PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Derviş Karaboğa

Also known as Dervis Karaboga

Derviş Karaboğa is a professor of computer engineering at Erciyes University in Turkey and the author of the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm, an optimization method inspired by honey bee foraging. After a 1994 doctorate at the University of Wales College of Cardiff on designing fuzzy logic controllers with genetic algorithms, he rose to professor at Erciyes in 2005 and introduced ABC in a 2005 technical report. In 2007, he and Bahriye Basturk Akay published an ABC paper in the Journal of Global Optimization and extended the method to constrained optimization and neural network training. He was named to the Highly Cited Researchers list in 2016 and 2017 and received the 2023 TÜBA International Academy Award and the 2023 100th Year TÜBİTAK Science Award in Engineering Sciences. He became director of the Artificial Intelligence Center at Erciyes in 2021, and since May 2024 he is a member of Turkey's Council of Higher Education (YÖK) while remaining on the Erciyes faculty.

Now at
Erciyes University and Council of Higher Education
Badges

Timeline

  1. 1979–1994

    Engineering degrees and a Cardiff PhD

    He earns a BSc in electrical-electronics engineering at Erciyes University in 1983 and an MSc in electronics and communication engineering at Istanbul Technical University in 1988. He works as a research assistant in Erciyes University's electrical-electronics engineering department from 1984 to 1994. In 1994, he completes a PhD in the Systems Engineering Department of the University of Wales College of Cardiff, with a thesis on designing fuzzy logic controllers with genetic algorithms.

  2. 1994–2017

    Professor and department head

    He becomes an assistant professor of electrical-electronics engineering at Erciyes in 1994, an associate professor of computer engineering in 2000, and a professor in 2005. From 2005 to 2017, he heads the Computer Engineering department.

  3. 2005

    The Artificial Bee Colony algorithm

    In 2005, he introduces the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm, an optimization method inspired by the foraging behavior of honey bees, in Technical Report TR06 of Erciyes University's Computer Engineering Department. Since 2005, the Intelligent Systems Research Group he heads studies ABC and its applications to real-world problems.

  4. 2007–2010

    Extending ABC to new problems

    In 2007, he and Bahriye Basturk Akay publish "A powerful and efficient algorithm for numerical function optimization: artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm" in the Journal of Global Optimization. Conference papers from 2007 extend ABC to constrained optimization problems and, with Celal Ozturk, to training feed-forward neural networks. In 2010, he writes the Scholarpedia article on the algorithm.

  5. 2016–2019

    Highly Cited Researcher listings

    He is named to the Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers list in 2016 and 2017, and to Clarivate's list of the world's most influential researchers in 2018 and 2019.

  6. 2021

    Director of Erciyes AI center

    In 2021, he becomes director of the Artificial Intelligence Center in Erciyes University's Faculty of Engineering, after directing the university's Continuing Education Center from 2014 to 2020.

  7. 2023

    TÜBA and TÜBİTAK awards

    He wins the 2023 TÜBA International Academy Award in Science and Engineering Sciences for developing the Artificial Bee Colony algorithm and for applying his artificial intelligence work to energy efficiency and health. He also receives the 100th Year TÜBİTAK Science Award 2023 in Engineering Sciences, and at the time directs Erciyes University's Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Application and Research Center.

  8. Since May 2024

    Joining Turkey's Council of Higher Education

    In May 2024, he is appointed to the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) in a presidential decision published in the Official Gazette, with a term that runs to May 2028. Erciyes University hosts a workshop for the 20th anniversary of the ABC algorithm in November 2025. At a NÖROforum meeting organized with Gazi University institutes in 2026, he reviews the algorithm's development and says it is moving toward collective intelligence.

Career

  1. Since 2024Council of Higher EducationMember
  2. Since 1984Erciyes UniversityResearch Assistant, Head

Education

  1. 1994University of Wales College of CardiffPhD
  2. 1988Erciyes UniversityMSc in Electronics and Communication Engineering
  3. 1983Erciyes UniversityBSc in Electrical-Electronics Engineering

From the biography.

  1. Of 216 AI researchers who entered public life, 83 held advisory seats and 58 took public rolesIncludes Derviş Karaboğa. Of 216 AI researchers who entered public life, 83 held advisory seats and 58 took public roles. Another 97 people moved from public careers into AI organizations or research, with 62% of dated records starting from 2020 on.
  2. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.
  3. The United States employs an estimated 48% of people shaping AIWe estimate where the people shaping AI work today, how universities, companies and research institutes split across countries, and how country shares have changed since the 1960s.
  4. 43% of living people shaping AI work outside their country of birthWe estimate that 43% of living people shaping AI work outside their country of birth (520 of 1,198 people with known birth and employment countries).

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Derviş Karaboğa yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Prof. Dr. DERVİŞ KARABOĞA | AVESİS (Eğitim Bilgileri) avesis.erciyes.edu.tr. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Prof. Dr. DERVİŞ KARABOĞA | AVESİS (Akademik İdari Deneyim) avesis.erciyes.edu.tr. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Artificial bee colony algorithm - Scholarpedia scholarpedia.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Artificial bee colony algorithm - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) Algorithm Homepage abc.erciyes.edu.tr. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) Algorithm Homepage - Publications abc.erciyes.edu.tr. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Prof. Dr. DERVİŞ KARABOĞA | AVESİS (Başarılar & Tanınırlık) avesis.erciyes.edu.tr. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. 2023 TUBA International Academy Award to our University research.erciyes.edu.tr. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. Awards to the Academics of our University erciyes.edu.tr. Checked 21 October 2026.
  10. Üniversitemiz Öğretim Üyesi Prof.Dr. Derviş Karaboğa YÖK Üyeliğine Atandı erciyes.edu.tr. Checked 21 October 2026.
  11. Yükseköğretim Kurulu - Vikipedi tr.wikipedia.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  12. Prof. Dr. Karaboğa: ABC algoritması 1937 yılından bu yana dünya bilimini etkileyen en önemli buluş dha.com.tr. Checked 21 October 2026.
  13. İlham kaynağı arılar oldu! Yapay zekâda yeni dönemin kapısını araladı! ABC algoritması neyi anlatıyor? milligazete.com.tr. Checked 21 October 2026.