Sandra Zilles

Sandra Zilles is a computer science professor whose research studies how machines can learn from helpful examples and interaction. She earned a mathematics diploma and a computer science PhD at the University of Kaiserslautern, then held research posts at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and the University of Alberta before she joined the University of Regina in 2009. Her 2011 paper formalized cooperative teaching models, and she coauthored a 2025 study of contrastive examples in active learning. She joined the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists in 2017 and became a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in 2022. As of October 2026, she is a professor and Canada Research Chair in Computational Learning Theory at the University of Regina, where she received a five-year grant in 2026 for sample-efficient interactive learning.

Now at: University of Regina
Born: 1976
Works: 170
Citations: 1,418
h-index: 17

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

1994–2004

Mathematics and a PhD

At the University of Kaiserslautern, she studies mathematics from 1994 to 2000 and earns a Diplom in Mathematics in 2000. She works as a computer science researcher there from 2000 to 2004 and completes a PhD in computer science in 2003.
2004–2009

Research in Germany and Alberta

From 2004 to 2008, she works as a senior researcher in the Knowledge Management Department at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence. At the University of Alberta, she serves as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Computing Science from 2007 to 2009.
2009–2019

A professorship at Regina

She joins the Department of Computer Science at the University of Regina as an assistant professor in 2009, becomes an associate professor in 2013, and a professor in 2019.
2011

Models of cooperative teaching

In 2011, she coauthors the JMLR paper "Models of Cooperative Teaching and Learning," a machine learning study of helpful examples. Its models let teachers and learners account for one another's cooperation to reduce the examples a learner needs.
2017

The RSC College

In 2017, she becomes a member of the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists and serves through 2024.
2022–2029

A Tier 1 research chair

She holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Computational Learning Theory at the University of Regina from 2022 to 2029.
2025

Contrastive examples in active learning

In 2025, she coauthors "Formal Models of Active Learning from Contrastive Examples," which studies how different contrastive examples affect active learners and the sample complexity of learning concept classes.
As of October 2026

Professor and research chair

As of October 2026, she is a professor and Canada Research Chair in Computational Learning Theory at the University of Regina. In 2026, she receives $300,000 over five years for "Theory of sample-efficient interactive learning."