Jelena Diakonikolas, Sharon Li, and Shivaram Venkataraman are among the first recipients to receive new award from Google.
By Rachel Robey
In early July, Google announced the Google ML and Systems Junior Faculty Awards, a new program recognizing up-and-coming talent whose work intersects machine learning (ML) and systems. Of the over 50 recipients representing 27 U.S. universities, three come from UW–Madison’s Department of Computer Sciences (CS): Jelena Diakonikolas, Sharon Li, and Shivaram Venkataraman were selected by a distinguished group of Google engineers and researchers to receive grants of $100,000 in unrestricted funding.
“We are grateful to Google for their generosity and vision in creating these awards,” says Department Chair Paul Barford. “The recognition of three Wisconsin CS faculty members serves as a vote of confidence from one of the world’s biggest names in computing. Not only does it underscore Jelena, Sharon, and Shivaram’s past achievements, but it highlights the immense potential that both Google and UW–Madison see in their work.”
CS’ fruitful working relationship with Google has, over its decades-long lifetime, included classroom collaborations, the establishment of a Google-Madison office, and a number of research partnerships. The department looks forward to the possibility of future collaborations involving the work of these three remarkable researchers.
In the awards announcement, Google also called attention to the importance of research funding for continued excellence and innovation at American universities.
“While Google’s funding is only a small part of the overall need, we hope that others across industry, government and philanthropy will find ways to support research and education to keep this crucial driver of our technology ecosystem vibrant,” wrote Amin Vahdat, vice president of Google’s machine learning, systems, and cloud AI team. “The work of academic researchers is essential to the kinds of scientific breakthroughs that contribute to continued progress and prosperity.”
The inaugural award was presented to researchers’ whose work is “particularly noteworthy” for Google as part of an ongoing commitment to fostering academic excellence, scientific breakthrough, and intellectual freedom.
Jelena Diakonikolas
Work cited: Research contributions in statistical optimization.
Jelena Diakonikolas is an assistant professor of Computer Sciences and (by courtesy) Statistics and an affiliate of the Data Science Institute. Her research develops foundational theory and algorithms for large-scale optimization, advancing principled methods that power modern machine learning.
Since joining Computer Sciences in 2020, Diakonikolas has won numerous prestigious early-career awards, including the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigators Program (2024) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award (2025). Prior to UW–Madison, she was a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley’s Foundations of Data Analysis (FODA) TRIPODS Institute and a postdoctoral associate at Boston University’s Department of Computer Science. She completed her PhD at Columbia University’s Department of Electrical Engineering co-advised by Gil Zussman and Cliff Stein.
“I’m grateful for this inaugural award highlighting foundational contributions to statistical optimization. It is gratifying to see theoretical work recognized as essential to the future of machine learning, particularly at a time when long-term research faces uncertain support.”
– Jelena Diakonikolas
Sharon (Yixuan) Li
Work cited: Research contributions in foundations of AI models.
Sharon Li is an assistant professor of Computer Sciences and an affiliate of the Data Science Institute. Her research focuses on algorithmic and theoretical foundations of safe and reliable AI, addressing challenges in both model development and deployment in the open world. She previously received a Google-Initiated Research Grant in support of work on the reliability and safety of AI systems.
Li’s research has been recognized through numerous accolades: Forbes 30 Under 30 (2020), AFOSR’s Young Investigator Program (2022), MIT Technology Review’s Innovator of the Year (2023), NSF CAREER Award (2023), and a Sloan Fellowship (2025). Prior to joining Wisconsin Computer Sciences in 2020, Li was a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University’s Computer Science Department. She completed her PhD at Cornell University‘s Computer Science Department in 2017, advised by John E. Hopcroft.
“I’m honored to receive this inaugural award. It’s encouraging to see industry recognize and support fundamental research—it serves as a positive signal to the public that rigorous scientific work continues to have value.”
– Sharon Li
Shivaram Venkataraman
Work cited: Research contributions in performance abstractions for ML systems.
Shivaram Venkataraman is an assistant professor of Computer Sciences. His research interests are in designing systems and algorithms for large scale data analysis and machine learning. His work has previously been recognized and supported by an NSF CAREER Award (2023), the VMWare Systems Research Award (2023), and a $12m Expeditions in Computing grant from the NSF (2024).
Prior to joining UW–Madison in 2018, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Systems Research Group at Microsoft Research in Redmond. His PhD is from UC Berkeley’s Computer Science Division, where he was co-advised by Ion Stoica and Mike Franklin.
“Receiving Google’s ML and Systems Junior Faculty Award was a welcome surprise. It also illustrates that industry leaders like Google see tremendous value in the work we’re doing. I’m greatly appreciative of their contribution in protecting academic research.”
– Shivaram Venkataraman