Rolf Pfeifer (born 1947) is a former professor of computer science at the Department of Informatics

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 ...

, and director of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, where he retired from in 2014. Currently he is a specially appointed professor at

Osaka University , abbreviated as , is a public research university located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is one of Japan's former Imperial Universities and a Designated National University listed as a "Top Type" university in the Top Global University Proje ...

, and a visiting professor at

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU; ) is a Public university, public research university in Shanghai, Shanghai, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China ...

. He has a master's degree in physics and mathematics and a Ph.D. in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...

from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. He spent three years as a post-doctoral fellow at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

and at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in the U.S. Having worked as a visiting professor and research fellow at Free University of Brussels, the

MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) is a research institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) formed by the 2003 merger of the Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS) and the Artificial Intelligence La ...

, the

Neurosciences Institute The Neurosciences Institute (NSI) was a small, nonprofit scientific research organization that investigated basic issues in neuroscience. Active mainly between 1981 and 2012, NSI sponsored theoretical, computational, and experimental work on consc ...

(NSI) in

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, and the Sony Computer Science Laboratory in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, he was elected "21st Century COE Professor, Information Science and Technology" at the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

for 2003/2004, from where he held the first global, fully interactive, videoconferencing-based lecture series "The AI Lectures from Tokyo" (including

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, Jeddah,

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, and Zurich). This lectures were renamed the ShanghAI Lectures ShanghAI Lectures
/ref> and since 2009 they have been broadcast all over the world. He is the author of the books ''Understanding Intelligence'' (co-author: C. Scheier), ''How the Body Shapes the Way We Think: A New View of Intelligence''

MIT Press The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States). It was established in 1962. History The MIT Press traces its origins back to 1926 when MIT publ ...

, 2006 (with Josh Bongard), and "Designing Intelligence" (with Josh Bongard and Don Berry). He has published over 100 scientific articles. His research interests include

Embodied cognition Embodied cognition is the theory that many features of cognition, whether human or otherwise, are shaped by aspects of an organism's entire body. Sensory and motor systems are seen as fundamentally integrated with cognitive processing. The cogni ...

Biorobotics Biorobotics is an interdisciplinary science that combines the fields of biomedical engineering, cybernetics, and robotics to develop new technologies that integrate biology with mechanical systems to develop more efficient communication, alter g ...

, Autonomous agents/mobile robots,

Artificial life Artificial life (often abbreviated ALife or A-Life) is a field of study wherein researchers examine systems related to natural life, its processes, and its evolution, through the use of simulations with computer models, robotics, and biochemist ...

, Morphology/morpho-functional machines, Situated Design, Emotion.

Books

* ''Understanding Intelligence'', Bradford Books, 2001; with Christian Scheier * ''How the Body Shapes the Way We Think: A New View of Intelligence'', Bradford Books, 2006; with Josh Bongard * ''Designing Intelligence Paperback'', GRIN, 2013, with Josh Bongard, Don Berry

External links

Rolf Pfeifer's homepage at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pfeifer, Rolf Artificial intelligence researchers Swiss roboticists 1947 births Living people People associated with the University of Zurich Academic staff of the University of Zurich Researchers of artificial life