Zeynep Akata
Also known as Zeynep Akata Schulz
Zeynep Akata is a computer scientist whose work centers on explainable machine learning. Her attribute label embedding method, a zero-shot learning approach introduced in 2013, recognizes new image categories from language descriptions alone. After her doctorate in Grenoble, she worked in Saarbrücken and then became an assistant professor in Amsterdam. Her later honours include an ERC Starting Grant in 2019, the Alfried Krupp Prize in 2023, and the ZukunftsWissen Prize in 2025. Since 2024 she is a professor at TUM and directs an institute at Helmholtz Munich.
- Works
- 232
- Citations
- 17,094
- h-index
- 49
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.
Timeline
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2008–2014
Training in Turkey, Aachen and Grenoble
She earns a BSc at Trakya University in 2008 and an MSc at RWTH Aachen in 2010. Her doctorate in Grenoble follows in 2014.
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2013
Attribute label embedding
In 2013 she develops attribute label embedding (ALE), a zero-shot learning method that recognizes new image categories from language descriptions alone.
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2014–2019
From postdoc to professor
Her postdoctoral work at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Saarbrücken runs from 2014 to 2017. From 2017 to 2019 she is an assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam.
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2019
An ERC Starting Grant
The European Commission awards her an ERC Starting Grant in 2019, and the Werner-von-Siemens-Ring foundation gives her a young scientist honour.
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2019–2023
A professorship in Tübingen
At the University of Tübingen she is a professor of explainable machine learning from 2019 to 2023.
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2023
The Alfried Krupp Prize
She wins the Alfried Krupp Prize in 2023, which is intended to advance her research and teaching over five years.
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2025
The ZukunftsWissen Prize
The National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Commerzbank Foundation award her the ZukunftsWissen Prize in 2025 for her research.
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Since 2024
A professorship and institute in Munich
At TUM she is a Liesel Beckmann Distinguished Professor of computer science, and she directs the Institute for Explainable Machine Learning at Helmholtz Munich. She moves to Munich in 2024 from Tübingen.
Sources and credits
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