Find Academic Supervisors

• Evolutionary Computation
• Machine Learning
• Natural Computing
• +5 more

Thomas Bäck is a Professor at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) , Leiden University , Netherlands, and a member of the interdisciplinary programme Society, Artificial Intelligence and Life Sciences (SAILS) . His academic career spans roles at Leiden University (1996–present) and leadership positions at the Center for Applied Systems Analysis in Dortmund (1994–2000). Education : Diplom-Informatiker (Computer Science), Technische Universität Dortmund (1990) Dr. rer. nat. (Computer Science), Technische Universität Dortmund (1994) Research Interests : Dr. Bäck specializes in evolutionary computation , machine learning , and their applications in sustainable smart industry and healthcare . Recent work focuses on integrating large language models (LLMs) and quantum computing into optimization frameworks, with projects like CIMPLO (predictive maintenance), ECOLE (experience-based optimization), and SAPPAO (airline operations optimization). Scientific Contributions : His 526+ publications cover evolutionary algorithms, quantum optimization, and LLM-driven design, with recent trends including: Quantum computing (e.g., quantum approximate optimization, quantum advantage challenges) LLM integration (e.g., hyperparameter tuning, mutation control, code evolution graphs) Healthcare and industry (e.g., predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, melt quality prediction) Algorithm benchmarking (e.g., IOHprofiler, MA-BBOB, explainable benchmarking) Scientific Awards : IEEE Fellow (2022) Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) member (2021) Academia Europaea member (2022) IEEE Computational Intelligence Society Evolutionary Computation Pioneer Award (2015) Fellow, International Society of Genetic and Evolutionary Computation (2003) Best Ph.D. thesis award, German Society of Computer Science (GI) (1995) Advising and Grants : He supervises Ph.D. candidates in evolutionary computation and machine learning and has secured 7 major grants from organizations like the Dutch Research Council , European Commission , and The Research Council of Norway . His editorial roles include Editor-in-Chief of the Evolutionary Computation Journal and associate editorships in leading AI journals.

Michael BurkeView profile

Professor

• Rhetoric
• Stylistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• +5 more

Professor Michael Burke holds a full professorship in Rhetoric at Utrecht University (Faculty of Humanities) and teaches at University College Roosevelt (UCR) in Middelburg. Previously, he served as UU Honours Dean (2016–2021). His research focuses on rhetoric, stylistics, cognitive aspects of language, and education. He earned his Ph.D. in English Language and Literature from the University of Amsterdam, where he also completed his undergraduate studies. Research interests span written, oral, and digital rhetoric, emphasizing pedagogical, cognitive, stylistic, and neuroscientific dimensions. He has held visiting roles at institutions like the University of Cambridge and University of Bologna. Editorial roles include series editor for Routledge’s 'Research Monographs in Linguistics' and board memberships with journals like Language and Literature . Teaching includes undergraduate courses on classical rhetoric, argumentation, and public speaking at UCR, plus leadership and interdisciplinary research modules for Utrecht’s Honours College. He supervises PhD students in the UiL-OTS linguistics research school. Notable publications include The Routledge Handbook of Stylistics (2023) and studies on critical thinking, digital literacy, and cognitive literary science. Professional activities include keynote speaking at conferences like PCST and EARS, and contributions to projects such as ‘Undergraduate Research in the Netherlands’. His work bridges rhetoric, cognitive science, and education, emphasizing practical applications for students and educators.

