Mathematics and Machine Learning for Earth System Simulation 2/2-6/2026
2026-02-02 00:00 - 2026-02-06 23:59 (America/New_York) | IPAM at UCLA, 460 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Modern scientific progress is often driven by numerical computations and simulations to represent large numbers of complex and interrelated physical processes. In recent years, machine learning (ML) applications in earth system simulation and prediction have promised to accelerate the accuracy and computational processing power of Earth system models including physics-constrained approaches, super ultra-high resolution, large language models for earth systems, and uncertainty quantification.

“Mathematics and Machine Learning for Earth System Simulation” is a week-long workshop that will bring together experts from diverse fields related to earth system simulation (e.g. computer science, mathematics, atmospheric science, earth system science, etc.) to explore the intersection of mathematics, traditional numerical methods, data assimilation, and cutting-edge machine learning techniques.
Topics that will be discussed include:

Integration of Numerical and Data-Driven Algorithms
Mathematical Operators and Inference
Scale Agnostic Forecasting
Foundation Models for Downstream Tasks

The workshop is hosted by the Institute for Pure & Applied Mathematics (IPAM), an NSF Math Institute. The workshop takes place Monday-Friday, February 2-6, 2026, at IPAM on the UCLA campus: 460 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, California, 90095.
Early Registration Rates
Faculty $75
Government/Military Participant $75
Graduate Student $25
Industry $100
Postdoc $50
Register Now
PLEASE NOTE: Registration fees must be received two weeks in advance of the first day of the workshop to qualify for the early registration fees listed above. After that date, registration fees increase by $10, except for remote participants. There are no refunds of registration fees, barring extenuating circumstances.
Speakers
The current speaker line-up includes:

Tapio Schneider (California Institute of Technology)
Pierre Gentine (Columbia University)
Michael Ghil (UCLA)
Pedram Hassanzadeh (University of Chicago)
David John Gagne (NCAR)
Katherine Breen (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
Dimitrios Giannakis (Dartmouth College)
Po-Lun Ma (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Jill Johnson (University of Sheffield, UK)
Tom Beucler (University of Lausanne, Switzerland)
Gary Froyland (University of New South Wales, Australia)
Johan Mathé (Atmo AI)
Damian Rouson (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

As well as speakers from the University of Miami:

Mohamed Iskandarani (Department of Ocean Sciences)
Michael Fischer (Department of Ocean Sciences & IDSC Core Faculty)
Milan Curcic, Workshop Co-Organizer (Department of Ocean Sciences & IDSC Core Faculty)

Workshop organizers expect that it will result in a review/perspective paper on the state of the field and the imminent obstacles. Please apply for support and/or register if you’d like to attend.
Financial Support
Those requesting financial support to attend the workshop should apply early. Applications received by Friday, October 31, 2025 will receive fullest consideration. Questions and supporting documents should be sent to the email below. Successful applicants will be notified as soon as funding decisions are made. If you do not need or want to apply for funding, you may simply register. IPAM will close registration if they reach capacity; for this reason, they encourage you to register early.
Funding is available especially to support the attendance of recent PhDs, graduate students, and researchers in the early stages of their career; however, mathematicians and scientists at all levels who are interested in this area are encouraged to apply for funding. Encouraging the careers of women and minority mathematicians and scientists is an important component of IPAM’s mission and they welcome those applications.
Please send your questions and supporting documents to: wcs2026@ipam.ucla.edu
The deadline to apply is Friday, October 31, 2025.
Apply Here
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Organizing Committee
Katherine Breen, Chair (NASA)
Donifan Barahona (NASA)
Nico Caltabiano (University of Southampton)
Milan Curcic (University of Miami)
Adam Rupe (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Marcus van Lier-Walqui (Columbia University)
