Esther Mondragón

Dr. Esther Mondragón is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at City St George's, University of London, within the School of Science and Technology. She is a member of CitAI (the Artificial Intelligence Research Centre at City) and directs the virtual Centre for Computational and Animal Learning Research. Her academic leadership includes serving as Chair of the School of Science and Technology Research Degrees Committee and former Director of the MSc in Artificial Intelligence.

• PhD Psychology, University of the Basque Country, Spain
• MSc Psychology, University of the Basque Country, Spain
• BSc Psychology, University of the Basque Country, Spain

Dr. Mondragón is a computational cognitive neuroscientist whose research lies at the intersection of artificial intelligence and cognitive neuroscience. Her primary focus is on bio-inspired AI, particularly reinforcement learning models of cognition grounded in associative learning principles. She develops computational frameworks that bridge natural and artificial cognition, including influential models like the Double Error Dynamic Asymptote (DDA) and the Rescorla-Wagner Drift-Diffusion Model (RWDDM). Her work extends to deep learning integration, Hebbian learning, representational learning, and episodic memory in AI. She has also contributed to understanding perceptual learning, rule acquisition in animals, and timing mechanisms in conditioning.

The 15 most recent publications reflect a strong trend in computational modeling of learning, with increasing integration of deep learning and neuro-inspired architectures. Her work spans theoretical cognitive science, applied AI, and software development for simulation. Key themes include associative mechanisms in representation, temporal modeling, and biologically plausible neural networks. She frequently collaborates with researchers like Eduardo Alonso and others across disciplines.

• Member, Spanish Society for Comparative Psychology (SEPC)
• Member, Cognitive Science Society
• International Affiliate, Pavlovian Society
• Member, Division 6: Society for Behavioral Neuroscience and Comparative Psychology, American Psychological Association (APA)
• Senior member, The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation of Behaviour (AISB)

Dr. Mondragón actively supervises PhD students including Corina Cătărău-Cotuțau, Alexander Dean, and Mpagi Kironde. She has supervised several to completion, such as Esther Mulwa, André Luzardo, and Niklas Kokkola. She has secured significant research funding as PI/Co-PI on projects like 'INDUSTRIAL PhD SCHOLARSHIP, BOSCH AASS' (£140,000, Innovate UK), 'DEEPSYNC: AUTOMATED VFX FOR VIDEO DUBBING' (£143,000, Innovate UK), and 'FREE ENERGY PRINCIPLE FOR ADAPTIVE COGNITIVE ARCHITECTURES' (£98,000, DSTL). She also serves as a reviewer for the US National Science Foundation, BBSRC, NCN Poland, and numerous high-impact journals.

She directs the virtual Centre for Computational and Animal Learning Research, which fosters interdisciplinary collaboration among cognitive scientists, neuroscientists, biologists, mathematicians, and computer scientists. She also leads the Knowledge Graphs Interest Group at The Alan Turing Institute.