Placement Information
Year you started your placement
2017
Placement period
May – August
Supervisor’s name
Christian Ast
Project Details
Overview
My project involves programming an artificial neural network (in MATLAB) to classify spectra from superconductors which have been collected by means of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). If I am successful and in a timely manner, I would then likely try to automate fitting routines and some amount of data analysis (i.e. extracting fit parameters), and possibly move on to doing the same thing with topographies. I started off basically just following MATLAB tutorials, and recently I have started to also test my own network architectures, after reading a sufficient amount of theory.
Project objectives
This project is basically a feasibility study, to see if neural networks and machine learning can successfully be implemented to aid data analysis in the group. We are hoping to have a highly accurate neural network that can, when given new data, correctly classify its spectra (e.g. BCS with Josephson peak) and extract appropriate parameters.
Research outcomes
My network’s accuracy has gradually increased and its abilities generalised, as I have optimised my code. So far, it is able to successfully distinguish between three (non-mutually exclusive) classes, regardless of amplitude, with about 81% accuracy. Of course, my goal is to increase the number of classes (arbitrarily high) and increase the accuracy as much as possible.
Project status
In progress
Expected completion date
12/22/2017
Complimentary document for project
Complimentary document for project
Complimentary document for project
My Co-op Experience at MPI
Why did you apply for a placement with Max Planck Institute?
I’ve long been considering grad school in Europe (Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands), and the Max Planck Institute just seems to be an obvious choice for me. I get to explore my interests (both in computer/data science and physics), work at a world-class research institute, and travel to some of the most beautiful and historic places on Earth. My plan originally was to go into pure mathematics, but after some upper year courses and related work experience, I’ve decided that really isn’t for me, so this co-op is giving me the opportunity to learn about my other career interests very in depth.
What recommendations do you have for students who wish to participate in MPI-UBC exchange program?
Learn the language, both German and whatever programming language you’ll inevitably be using. I was rather disappointed to learn that they do not have any language courses until September, and courses otherwise are expensive (not to mention you do not have a tonne of time between working and having fun). Also, you’ll hear from some people that you *have to* make the most use of your time in Europe and you better travel, travel, travel. I’m going to go against the grain a little and say, absolutely travel, but be reasonable about it. It can be stressful forcing yourself to go see another country every weekend. Make use of your opportunity to travel, but make sure to actually enjoy it.
Tell us about your travels and cultural experiences in Germany and the rest of the Europe
Europe is wonderful, and travelling is very easy. Germany alone is very diverse, and it only gets more so the further you travel. People at the institute are very friendly and often get excited to talk about places to visit (especially if you are asking about their home country/town), and it’s easy to bring up in conversation at lunch. My most memorable experiences have been interacting with locals (e.g. at cultural festivals) and exploring landscapes (e.g. hiking). I really recommend trying Blablacar (a carpooling website), which might seem a little scary at first (if you are travelling alone at least), but it’s really worth it because these people are typically locals and really friendly (in my experience).
