In 2025, the Yandex ML Prize laureates were selected in three categories. The prizes were awarded to master’s program directors who engage students in joint projects with industry experts, lecturers developing courses at the intersection of fundamental mathematics and practical aspects of machine learning algorithms, and early-career faculty advancing cutting-edge approaches to studying generative AI. A special Hall of Fame award was also presented for contributions to establishing machine learning as an educational discipline.
“I am very happy that the award committee valued my teaching work and my contribution to the development of generative AI courses so highly. It all started with a mini-course that I helped develop and teach at the Yandex School of Data Analysis in 2023. Then, in 2024, with my participation, this course was gradually refined and improved: Different versions were taught at several institutions and summer schools — for example, at the Skoltech SMILES Summer Machine Learning School. Finally, in the spring of 2025, we developed the course into Skoltech’s first large-scale course on generative AI,” shared Milena Gazdieva.
The course developed with the researcher’s involvement covers both classical topics (Gaussian mixture models, variational autoencoders, etc.) and more advanced ones — up to the most modern flow-based models. It is of interest both to those planning a career in industry who want a comprehensive understanding of existing tools, and to those considering an academic career, where it is important to be aware of current topics.
The laureate’s research interests are also linked to generative AI. “I develop generative models based on optimal transport theory. I am particularly interested in non-standard optimal transport formulations that enable the creation of models robust to inaccuracies in data. The results of this research have been published in the proceedings of leading A* conferences in the field,” said Milena Gazdieva.
A project based on one of these models was developed by participants of the 2024 Skoltech SMILES Summer School. The team won the award for best project among online participants.
The Yandex ML Prize has been awarded annually since 2019 with the aim of developing the academic community and motivating researchers and educators in AI and machine learning to continue their scientific and educational activities. All laureates receive cash prizes ranging from 500,000 to one million rubles depending on the category, grants of 500,000 rubles for using the Yandex Cloud platform, and access to Yandex 360 services.
