Site Network: Cognitive Systems | SFB/TR 8 Spatial Cognition | Fachbereich 03 | Universität Bremen

Ana-Maria Olteteanu

Ana-Maria Olteteanu's picture

Personal Information

Title Dr. Dr. rer. nat.
Function Principal Investigator, Postdoctoral Researcher
Office 3.53
Phone N/A
eMail amoodu

Profession

About me

I am the Principal Investigator of the Creative Cognitive Systems project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). From 2018 I have moved at Freie Universität Berlin. I can now be reached at ana-maria[dot]olteteanu[at]fu-berlin.de 

I have worked as a researcher in the Cognitive System (CoSy) group within FB3 (Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics) at Bremen Universität between 2011-2017, and I am now an external member of the Bremen Spatial Cognition Center. One of my main current interests is on creative problem solving.

People operate well in environments over which they hold incomplete knowledge. They do this by using their previous knowledge in new ways. People are creative when solving both abstract and concrete problems, being able to draw on a variety of representational formats, make analogical transfers, make visuospatial inferences, create new concepts, new heuristics and new problem representations. I am interested in understanding and implementing such processes in computational models and systems. 

My current project investigates representations and processes which can be applied in cognitively-inspired AI for creative problem-solving. My general interest is to enable creative problem-solving and the creation of new useful knowledge in cognitive AI systems, and the study/modeling of human creative reasoning.

Grants

2017-2019 - 3 year DFG grant including Eigene Stelle position on Creative Cognitive Systems.

2016 - Impulse grant for a set of experiments on creative problem solving

2016 - Associate Junior Fellow at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (Hanse Institute for Advanced Study)

2016 - DAAD RISE grant to enable a research fellow internship.

2015 - Secured funding via DAAD RISE for a research fellowship which enabled a research intern to work for 3 months in the Cognitive Systems group in Bremen. 

2013 – Invited as a Fellow of the Heidelberg Laureate Forum 2013, an event bringing together Abel, Fields and Turing Laureates and the next generation of mathematics and informatics researchers. 

Pre-Doctoral Scholarship, SFB/TR8 - The interdisciplinary Transregional Collaborative Research Center Spatial Cognition: Reasoning, Action, Interaction, at Cognitive Systems, University of Bremen, 2011-2012.

2011 - Award for student project, Barcelona Cognition, Brain and Technology summer school.

News

I am currently accepting interns and student projects. Email me.

2017 - Awarded the 1st Prize for the best Doctoral Dissertation in Science in NW Germany by the OLB.

 

Interests
 
Creative Problem-solving, Computational Creativity,  Knowledge representation, Knowledge acquisition, Cognitive Modeling, Cognitive Architectures, Cognitive Systems, Visuospatial reasoning,  Insight and scientific discovery, Spatial Cognition, Machine learning,  Cognitive Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Information, Philosophy of Mind, Machine vision, Phenomenology, Cognitive Aesthetics, Computational Aesthetics.
Research Projects

I was part of the SFB/TR 8 project R1-ImageSpace between 2011-2014.

Teaching

Creativity in Cognitive Systems - 03-ME-711.15 - WiSe 2017

Cognitive Systems - SoSe 2014

Cognitive Systems - SoSe 2013

Cognitive Modeling - WiSe 2012

Events Organized

In 2017 I have co-organized the second edition of the ProSocrates Symposium between 20-21 of July in Delmenhorst, with the support of the HWK (Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg). 

In 2016 I have co-organized the ProSocrates Symposium on Problem Solving, Creativity and Spatial Reasoning in Cognitive Systems with Dr.-Ing. Zoe Falomir. The event took place at the KogWis 2016 conference, in Bremen, between 26-30 September.

curriculum vitae

Education:

Doctor rer. nat., Computer Science, University of Bremen, Germany, 2012-2016

  • Title of Thesis: A Cognitive Systems Framework for Creative Problem Solving.
  • Topic on: Cognitive systems, Problem solving, Computational creativity
  • Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Christian Freksa
  • grade: summa cum laude

Doctor of Philosophy, Music, Universitatea Nationala de Muzica Bucuresti, Romania, 2007-2011

  • Title of Thesis: Touchstones on the Connection between Musical Structure and Musical Expression. Cognitive Implications on Musicology
  • Topic on: Aesthetics, Musical Form and Analysis
  • Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Dan Buciu
  • grade: summa cum laude 

Master of Science, Cognitive Computing, Goldsmiths, University of London, 2009-2010

  • Title of Thesis: A Cognitive Model for Reactive Agents based on Colour and Shape Recognition Self Organised Maps and Environmental Feedback
  • Topic on: Machine learning, Knowledge grounding, Multiagent systems
  • Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Mark Bishop
  • Accomplished with Distinction

Bachelor of Arts, Musical Interpretation, Piano, Universitatea de Vest, Faculatea de Muzica, Timisoara, Romania, 2005

  • Average grade of all years of study – 9.69 on a 1(worst) to 10(best) scale
  • Merit undergraduate Scholarship 

2005 - Certificate of Graduation – Level 1 Certification for the teaching profession – Departamentul pentru Pregatirea Personalului Didactic– Universitatea de Vest, Timisoara, Romania

Other awards

1990-2003 - Participated in and won various piano competitions, played in national  and international tours across Europe (1990-2003) – in France, Italy,  Germany, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Spain, Holland, etc.

Publications