About

I am a first-year PhD student in Topological Data Analysis and Deep Learning at the Topological Machine Learning research group of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Universitat de Barcelona. My research involves studying neural networks using algebraic topology tools. In particular, I am interested in the mathematics of deep learning, algebraic topology, and persistence modules theory. My supervisors are Prof Sergio Escalera and Prof Carles Casacuberta.

Prior to this, I completed my MSc degree in Advanced Mathematics and Mathematical Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and was awarded the Càtedra Mir-Puig award to the highest GPA of the master’s degree. Additionally, I obtained two bachelor’s degrees, one in Mathematics and one in Computer Science, from the Universitat de Barcelona. For my BSc thesis, I received an award from the Catalan Association for Artificial Intelligence for the second-best BSc or MSc thesis in Artificial Intelligence(the only BSc thesis) in Catalonia. During my master’s I also worked as an adjunct professor (a Spanish academic title similar to a teaching assistant, but without the need for a PhD) in some mathematics and computer science courses at the Universitat de Barcelona and as research assistant in topological machine learning at the HuPBA group.

Apart from my research interests, I also enjoy topics related to software engineering, such as design patterns and building large and complex infrastructures. Previously, I worked as an Associate Software Engineer at Oracle, where I developed tools for other developers to program on top of the Netsuite core.

You can reach me directly at my email: rballeba@gmail.com.