Live model inspired by Varela, Maturana & Uribe’s (1974) model of autopoiesis.substrate link catalyst. Click to damage the membrane.

Matthew Egbert

artificial life · autonomy · adaptive behaviour

Teaching

Courses I will be teaching in 2027

Prospective graduate students

If you are interested in one or more of the topics presented on this website, and considering graduate study, please feel welcome to get in touch by email. But please do not send through a copy/pasted generic email — it will likely get deleted without a response.

If you are considering undertaking doctoral study, please read this this set of guiding questions which were written by a colleague.

If you are someone who identifies as belonging to an under-represented group in academia, I’d especially encourage you to get in touch!

Current students

  • Ika TavaleaSept. 2026 – present
    The Role of AI Governance in Shaping Organisational Work Practices in Developing Countries
    Primary supervisor: Kerry McInerney; co-supervised by Mark van der Klei (both School of Computer Science)
  • Tadhg WaddingtonAug. 2025 – present
    Sensorimotor Patterns of Breathing in Adaptive Behaviour
    co-supervised by Yun Suen Pai, School of Computer Science
  • Natasha SkuljanJune 2025 – present
    Modelling Human Exploration of Novel Sensorimotor Contingencies
    co-supervised by Chris Erb, Dept. of Psychology
  • Wanzhen LiOct. 2024 – present
    Manual and Neural Dynamics of Intentional Inhibition
    Primary supervisor: Chris Erb, Dept. of Psychology
  • Maya GibsonMar. 2024 – present
    Cognitive Embodiment & Entanglement - Investigating HCI Paradigms
    Primary supervisor: Danielle Lottridge; co-supervised by Daniel Wilson (both School of Computer Science)
  • Tim IrvingDec. 2023 – present
    Computational Underpinnings of Adaptive Self-Organisation in Living Systems
  • Max GurrSept. 2023 – present
    Capturing Memory in Behaviour with Immersive Virtual Reality
    Primary supervisor: Chris Erb, Dept. of Psychology; co-supervised by Reece Roberts
  • Madhuja ChenthilrajMScJun. 2026 – present
  • Aster GreenblattMScMar. 2026 – present
    jointly supervised with Kerry McInerney, School of Computer Science
  • May GanMScMar. 2026 – present

Former students

  • Dr Yan KolezhitskiyApr. 2019 – Jun. 2026
    Viability and Behaviour: Probing the fundamental principles of life and mind through minimal models
    co-supervised with Claire Postlethwaite, Dept. of Mathematics
  • Dr Sam MorrisonMar. 2022 – Jul. 2025
    Exploring the Dynamics of Cognitive Control: A Situated and Embodied Approach
    Primary supervisor: Chris Erb, Dept. of Psychology; co-supervised by Paul Corballis
  • Dr Mario ZarcoOct. 2018 – Jul. 2024
    Sensorimotor behaviour at different scales: from social interaction to the role of culture.
    co-supervised with Chris Erb, Dept. of Psychology; Claire Postlethwaite (Maths)
  • Dr Valerie JeongAug. 2018 – Jul. 2024
    Noise in Heteroclinic Network-Based Evolutionary Robotics
    co-supervised with Claire Postlethwaite, Dept. of Mathematics
  • Dr James GarnerMar. 2019 – Jul. 2023
    Investigating Interoception, Affect & Emotion With Simulated Agents
    co-supervised with Emily Parke, Dept of Philosophy
  • Dr Felix WoolfordJuly 2018 – Nov. 2023
    Sensorimotor-based Intelligence in Robotics and Simulated Agents
  • Shuyuan LiuMAIMar. 2025 – Dec. 2025
    Machine Learning to Predict Sensorimotor Dynamics
  • Louis LinMScMar. 2021 – Mar. 2022
    Computational models of minimal forms of self-preserving behaviour
  • Valerie JeongMScMar. 2017 – Mar. 2018
    Evolving a Heteroclinic Network in Sensorimotor Tasks
    co-supervised with Claire Postlethwaite, Dept. of Mathematics
  • Nidia JacksonMScMar. 2017 – Apr. 2018
    Evolving the Parameters of Heteroclinic Networks to act as Controllers in Embodied Robotics Tasks
    co-supervised with Claire Postlethwaite, Dept. of Mathematics
  • May GanMar. 2025 – Dec. 2025
    Using a self-organizing map to classify sensorimotor contingencies in a simulated robot
  • Haozhe WeiMar. 2025 – Dec. 2025
    Machine Learning Augmented Analysis of Sensorimotor Trajectory Data
  • Archi TulsianMar. 2023 – Dec. 2023
    Agent-based modelling of competitive breeding strategies in Pukeko
    co-supervised by Krystal Cain, School of Biology
  • Natasha SkuljanMar. 2023 – Dec. 2023
    Habit Formation in Novel Sensorimotor Contexts
  • Thomas BailieMar. 2022 – Dec. 2022
    Evolved Dynamical Systems as Musical Instruments
    Primary supervisor: Claire Postlethwaite, Dept. of Mathematics
  • Isabella Kite2019 – 2020
    Altering Perception during reaching tasks using Virtual Reality
    co-supervised with Chris Erb, School of Psychology
  • Stefano CavalleroMar. 2018 – Nov. 2018
    Guided Self-Organization in a Computational Model of Diffusion-Limited Aggregation
  • Mahnoor QadriSummer ScholarDec. 2023 – Jan. 2024
    Computing viability boundaries
    co-supervised by Claire Postlethwaite, School of Mathematics
  • Vincent Van Der VegteSummer ScholarDec. 2022 – Jan. 2023
    Investigating webots as a platform for teaching and research
  • Stefan DyerPostgraduate ProjectJul. 2022 – Dec. 2022
    Categorizing Sensorimotor States of VR-recorded human participants
  • Isabelle SteinmannSummer ScholarNov. 2018 – Mar. 2019
    Dynamical Analysis of a Self-Sustaining Behavioural Mechanism
    co-supervised with Claire Postlethwaite, Dept. of Mathematics
  • Jerome WynneNorthern Hemisphere Summer Research ScholarJuly 2018 – Sept. 2018
    Dynamical Analysis of Minimal Two-Wheeled Robots
    co-supervised with Claire Postlethwaite, Dept. of Mathematics
  • Darius AuSummer ScholarDec. 2017 – Feb. 2018
    Habit-based Lego Robots
  • Teddy HalimSummer ScholarDec. 2017 – Feb. 2018
    Habit-based Lego Robots