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ECEN 744 Scientific Machine Learning (Spring 2026)

Instructor: Ulisses Braga-Neto

Course Description: This course introduces the foundations of Scientific Machine Learning (SciML), a rapidly developing area that brings together the fields of Machine Learning and Scientific Computation. After an introduction to the field, we review classical ODE and PDE discretization methods. Next, we discuss automatic differentiation and introduce the main physics-informed methods in SciML, namely, PDE-constrained neural network regression and PDE-constrained Gaussian Process regression. We then present data-driven SciML methods, including operator learning, foundation models, and data-driven reduced-order models. We include throughout the application of SciML methods in forward prediction, inverse modeling, and uncertainty quantification.

Acknowledgment: The development of this course was supported by TAMIDS through its Data Science Course Development Program.


Class Contents: (under construction)

Lecture 1: Introduction to Scientific Machine Learning


Lecture 2: Introduction to ODE and PDE Discretization Methods

  • An introduction to the classical discretization methods for ODEs and PDEs, including Runge-Kutta methods for ODEs, finite-difference methods for steady-state PDEs, and semidiscretization methods for time-evolution PDEs, including the method of lines and Galerkin semidiscretization. The lecture includes basic elements of the theory of order, convergence, and stability for ODEs and time-evolution PDEs.
  • Lecture Slides (PDF)
  • Reference:

Lecture 3: Automatic Differentiation


Lecture 4: Physics-Informed Neural Networks