• artificial intelligence
• autonomous agents and multi-agent systems
• algorithmics game theory
• mechanism design and incentive engineering
• smart grid

My main research focuses on applications where autonomous self-interested agents compete in markets and negotiate, and where designing appropriate incentives is important to ensure a well functioning and fair society. My research combines theory, mainly game theory and mechanism design, with practical applications. Specific applications include: autonomous vehicles, the smart grid, online advertising markets, cloud computing, algorithmic trading, ride sharing and data privacy.

I'm currently an investigator on the following projects:

• AutoTrust: Human Centered Internet of Vehicles

This EPSRC-funded platfrom grants looks at a wide range of aspects around the Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs), such as the interaction with autonomous systems (human-to-vehicle interaction), the issue of data privacy and consent, as well as the incentives and optimisation of e.g. traffic flow. Specific topics include: how do platoons form and how can they be used most effectively to improve traffic flow; how can we incentivise better use of public transport and/or shared vehicles (ride sharing); how can we best combine different modes of transport to reduce carbon emissions; how can we ensure that transportation data can be stored securely and used for research purposes; in autonomous vehicles and autonomous systems more generally, how can we reason about concepts such as responsibility and accountability especially when there is shared responsibility of a coalition (e.g. in case of a collision). 

The project is a collaboration with the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG). Investigators on the project in Southampton are: prof m.c. schraefel (PI) and Dr Sebastian Stein. Researchers currently employed on the project include: Dr Vahid Yazdanpanah and Dr Richard Gomer. 

• Forecasting and influencing product returns and fraud rates in a Covid-19 world

This ESRC project is led by Dr Gina Frei from the Southampton Business School and is a collaboration between ECS and the business school. The aim is to look at product returns fraud which has been aggravated due to COVID 19. Many retailers are faced with this issue. The project will consider different interventions to reduce fraud and analyse through a combination of interview studies and agent-based modelling.  

• Shell Centre for Maritime Futures

This collaboration between Shell Shipping, ECS and Engineering aims to reduce carbon emissions in shipping. The ECS team is building an agent-based simulation platform to simulate trades and shipping routes, which can be used to find the most cost effective CO2 reduction measures over a long-term (5-20 years) time horizon. 

Past projects include:

• Meaningful Consent in the Digital Economy

Current PhD students: Charles Hutchins, Behrad Koohy, Alex Masterman, Gongewei Shi, Ian Henderson, Hugo Webber, Jessica Newman

Past students: Simon Williamson (2010), Bing Shi (2011), Colin Williams (2012), Ali Aseere (2012), Harry Rose (2013), Lampros Savrogiannis (2014), Ash Booth (2016), Chetan Mehra (2016), Chris Hughes (2017), Sofia Ceppi, Mohamed Bakoush (2018), Valerio Restocchi (2018), Radu Pruna (2018), Ibrahem Almansour (2018), Efstathios Zavvos (2019), Laurie Carver (2019), Fatma Habib (2020), Alvaro Perez (2020), Vincent Marmion (2020), Dorota Filipczuk (2021), Jan Buermann (2021), Manuel Nunes (2022), Fan Bi (2022), Nicholas (Nick) Bishop (2022), Phuriwat (Turk) Worrawichaipat (2023), Zhaori (Charles) Guo (2023), Zhongqi Cai (2023)