Charley Wu

Charley Wu is an Independent Research Group Leader and W3 Professor of Computational Cognitive Science, currently transitioning from the University of Tübingen to Technische Universität Darmstadt. He leads the Human and Machine Cognition Lab (HMC Lab), jointly funded by the Excellence Cluster 'Machine Learning for Science' and the Tübingen AI Center, soon to be based at TU Darmstadt under a LOEWE Start Professorship and an ERC Starting Grant.

• University of Tübingen (former affiliation)
• Technische Universität Darmstadt (current/transitioning to)
• Human and Machine Cognition Lab (HMC Lab)
• Excellence Cluster 'Machine Learning for Science'
• Tübingen AI Center

Charley Wu's research lies at the intersection of cognitive science and artificial intelligence, focusing on how humans learn and make decisions under uncertainty. Using computational models, statistical learning, and virtual reality experiments, he investigates the cognitive shortcuts and strategies people use to generalize and explore efficiently in complex environments. His work also explores social learning and collective intelligence through biologically inspired multi-agent systems.

His recent publications, including a key paper in Nature Human Behaviour on generalization guiding exploration, reflect a strong trend toward integrating machine learning techniques with human behavioral data. The research emphasizes efficient inference, compressed representations, and compositional structures in cognition, bridging gaps between human and artificial intelligence.

Notable scientific awards include:

• ERC Starting Grant: C⁴: Compositional Compression in Cognition and Culture
• LOEWE Start Professorship

Dr. Wu is actively mentoring and expanding his research group, currently recruiting three fully-funded PhD students and one postdoctoral researcher. His lab is supported by competitive grants and institutional funding, indicating strong research momentum and future directions in computational models of cognition, AI-human alignment, and collective learning. He collaborates with leading researchers such as Fiery Cushman and Sam Gershman from his postdoctoral work at Harvard University.

The Human and Machine Cognition Lab (HMC Lab) is a dynamic research environment focused on understanding the computational principles of human learning. As it transitions to TU Darmstadt, the lab will continue to explore fundamental questions in cognition using cutting-edge methodologies, including online experiments, multi-agent simulations, and AI-driven modeling.