2025 CPS Rising Stars Workshop

The 2025 CPS Rising Stars Workshop will be held at Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN) on March 12, 2025. This workshop aims to identify and mentor outstanding PhD students and postdocs who are interested in pursuing academic careers in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) related areas. CPS are engineered systems that are built from, and depend upon, the seamless integration of computation and physical components. CPS technologies are transforming the way people interact with engineered systems, just as the Internet has transformed the way people interact with information. The workshop program committee will review applications and select CPS Rising Stars based on the research excellence and academic leadership potential. The selected applicants will receive travel support to attend the workshop. Their profiles will be highlighted on the workshop website and in the event brochure.

The workshop program will feature panels and presentations on the academic job search process and how to succeed as a junior faculty member, as well as research talks from workshop participants. This workshop will give participants a chance to gain insights about navigating the early stages of careers in academia and network with their peers, opening the door for ongoing collaboration and professional support for years to come.

This one-day workshop will be held at Vanderbilt University at the Vanderbilt Community Event Space (CES) located at 208 24th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37240.

Friday, January 31, 2025 AoE: Deadline for submitting applications
Tuesday, February 18, 2025*: Notification confirming participation (*delayed from original date)
Wednesday, March 12, 2025: Full-day CPS Rising Stars Workshop
March 13 & 14, 2025: CPS PI Meeting 2025 that Rising Stars may attend

Charikleia Angelidou
University of Delaware

Humaira Arif
University of Texas at El Paso

Anand Balakrishnan
University of Southern California

Jessica Besnier
University of Virginia

Wei Bo
University at Buffalo

Andrew Chio
University of California Irvine

Rachel DiPirro
University of New Mexico

Alireza Fath
University of Vermont

Zhe Fu
University of California Berkeley

Hao-Lun Hsu
Duke University

Haimin Hu
Princeton University

Junyi Ji
Vanderbilt University

Xiayan Ji
University of Pennsylvania

Disha Kamale
Lehigh University

Arindam Khanda
Missouri University of Science and Tech

Yoojun Kim
Texas A&M University

Ehsan Latif
University of Georgia

Mengyu Liu
University of Notre Dame

Efren Lopez-Morales
Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi

Afsaneh Mahanipour
University of Kentucky

Chinmay Maheshwari
University of California Berkeley

Jingping Nie
Columbia University

Ayanfeoluwa Oluyomi
Missouri University of Science and Tech

Alexander Robey
Carnegie Mellon University

Mirmahdi Seyedrezaei
University of Southern California

Nedasadat Taheri
University of Nebraska Lincoln

David Wang
Vanderbilt University

Tianyu Wang
Georgia Institute of Technology

Xiaochan Xue
Stevens Institute of Technology

Madeleine Yuh
Purdue University

Eligibility

The 2025 CPS Rising Stars Workshop is open to graduate students and postdocs in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) core research areas. CPS areas are as defined by the National Science Foundation CPS program, and include control, data analytics, machine learning including real-time learning for control, autonomy, design, Internet of Things (IoT), mixed initiatives including human-in- or human-on-the-loop, networking, privacy, real-time systems, safety, security, and verification.
Applicants should be within about 1-3 years of graduating with a PhD at the time of the workshop, or have obtained a PhD no earlier than 2022 and do not currently hold a faculty position. The selected CPS Rising Stars will receive travel support to attend the workshop, which will cover reasonable travel expenses (e.g., flight), hotel accommodation, and meals.

Application Materials

• Research statement (maximum 1 page excluding references, 12pt font, 1-inch margins, PDF)
• CV (no page limit, PDF)
• One letter of recommendation

Submission Instructions

Please submit Rising Stars applications here
For recommendation letters, instructions will be provided when applicants create their application in easychair. The person for whom you are submitting a letter should provide you with instructions including the submission number to use when submitting your letter and the URL to submit it.

General Chairs

• James Weimer, Vanderbilt University
• Xenofon Koutsoukos, Vanderbilt University

Program Chairs

• Meiyi Ma, Vanderbilt University
• Forrest Laine, Vanderbilt University

Web Chairs

• Taylor Carpenter, Vanderbilt University

Rising Stars Selection Committee

• George Pappas, University of Pennsylvania
• Meeko Oishi, University of New Mexico  
• Miroslav Pajic, Duke University  
• Sanjit Seshia, University of California Berkeley
• Nalini Venkatasubramanian, University of California Irvine
• Linda Bushnell, University of Washington  
• Jon Goodall, University of Virginia
• Dan Work, Vanderbilt University  
• Jim Anderson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Anthony Rowe, Carnegie Mellon University
• Bruno Sinopoli, Washington University in St Louis

CPS-VO Team

• Frankie King, Vanderbilt University
• Jason Gigax, Vanderbilt University

Questions or Comments? cps-rs-2025-organizers@vanderbilt.edu

View the website for previous years' workshops here