Maureen SieView profile

Professor

• Philosophy of Action
• Moral Psychology
• Meta-Ethics
• +7 more

Maureen Sie is a Full Professor of Philosophy of Moral Agency at the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences , Tilburg University, and director of the Tilburg Center for Logic, Ethics, & Philosophy of Science (TiLPS) . She specializes in philosophy of action, moral psychology, and meta-ethics , with a focus on moral responsibility, free will, self-control, and the adaptive unconscious . Her work bridges empirical findings in neuroscience and behavioral sciences with philosophical theories of agency and ethics. Her recent publications analyze implicit bias, moral hypocrisy, and emotions as foundational to moral practices , including their role in societal phenomena like #MeToo. She has received a prestigious NWO grant (2009-2014) to study how unconscious influences affect moral agency. She also chairs organizations like the Dutch Research School of Philosophy (OZSW) and the International School for Philosophy (ISVW) , emphasizing public engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration. Key Research Themes : Moral responsibility and neuroscience Celebrity as moral exemplars Implicit bias and social categorization Emotional foundations of ethics Critique of free will as illusion Notable awards include the LOT Grotevragenprijs (2023) . Her projects, such as the GROWTH project on distributed agency , explore legal and ethical dimensions of collective responsibility in AI contexts.

David PeetersView profile

Associate Professor

• Multimodal Communication
• Multilingualism
• Bilingualism
• +3 more

David Peeters is an Associate Professor at Tilburg University's Department of Communication and Cognition, part of the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences. His research focuses on multimodal communication, multilingualism, and digital communication, leveraging immersive virtual reality (VR) technologies combined with EEG, eye-tracking, and fMRI. He explores neurobiological underpinnings of language, including neuropragmatics, non-verbal communication, and multilingualism. His work is supported by grants such as the NWO Veni and Tilburg University Fund. Peeters teaches courses on virtual reality, language psychology, and digital literature integration in education. He is a Research Fellow at the Donders Institute and President of the Tilburg Young Academy. Key research interests include the role of gesture and iconicity in second language acquisition, bilingual language switching in immersive environments, and the impact of dataism on academic publishing. He collaborates with libraries and schools to integrate digital literature into curricula and public collections. His scientific awards include the NWO Veni Grant and a Fellowship from the International Max Planck Research School for Language Sciences. His research bridges cognitive science, linguistics, and technology, emphasizing ecologically valid experimental paradigms.

Paul BoersmaView profile

Professor

• Phonetics
• Phonology
• Computational Linguistics
• +7 more

Paul Boersma is a Professor of Phonetic Sciences at the University of Amsterdam within the Faculty of Humanities. His research explores how phonetic, phonological, and morphological phenomena emerge through computational modeling using artificial neural networks and Optimality Theory, with a focus on multi-level constraint interactions and distributional learning. University of Amsterdam Faculty of Humanities Phonetic Sciences Key research areas include: Computational Modeling : Simulations of phonological category emergence from phonetic data Optimality Theory : Gradual Learning Algorithm applications BiPhon Framework : Parallel bidirectional phonology/phonetics models Statistical Learning : Cross-situational and distributional learning mechanisms Recent publications emphasize: 2025: Inclusive speech recognition systems using Whisper model 2025: F0 ratio analysis for creaky voice diagnostics 2024: Prosodic clitics in child speech and checked tones in Shanghai Chinese 2023: Distributional learning in developmental language disorder contexts 2022: Substance-free phonological features and ghost segment phenomena He has also contributed extensively to the Praat software for phonetic analysis, with continuous updates since 1993.

