Research area:
Swarm Intelligence in natural and artificial systems, Self-organization in biological systems, Collective Behaviors and Collective Intelligence in animal and human societies, Systems Biology

Tel: (33) 5 61 55 67 32
Fax: (33) 5 61 55 61 54
email: theraula@cict.fr

Education

Research experience

• 1991 Postdoc (CNRS, Cognisciences Program), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Service de Chimie-Physique, Unit of Theoretical Behavioural Ecology, Belgium
• 1992 Postdoc (CNRS, Cognisciences Program), University of California Riverside, College of Engineering, USA (January 1992–May 1992); Santa Fe Institute, USA (June 1992–September 1992)
• 1992-2004 CNRS Research Fellow at UMR 5550, Laboratoire d’éthologie et psychologie animale, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
• 2004-2009 CNRS 2nd Class Research Director at UMR 5169, Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
• 2009-present CNRS 1st Class Research Director at UMR 5169, Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France

Teaching

• Courses at the University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse:

  1. Collective Intelligence in Natural and Artificial Systems, Master in Neurosciences, Behavior and Cognition (since 1999)
  2. Distributed Cognition, Master in Animal Cognition (1999-2002)
• Course at École Normale Supérieure de Lyon and University Claude Bernard Lyon I, Master Biosciences; A complex systems approach to collective animal behavior (2008)
• Course at École Normale Supérieure de Cachan, A complex systems approach to collective animal behavior (2008)
• Invited Professor at the Interdisciplinary College, Focus Theme on Cooperation, Günne at Lake Möhnesee, Germany. Swarm Intelligence (2008)
• Invited Professor at the Summer School on Collective Robotics, Faculdade de Ciências de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal. Collective Behaviour in Groups of Insect-like Robots (2007)
• Invited Professor at SUPELEC (Ecole Supérieure d’Electricité) at Rennes, France. Collective Intelligence in Natural and Artificial Systems (1996-2002)
• Invited Professor at Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL), Computer Department, post-graduate course in bio-inspired computer science on Swarm Intelligence: “Computer Science and Biology” (1997)
• Assistant Professor at Université de Provence in Marseille: Mathematical analysis and data processing in behavioral sciences, Multivariate data analysis in biology (1990-1991)

Award and honors

Bronze Medal of the CNRS in 1996

 

Organization of conferences, workshop and symposia

• Organization of the International workshop “Statistical Physics and Biology of Collective Motion“, with A. DEUTSCH and T. VICSEK, Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany, November 7-11, 2010
• Organization of the International workshop “From insect nest to human architecture : Engineering principles of innovation in swarm-made architectures“, with R. SOLE and P. KUNTZ, European Centre for Living Technologies, Venice, Italy, September 23-25, 2009. Featured in New Scientist, February 21, 2010: For sustainable architecture, think bug
• Organization of the first autumn school on Systems Biology “Data analysis and modeling methods for the investigation of individual and collective motion in biological systems“, Aspet, France, October 19-24, 2008
• Organization of the symposium Analysis and computational modeling of individual and collective motion in animal groups with S. BENHAMOU and P. DEGOND, Toulouse, May 9-10, 2007
• Organization of the symposium “Collective structures in social insects” with C. DETRAIN at the European IUSSI Meeting, Berlin, Germany, September 25-28, 2001
• Organization of the Journées de Rochebrune, “Evolution, randomness and organization constraints in morphogenesis”, Rochebrune, Haute-Savoie, France, March 20-24, 1995
• Organization of the Workshop “Self-organization and behavior” with R. CAMPAN, INRA, Castanet-Tolosan, France, November 28-30, 1994
• Organization of the symposium “Swarm Intelligence in Natural and Artificial Systems” with P. BOURGINE, Second European Congress on Systems Science, Praha, Czech Republic, October 3-10, 1993
• Organization and chairman of the Swarm Intelligence session, Third Conference on Artificial Life, Santa Fe, NM, USA, June 1992
• Organization of the symposium “Swarm Intelligence” with J.L. DENEUBOURG, First European Conference on Artificial Life, “Toward a practice of autonomous systems”, Paris, France, December, 11-13, 1991

