Matthijs Spaan

Matthijs Spaan is a Professor of Reliable AI Algorithms at Delft University of Technology, where he co-directs the Sequential Decision Making group in the Department of Intelligent Systems (EEMCS faculty). Previously, he served as an Associate Professor in the Algorithmics group at TU Delft and as a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Systems and Robotics, Instituto Superior Técnico (Lisbon). He holds a PhD in Computer Science (2006) and an MSc in Artificial Intelligence (2002) from the University of Amsterdam.

His research focuses on safe and robust reinforcement learning, planning under uncertainty using POMDPs/Dec-POMDPs, and sequential decision-making algorithms. He has contributed to embedding epistemic uncertainty in deep reinforcement learning, safe policy improvement, and constrained decision-making frameworks for smart energy systems, robotics, and traffic optimization. His work includes 15+ key publications in top venues like AAAI, IJCAI, ICAPS, and AAMAS, spanning 2024 to 2011.

He has advised four PhD students to completion and co-organized major workshops such as the Lorentz workshop on Rigorous Automated Planning (2022) and AAAI 2022 program. His professional service includes editorial roles at AI Magazine and Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research, area chair positions, and leadership in IJCAI, ICAPS, and IFAAMAS.