Francesca GrisoniView profile

Assistant Professor

• Artificial Intelligence
• Machine Learning
• Drug Discovery
• +8 more

Francesca Grisoni serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), where she currently leads the Molecular Machine Learning team. She additionally holds appointments as an ICMS Core member and Associate Professor at EAISI (Eindhoven Artificial Intelligence Systems Institute), reflecting her cross-disciplinary role at the intersection of computational science and biomedical applications. Academic Background : Grisoni completed her Environmental Sciences degree and earned a Ph.D. in 2016 from the University of Milano-Bicocca, where her dissertation focused on interpretable machine learning for molecular property prediction. During doctoral studies, she conducted research at ETH Zurich's Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences and the U.S. EPA's National Center for Computational Toxicology. Ph.D., University of Milano-Bicocca, 2016 (Dissertation: Interpretable machine learning for molecular property prediction) Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca Her research integrates artificial intelligence, chemistry, and biology to develop computational methods for drug discovery, emphasizing wet-lab experimental validation alongside algorithmic innovation. Key focus areas include overcoming activity cliffs in molecular machine learning, generative modeling for scaffold hopping, and AI-augmented decision-making in therapeutic development, with the ultimate goal of achieving 'better decisions faster' in drug discovery pipelines. Analysis of her recent 2025 publications reveals a concentrated trend toward chemical language models and generative deep learning frameworks, specifically addressing low-data drug discovery challenges through active learning and neural network architectures. These works bridge computer science with pharmacology, targeting bioactivity prediction, molecular representation, and enzyme design while maintaining strong ties to experimental validation. Scientific Awards : Lush Young Researcher Prize Early Career Award 2022 from the Dutch Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) ERC Starting Grant (2022) Grants and Supervision : Dr. Grisoni secured the prestigious ERC Starting Grant in 2022 to advance her molecular machine learning research. Institutional records indicate she has supervised 7 students (as shown in TU/e's 'Supervised Work (7)' repository section), though specific names aren't provided in the source material. Her group maintains active industry collaborations, including past engagement with Bracco Pharmaceuticals. Laboratory and Team : The Molecular Machine Learning team operates under the ICMS and EAISI frameworks, merging computational AI development with experimental wet-lab validation. This collaborative unit focuses on fragment-based molecular design, chirality representation (evidenced by fragSMILES work), and high-throughput nanoparticle identification using machine learning, as highlighted in recent press coverage and datasets.

Gunes AcarView profile

Assistant Professor

• Web Security
• Privacy
• Online Tracking
• +3 more

Güneş Acar is a tenured Assistant Professor in the Digital Security group at Radboud University's Faculty of Science. He is also affiliated with iHub, Radboud's interdisciplinary research hub on digitalization and society. His research focuses on security and privacy threats from websites, mobile apps, and IoT devices, with special emphasis on online tracking mechanisms, anonymous communication networks like Tor, and deceptive design patterns. Dr. Acar completed his PhD at KU Leuven under the supervision of Claudia Diaz and Bart Preneel. Prior to joining Radboud University, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at KU Leuven's COSIC group and a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University's Center for Information Technology Policy. His research spans web security, privacy, online tracking, IoT security, Tor network analysis, and dark patterns. He investigates how websites, mobile apps, and IoT devices compromise user privacy through various tracking mechanisms and deceptive interface designs. His work combines large-scale measurements with user studies to understand both technical vulnerabilities and their real-world impact on users. Dr. Acar's publications reveal an evolving research trajectory from foundational web tracking mechanisms to increasingly sophisticated privacy threats. His work has expanded from browser fingerprinting to IoT privacy, children's online safety, and manipulative design patterns in subscription interfaces. A consistent theme across his research is the examination of how third-party trackers operate and circumvent privacy protections. 2022 CNIL-Inria Award for Privacy Protection (for Leaky Forms paper) Top Reviewer Award, Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (2022) Future of Privacy Forum's Annual Privacy Papers for Policymakers Award (2020) Runner-up for multiple Caspar Bowden Awards for Outstanding Research in Privacy Enhancing Technologies Dutch Research Council (NWO) Vidi Grant (2025-2030) for "A Web Security and Privacy Observatory" Dr. Acar actively supervises PhD students including Zahra Moti, Tim Vlummens, and Luqman Zagi, with Asuman Senol recently completing her PhD in 2024. He has secured significant research funding including the NWO Vidi Grant and a project grant from armasuisse for the Mobile Web Inspector project. His research has influenced policy discussions with organizations including the OECD, US Federal Trade Commission, and European consumer protection authorities. As part of the Digital Security group at Radboud University, Dr. Acar contributes to a vibrant research ecosystem focused on practical security and privacy solutions. His work bridges technical security research with human-centered perspectives, often collaborating across disciplines to address complex privacy challenges in real-world contexts.

