Vahid Yazdanpanah, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Southampton
Artificial Intelligence | Multiagent Systems | Intelligent Agents | Formal Methods | Game Theory
About me
I am an Assistant Professor (Lecturer) of Computer Science in the Agents, Interaction, and Complexity (AIC) research group in the Department of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, and a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Twente.
I received my PhD from the University of Twente on the application of multiagent techniques for implementing circular economy practices (2015–2019) and completed my Master's in Artificial Intelligence at Utrecht University (2013–2015). I also hold a Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Greenwich in a joint program with Saxion UAS (2011–2012).
A list of publications is available at ORCID, DBLP, and Google Scholar.
News
14 PhD Studentships in AI for Sustainability (Apply by 6 January 2025).
PhD position on Responsibility Modelling in Multiagent Systems (Apply by 31 January 2025).
PhD position on AI for Sustainability Policy Appraisal (Apply by 31 January 2025).
PhD position on Ethical Alignment in Citizen-Centric AI (Apply by 31 January 2025).
PhD position on Resilient Resource Allocation in Dynamic Settings Under Uncertainty (Apply by 31 January 2025).
Research
My focus is on intelligent agent technologies, decision support concepts, and formal methods for multiagent systems. In particular, modeling the behavior of multiagent systems and logical frameworks to represent and reason about decision processes in multiagent settings. The following points characterize my general research interests:
Agent-based computing
Logics for multiagent systems
Strategic decision making and game theoretic approaches
Temporal representation and reasoning
Virtual organizations/institutions
Group responsibility and related socio-technical concepts
Centres
Co-Investigator and RRI Lead at SustAI CDT (UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for Sustainability)
Member of the Research Centre for Resilient Socio-Technical Systems
Research Projects
Research Collaborator at CCAIS (Citizen-Centric AI Systems)
Co-Investigator at HANA-HAIP (Harnessing trust and acceptance in Human-AI Partnerships)
Co-Investigator at XHS (Explainable Human-Swarm Systems)
Co-Investigator at VESTAS (Verifiably Safe and Trusted Human-AI Systems)
Co-Investigator at ARGOS (AI-assisted Resilience Governance Systems)
Research Fellow at TAS Hub (UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub)
Research Fellow at AutoTrust (Human Centered Internet of Vehicles)
PhD Researcher at SHAREBOX (Innovative Technologies for Circular Economy)
Academic Visit
From July to October 2019, I was an academic visitor at Imperial College London, visiting Prof. Nick Jennings.
Professional Services
Organiser:
Diversity and Inclusion Co-Chair: European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI-2025)
Guest Editor: Special Issue on Citizen-Centric AI Systems with JAAMAS
Demonstration-Competition Co-Chair: International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS-2024)
Local Organising Team :International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS-2023)
Organising Team: International Workshop on Citizen-centric Multiagent Systems (C-MAS 2023) (C-MAS 2024) (C-MAS 2025)
Program Comittee Member:
International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI 2021-2024)
International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2021-2025)
AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI 2020-2025)
European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI 2020-2024)
International Conference on Principles and Practice of Multi-Agent Systems (PRIMA 2024)
International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence (ICAART 2025)
International Workshop on Engineering Multiagent Systems (EMAS 2023, 2024)
International Workshop on Games, Agents, and Incentives (GAIW-2024)
Reviewer:
Artificial Intelligence Journal (AIJ)
Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research (JAIR)
Communications of the ACM (CACM)
ACM Computing Surveys
ACM Journal on Responsible Computing
AI & Society
Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (JAAMAS)
IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems
Journal of Cybersecurity
Annals of Operations Research
International Journal of Production Economics
EUMAS - European Conference on Multiagent Systems
MATES - German Conference on Multiagent Systems
BNAIC - Benelux Conference on Artificial Intelligence
Awards
Special Mention at the Blue Sky Ideas track of AAMAS 2021 (20th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems) for "Responsibility Research for Trustworthy Autonomous Systems" (joint work with Enrico Gerding, Sebastian Stein, Mehdi Dastani, Catholijn Jonker and Tim Norman).
Best Abstract at the 2021 Rabb Symposium on Embedding AI in Society for "Responsibility Ascription in Trustworthy Autonomous Systems" (joint work with Enrico Gerding, Sebastian Stein, Mehdi Dastani, Catholijn Jonker, Tim Norman and Gopal Ramchurn).
Best paper award of PRIMA 2016 (19th International Conference on Principles and Practice of Multi-Agent Systems) for “Distant Group Responsibility in Multi-Agent Systems” (joint work with Mehdi Dastani).
Teaching and Administrative Roles
Teaching at the University of Southampton:
SUST6002: AI for Sustainability Techniques and Research Methods (2024- )
COMP2208: Intelligent Systems (2022- )
COMP2211: Software Engineering Group Project (2021- )
COMP3200: Part III Individual Project (2021- )
COMP3219: Engineering Management and Law (2022- )
COMP6200: MSc Project (2021- )
UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for Sustainability (SustAI, as of 2024 for 8 years, £15M investment):
Co-Investigator and member of the management board
The Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) Champion
Co-lead for the research theme on AI for Sustainable Operations and Circular Economy
Other Roles:
Ada Lovelace Coordinator [link]
Co-initiated and on the management board for the ENGAGE Scholarship Scheme
Teaching at the University of Twente (Netherlands):
Multiagent Systems (2016- )
Sustainable Business Development (2017-2020)
Bioresource Supply Chain Management (2018-2020)
Contact
Email: v.yazdanpanah@soton.ac.uk