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Centre for Information Management

Centre Members and Associates

Dr Andrea Soltoggio

Photo of Dr Andrea Soltoggio

Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor)

Applications for Ph.D. studentships: follow the link at: 

 

See our DARPA ShELL project press release (Sep 2021)

See our

My research interests focus on neural plasticity, models of learning and memory, neuro-robotics, deep learning, evolutionary computation, artificial life, adaptive behaviour, human-robot interaction, control systems, cognition and intelligence, movement primitives, motor skills. 

For a list of publications, check the  or my personal .

Selected publications: 

  • Ben-Iwhiwhu, E, Dick, J, Ketz, NA, Pilly, PK, Soltoggio, A (2022) , Neural Networks, ISSN: 0893-6080. DOI: 10.1016/j.neunet.2022.04.003.
  • Angelika Skarysz , Dahlia Salman, Michael Eddleston, Martin Sykora, Eugénie Hunsicker, William H. Nailon, Kareen Darnley, Duncan B. McLaren, C. L. Paul Thomas, Andrea Soltoggio, (2022) , Plos ONE
  • Kolouri, S., Ketz, N.A., Soltoggio, A. and Pilly, P.K., 2019, September. . In International Conference on Learning Representations.
  • Ladosz, P., Ben-Iwhiwhu, E., Dick, J., Ketz, N., Kolouri, S., Krichmar, J.L., Pilly, P.K. and Soltoggio, A., 2021. . IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems.
  • Hu, Y, Soltoggio, A, Lock, R, Carter, S (2018)  . Download code from GitHub: 
  • Skarysz, A., Alkhalifah, Y, Darnley, K, Eddleston, M, Hu, Y, McLaren, DB, Nailon, WH, Salman, D, Sykora, M, Thomas, CLP, Soltoggio, A (2018) Convolutional neural networks for automated targeted analysis of gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry data. In International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. .
  • Soltoggio, A, Stanley, K. O., Risi, S. (2017) . Neural Networks Journal (2018) arXiv: 
  • Andrea Soltoggio (2014) , Biological Cybernetics, Feb 2015, Vol 109, p75-94, DOI: 10.1007/s00422-014-0628-0
  • Andrea Soltoggio, Andre Lemme, Felix Reinhart, Jochen J. Steil (2013) Rare neural correlations implement robotic conditioning with delayed rewards and disturbances, Frontiers in Neurorobotics, DOI: 10.3389/fnbot.2013.00006
  • Soltoggio, A., Bullinaria, A. J., Mattiussi, C., Dürr, P. and Floreano, D. (2008) Evolutionary Advantages of Neuromodulated Plasticity in Dynamic, Reward-based Scenarios. Artificial Life XI: Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems. 

 

The word cloud of our new review paper: 

 
 

Funded projects: 

  • Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) 2021, $893k. Shared Experience Lifelong Learning (principal investigator)
  • Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) and US Air Force Research Laboratory, 2018, $680k. (principal investigator)
  • Innovate UK. 2017-2018, £107k. Knowledge Transfer Partnership. Deep learning and augmented reality deployment on mobile devices (principal investigator)
  • EPSRC 2017-2018, £70k.  (co-investigator)
  • EPSRC 2016-2017, £18k. Robotics and autonomous systems for manufacturing and infrastructure management (EPSRC Institutional Sponsorship) (co-investigator) (EP/N508706/1)

 Past projects: 

  • Technical co-ordinator of the EU FP7 #248311  (2010-2014), approx. 12 PIs, 30+ full-time researchers.  

I'm a guest editor for Frontiers in Neurorobotics, special issue: .

Reviewer for:

  • Adaptive Behavior
  • AIMS Neuroscience
  • Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
  • Essays in Biochemistry
  • Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience
  • Frontiers in Psychology
  • IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part A and B
  • IEEE Transaction of Cognitive and Developmental Systems
  • Information Sciences
  • MIT Evolutionary Computation Journal
  • MIT Neural Networks Journal
  • Nature
  • Neural Networks Journal
  • Neurocomputing Journal
  • Robotics and Autonomous Systems
  • Soft Computing

Programme Committee (reviewer) of:

  • International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR)
  • Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO)
  • IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Computing
  • International Symposium on Bio-Medical Information and Cybernetics
  • Hybrid Intelligent Systems Conference
  • Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC)
  • IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence for Human-Like Intelligence (CIHLI)
  • Australasian Conference on Artificial Life and Computational Intelligence
  • International Conference on Neural Networks (ICONIP 2011)
 