Projects coordination

• Project Leader of “Computational modeling of collective construction processes with lattice swarms” project funded by the Conseil Régional Midi Pyrénées (1995).
• Project Leader of “Individual algorithms and collective intelligence in natural and artificial systems” project funded by the Groupement d’Intérêt Scientifique “Sciences de la Cognition” (1997-1998)
• Local coordinator of “Designing and testing self-organized multi-agent systems including models of social insects activities” project funded by the Conseil Régional Midi Pyrénées (1997-1998)
• Project Leader of “Collective intelligence in natural and artificial systems” projectfunded by the Groupement d’Intérêt Scientifique “Sciences de la Cognition” (1999-2000)
• Project Leader of “Distributed control of collective actions in animal and human societies” project funded by the Programme Cognitique (2001-2003)
• Project Leader of “Collective morphogenesis and role of interactions between building patterns and air flows in ant colonies” project funded by the Programme Physico-chemistry of complex matter (2001-2003)
• Local coordinator of "Artificial Life Control in Mixed-Societies" european project n°: IST-2001-35506 (2002-2005)
• Project Leader of MESOMORPH, Social insects nests as 3D networks: morphogenesis and structural designs, project funded by ANR Grant N° BIOSYS06_135051 (2006-2010)

Membership in editorial boards of scientific journals

Associate Editor of Advances in Complex Systems (1998-2006)
Associate Editor of Interaction Studies (since 2004, Vol.5, No.1)
Associate Editor of Swarm Intelligence (since 2007, Vol.1, No.1).

 

