PhD Student Spotlight: Jerry Yao-Chieh Hu

Northwestern Engineering’s Jerry Yao-Chieh Hu aims to leverage AI and machine learning (ML) to tackle problems in drug discovery, genomics, physics, and virtual cells.

Advised by Professor Han Liu, Hu is a final-year PhD candidate in computer science in the Modern Artificial General Intelligence and Computer Systems (MAGICS) Lab. Recently, Hu has focused on the principles behind foundation models: how they learn, remember, compute, adapt, and generalize. From there, Hu develops new models and algorithms and explores their applications to scientific problems.

Hu will continue this work at Vanderbilt University’s College of Connected Computing, where he is an incoming assistant professor of computer science who will join the faculty in January 2027. At Vanderbilt, Hu will lead the ARTificial intElligent MachIneS (ARTEMIS) Lab.

Prior to joining Northwestern, Hu earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from National Taiwan University.

Why did you decide to pursue a PhD in computer science at McCormick?

Northwestern CS provides an inclusive, interdisciplinary, and interactive environment where people from diverse backgrounds can grow. Coming from a physics background, I have benefited greatly from that openness, along with the department’s career workshops and encouragement from faculty. A major reason I chose Northwestern was the opportunity to work with Professor Han Liu. At the time, his emphasis on fundamental questions and understanding machine learning aligned closely with my interests. We share similar academic tastes, and I enjoy the way he thinks about problems and approaches them.

What are some examples of collaborative or interdisciplinary experiences at Northwestern that have been notably impactful to your research?

There are too many examples to choose just one. I have really enjoyed the interdisciplinary nature of Northwestern CS and the opportunities it provides to think across fields. One example I would highlight is our lab’s collaboration with the NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky (SkAI). Studying seemingly unrelated astrophysics problems motivated us to ask a fundamental ML question: how do foundation models like ChatGPT execute procedures? Pursuing that question gave us a fundamental understanding of how models like ChatGPT achieve their “one model for many tasks” capability, leading to our algorithm emulation paradigm. This experience captures what I have enjoyed about doing research at Northwestern.

What’s next? What are your short- and long-term plans in terms of your career path?

In January 2027, I’ll join Vanderbilt’s College of Connected Computing (CCC) as an assistant professor of computer science. Computing is becoming part of the intellectual infrastructure of every discipline. CCC is being built around this idea, offering a rare chance to shape a new computing community. I’ll build my group, develop new collaborations, and continue those I started at Northwestern. I’ll continue using AI to tackle scientific problems and let science inspire new AI and ML questions. Artificial general intelligence, curing cancer, even time travel: might these ambitions connect in unexpected, beautiful ways? It’s an absolutely fascinating time for scientific research.

What advice do you have for current and prospective Northwestern Computer Science PhD students?

Talk to people more, something I certainly haven’t done enough of myself. Take the time to get to know your fellow students and faculty, including people outside your own research area. Be kind and be someone others can count on. The Northwestern CS community has so much to offer, and it will give back generously when you approach it with that spirit. A PhD is also about the people you meet and the relationships you build. It’s an experience of a lifetime, so make the most of it.