Barry O’Sullivan
Barry O’Sullivan researches constraint programming, optimization and AI policy at University College Cork. He has led research at UCC, including in the Insight center, and became vice chair of the European Commission’s high-level AI expert group in 2018. His shared research on parameterized algorithms received the 2020 Nerode Prize. AAAI elected him a Fellow in 2022 for constraint programming and AI leadership. He combines technical work on difficult computational problems with participation in the development of trustworthy AI policy.
- Now at
- University College Cork
- Works
- 458
- Citations
- 4,051
- h-index
- 31
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.
Timeline
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Research career
Constraints and research organizations
O’Sullivan works in AI, constraint programming and operations research. He helped establish research organizations, including the Insight center at UCC.
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2018
Work on trustworthy AI policy
O’Sullivan became vice chair of the European Commission’s high-level AI expert group in 2018. The group developed the EU’s approach to trustworthy AI, and O’Sullivan contributed to that work.
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2020
Shared research recognized by the Nerode Prize
O’Sullivan received the 2020 Nerode Prize for shared research in parameterized complexity. The recognized work addressed the Directed Feedback Vertex Set problem. The problem concerns algorithms for removing cycles from directed graphs.
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2022
AAAI fellowship
AAAI elected O’Sullivan a Fellow in 2022. His work includes constraint programming and leadership in the AI community.
Sources and credits
Photo: Colm Mahady / Fennells; Copyright: Copyright© Fennell Photography 2019; Copyright© Fennell Photography 2019. License: Not stated by source. Source: ucc.ie. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.