• Swarm Robotics
• Artificial Intelligence
• Collective Decision Making
• +5 more

Nicolas Cambier is a Visiting Professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, affiliated with the Faculty of Science's Artificial Intelligence department and the Network Institute. His research focuses on swarm robotics, collective behavior, and evolutionary systems. He explores topics like emergent communication, modular robotics, and prosociality in robotic swarms. Key areas include task-driven language evolution, adaptive decision-making, and environmental interaction in constrained environments. His work bridges theoretical models with practical implementations, emphasizing self-organization and cultural evolution in synthetic systems. Recent contributions address challenges in heterogeneous swarms, skill acquisition in modular robots, and decision-making without prior knowledge. He collaborates widely, with publications in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, Nature Communications, and top conferences like GECCO and Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems. Research interests span robotics, artificial intelligence, and evolutionary computation, with applications to both theoretical frameworks and real-world robotic systems. His studies often involve agent-based simulations and embodied evolution approaches to understand complex collective phenomena.

• Software Engineering
• Technical Debt Management
• Software Architecture
• +3 more

Paris Avgeriou is a Professor of Software Engineering at the University of Groningen, affiliated with the Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Bernoulli Institute. He leads the Software Engineering and Architecture research group and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Systems and Software . His expertise spans technical debt management, software architecture, self-adaptive systems, and embedded systems design. Avgeriou holds an office at Nijenborgh 9, Groningen, and actively advises academic institutions and funding bodies globally. Research Interests: Avgeriou's work focuses on advancing software architecture principles, technical debt lifecycle management, and the integration of AI in software engineering. His research emphasizes practical solutions for improving software quality, maintainability, and system dependability, particularly in embedded and self-adaptive contexts. Recent Contributions: Recent studies include frameworks for benefit-cost-risk decision-making in self-adaptive systems, automated technical debt management using ML, and tools for tracing architecture-related debt. He collaborates internationally, contributing to standards like the Copenhagen Manifesto for human-centered AI in software engineering. Grants & Awards: While no specific awards are listed, his editorial role and frequent conference contributions reflect recognition in the field. He chairs conference tracks and oversees workshops, fostering early-career researchers and artifact evaluation. Labs & Teams: His group is part of the Bernoulli Institute, working on platforms like SDK4ED for embedded systems and tools such as DebtViz for technical debt monitoring. The team explores intersections between systems engineering and software architecture in complex systems-of-systems.

• Creole linguistics
• Language contact and multilingualism
• Syntax of Gbe and Kwa languages
• +3 more

Prof. dr. Enoch O. Aboh is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Amsterdam , Faculty of Humanities, Department of Literature and Linguistics. His office is located at Spuistraat 134, room 647, and he can be contacted at e.o.aboh@uva.nl . Research Interests: Prof. Aboh’s work lies at the intersection of formal syntax, language contact, and learnability. He investigates creole formation , multilingual ecologies , Gbe and Kwa syntax , cartographic approaches to clause structure , and sign language morphosyntax . A recurring theme is the emergence and evolution of grammatical systems under contact, approached through both descriptive fieldwork and formal theoretical modelling. His publications reveal a methodological breadth spanning experimental studies with kindergarteners on statistical learning, computational detection of loanwords, and fine-grained syntactic analyses of serial verb constructions, predication patterns, and determiner systems. This spectrum underscores his commitment to integrating cognitive, typological, and formal perspectives on language. Awards & Recognition: While no specific prizes are listed in the current material, Prof. Aboh’s extensive editorial and collaborative work—evidenced by numerous co-edited volumes and Festschrift contributions—attests to his standing in the field. Students & Grants: Details on PhD advisees or funded projects are not provided in the source text. Labs & Teams: No dedicated laboratory or research group names are mentioned, yet his affiliation with the Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication (ACLC) can be inferred from the institutional context.