Invited conferences

1. Journées de Rencontre Recherche-Industrie Systèmes Complexes, Intelligence Sociale: Nouvelles compréhensions, Nouveaux outils, CNRS, Paris, France, February, 5 2010. — L’intelligence collective des insectes sociaux.
2. Workshop on Engineering principles of innovation in swarm-made architectures, Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia, Venice, Italy, September 23-25, 2009. — Stigmergic algorithms.
3. Workshop on Engineering principles of innovation in swarm-made architectures, Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia, Venice, Italy, September 23-25, 2009. — From insect nests to human architecture.
4. Morphogenesis in Living Systems, Université Descartes Paris 5, Paris, France, May 14-16, 2009. — Morphogenesis and large-scale properties of nests architectures in social insects.
5. Workshop on pattern formation and ecosystem function, Institut des Systèmes Complexes, Paris, France, April 16-17, 2009. — From individual behavior to self-organized patterns.
6. Journée IA embarquée, Université de Cergy-Pontoise, France, April 7, 2009. — Modèles biologiques et artificiels d'intelligence en essaim.
7. Self-organization and dynamics of active matter, Workshop on statistical physics of systems far from equilibrium in condensed matter and biology, IHP-Centre Emile Borel, Paris, France, January 26-30, 2009. — Self-organization in social insects.
8. Journées FREMIT, Programme Pluri-Formations de Recherche en Mathématiques et Informatique de Toulouse, IRIT, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France, December 8-9, 2008. — Dynamiques complexes et auto-organisation dans les sociétés d’insectes.
9. Colloque Origines de la vie : Auto-organisation et/ou Evolution biologique ?, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France, October 3, 2008. – L’auto-organisation chez les insectes sociaux.
10. Interdisciplinary College 2008 on Cooperation, Günne at Lake Möhnesee, Germany, March, 7-14 2008. — From natural to artificial swarm intelligence.
11. 2nd ISCV Thematic Workshop : Biologically-Inspired Computing, Valparaiso Complex Systems Institute, Valparaiso, Chili, December 3-7, 2007. — Self-organization in biological systems.
12. 2nd ISCV Thematic Workshop : Biologically-Inspired Computing, Valparaiso Complex Systems Institute, Valparaiso, Chili, December 3-7, 2007. — Swarm Intelligence in natural and artificial systems.
13. Mathematical Models of Traffic Flow, Centre International de Rencontres Mathématiques, Marseille-Luminy, France, October 28- November 1, 2007. — The organization of traffic in ant colonies.
14. European Conference on Complex Systems 2007, Dresde, Germany, October 1-6, 2007. — Biological Principles of Swarm Intelligence.
15. EAIA’07, Summer School on Collective Robotics, Lisboa, Portugal, August 27-31, 2007. — Collective Behaviours in Groups of Insect-like Robots.
16. Colloque Systèmes Complexes en Sciences Humaines et Sociales, Cerisy, France, May 26 Mai–June 2, 2007. — Les déplacements collectifs dans les sociétés animales et humaines.
17. 11ème Journées de Gerland, Systèmes Complexes et Biologie, ENS Lyon, France, December 11-12, 2006. — Les comportements collectifs complexes chez les insectes sociaux : mécanismes et modèles.
18. Nature Inspired Smart Information Systems, 2nd Annual Symposium (NISIS 2006), Puerto de la Cruz, November 29–December 1, 2006, Tenerife, Spain. — Swarm Intelligent Systems: How Social Insects Provide Solutions to Complex Problems.
19. From Animals to Animats 9, The Ninth International Conference on the Simulation of Adaptive Behavior (SAB 2006), Roma, Italy, September 25-29, 2006 — The biological principles of swarm intelligence.
20. Conference Potentials of Complexity Science for Business, Governments and the Media, Collegium Budapest, Hungary, August, 2006. — How group size influence the organization of work in social insects and human communities.
21. Workshop on Nature Inspired Cooperative Strategies for Optimization (NICSO 2006), Granada, Spain, June 29-30, 2006. — The biological principles of swarm intelligence.
22. Cité des Sciences et de l'industrie, Paris, France, December 13 2005. — Emergence de l'Intelligence Collective.
23. 6th International Workshop Engineering Societies in the Agents World (ESAW'05), Kusadasi, Aydin, Turquie, October 26–28 2005. — Stigmergic patterns and distributed information processing in social insects.
24. Summer Research Institute, EPFL, Lausanne, Suisse, July 12, 2005. — The Adaptive Properties of Small and Large-scale Structure of Self-organized Networks in Ants.
25. 6ème Journées « Complexités » Dynamiques adaptatives, Institut des Systèmes Complexes de Paris, Institut Henry Poincaré, April 14, 2005. — Les comportements collectifs des insectes sociaux.
    Conference Evolucion de Redes Complejas, CosmoCaixa, Musée des Sciences, Barcelona, Espagne, March 2, 2005. — Self-organized networks in social insects.
26. Workshop Converging Technologies and Information technology, Future working trends of NBIC Technologies in Spain and Europe, Casa Convalescència. Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona, Espagne, March 1, 2005. — Swarm intelligent systems.
27. Conférence Physics in Signal and Image Processing (PSIP 2005), ENSEEIHT, Toulouse, February 1, 2005. From natural to artificial swarm intelligence: Social insects provide solutions to complex optimization problems.
28. Colloque Art et biotechnologies, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, October 5-8, 2004. — Insectes sociaux : conception par assemblage.
29. Conférence Développer l’intelligence collective, The Boston Consulting Group, Paris, June 11, 2004. — Insectes sociaux : comportements individuels et prouesses collectives.
30. Conférence Diversité biologique et sol : de la biologie du comportement de la macro-faune du sol au fonctionnement des sols, Centre Armoricain de Recherche en Environnement, Rennes, April 1, 2004. — Modélisation des processus de formation de structures spatiales chez les fourmis.
31. 2nd International Workshop on the Mathematics and Algorithms of Social Insects, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, December 15-17, 2003. — Can we control self-organized aggregation and pattern formation in cockroaches?
