Bio

Oskar Marko, PhD, is a machine learning expert highly interested in the application of data analytics in agriculture. He received his PhD in electrical engineering from University of Novi Sad, Serbia, but he also spent the 3rd year of undergraduate studies at City University London, where he did his final BEng project in signal processing. Since then, he has been working in the field of advanced machine learning algorithms, deep neural networks and multi-objective evolutionary algorithms applied in agriculture. He was the leader of the BioSense's team that developed a novel data-driven algorithm for yield prediction, smart seed selection and optimal seed distribution, which secured the 1st prize for BioSense at Syngenta Crop Challenge 2017. In 2018 he proposed the project for improving African agriculture using Big Data Analytics, that attracted funding from CGIAR / Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He has also been actively involved in management of Horizon 2020 projects such as ANTARES (€28M), DRAGON (€1M) and CYBELE (€14M). He received the prize for the best electrical engineering student in Serbia in 2013 and was voted one of the 30 most successful Serbian people below the age of 30 by Bizlife in 2018. In 2019 he co-founded Cropt, a deep tech startup that turns state-of-the-art research into AgTech innovations. He is a passionate guitar player and a keen fan of vinyl.