PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Claude Sammut

Claude Sammut is an artificial-intelligence researcher whose work connects machine learning with robotics. His 1981 UNSW PhD thesis studies concept learning, and he works on inductive logic programming and behavioral cloning. He leads RoboCup-winning UNSW teams, chairs the International Conference on Machine Learning, and serves as president of the RoboCup Federation from 2022 to 2024. As of October 2026, he is a professor at UNSW and coauthors research on data-efficient online robot learning.

Born
1956
Works
1,145
Citations
15,261
h-index
36
Badges

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1981

    A PhD thesis on concept learning

    In 1981, his UNSW PhD thesis is titled Learning Concepts by Performing Experiments.

  2. 1992

    Inductive logic programming and cloning

    With Donald Michie, he works on behavioral cloning. In 1992, he and David Hume publish Applying Inductive Logic programming in Reactive Environments.

  3. 2000–2003

    Four-legged RoboCup wins

    He leads UNSW teams that win RoboCup four-legged robot competitions in 2000, 2001 and 2003.

  4. 2002–2007

    Chairing ICML

    He serves as program and general chair of the International Conference on Machine Learning in 2002. In 2007, he serves as its general chair again.

  5. 2014–2015

    rUNSWift's world titles

    In 2015, he coauthors RoboCup SPL 2014 Champion Team Paper. UNSW's rUNSWift wins the RoboCup Standard Platform League in 2014 and 2015.

  6. 2019–2024

    RoboCup leadership

    He serves as general chair of RoboCup in Sydney in 2019. He serves as president of the RoboCup Federation from 2022 to 2024. The Federation lists him as a past president.

  7. November 2024

    On synthetic AI data

    In November 2024, he argues that chatbots need new training mechanisms to keep scaling. He says classical AI systems that reason logically should complement generative AI.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at UNSW

    He is a Professor in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW. In 2025, he coauthors a paper with Timothy Wiley on data-efficient online learning for robot behaviours.

Career

  1. Since 1980UNSW SydneyProfessor
  2. 2022–2024RoboCup FederationPresident

Education

  1. 1981UNSW SydneyPhD

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

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes UNSW Sydney. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes UNSW Sydney. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes UNSW Sydney. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes UNSW Sydney. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.

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. Professor Claude Sammut | The University of New South Wales unsw.edu.au. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Select Publications by Professor Claude Sammut | UNSW Research research.unsw.edu.au. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Claude Sammut cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. League Contribution | AI & Robotics Research robotics.cse.unsw.edu.au. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. RoboCup Federation Organization page robocup.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. A synthetic solution for AI as chatbots run out of road unsw.edu.au. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Dr Timothy Wiley - Publications timothy-wiley.github.io. Checked 21 October 2026.