonstrating applications of the active anomaly detection framework, Astronomaly, on a variety of datasets. Finally, I will investigate the role foundation models play in enabling scientific discovery in massive surveys.

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Author

Michelle Lochner (University of the Western Cape)

Presentation materials

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