10.03.2025
Helmholtz AI researcher Conrad Albrecht contributes to prestigious Cozzarelli Prize-winning study
Helmholtz AI proudly celebrates the recognition of groundbreaking research in AI-assisted archaeology, in which our esteemed researcher Conrad M Albrecht played a key role. The study, titled "AI-accelerated Nazca survey nearly doubles the number of known figurative geoglyphs and sheds light on their purpose," has been honored with the prestigious Cozzarelli Prize by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The award-winning research, a collaboration between Yamagata University (Japan), the IBM TJ Watson Research Center (USA), and the German Aerospace Center (Germany), demonstrated the value of artificial intelligence in accelerating the discovery of Nazca geoglyphs located in the Nazca Pampa, Peru. A clever combination of deep learning on vast amounts of aerial imagery and on-site surveys in collaboration with domain expert archaeologists allowed the team to successfully identify over 300 previously unknown geoglyphs—nearly doubling the number of known ancient earth drawings in the region in about 6 months what took years before. This discovery marks a major milestone in the fusion of AI, remote sensing, and archaeology.
Conrad, head of the Large-Scale Data Mining in Earth Observation research group at Helmholtz AI, visiting associate professor for remote sensing archaeology at Yamagata University, and adjunct professor at Columbia University in the City of New York contributed his expertise in machine learning and large-scale data analysis to the project. His team specializes in pioneering semi-supervised learning techniques and optimizing deep learning methods for high-performance computing infrastructures. His work enables the analysis of massive Earth observation datasets, facilitating groundbreaking discoveries with real-world impact.
The Cozzarelli Prize recognizes outstanding scientific excellence and originality in research published in PNAS. The research has been featured by, e.g., Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and The New York Times. The award will be formally announced at the annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences during the Awards Ceremony on April 27, 2025. Additionally, a dedicated video highlighting the study’s findings will be produced and shared widely within the scientific community and beyond.
This recognition underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in advancing both technological innovation and scientific discovery. Helmholtz AI congratulates Conrad and his collaborators on this remarkable interdisciplinary achievement, further reinforcing the role of artificial intelligence in uncovering and preserving our cultural heritage.
For more information about Conrad’s research, visit the Large-Scale Data Mining in Earth Observation research group page or Conrad's GitHub.
