ATLANTA— Esra Akbas, an assistant professor of computer science whose research focuses on graph mining and machine learning, has been named a recipient of the 2025 Dean’s Early Career Award.
The award recognizes early-career faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences who are emerging leaders in their field of research, scholarship or creative activity.
Akbas is known for her pioneering work developing efficient and interpretable graph neural networks (GNNs) through graph compression. Her research has far-reaching applications across medicine, cybersecurity, social networks and national security. By modeling and analyzing large-scale, complex and noisy real-world data as graphs, her work addresses real-world challenges such as drug discovery, online extremism, and dynamic event forecasting through social media.
She has received multiple competitive awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF), including the prestigious NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award, and has secured more than $1.4 million in NSF funding as principal investigator. Akbas’ interdisciplinary collaborations span biomedical science, mathematics and security studies.
One of her ongoing projects uses dynamic graph neural networks to monitor shifting narratives on social media and in news coverage to help forecast potential real-world events. As part of Georgia State’s Transcultural Conflicts and Violence and Extremism research group, she also analyzes communication patterns of extremist groups to better understand and predict threats to national security—turning abstract data into actionable insights for societal benefit.
She joined the Georgia State faculty after earning her Ph.D. at Florida State University and has since established the Data Engineering Lab (DELab), where she mentors students across undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels. The lab has produced nearly 50 peer-reviewed publications in top-tier venues such as IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology, Nature Scientific Reports, and the IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering.
Recipients of the Dean’s Early Career Award are selected based on outstanding achievements in research and teaching, as well as service contributions to Georgia State.
“I’m deeply honored to receive this award. To me, it reflects not just my work, but also the dedication of my students as we continue to advance research in graph machine learning and its critical real-world applications,” Akbas said. “This award is not just mine—it belongs to all of us.”
Armin Mikler, chair of the Department of Computer Science, said Akbas exemplifies the best of Georgia State.
“Dr. Akbas exemplifies the highest standards of academic excellence,” Mikler said. “Her innovative research and dedication to mentorship and inclusivity make her an extraordinary asset to both the university and the broader research community.”
The award is funded by private contributions from members of the college’s Board of Visitors and other donors to support rising stars among the faculty. As part of their recognition, recipients are provided $3,000 in professional development funds.
Learn more about the Dean's Early Career Award at cas.gsu.edu/deans-early-career-award. You may give to the endowment here. To see even more ways donor support is making a meaningful difference at Georgia State, visit giving.gsu.edu.
— By Stephanie Scott