Research profile Dr. Y. (Youngjoo) Kim

Dr. Y. (Youngjoo) Kim graduated on 4 July 2023, Visual exploration of high-dimensional data using dimensionality reduction: with Applications in Astronomy.

Project: A Visual Analytics Approach of Big Data

This project focuses on a Visual Analytics approach of big data, that is, combining automated data analysis techniques with interactive visual interfaces to pose, refine, and confirm hypotheses about complex phenomena represented by such data.

We will focus on high-dimensional time-dependent data, that is, large sets of observations having each many measurement values that represent the evolution of a phenomenon over time. Challenges are here the large numbers of observations (millions or more); dimensions (hundreds or more); and time steps (thousands or more). Finding efficient and effective ways to discover and display complex patterns in this very high dimensional data space is the key challenge in modern (visual) data exploration.

To solve this, we will develop methods for data-size and data-dimensionality reduction; automatic and user-assisted discovery of meaningful patterns hidden in the data; and intuitive visual depiction of such patterns,  their evolution, and their inter-relationships. For this, we will develop new techniques for pattern mining, dimensionality reduction, scalable information visualization, uncertainty visualization, relational visualization, and interactive data querying. We will achieve scalability for big data by using CPU and GPU parallelization, and multiscale data-representation and visualization techniques.

We will apply our interactive visual analytics pipeline to two use cases: 1) large simulations or observation catalogs in an astronomical pilot project to address questions on galaxy evolution; 2) prediction of neurodegenerative diseases from multi-centre clinical brain data.

This PhD student follows up on a recently completed project on e-Visualisation of Big Data funded by the Dutch e-Science Centre NLeSC.

Keywords: Visual analytics, high-dimensional data visualization, interactive pattern discovery, scalable information visualization, astronomical data, medical data.

Fields of expertise involved: Multidimensional data analysis, Data and pattern mining, Interactive visual analytics and information visualization, Disease prediction from medical data, Galaxy evolution.