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I’m Jonathan von Rad.

keywords = {

  • Multilingual NLP;
  • Large Language Models;
  • AI Safety;
  • Reinforcement Learning;
  • Model Efficiency;
  • Interpretability;
  • University College London;
  • University of Tübingen;
  • Peking University;
  • University of Tunis El Manar;
  • Foundations First;
  • Deutsch;
  • 中文;
  • العربية;
  • Iron Man (hopefully);
  • Basketball;
  • YouTube;

}

Portrait of Jonathan von Rad

Lorch, Germany

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I recently completed my M.Sc. in Machine Learning at UCL, working on multilingual NLP, reinforcement learning and large language models.

My goal is to democratize AI across multilinguality and efficiency. My research explores how models process and reason across languages, and how they can be made smaller and cheaper while remaining safe, aligned and interpretable. My most recent paper was accepted to EMNLP 2026 Main.

I’ve studied and worked in Germany, the UK, China and Tunisia, and speak German, English, Mandarin, Arabic and French. These experiences shaped my commitment to accessible language technology for every language and computational budget. This focus on equitable and multilingual NLP helped me secure the highly competitive DAAD scholarship for my Master’s in London and a PhD offer from the University of Cambridge.

Education

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  1. Sep 2025 – Sep 2026 · London, UK

    University College London

    M.Sc. Machine Learning

    Projected grade: Distinction (75%)

    • DAAD scholarship for master’s study abroad (10% acceptance rate; £41,000 total funding)
    • Coursework: Unsupervised Learning (Gatsby), Statistical NLP, Reinforcement Learning (DeepMind)
    • Thesis: Disentangling Tokenizer Quality from Script Disparity in Multilingual LLM Pretraining

  2. Sep 2021 – Aug 2025 · Tübingen, Germany

    University of Tübingen

    B.Sc. Computer Science

    First Class Honours (1.4 / 5.0, where 1.0 is the best) · Top 5% of undergraduate CS students

    • Coursework: Linear Algebra, Algorithms & Data Structures, Statistics, Artificial Intelligence
    • Thesis: Analyzing Pruning, Quantization and Distillation for LLM Compression (grade 1.0, GPA 4.0 / 4.0)

  3. Sep 2024 – Jun 2025 · Beijing, China

    Peking University 北京大学

    Exchange Student

    Studied Mandarin for one year (B2, HSK 5)

    • Merit-based Baden-Württemberg scholarship for two semesters abroad (3000€)
    • Research Assistant in LLM Alignment at the PKU Alignment and Interaction Lab
    • Second Place in Mandarin Speech Contest

  4. Mar 2023 – Dec 2023 · Tunis, Tunisia

    University of Tunis El Manar

    Visiting Student

    Studied Arabic (B2)

    • Studied Modern Standard Arabic and Tunisian Dialect for 9 Months
    • CS studies online (Theoretical Computer Science 2 and Artificial Intelligence)

  5. 2016 – Dec 2021 · Esslingen, Germany

    Schelztor Gymnasium Esslingen

    Abitur: 1.3 (GPA 4.0/4.0)

    • Majors in Maths, Physics and Sports; Minors in Computer Science and French

Publications

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EMNLP 2026 · Main Conference

UniComp: A Unified Evaluation Framework for LLM Compression via Pruning, Quantization and Distillation

Jonathan von Rad, Yong Cao, Andreas Geiger

arXiv ↗

Experience

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  1. Jul 2026 – Now · London, UK

    Foundations First Non-profit

    AI Solutions Engineer (Multilingual)

    • Developing AI-assisted differentiated learning to tackle education inequality in primary schools in Kenya
    • Using quantized Tiny-Aya 4B for on-device agentic modelling and multilingual NLU in Swahili

  2. Sep 2022 – Aug 2024 · Tübingen, Germany

    University of Tübingen

    Teaching Assistant, “Practical Programming I and II”

    Real Virtual Humans & Database Systems Group

    • Taught functional programming in DrRacket and object-oriented programming in Java (~25 students)

  3. Nov 2023 – Mar 2024 · Tübingen, Germany

    Coreflow UG

    Web Developer

    • Developed modular web applications for robot configuration using SvelteKit and TypeScript

Beyond Research

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  1. 2026

    Artificial Intelligence Review Springer Nature

    Reviewer

  2. Gemeindeverbund God in Life

    Youth Leader at my local church

  3. English Teaching

    Taught English to children in Beijing

Skills & Languages

import *

Technical

  • Python
  • PyTorch
  • NumPy
  • Pandas
  • Java
  • TypeScript
  • Linux
  • Git
  • R
  • LangGraph
  • LangChain

Languages

  • GermanNative
  • EnglishFluent - IELTS 8.0
  • MandarinAdvanced · HSK 5
  • ArabicAdvanced
  • FrenchIntermediate

Talks

watch(JonnyInChina)

Jonathan giving a speech in Mandarin at the Peking University speech contest Mandarin 中文 · Beijing, China Mandarin Speech Contest at Peking University Jonathan giving a presentation in Arabic in Tunisia Arabic العربية · Tunis, Tunisia Presentation in Arabic
@JonnyInChina Videos from my YouTube channel.