Prof. Dr. Klaus-Robert Müller – Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prizewinner 2026
Machine Learning, TU Berlin
Klaus-Robert Müller’s research is characterised by a combination of formal mathematical thought and a strong application-oriented approach. Back in the 1990s, he and Vladimir Vapnik set out the principles for so-called support vector machines (SVM) that are among the most important theoretical developments in the area of machine learning. He also did outstanding theoretical and practical work in the field of deep neural networks. His more recent work is laying the foundations for explainable artificial intelligence (XAI). This research discipline aims at understanding the ways in which AI systems work, as well as explaining how learning algorithms arrive at their predictions. Müller has also performed ground-breaking work related to the use of machine learning in science, with a particular focus on physics and chemistry. He was, for example, successful in using machine learning for predicting solutions to the Schrödinger equations.
Klaus-Robert Müller studied physics at the University of Karlsruhe, where he earned his doctorate in computer science in 1992. He then worked at the GMD information technology research centre (GMD FIRST) in Berlin as a postdoc for two years, followed by a research stay at the University of Tokyo, Japan. Between 1995 and 2008, he was the leader of a research unit at the GMD FIRST in Berlin, which became Fraunhofer FIRST in 2001. In 2003 he accepted a post at the University of Potsdam. He has been a Professor at the TU Berlin since 2006, as well as being the Director of the Berlin Institute for the Foundations of Learning and Data (BIFOLD). He received numerous awards for his research work, including the 2017 Vodafone Innovations Award, the 2023 Hector Research Award and the 2024 Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology. Müller is a member of the Leopoldina, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW) and the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech).
GEPRIS
In our information system GEPRI(externer Link) you will find an overview of current and completed projects of Klaus-Robert Müller.