• School of Engineering and Applied Science, Aston University

      B4 7ET Birmingham

      United Kingdom

    Accepting PhD Students

    PhD projects

    I am happy to supervise PhD projects in the broad areas of Computational Intelligence, Artificial Life, Evolutionary Algorithms, and Agent-Based Systems. Specific projects would include studies of cognitive- and biologically-inspired methods for agent behaviour, modelling and understanding of agent behaviours and interactions in shared environments, modelling real-world scenarios such as traffic management systems to improve efficiency and coordination of entities within the system, managing individual goals in collective environments, etc.

    Personal profile

    Biography

    Dr Chloe M Barnes is a Lecturer in Computer Science at Aston University. She is also a member of the Artificial Life and Intelligent Collectives Engineering research lab.

    Chloe received her PhD in Computer Science in 2021 from Aston University, UK, studying the consequences of unintended interactions that arise in shared environments. Her research interests are inspired by the fields of human psychology and sociology, and are directed towards that of Artificial Life, computational self-awareness, neuroevolution, and interference within multi-agent systems.

    Research Interests

    My interests lie in the broad areas of Computational Intelligence, Artificial Life, and Agent-Based Systems. I am interested in exploring how individuals behave in collective environments -- specifically when the actions of others are unknown. My research involves using theory from other disciplines such as neuroscience, psychology and sociology to design artificial systems that can behave in a manner that is socially-acceptable for their current environment, for the benefit of themselves and the collective.

    Teaching Activity

    CS1OOP -- Object-Oriented Programming with Java (UG)

    CS2TP -- Team Project (UG)

    CS3CI -- Computational Intelligence (UG)

    CS4870 -- Team Project (PG)

    CS2IAI -- Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (UG) (2023-24)

    Chair and member for international conferences

    Doctoral Symposium Co-Chair: The 4th IEEE International Conference on Autonomic Computing and Self-Organizing Systems (ACSOS), 2023.

    Virtual Environment Co-Chair: The 3rd IEEE International Conference on Autonomic Computing and Self-Organizing Systems (ACSOS), 2022.

    Volunteer and Social Experience Chair: The 2nd IEEE International Conference on Autonomic Computing and Self-Organizing Systems (ACSOS), 2021.

    Volunteer Chair: The 1st IEEE International Conference on Autonomic Computing and Self-Organizing Systems (ACSOS), 2020.

    Volunteer and Minecraft Chair: The Artificial Life (ALIFE) Conference, 2020.

     

    Available PhD Studentships

    Plastic Behaviour for Social Interaction in Agent-Based Systems

    Artificial systems no longer exist in isolation, meaning the actions of one can have adverse effects on others. Exploring how these types of systems can take more socially-acceptable actions could enable systems in areas such as economics, traffic management, and smart cities to align actions with societal goals – not just their own. Inspired by artificial intelligence, neuroscience and biology, this project aims to explore how behavioural plasticity – like seen in natural beings – affects how artificial systems overcome environmental dynamicity for the benefit of themselves and those around them.


    The objectives of this multidisciplinary project are therefore to: 
    a)    Model and gain understanding of the types of interactions that can take place between artificial systems in shared environments, using agent-based systems, 


    b)    Develop novel methods of employing behavioural plasticity in artificial agents 


    c)    Develop methods to evaluate how plasticity affects agent interaction and goal-achievement, for individuals and society.

    Education/Academic qualification

    PhD, Interference and Volatility in Evolutionary Agent-Based Systems, Aston University

    1 Jul 201720 Sept 2022

    Award Date: 20 Sept 2021

    BSc, Computer Science with Industrial Placement Year, Aston University

    30 Sept 201317 Jul 2017

    Award Date: 17 Jul 2017

    PG Cert, PGCert, Aston University

    1 Jan 2022 → …

    External positions

    Expert Evaluator for CompSci Doctoral Programme

    Feb 2022Jun 2022

    Fingerprint

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    Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

    Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
    • Enhancing pollinator conservation: Monitoring of bees through object recognition

      Alex, A. J., Barnes, C. M., Machado, P., Ihianle, I., Markó, G., Bencsik, M. & Bird, J. J., Jan 2025, In: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. 228, 12 p., 109665.

      Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

      Open Access
      File
    • AI Generated Art: Latent Diffusion-Based Style and Detection

      Bird, J. J., Barnes, C. M. & Lotfi, A., 1 Feb 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) Advances in Computational Intelligence Systems. p. 157-169 (Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing (AISC); vol. 1453).

      Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference outputConference publication

    • A Study on Psychometric Assessment Data for Autonomous Dementia Detection

      Barnes, C., 29 Jun 2022, Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments, PETRA 2022. ACM, p. 383-389 7 p. (ACM International Conference Proceeding Series).

      Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference outputConference publication

      Open Access
      File
    • Centralised and Decentralised Control of Video Game Agents

      Robinson, S., Barnes, C. M. & Lewis, P. R., Jan 2022, Advances in Computational Intelligence Systems: Evolutionary Algorithms. Springer, p. 108-120 13 p. (Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing; vol. 1409).

      Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference outputConference publication

    • Evolving Neuromodulated Controllers in Variable Environments

      Barnes, C. M., Ekárt, A., Ellefsen, K. O., Glette, K., Lewis, P. R. & Tørresen, J., 5 Jan 2022, 2021 IEEE International Conference on Autonomic Computing and Self-Organizing Systems (ACSOS). El-Araby, E., Kalogeraki, V., Pianini, D., Lassabe, F., Porter, B., Ghahremani, S., Nunes, I., Bakhouya, M. & Tomforde, S. (eds.). IEEE, p. 164-169 6 p.

      Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference outputConference publication