Johan Suykens
Also known as J Suykens, J. A. K. SUYKENS, J. A. K. Suykens, J. SUYKENS, J. Suykens, Johan A. K. Suykens
Johan Suykens is a KU Leuven professor whose work on least squares support vector machines earned IEEE honors. He studied electromechanical engineering and applied sciences at Leuven, then visited UC Berkeley as a postdoctoral researcher. His career includes LS-SVM classifiers, a book, ERC Advanced Grants, and a 2024 keynote on deep learning and transformer attention within the LS-SVM framework. As of October 2026, he directs KU Leuven's Master AI programme and is an ELLIS Fellow.
Timeline
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1989–1996
Training in Leuven and Berkeley
He earns a master's degree in electromechanical engineering in 1989 and a PhD in applied sciences in 1995 at KU Leuven. In 1996, he visits UC Berkeley as a postdoctoral researcher.
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1999–2002
Building least-squares classifiers
With Joos Vandewalle, he publishes the paper Least squares support vector machine classifiers in 1999. He coauthors the 2002 book Least Squares Support Vector Machines with four colleagues.
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2000–2002
An award and a study institute
The International Neural Networks Society gives him its 2000 Young Investigator Award for contributions to neural networks. In Leuven, he directs and organizes the 2002 NATO Advanced Study Institute on Learning Theory and Practice.
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2004–2005
Leading neural-network meetings
He co-chairs the International Joint Conference on Neural Networks in 2004 and the International Symposium on Nonlinear Theory and its Applications in 2005.
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2011–2017
Two ERC Advanced Grants
He receives ERC Advanced Grants in 2011 and 2017.
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2015–2024
Recognition for LS-SVMs
IEEE elevates him to Fellow in 2015 for developing least squares support vector machines. In 2024, he receives the IEEE CIS Neural Networks Pioneer Award.
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2018–2024
From kernels to transformers
His ERC Advanced Grant E-DUALITY runs from 2018 to 2024. At a 2024 IEEE CIS keynote on least squares support vector machines and deep learning, he explains how transformer attention can be represented within the LS-SVM framework.
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As of October 2026
Leading AI in Leuven
He is a full professor at KU Leuven and directs its Master AI programme. He is an ELLIS Fellow; earlier, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher with FWO Flanders.
Sources and credits
Photo: esat.kuleuven.be; Johan Suykens' Homepage; creator not stated. License: Not stated by source. Source: esat.kuleuven.be. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.
- STADIUS - Johan Suykens
- STADIUS's Publications: Search Result
- Johan Suykens — Leuven.AI
- 04/04/2024 – IEEE CIS Neural Network Pioneer Award for Johan Suykens – STADIUS
- KEYNOTE: Least Squares Support Vector Machines and Deep Learning | CIS | Computational Intelligence
- Leuven | European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems