ShockLab

Associate Professor Jonathan Shock

SHOCKLAB

Research in theoretical physics, machine learning and biomedical data analysis, in no particular order.

About Me

I am an associate professor in the Department of Maths and Applied Maths at the University of Cape Town and an adjunct professor at the INRS Montreal. Originally from Oxford, England, I completed my PhD at the University of Southampton in 2005, in applications of string theory to understanding quantum chromodynamics. I then had postdoctoral research positions in Beijing, Santiago de Compostela and Munich before becoming a lecturer at the University of Cape Town in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics in 2013. I have a wide array of research interests and spend a lot of my time supervising students. My research interests cover machine learning (in particular reinforcement learning), theoretical physics, and neuroscience.I also love to teach! When not working, I can be found in the kitchen, with my camera, trying to get some exercise or attempting to improve my Mandarin.

I am an advisory board member of Conscium, the world’s first applied AI consciousness research organisation with the aim to deepen our understanding of consciousness to pioneer efficient, intelligent, and safe AI that builds a better future for humanity.