Mario Di Bernardo

Mario Di Bernardo is a Professor of Automatic Control at the University of Naples Federico II and Honorary Professor of Nonlinear Systems and Control at the University of Bristol. He serves as Rector's Delegate for International Relations and coordinates the PhD Program in Modeling and Engineering Risk and Complexity at the Scuola Superiore Meridionale. His research focuses on nonlinear systems, complex networks, and control theory, with applications in engineering, robotics, and synthetic biology. He has received numerous awards, including the IEEE Fellow designation (2012) and the Cavaliere of the Order of Merit of Italy (2007). Di Bernardo leads international initiatives, including the IEEE Control Systems Society as Vice President for Technical Activities (2025–2026), and contributes to editorial roles in top journals like IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems.

His research interests span complex systems control, multi-agent systems, and cyber-physical systems. Notable achievements include developing frameworks for controlling microbial consortia, analyzing crowd dynamics, and designing reinforcement learning strategies for robotic herding. He advises PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, with notable advisees winning awards like the IEEE Best Young Paper and Bristol’s Best PhD Thesis. Di Bernardo’s work integrates control engineering with synthetic biology, exemplified by projects like the EU-funded BeyondTheEdge and SHARESPACE.

Di Bernardo has authored over 220 publications, with an h-index of 51 and 11,000+ citations. He leads research teams addressing societal challenges, such as pandemic modeling and sustainable energy systems. His labs and collaborations involve institutions like the Scuola Superiore Meridionale, University of Bristol, and international consortia.