Saskia Peels-MattheyView profile

Senior Lecturer

• Ancient Greek religion
• Ancient Greek literature
• Greek epigraphy
• +4 more

Dr. Saskia Peels-Matthey is a Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Groningen's Faculty of Arts, specializing in Ancient Greek religion, literature, and epigraphy. She holds MA degrees in English, Classics, and Linguistics from Leiden and Utrecht Universities, and a PhD in Classics from Utrecht University (2014). Her research integrates cognitive linguistics, digital humanities, and classical studies, notably through her NWO Veni project 'Polytheism as Language' exploring Greek divine semantics. She co-leads the open-access Collection of Greek Ritual Norms (CGRN) database and develops computational tools like AGILe lemmatizer. A board member of the Anchoring Innovation program, she also supervises interdisciplinary PhD projects blending classics with computational methods and climate communication. Her work spans semantic analysis of religious terms (e.g., hosios, hagnos), ritual innovations in inscriptions, and computational modeling of ancient Greek language evolution. Notable collaborations include organizing conferences on Artemis mythology and interdisciplinary workshops on ancient poetry's cognitive impact. She actively engages in public outreach through media appearances explaining classical studies' modern relevance.

Marcus GerholdView profile

Assistant Professor

• Model-Based Testing
• Software Reliability
• Critical Infrastructures
• +7 more

Marcus Gerhold is an Assistant Professor in the Formal Methods and Tools group at the University of Twente's Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science. His research focuses on model-based testing for software reliability in critical infrastructures, particularly railway systems, alongside significant contributions to game design and programming language analysis. His educational background includes: PhD in Computer Science from University of Twente (2018): Choice and Chance: Model-based Testing of Stochastic Behaviour MSc in Mathematics from Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena (2013): Embeddings of Weighted Morrey Spaces BSc in Mathematics from Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena (2011): Entropy-, Approximation- and Kolmogorov Numbers on Quasi-Banach Spaces Gerhold's research integrates theoretical model-based testing with practical critical infrastructure applications . His work on railway conformance testing addresses EULYNX controller validation, while his game design research explores affective mirroring in NPCs and procedural dungeon generation. The code modernity analysis stream leverages static analysis to quantify legacy code evolution across languages like Python and PHP, revealing version identification challenges through deep learning. Publication trends show consistent focus on model-based testing methodologies (40%), railway safety applications (25%), and innovative game design/code analysis (35%). Recent work increasingly incorporates AI/ML techniques for UML assessment and Python version identification, while maintaining rigorous formal methods foundations. He actively mentors 63 students across all academic levels and contributes to major research initiatives: STORM_SAFE (ERDF, 2024): Daily Supervisor for WP1/WP2 on software reliability for critical infrastructures ZORRO (KIC grant, 2023): Daily Supervisor for WP4 on zero downtime in cyber-physical systems MISSION (MSCA RISE, 2021-2025): Interim coordinator (early 2024) for space systems modeling As part of the Formal Methods and Tools research group, Gerhold participates in European collaborations while serving on SAC-SVT 2024 and FormaliSE 2023 program committees.

Sal HagenView profile

Researcher

• Digital Humanities
• Social Media Analysis
• Online Communities
• +5 more

Sal Hagen is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) at the University of Amsterdam, working within the Natural Language Processing & Digital Humanities group. His research focuses on the intersection of computational methods and cultural analysis, particularly examining online communities, political discourse, and meme culture. His educational background includes a Research Master's in Media Studies from the University of Amsterdam, for which he received the prestigious 2018 Internet Thesis Prize in the Internet & Social Sciences or Humanities category for his work "Here I Am, Praying to an Egyptian Frog: Exploring Political Fluidity on 4chan/pol/". He also won the Audience Award for his presentation at the ceremony. Hagen's research interests center on understanding the dynamics of online communities, with particular expertise in 4chan and related platforms. His work combines qualitative and quantitative approaches to analyze political discourse, far-right movements, and the evolution of memes across digital spaces. He examines how anonymity, platform architecture, and cultural context shape online interactions and political expression. His publication record demonstrates a consistent focus on tracing political movements through digital footprints, with particular attention to the interplay between platform-specific cultures and broader political trends. Hagen's work often bridges computational social science with cultural studies, creating methodologies that capture both the quantitative patterns and qualitative meanings of online discourse. Scientific Awards: 2018 Internet Thesis Prize (Internet & Social Sciences or Humanities category) Audience Award for presentation at Internet Thesis Prize ceremony Hagen has secured significant research funding, including an NWO PhD grant for humanities research running from 2019-2024. He has been involved in multiple research projects including the CAT4SMR project (2024), OILab (2017-present), and the ERC-funded ODYCCEUS project (2018-2019). As part of OILab (Online Intelligence Lab), Hagen contributes to research on online political subcultures, while his work on the CAT4SMR project focuses on stabilizing and developing tools for social media data collection and analysis. He is also the developer of the 4CAT Capture and Analysis Toolkit, which provides transparent and traceable methods for social media research.

