By Julia Schwarz
Jialin Ding has joined Princeton as an assistant professor of computer science, bringing expertise in data management and systems. He started September 1, 2025.
“To most people, databases are kind of opaque, because they work behind the scenes,” Ding said. While a typical user doesn’t interact with databases directly, he added, databases power nearly every application, from basic email to cutting-edge AI systems.
Most companies, large or small, maintain detailed databases with customer and sales information. Companies like Amazon or Oracle operate enormous databases that handle millions of queries a day from all around the world. How a database is laid out and indexed can determine whether an application runs efficiently.
To optimize database speed and efficiency, Ding’s research focuses on using machine learning techniques to tailor both data storage and indexing to the unique needs of the user or the application.
“Everyone’s data is different,” Ding said. “The theme of my work is: Why are we treating all data, all workloads, all use cases, the same? Can’t we specialize how the database works for each use case?” Specialization, Ding said, achieves much better performance and lowers costs.
Ding’s latest research focuses on vectors, the data that powers large language models. “It’s a new data type, in some sense,” said Ding. With vectors, new approaches to indexing and organization are necessary, though a lot of the same techniques for efficiency still apply.
While databases are foundational to systems, it’s been several years since Princeton offered a database course, Ding said. “That’s one of the reasons I’m quite excited to be here, to offer courses that haven’t been available for some time,” he said. In the fall, he co-taught COS 418: Distributed Systems with Michael Freedman. In the spring, he is teaching a graduate seminar on modern data systems.
Before joining Princeton, Ding worked as Applied Scientist at Amazon Web Services for three years. He is now part of the Amazon Scholar program, which supports collaborations between research and industry. Ding completed a doctorate at MIT and a bachelor’s degree at Stanford.