 

 

 

In June 2018, our work Convolutional neural networks for automated targeted analysis of gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry data was reported by the following:

 

Press coverage

  • BBC Radio Leicester. Lifelong Learning Machines: a DARPA project at Â鶹ֱ²¥ University (with Jimmy Carpenter, 11/4/2019)
  • Nvidia Developer Newsletter: 
  • World Economic Forum:
  • The Conversation: 
  • BBC Radio Leicester. AI can smell illnesses in human breath (19 June 2018)

Outreach activities

  • BBC Radio 5 Live, Conversation on AI. With Colin Murray (14/6/2022)
  • BBC Radio Leicester, AI to make cars and roads safer. With Jimmy Carpenter (27/9/2021)
  • BBC Radio Leicester. AI becomes a job recruiter. With Jimmy Carpenter (26/9/2019)
  • BBC Radio Leicester. How AI will change our jobs and lifestyle. With Naomi Kent (12/8/2019)
  • BBC Radio Leicester. AI spring. With Jimmy Carpenter (11/4/2019)
  • BBC Radio Leicester. AI developments in 2019. With Jimmy Carpenter (16/1/2019)
  • BBC Radio Leicester. AI in medicine and surgery. With Ed Stagg (12/9/2018)
  • BBC Radio Leicester. Robotics and automation: risks and opportunities in the job market. With Ady Dayman (5/2/2018)
  • BBC One (East Midlands Today). The potential impact to East Midlands region of AI innovation. With Amy Harris (27/11/2017)
  • BBC Radio Leicester. Chatbots and emotional intelligence. With Ady Dayman (24/11/2017)
  • BBC Radio Leicester. AI and chatbots. With Jonathan Lampon (9/8/2017)
  • Debating Society Paderborn, (10 July 2016)
  • NAO robots at the British Science Week, STEM day (March 2016, March 2017, March 2018)
  • BBC Radio Leicester. Interview on robotics with NAO robots (14/9/2015)
  • STEM Science Taster Day (22/9/2015)
 

 

Administrative roles:

  • 2018 Programme director (Computer Science, Computer Science and AI, Computer Science and Mathematics)
  • 2016-2018 Post Graduate Taught Tutor (MSc thesis coordination)

Teaching

  • Current 2015 - present
    • Advanced Artificial Intelligence Systems (Part C) 
    • Artificial Intellience (MSc) 2019-present
  • Past:
    • Managing a project team (Part D)
    • Team projects (Part B) 2015-2018
  • Former institutions (Univesity of Birmingham)
    • Research skills (2008)
    • Evolutionary Computation
    • Neural Computation
    • Design and media team
    • Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science

Project/thesis supervision (Part C, Part D, MSc): approximately 90 projects since 2014.

  • 2018/19 (selected project titles)
    • Trading application with data analysis
    • AI controlled autonomous car network
    • Machine learning for comparing like-parts of song(s) and creating branches between them
    • Deep learning for cryptocurrency market predictions
    • Machine learning based natural language processing chatbot
    • Deep learning for adaptive control systems
    • Convolutional neural networks for image analysis in the biomedical domain
    • Classification of environmental sound events
  • 2017/18 (project titles)
    • Evolution of deep reinforcement learning
    • Deep learning for adaptive control systems
    • Machine learning in breathomics
    • Deep learning for automated cryptocurrency trading
  • older projects:
    • NAO as a robotic personal fitness instructor for children
    • Machine learning for wellbeing analysis
    • NAO as a robotic personal fitness instructor
    • Learning costumers intentions through social media
    • Football match prediction using AI

 

 

Andrea Soltoggio received a combined BSc and MSc degree in Computer Science in 2004 from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway, and from Politecnico di Milano, Italy.  He was awarded a Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2009 from the University of Birmingham, UK. He was with the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at EPFL, Lausanne, CH, in 2006 and 2008-2009.  He was a visiting researcher at the University of Central Florida, US, in 2009.  From 2010 to 2014 he was Technical Coordinator of the FP7 European large-scale integration project AMARSi with the Research Institute for Cognition and Robotics, Bielefeld University, Germany. From 2014 he is a lecturer in computer science and artificial intelligence at Â鶹ֱ²¥ University

He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).