PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Michael A. Unser

Also known as Michaël Unser

Michael Unser is a full professor at EPFL and academic director of its Center for Imaging. His work on splines reaches neural networks, a link he presented in a 2022 IEEE webinar. He earned electrical engineering degrees at EPFL in 1981 and 1984, then began bioimaging research at the National Institutes of Health in 1985. A deep convolutional network for inverse problems in imaging, which he co-authored, was published in 2017. In 2025 he received the Norbert Wiener Society Award from the IEEE Signal Processing Society.

Now at
EPFL
Works
972
Citations
52,830
h-index
104

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1981–1984

    Electrical engineering degrees at EPFL

    He earns M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from EPFL in 1981 and 1984.

  2. 1985–1990

    Bioimaging research at NIH

    He joins the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda in 1985 for bioimaging research. In 1990 he becomes head of the Image Processing Group.

  3. 1997–2000

    Full professor at EPFL

    He becomes associate professor at EPFL in 1997 and full professor in 2000.

  4. 1999

    A Fellow of the IEEE

    In 1999 the IEEE elects him a Fellow.

  5. 2017

    Deep networks for inverse problems

    A deep convolutional network for inverse problems in imaging, which he co-authored, is published in September 2017.

  6. July 2022

    Splines for neural networks

    In July 2022 he presents an IEEE SPS webinar on splines for imaging and neural nets.

  7. 2025

    A Norbert Wiener Society Award

    The IEEE Signal Processing Society gives him the 2025 Norbert Wiener Society Award for contributions and leadership to the theory and practice of signal processing and biomedical imaging.

  8. As of October 2026

    Directing EPFL's Center for Imaging

    He is a full professor at EPFL's School of Engineering and academic director of its Center for Imaging, a post he takes up in 2021. He also heads the CIBM SP EPFL Mathematical Imaging Section.

Sources and credits

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  1. Michaël Unser - CIBM | Center for Biomedical Imaging cibm.ch. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. Michael Unser - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. EPFL - Michaël Unser people.epfl.ch. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. [1611.03679] Deep Convolutional Neural Network for Inverse Problems in Imaging arxiv.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. SPS BISP TC Webinar: 5 July 2022, by Dr. Michael Unser | IEEE Signal Processing Society signalprocessingsociety.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. Michael Unser, CIBM SP EPFL Section Head, recipient of prestigious 2025 Norbert Wiener Society award - CIBM | Center for Biomedical Imaging cibm.ch. Checked 15 October 2026.