معرفی
Prof. Dr. Jörg Hoffmann is a Professor at Saarland University, where he heads the Foundations of Artificial Intelligence (FAI) Group. He is also an Affiliate Professor at DFKI, located on the Saarland Informatics Campus. His primary academic affiliation is with the Informatics Department within the Faculty for Mathematics and Informatics.
He earned his PhD from the University of Freiburg in 2002, receiving the EurAI Dissertation Award for his thesis. His postdoctoral career included positions at the Max Planck Institute for Computer Science, Cornell University, the University of Innsbruck, and SAP Research, before he became a Directeur de Recherche at INRIA in 2009. He joined Saarland University as a Professor in 2012.
His research focuses on AI action-decision problems, with a current emphasis on methods to build trust in learned action policies. His group explores techniques for explaining, verifying, testing, and visualizing policy behavior, with connections to SAT/CP, verification, and natural language generation. He is a world-renowned expert in automated planning, having developed seminal systems like FF, which set a new standard for planner performance after winning IPC'00.
The 15 most recent articles highlight a deep, sustained investigation into the theoretical and empirical foundations of heuristic search in planning. His work spans from the creation of the highly influential FF system to a rigorous analysis of search space topology and the conditions under which heuristic methods like ignoring delete lists are effective. His publications show a consistent trend of bridging practical system development with profound theoretical insights, primarily within the domains of automated planning and heuristic search.
- Fellow of AAAI (2021)
- Fellow of EurAI (2021)
- EurAI Dissertation Award (2002)
- Wolfgang-Gentner Nachwuchsfoerderpreis (2003)
- Best Paper Award at ICAPS'12, SPIN'18, and IV'22
- Outstanding Paper Award at AAAI'22
- Best Student Paper Award at SOCS'21
- ICAPS Influential Paper Award (Honorable Mention) in 2008, 2013, and 2017
- Best Senior Program Committee Member Award at ICAPS'19
- Chaire d'Excellence project grant from ANR
Prof. Hoffmann has been a central figure in the planning community, serving as a mentor to numerous students and collaborators. His leadership extends to the organization of major conferences, having served as Program Co-Chair for AAAI'12 and Conference Co-Chair for ICAPS'10 and ICAPS'20, among many other senior PC and area chair roles. His extensive reviewing and editorial service, including as an Associate Editor for Artificial Intelligence and JAIR, demonstrates a strong commitment to the advancement of the field. His work on the Fast Downward planning platform has provided a critical foundation for research in optimal planning.
He leads the Foundations of Artificial Intelligence Group at Saarland University, a prominent research team in the field. His group has been instrumental in developing key systems like FF and TorchLight, and continues to push the boundaries of research in explainable and trustworthy AI planning. His leadership roles, including Head of the Informatics Department and Vice-Dean of the Faculty for Mathematics and Informatics from 2020 to 2022, highlight his significant contribution to the academic structure of his institution.
