PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Anastasia Bizyaeva

Anastasia Bizyaeva is a researcher in control theory and artificial intelligence whose work connects collective behavior with autonomous teams. She earned a physics degree at UC Berkeley in 2016 and a doctorate in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton in 2022, where she studied nonlinear dynamics of collective decisions under adviser Naomi Leonard. Her 2021 PNAS paper modeled elite political polarization, and a 2023 paper developed nonlinear opinion dynamics with tunable sensitivity; she shared IEEE’s 2025 George S. Axelby Outstanding Paper Award for the latter. In summer 2026, Owen Brook from Imperial College London worked in her Cornell lab on controlling a bipedal robot model, and she is an assistant professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Works
39
Citations
480
h-index
11

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 27 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2016

    A physics degree at Berkeley

    She earns a B.A. in physics with a minor in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2016.

  2. 2021

    A PNAS study of polarization

    In 2021, she coauthors the PNAS paper “The nonlinear feedback dynamics of asymmetric political polarization,” which uses a general model of opinion dynamics to investigate key mechanisms driving elite polarization in the United States.

  3. 2022

    A Princeton doctorate

    She earns a Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University in September 2022, with adviser Naomi Leonard. Her thesis studies nonlinear dynamics of multi-agent, multi-opinion belief and opinion formation.

  4. October 2022–June 2024

    Postdoctoral research at UW

    She starts a postdoctoral scholar position at the University of Washington’s AI Institute in Dynamic Systems in October 2022. She works with Steve Brunton and J. Nathan Kutz through June 2024.

  5. 2023

    Nonlinear opinion dynamics

    In 2023, she coauthors “Nonlinear Opinion Dynamics with Tunable Sensitivity,” which introduces saturating opinion exchanges to broaden opinion-forming behaviors and derives network-dependent tuning rules for control.

  6. 2025

    A George S. Axelby Award

    She shares the 2025 IEEE Control Systems Society George S. Axelby Outstanding Paper Award with Alessio Franci and Naomi Leonard for the 2023 paper.

  7. 2026

    A bipedal robot project

    In summer 2026, Owen Brook from Imperial College London works in Bizyaeva’s Cornell lab on a project to control a simple model of a bipedal robot.

  8. Since July 2024

    Assistant professor at Cornell

    She is an assistant professor in Cornell’s Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, a position she begins in July 2024. Her research links collective intelligence in biological and social systems with autonomous and artificially intelligent behaviors in engineered teams. She uses nonlinear dynamics, control theory, network science, data-driven equation discovery, and machine learning in this work.

Career

  1. Since 2024Cornell UniversityAssistant Professor
  2. 2022–2024University of WashingtonPostdoctoral researcher

Education

  1. 2022Princeton UniversityPh.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering
  2. 2016University of California, BerkeleyB.A. in physics

From the biography.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Anastasia Bizyaeva | Cornell Duffield Engineering duffield.cornell.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  2. The nonlinear feedback dynamics of asymmetric political polarization. - 2021 orbi.uliege.be. Checked 27 October 2026.
  3. Group Alumni | Kutz Research Group faculty.washington.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  4. Anastasia Bizyaeva anastasiabzv.github.io. Checked 27 October 2026.
  5. Nonlinear Opinion Dynamics with Tunable Sensitivity arxiv.org. Checked 27 October 2026.
  6. Anastasia Bizyaeva, Alessio Franci, Naomi Leonard - 2025 recipient of IEEE CSS George S. Axelby Outstanding Paper Award ieeecss.org. Checked 27 October 2026.
  7. Imperial Global Fellows Complete Summer Research at Cornell chinacenter.cornell.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.