Recently, doctoral candidate Sean Xuefeng Du PhDx’25 was named this year’s recipient of the Ivanisevic Award, a distinction granted to graduate students researching their dissertation. Du, who is advised by Professor Sharon Li, came to UW-Madison’s Department of Computer Sciences (CS) because of “its strong research community in machine learning and AI, as well as the opportunity to work with leading professors on reliability in AI systems.” He joins past recipients Nikos Zarifis PhD’24 and Samuel Drews PhD’20 in receiving the award.
Du, a researcher in reliable machine learning, is currently finishing a dissertation about “making artificial intelligence (AI) more trustworthy, especially when it encounters unfamiliar or unexpected situations,” he says. “I worked on techniques to help AI recognize when it might be making a mistake and improve its ability to handle new or unknown data. This research is important for ensuring AI systems are safer in real-world applications, such as healthcare or self-driving cars.”
Professor Sharon Li, Du’s advisor, says of Du, “Sean stands out as the most accomplished student I have had the privilege to mentor during my academic career at UW-Madison. As a researcher, Sean demonstrates exceptional technical maturity and rigor and is a thoughtful mentor and collaborator who engages effectively with junior researchers, including undergraduate and Ph.D. students. His drive, versatility, and collaborative spirit make him well on his way to becoming a top scholar in the machine learning field.”
Du says the Ivanisevic Award will enable him to “explore a few new directions that can ideally be further pursued in my future academic career on advancing trustworthy AI systems.” Created by Igor MS’98, PhD’00 and Albena PhD’00 Ivanisevic, the award allows recipients to “worry less about finances and more about education and research.” As alumni of Computer Sciences and Chemistry respectively, the Ivanisevices understand the value of support like this.
“We wanted to pay forward UW for the happy times we had as doctoral students, and we know firsthand that getting support for students is one of the biggest challenges for any department,” said Igor Ivanisevic. “In light of challenges to funding in higher education in the current environment, I think it’s especially important for students to have access to alternate sources of funding for their studies and hope this grant can help.”
Du hopes to go on to a career in academia after earning his PhD: “I aim to develop AI systems that are more trustworthy and robust, collaborate across disciplines, and mentor the next generation of researchers.”