Behnam TaebiView profile

Professor

• Energy & Climate Ethics
• Engineering Ethics
• Nuclear Energy
• +4 more

Behnam Taebi is Full Professor of Energy & Climate Ethics and Scientific Director of the Safety & Security Institute at Delft University of Technology. He leads TU Delft | The Hague, a university-wide initiative connecting engineering knowledge with public policy. His work bridges technology, ethics, and policy through roles at Harvard University’s Belfer Center (2014–2020) and The Young Academy of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (2016–2021). As co-Editor-in-Chief of Science and Engineering Ethics , he contributes to shaping ethical discourse in engineering. BSc in Material Science and Engineering (2006) PhD in Philosophy of Technology (2010) Taebi's research focuses on the ethical dimensions of energy systems, nuclear technology, and climate engineering. He explores intergenerational justice, distributive equity, and responsible innovation frameworks. His work integrates value-sensitive design and moral emotions to address uncertainties in technological risk governance, particularly for nuclear energy and carbon capture. Recent publications highlight ethics in nuclear waste repositories, climate policy metaphors, and synthesizing justice frameworks. His VENI-grant from NWO supports innovative research on technological risks. Collaborations span the OECD Expert Panel on transdisciplinary research and co-editorship of influential volumes like The Ethics of Nuclear Energy (Cambridge, 2015) and Ethics and Engineering: An Introduction (Cambridge, 2021). As Scientific Director of the Safety & Security Institute , he leads interdisciplinary efforts to address societal challenges through engineering ethics. His initiatives emphasize inclusive energy transitions, equitable climate strategies, and bridging technical and social sciences in policy-making.

Femke KramerView profile

Researcher

• Medieval History
• Historical Pragmatics
• Dutch Literature
• +3 more

Femke Kramer is a researcher at the Faculty of Arts, affiliated with the Research Centre for Historical Studies (CHS). Her work focuses on medieval and early modern Dutch literature, historical pragmatics, and rhetorical innovations in theater. She actively engages in interdisciplinary projects and public outreach. University: Not explicitly stated School: Faculty of Arts Department: Research Centre for Historical Studies (CHS) Academic Rank: Researcher Research Interests: Kramer specializes in the intersection of language, ritual, and theater in the 16th-century Dutch context. Her studies explore disenchantment in linguistic practices, rhetorical techniques in drama, and the role of magical language in historical texts. Recent projects connect historical studies with environmental humanities through initiatives like 'Rewilding de eerste indaging.' Article Trends: Her publications emphasize early modern Dutch farce, rhetorical analysis, and cultural transformations. Recurring themes include the interplay of ritual, language, and humor, with methodological approaches spanning historical pragmatics and literary criticism. Activities: Kramer has organized academic workshops on playwriting and nature-focused creative education. She participated in the 2024 Spring School on Landscape History & Ecology and contributed to public festivals like 'Liveable Futures,' highlighting her commitment to bridging academic research with societal challenges. Media Contributions: She has appeared in radio and television interviews (e.g., TV Noord, Radio 1/NCRV) discussing historical and cultural topics, demonstrating her engagement with public discourse.