Erdem Kus

AI Researcher and Engineer

Erdem Kus

I am a Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews, developing a GenAI-based recommendation system for the AI for Academic Synergy project. I recently completed my PhD in Computer Science there.

My research focuses on frugal and cost-aware machine learning, including active learning, algorithm selection, uncertainty quantification, and AI for decision making.

I also have 6 years of industry experience at Nokia, building large-scale Generative AI, RAG, multi-agent systems, and quantum machine learning and optimisation systems.

For research collaborations, industry projects, or consultancy, please feel free to get in touch: kuserdem16@gmail.com

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News

Sep 2026
I will attend the Gaussian Process and Uncertainty Quantification Summer School in Manchester.
Aug 2026
I successfully defended my PhD thesis, Frugal Algorithm Selection: Cost-Aware Active Learning for Efficient Training Data Collection in Algorithm Selection , at the University of St Andrews, with Prof. Tom Kelsey as my internal examiner and Prof. Manuel López-Ibáñez from the University of Manchester as my external examiner.
Jul 2026
My paper Frugal Algorithm Selection for Combinatorial Search was published in the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research (JAIR).
Jul 2026
I presented On the Effect of Training Data Selection in Automated Algorithm Selection at CP 2026 in Lisbon.
Jul 2026
I gave an invited research seminar at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) on frugal algorithm selection and frugal training of noise-aware quantum neural networks for optical quantum computing.

Research

Frugal AI
Frugal Algorithm Selection & Frugal Machine Learning
Developing cost-aware and data-efficient learning methods for settings where collecting labels, running experiments, or obtaining computational feedback is expensive, with a focus on active learning and algorithm selection.
AutoML
Algorithm Selection & Automated Machine Learning
Developing methods for automated algorithm selection and AutoML, with a focus on learning effective decision policies across heterogeneous problem instances and algorithms.
Uncertainty
Uncertainty Quantification & Statistical Machine Learning
Using uncertainty estimates, surrogate modelling, and statistical learning methods to support efficient and reliable decision making.

Publications

JAIR 2026
Frugal Algorithm Selection for Combinatorial Search
Erdem Kus, Lars Kotthoff, Ozgur Akgun, Nguyen Dang, and Ian Miguel
Reduces the computational cost of collecting training data for algorithm selection by up to 90% through cost-aware active learning, while maintaining strong algorithm-selection performance.
CP 2026
On the Effect of Training Data Selection in Automated Algorithm Selection
Erdem Kus, Lars Kotthoff, Ozgur Akgun, Nguyen Dang, and Ian Miguel
Investigates how different algorithm-selection learning formulations behave when training data is limited, highlighting the effect of active training-data selection on model performance.
CP 2024
Frugal Algorithm Selection
Erdem Kus, Ozgur Akgun, Nguyen Dang, and Ian Miguel
Introduces frugal algorithm selection, combining active learning with cost-aware mechanisms to reduce the expense of collecting algorithm-performance training data.
AutoML 2024
Cost-Efficient Training for Automated Algorithm Selection
Erdem Kus, Ozgur Akgun, Nguyen Dang, and Ian Miguel
Explores cost-efficient training strategies for automated algorithm selection by selectively acquiring expensive algorithm-performance observations.

Academic Experience & Teaching

University of St Andrews
Research Fellow – AI for Academic Synergy
Developing a GenAI-based recommendation platform for 2,300+ researchers, using LLM-based extraction and synthesis over structured and unstructured academic data to build research personas, identify high-potential collaborations, and match researchers with relevant funding opportunities. Implementing evidence-level provenance to make recommendations transparent, traceable, and auditable.
University of St Andrews
PhD Research – Frugal Algorithm Selection
Developed cost-aware active learning methods for algorithm selection, focusing on reducing the computational expense of collecting training data while preserving decision quality.
Conducted large-scale experiments across three HPC systems: Cirrus at EPCC, MedicineBow at the University of Wyoming, and Hypatia at the University of St Andrews, totalling approximately 175+ CPU-years of computation.
University of St Andrews
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Tutor & Lead Lab Demonstrator
Tutor and Teaching Assistant for CS1002 Object-Oriented Programming and CS1003 Programming with Data . Led laboratory sessions, supported students with programming, debugging, software design, and data-processing exercises, and contributed to assessment and marking.

Selected Talks & Seminars

OIST 2026
Invited Research Seminar · Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST)
CP 2026
Conference Presentation · Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming
St Andrews 2025
Frugal Algorithm Selection for Combinatorial Search
PGR Seminar · School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews
CIRCA 2024
CIRCA Lunchtime Seminar · Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Computational Algebra, University of St Andrews
CP 2024
Conference Presentation · Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming

Reviewing

2026
AutoML Conference
Conference Reviewer
2025–Present
Information Sciences
Elsevier · Journal Reviewer
2024–Present
IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligence
Journal Reviewer
2023–Present
Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence
Elsevier · Journal Reviewer

Awards & Funding

Wellcome Trust
InFrame – £3M Multi-University Research Programme
Contributing Research Fellow on a £3M Wellcome Trust-funded programme spanning the Universities of St Andrews, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.
University of St Andrews
Handsel Scholarship
Awarded for academic excellence and research potential.
Bahcesehir University
Outstanding Achievement / Academic Excellence Scholarship
Awarded for outstanding academic achievement.