Federated Collaborative Networks

Group Leader

Hamideh Afsarmanesh

Prof. Dr. Hamideh Afsarmanesh

Hamideh Afsarmanesh received her PhD degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern California (USC) in 1985. She is the Professor of Federated Collaborative Networks at the Computer Science department of the University of Amsterdam, where she has been since 1990. She is the director of the FCN group.
Her research interest focuses on Adaptive Collaborative Systems, Federated Databases, Virtual Organizations /Virtual Laboratories /Virtual Communities, and design and development of Specialized Web-based infrastructures for domains such as Bio-Informatics, Manufacturing, and Elderly Care, among others.
She has directed research in more than twenty National, European, and International projects. She has been involved in the organization and has initiated / chaired several International conferences and workshops, including the PRO-VE and BASYS series of conferences. She has served as a consultant to academic and industrial research and development organizations. She has published over two hundred articles in journals, books, and refereed conference proceedings in computer science research. She has co-authored and co-edited more than 20 books and various issues of international Journals. She is a member of the editorial board of several international journals. She has given keynote speeches at international events. She has served as the elected chair of IFIP-WG 5.5 in TC 5. She is a founding member and chair of the General Assembly board of the SOCOLNET (Society of Collaborative Networks), and Dutch representative of the board on Global and Technology (BGST) at the National Academy of Science of the United States of America.

More information: Website

Sub-Group Leader

Maarten van Someren

Dr. Maarten van Someren

Maarten van Someren studied Psychology in Amsterdam. He spent one year as a researcher at the Dutch Royal Air Force and one year as a graduate student at the Department of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Edinburgh. Since 1985 he has been working at the University of Amsterdam, studying and teaching Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Prolog and Cognitive Modelling. He was coordinator of MLNET II (Network of Excellence in Machine Learning) and COIL (Cluster of Networks on Computational Intelligence).
His main current interest is in Machine Learning ranges from fundamental issues, e.g. the role simplciity and Occams Razor, through an interest in algorithms, in particular for transfer of learning (including multi-agent settings), semi-supervised and active learning. On the application side he is interested in a wide range of areas, including human-computer interaction, recommender systems, recognition of birds behaviour, recognition of cow diseases and energy consumption of buildings.