UIC graduate Qiu Yifu won the 2023 Apple Scholars in AI/ML PhD fellowship, among the 22 researchers that tech giant Apple selected globally this year.

Qiu Yifu

The Apple Scholars in AI/ML PhD fellowship recognises the contributions of researchers in computer science and engineering at the graduate and postgraduate level. Each Scholar receives funding as they pursue their PhD, internship opportunities, and mentorship with an Apple researcher in their field. Apple Scholars in AI/ML are selected based on their innovative research, record as thought leaders and collaborators, and commitment to advancing their respective fields.

Qiu is from UIC's Class of 2020 Computer Science and Technology Programme. During his study at UIC, he was enlightened by his instructor and determined to march on the path of NLP. After graduation from UIC, he headed to the School of Informatics of the University of Edinburgh for his master's degree.

Qiu at UIC (second from right)

Now he is pursuing his doctoral study in ELLIS, a PhD programme supervised by the University of Cambridge and the University of Edinburgh. He is co-advised by Dr Shay Cohen, Prof Anna Korhonen and Dr Edoardo M. Ponti.

Qiu's research focuses on language generation in multilingual environments, including improving the model's fundamental abilities in generalisation, few-shot learning, and controllability.

From MPRO, Machine Learning Research at Apple

Reporter: Cecilia

Photos provided by the interviewee

Editor: Deen He