I am Dr. M. Birna van Riemsdijk, Associate Professor Intimate Computing in the Human-Media Interaction group at University of Twente.
My motto is Lead with the heart. As I wrote in my acceptance speech for the Dutch Prize for Research in ICT 2014: “for me, this means that it always has to start with a sparkle, and the rest will follow”. On these pages you can read about those sparkles and where following them has brought me. You can read about my career, my values, and my inspiration.
A (very short) CV of Dr. M. Birna van Riemsdijk
More information on my current and previous positions can be found on my LinkedIn profile.
- from 2019: Associate Professor Intimate Computing at University of Twente in the Human-Media Interaction department at the faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS)
- 2019-2022: guest researcher in the Interactive Intelligence section at TU Delft
- 2017-2019: guest researcher University of Twente in the Human-Media Interaction department
- 2008-2019: Assistant/Associate professor at TU Delft – Interactive Intelligence group
- Project leader multidisciplinary ICT project SHINE (1.3MEuro)
- Vidi personal grant CoreSAEP (800K)
- Dutch Prize for Research in ICT 2014 (50K): The most prestigious national ICT award for a scientist under 40 years old, who has conducted innovative research or who has realized a scientific breakthrough in ICT.
- Initiator and project leader of the Responsible Computer Science theme in the Computer Science bachelor programme (2018)
- 2006-2008: Postdoc at LMU Munich – Programming & Software Engineering group
- 2002-2006: PhD at Utrecht University – Intelligent Systems group
- Thesis (2006): Cognitive Agent Programming – A Semantic Approach
- 1997-2002: BSc/MSc (Medical) Computer Science at Utrecht University
- Thesis (2002): Agent programming in Dribble: from beliefs to goals with plans; also published at AAMAS’03.
Short bio
Dr. M. Birna van Riemsdijk is associate professor Intimate Computing in the Human-Media Interaction department at University of Twente, The Netherlands. Her research mission is to develop design methods and computational models for creating Intimate Technologies that align with personal values and take into account personal vulnerabilities in supporting people in their daily lives, so that we create Intimate Technologies that foster a caring and inspiring digital society. For her research on software that takes into account personal norms and values she was awarded a Vidi personal grant and the Dutch Prize for Research in ICT 2014. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (JAAMAS) and was elected member (2012-2018) of the board of the International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (IFAAMAS). She has served in numerous leadership roles related to Ethics and Responsible AI, for example in the 10-year Hybrid Intelligence NWO gravitation programme.
50-word version: Dr. M. Birna van Riemsdijk is associate professor Intimate Computing at University of Twente. Her research develops design methods and computational models for taking into account personal values and vulnerabilities in creating Intimate Technologies. She was awarded a Vidi personal grant and the Dutch Prize for Research in ICT 2014.
Some key publications
Human-agent Alignment Dialogues
- Defining an Adaptable Framework for Behaviour Support Agents in Default Logic (PDF, URL)
In Proceedings of the 22nd International Workshop on Nonmonotonic Reasoning (NMR’24), pages 72-82. CEUR Workshop Proceedings, Volume 3835. 2024.
Johanna Wolff, Victor de Boer, Dirk Heylen, M. Birna van Riemsdijk - Acquiring Semantic Knowledge for User Model Updates via Human-Agent Alignment Dialogues: An Exploratory Focus Group Study (PDF, URL, Data)
Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications, Ebook Volume 368: HHAI 2023: Augmenting Human Intellect, pages 93-107, 2023. IOS Press.
Pei-Yu Chen, Myrthe L. Tielman, Dirk K. J. Heylen, Catholijn M. Jonker, M. Birna van Riemsdijk - Misalignment in Semantic User Model Elicitation via Conversational Agents: A Case Study in Navigation Support for Visually Impaired People (PDF, URL, Data)
International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 38(18-20): 1909-1925, 2022. © Taylor & Francis.
Jakub Berka, Jan Balata, Catholijn M. Jonker, Zdenek Mikovec, M. Birna van Riemsdijk, Myrthe L. Tielman
Computational modelling of personal norms and values
- From good intentions to behaviour change: Probabilistic Feature Diagrams for Behaviour Support Agents (PDF, Code, URL)
The 22nd International Conference on Principles and Practice of Multi-Agent Systems (PRIMA’19), volume 11873 of LNCS, pages 354-369. 2019. © Springer-Verlag.
Malte Kliess, Marielle Stoelinga, M. Birna van Riemsdijk - Automatic resolution of normative conflicts in supportive technology based on user values (PDF, URL)
ACM Transactions on Internet Technology (TOIT), 18(4): 21 pages, Article no. 41. 2018. © ACM.
Alex Kayal, Willem-Paul Brinkman, Mark Neerincx, M. Birna van Riemsdijk - A Semantic Framework for Socially Adaptive Agents: Towards strong norm compliance (PDF, URL, BIB)
In Proceedings of the fourteenth international joint conference on autonomous agents and multiagent systems (AAMAS’15), pages 423-432. 2015. © IFAAMAS.
M. Birna van Riemsdijk, Louise Dennis, Michael Fisher, Koen V. Hindriks
Overarching research vision
- Creating Socially Adaptive Electronic Partners: Interaction, Reasoning and Ethical Challenges (PDF, URL, BIB)
In Proceedings of the fourteenth international joint conference on autonomous agents and multiagent systems (AAMAS’15), pages 1201-1206. 2015. © IFAAMAS.
M. Birna van Riemsdijk, Catholijn M. Jonker, Victor Lesser