32. Xème Congrès International de l’Association des Chercheurs en Activités Physiques et Sportives, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, October 30-November 1, 2003. — Auto-organisation des groupes.
    Winter School on Complex Systems, Institut des Systèmes Complexes, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, December 9-13, 2002. — Self-organized processes in social insects.
33. Conference on “Patterns and collective decisions in animal societies”, Fondation Les Treilles, Tourtour, France, August 27 Août-September 1, 2002. — Pattern formation by local activation and long-range inhibition in social insects.
34. Nobel Symposium on “Self-Organization”, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Suède, August 25-27, 2002. — Self-organized pattern formation in social insects.
35. Ecole thématique interdisciplinaire CNRS-INRA, “Information et Forme en Biologie”, Berder, France, March 17-23, 2002. — Morphogenèse chez les insectes sociaux.
36. Conference From Worker to Colony: Understanding the Organisation of Insect Societies, Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Université de Cambridge, Grande-Bretagne, December 7-8, 2001. — Some aspects of morphogenesis in social insects.
37. Conference of the European Science Foundation, Theoretical Biology Adaptation Program, Tihany, Hongrie, September 5-11, 2001. — Turing-like structures in experimental ant colonies.
38. Workshop “The limits to Self-organization in Biological Systems”, Center for Advanced Studies in the Space Life Sciences, J. Erik Johnson Woods Hole Center of the National Academy of Sciences, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, Etats-Unis, May 11-13, 2001. — Turing-like structures in ant colonies.
39. Conférence IRD & Laboratoire ECOMAR, Saint-Denis, La Réunion, April 5, 2001. — Structures de Turing chez les fourmis.
40. Colloque Invariants & Variabilité dans les Sciences Cognitives, Action concertée incitative Cognitique, Ministère de la Recherche, Paris, France, November 27-28, 2000. — Origine et fonction de la variabilité chez les insectes sociaux.
41. Conférence du Laboratoire de Stratégie de l’Armement, “La robotisation et la place de l’homme dans les systèmes”, Centre des Hautes Etudes de l’Armement, Meudon La Forêt, June 8-9, 2000. — Applications de l’Intelligence en essaim aux systèmes robotisés.
42. Atelier Cognitique “Invariants et variabilité”, Paris, MENRT, March 16-17, 2000. — Dynamique d’allocation de tâche et variabilité comportementale chez les insectes sociaux.
43. 1er Congrès de l’Association Francophone d’Ethologie, d’Ecologie et d’Evolution, Rennes, August 31-September 3, 1999. — Structures spatio-temporelles chez les fourmis.
44. Workshop “Self-organization and the evolution of social behavior”, Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New-Mexico, Etats-Unis, April 26-30,1999. — Self-organization models of colony organization in social insects.
45. Créativité & Informatique, Rencontres Musicales Pluridisciplinaires, Bibliothèque Municipale de Lyon, March 19, 1999. — Intelligence collective chez les insectes sociaux, modélisation informatique et conception de systèmes artificiels.
46. Entretiens de la Cognition, Hôtel Chinagora, November 26, 1998. — Algorithmes individuels et intelligence collective dans les systèmes naturels et artificiels.
47. Avignon Numérique, Université d’Avignon et des Pays du Vaucluse, July 23, 1998. — Morphogenèse collective chez les insectes sociaux.
48. Workshop “The Interplay of Ultimate Causes and Proximate Determinants of Animal Sociality”, Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New-Mexico, Etats-Unis, January 24, 1998. — Self-organization and Evolution.
49. Workshop “The Interplay of Ultimate Causes and Proximate Determinants of Animal Sociality”, Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New-Mexico, Etats-Unis, January 20, 1998. — Self-organization in social insects.
50. Ecole “Modèles Physiques et Mathématiques de la Cognition”, Chamonix, September 17, 1997. — Modèles d’intelligence collective chez les insectes sociaux: auto-organisation et mécanismes alternatifs de coordination des activités bâtisseuses.
51. Conférence “Coordination d’activités collectives dans les systèmes multi-agents: aspects dynamiques et modèlisation”, Groupe de Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur les Processus Interactifs Complexes, Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine, Université Henri Poincaré-Nancy I, December 4, 1996. — Modèles biologiques de coordination d’activités collectives: l’exemple des constructions chez les insectes sociaux.
52. Conférence “Intelligence Distribuée et Décision Collective”, Université Lumière Lyon 2, Association Internationale pour le Développement de la Recherche Interdisciplinaire, Lyon, September, 26, 1996. — Modèles biologiques d’intelligence distribuée.
53. Conference “Self-organization and alternative scripts”, Fondation des Treilles, June 3-9, 1996. — How coordination emerges in the collective building activity of social insects ? — The role of self-organisation and alternative scripts in collective building.
54. Conférence “Genèse dynamique des formes et des rythmes”, rencontre organisée par l’Institut non-linéaire de Nice/Sophia Antipolis, Avignon, October 7, 1995. — Constructions collectives chez les insectes sociaux : modélisation et simulation.
55. Workshop on Multi-Agent Simulation Systems, Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, Nouveau-Mexique, June, 16-19, 1994. — Designing Complex Architectures with Lattice Swarms: Learning from Collective Building in Social Insects.
56. NATO Advanced Study Institute, The Ethological Roots of Culture, (dir.: GARDNER A.), Cortona, Italy, June 21-July 3, 1992. — Swarm Intelligence in Social Insects and the Emergence of Cultural Swarm Patterns.
57. IEEE International Symposium on Intelligent Control, Philadelphia, (Pennsylvanie), September 5-7, 1990. — Swarm Intelligence in Wasps Colonies : an exemple of task assignment in multi-agents systems.

Publications

See my publications page