Hub PDRA Thom Badings Receives AAAI Doctoral Award Honourable Mention
Erlangen Hub researcher Thom Badings has received an honourable mention in the AAAI and ACM SIGAI Doctoral Dissertation Award; a prestigious international award recognising outstanding PhD research in artificial intelligence. As part of this recognition, Thom was invited to attend AAAI 2026 in Singapore, where he received the award and delivered an award talk on his doctoral research.
The AAAI and ACM SIGAI Doctoral Dissertation Award is jointly presented by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and is regarded as one of the most significant distinctions for early-career researchers in the field. Honourable mentions are awarded to dissertations that demonstrate exceptional originality, technical depth, and potential impact.
In addition to the award presentation, Thom and Hub PDRA Francesco Fabiano also presented their joint research paper on robust decision-making, developed in collaboration with Co-investigators Alessandro Abate and Giuseppe De Giacomo.
Thom will be leaving the Erlangen AI Hub in March. His recognition at AAAI 2026 reflects both the strength of his individual research contributions and the broader impact of the Erlangen Hub’s work in artificial intelligence.