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Curriculum Vitae of Jea (Jay) Kwon
General Information
| Name | Jea (Jay) Kwon |
| Position | Postdoctoral Researcher |
| Affiliation | Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy (MPI-SP), Bochum, Germany |
| onlytojay@gmail.com |
Research Interests
- Machine memory and AI engrams: localizing, editing, and erasing learned knowledge in LLM parameters
- Mechanistic interpretability, steerability, and alignment of large language models
- Neuro4AI and AI4Neuro: brain-inspired AI and AI-driven neuroscience
Education
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2014 - 2022 Ph.D. in Nano-Bio-Information-Technology
Korea University, Seoul, South Korea - Advisor: C. Justin Lee, Director of IBS
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2008 - 2012 B.E. in Electrical and Electronic System
Saitama University, Saitama, Japan
Professional Experience
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2024 - Present Postdoctoral Researcher
Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy (MPI-SP), Bochum, Germany - Advisor: Meeyoung Cha, Director of MPI-SP
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2022 - 2024 Postdoctoral Researcher
Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon, South Korea -
2018 - 2020 Researcher
Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon, South Korea -
2014 - 2018 Student Researcher
Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, South Korea
Achievements
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2026 Seal of Excellence — MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025
European Commission, Horizon Europe (HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF-01-01) - Proposal 101286042 — TRACE: Towards Reliable AI through Cognitive Engrams (with Max-Planck-Gesellschaft), total score 89.40%
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2023 Excellent Paper Award
Korean Artificial Intelligence Association (JKAIA) - Brain-inspired Lp-Convolution benefits large kernels and aligns better with visual cortex
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2023 Patent Application & Technology Transfer
Application Number: 10-2023-0027219 - Device and Method for Classification of Human and Animal Behavior, Patent Contribution=35%
- Finalized a technology transfer with ACTNOVA Inc.
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2022 Best Presentation Award
Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences (KSBNS) - ABCD-analysis: Mapping animal behavior and differential analysis of kinematic features without selection bias
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2022 Young Investigator Award
Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology (KSMCB) - Retina-attached slice recording reveals light-triggered tonic GABA signaling in suprachiasmatic nucleus
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2021 Best Poster Award
Center for Cognition and Sociality (CCS) Workshop - Mapping Behavior with DECLARE: Deep Embedded Clustering of Action REpresentation
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2014 - 2022 Full-Ride Scholarship for Doctoral Studies
Korea University - Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KU-KIST) Graduate School -
2007 - 2012 Full-Ride Scholarship for Bachelor's Studies
Korea-Japan Governments Joint Scholarship Program for Science and Engineering Students
Organizing Experience
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2026 Symposium Organizer: "Minds Meet Machines: Bidirectional Innovations in AI and Neuroscience"
Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences (KSBNS) Annual Meeting -
2025 Symposium Co-Organizer: "Neuroscience-inspired AI: Computational Insights into Biological and Artificial Intelligence"
KSBNS & CJK (China-Japan-Korea) Joint Symposium -
2020 Founding Member
KAIST-NeuroAI Journal Club
Program Committees & Reviewing
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2026 Program Committee
AAAI 2026, AI Alignment Track -
2026 Program Committee
Machine+Behavior Conference 2026, Harnack House, Berlin -
2026 Reviewer
International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR) -
2025 - 2026 Reviewer
ICLR Re-Align Workshop
Invited Talks
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2026 AI Engram: In Search of Memory Traces in Artificial Neural Networks
Scalable Trustworthy AI (STAI) group - KAIST -
2026 AI and Neuroscience
Introduction to System Health - Ewha Womans University -
2026 AI Engram: In Search of Memory Traces in Artificial Neural Networks
Max Planck Institute for Software Systems -
2026 AI Engram: In Search of Memory Traces in Artificial Neural Networks
Spark(l)ing Science - Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy -
2025 How neuroscience can benefit AI
KAIST BK21 IBS Symposium - Integrated Neuroscience and Physiology -
2025 Transformer as a Hippocampal Memory Consolidation Model based on NMDAR-inspired Nonlinearity
KSBNS Symposium -
2025 Sovereign AI: K-AI as an opportunity
Netzwerk Junge Generation Deutschland-Korea -
2025 Brain-inspired AI
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) -
2025 Brain-inspired AI
Korea Brain Research Institute (KBRI) -
2025 Brain-inspired AI
Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) -
2025 Neuroscience for Artificial Intelligence
MLAI group, Yonsei University -
2024 Brain-inspired AI
Kyungpook National University (KNU) -
2024 SUBTLE: An Unsupervised Platform with Temporal Link Embedding that Maps Animal Behavior
Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST) -
2024 SUBTLE: An Unsupervised Platform with Temporal Link Embedding that Maps Animal Behavior
Korea Brain Research Institute (KBRI) -
2023 Transformer as a hippocampal memory consolidation model based on NMDAR-inspired nonlinearity
IBS-CCS Symposium -
2023 Memory editing in the brain - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
IBS Science in the Cinema Roof -
2023 From human mind to artificial intelligence - Is ChatGPT a bridge
Reading Festival at Jeonil High School -
2022 Resolving clustering bias during animal behavior mapping and kinematic profiling
IBS Data Science Group seminar -
2021 Age-dependent motor coordination analysis by 3D pose-estimation using AVATAR
IBS 2021 2nd Workshop -
2020 Backpropagation and the Brain
KAIST-NeuroAI Journal Club -
2020 Deep learning with NMDA receptor inspired activation function
IBS 2019 Year-End Workshop -
2019 Development of a Low-cost, Comprehensive Recording System for Circadian Rhythm Behavior
Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology (KSMCB)