PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Ali Asghar Heidari

Ali Asghar Heidari is a researcher in artificial intelligence and image processing. During high school in Iran in the early 2000s, he read about MIT and dreamed of studying there. His work included a chaotic water-cycle optimizer, a grey-wolf method, and grasshopper-based neural-network training; in 2019, he coauthored Harris Hawks Optimization while interning at NUS. He coauthored a PM2.5 prediction system in 2022, and researchers applied Harris Hawks Optimization to a maximum-cut problem in 2024. As of October 2026, he is a researcher affiliated with the University of Tehran in artificial intelligence and image processing.

Works
422
Citations
37,051
h-index
93
Rankings
#55 by h-index since 2021
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 18 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. Early 2000s

    Reading about MIT

    As a high-school student in Iran in the early 2000s, he reads about MIT in science magazines and dreams of studying there.

  2. 2015–2017

    Early optimization algorithms

    In 2015, he coauthors a chaotic water-cycle algorithm for optimization tasks; in 2017, he coauthors a modified grey-wolf optimizer with Lévy flight.

  3. 2019

    Grasshopper training for neural networks

    In 2019, he and three coauthors use the grasshopper optimization algorithm to train multilayer perceptrons on five datasets, including breast cancer, Parkinson, diabetes and coronary heart disease.

  4. 2019

    Research internship at NUS

    In 2019, he takes a research internship in the School of Computing at the National University of Singapore.

  5. 2019

    Harris Hawks Optimization

    In 2019, he and coauthors propose Harris Hawks Optimization, a gradient-free method with time-varying exploration and exploitation phases inspired by cooperative hawk hunting.

  6. 2022

    PM2.5 prediction

    In 2022, he coauthors a wavelet PM2.5 prediction system using optimized kernel extreme learning with Boruta-XGBoost feature selection.

  7. 2024

    Harris Hawks for maximum cut

    In 2024, researchers use Harris Hawks Optimization, proposed by Heidari and coauthors in 2019, to solve a maximum-cut problem.

  8. As of October 2026

    Researcher at the University of Tehran

    As of October 2026, he is affiliated with the University of Tehran.

A language model matched the links in this timeline to people, organizations and papers (provisional, model-judged).

Career

  1. Since 2013University of TehranResearcher
  2. 2020–2026Wenzhou University
  3. 2019National University of SingaporeResearch Intern

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Harris hawks optimization: Algorithm and applications2019 · Future Generation Computer Systems · 6,334 citations
  2. Slime mould algorithm: A new method for stochastic optimization2020 · Future Generation Computer Systems · 3,047 citations
  3. RUN beyond the metaphor: An efficient optimization algorithm based on Runge Kutta method2021 · Expert Systems with Applications · 1,119 citations
  4. RIME: A physics-based optimization2023 · Neurocomputing · 1,077 citations
  5. Hunger games search: Visions, conception, implementation, deep analysis, perspectives, and towards performance shifts2021 · Expert Systems with Applications · 1,066 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 18 October 2026.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 32%Includes University of Tehran. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes National University of Singapore. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  3. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes National University of Singapore. Our estimates of combined and median h-index at AI organizations, using current affiliations and OpenAlex records.
  4. Stanford University trained or employed 27 of the 112 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes National University of Singapore. Stanford University trained or employed 27 of the 112 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and employment links for major-prize and best-paper winners.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Ali Asghar Heidari yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Sanctions drive Iranian students away from US, UK and towards Asia iroon.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  2. Publication List of Ali Asghar Heidari aliasgharheidari.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  3. An efficient hybrid multilayer perceptron neural network with grasshopper optimization research.torrens.edu.au. Checked 18 October 2026.
  4. Harris Hawks Optimization (HHO): Algorithm and Applications aliasgharheidari.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  5. Solving the maximum cut problem using Harris Hawk Optimization algorithm pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Checked 18 October 2026.
  6. Heidari, Ali Asghar, University of Tehran | TOPSCINET topscinet.com. Checked 18 October 2026.