Mehdi Dastani

Prof. Mehdi Dastani is a Professor and chair of the Intelligent Systems group within the Department of Information and Computing Sciences at Utrecht University's Faculty of Science. He leads the Master's program in Artificial Intelligence and focuses on formal and computational models in AI, particularly multi-agent systems. His research integrates insights from philosophy, psychology, and law to develop autonomous agents that reason about social and cognitive concepts like norms, emotions, and responsibility. Dastani has held academic roles at Utrecht University since 2001, including postdoctoral research and faculty positions.

Education: M.Sc. Computer Science (University of Amsterdam, 1991), M.Sc. Philosophy (University of Amsterdam, 1992), Ph.D. in Humanities (University of Amsterdam, 1998). His work spans theoretical and applied projects, including grants for initiatives like Golden Agents (simulating Golden Age creative industries) and traffic control systems using virtual organizations. He is actively involved in academic committees, editorial boards, and organizing international conferences like AAMAS and PRIMA.

Research Interests: Multi-Agent Programming, Normative Systems, Autonomous Agents, Cognitive Robotics, and Human-Centered AI. His projects address challenges like norm enforcement, decision-making in complex systems, and ethical AI integration with societal needs.

Advising & Grants: Supervised numerous PhD students (e.g., Birna van Riemsdijk, Bas Testerink) and secured grants for projects such as 'Controllable AI: Human-Centered Approach'. His work includes collaborations on urban governance, autonomous driving, and AI tools for literacy support in children.

Labs & Teams: Leads the Intelligent Systems group, contributing to agent-based simulations, ethical AI frameworks, and interdisciplinary collaborations with social scientists and urban planners.