PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Guy Van den Broeck

Guy Van den Broeck is a computer scientist whose AI research connects probabilistic learning with logical reasoning. His early career included a 2009 poker-search paper, a 2011 IJCAI paper on lifted probabilistic inference and a PhD from KU Leuven in 2013. He joined UCLA in 2015, received the 2019 IJCAI Computers and Thought Award, and coauthored a 2023 paper that applies logical constraints to deep generative models. As of October 2026, he is a UCLA professor and directs the StarAI lab.

Works
240
Citations
3,488
h-index
33

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2009

    Poker search with reward distributions

    In 2009, he publishes “Monte-Carlo tree search in poker using expected reward distributions” with Kurt Driessens and Jan Ramon.

  2. 2011–2013

    Lifted probabilistic inference

    A 2011 IJCAI paper introduces a first-order knowledge-compilation method for lifted probabilistic inference using d-DNNF circuits. He completes his PhD at KU Leuven in 2013.

  3. 2015

    Joining UCLA

    He joins UCLA as an assistant professor of computer science in August 2015. His research spans artificial intelligence, machine learning and probabilistic reasoning.

  4. 2019

    A Computers and Thought Award

    He receives the 2019 IJCAI Computers and Thought Award, presented to outstanding young scientists in artificial intelligence.

  5. 2023

    Logical constraints for generative models

    In 2023, he coauthors a neuro-symbolic method that uses a pseudolikelihood-based approximation to apply logical constraints to deep generative models. The paper tests the method on Sudoku, shortest-path generation and language-model detoxification.

  6. As of October 2026

    Professor and lab director

    As of October 2026, he is a UCLA professor of computer science and Samueli Fellow, and he directs the Statistical and Relational Artificial Intelligence lab. His research includes tractable deep generative models, statistical relational learning and probabilistic programming.

Sources and credits

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  1. Guy Van den Broeck - Monte-Carlo tree search in poker using expected reward distributions (bibtex) web.cs.ucla.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. Guy Van den Broeck - Lifted probabilistic inference by first-order knowledge compilation (bibtex) web.cs.ucla.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. Guy Van den Broeck | UCLA Samueli School Of Engineering samueli.ucla.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. Where do our researchers go after KU Leuven? — DTAI wms.cs.kuleuven.be. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. Ten New Faculty Join UCLA Engineering in 2015-16 | UCLA Samueli School Of Engineering samueli.ucla.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. Computer scientist receives highest honor for AI researchers under 35 | UCLA newsroom.ucla.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  7. IJCAI Awards | IJCAI ijcai.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  8. Guy Van den Broeck - A Pseudo-Semantic Loss for Deep Generative Models with Logical Constraints (bibtex) web.cs.ucla.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  9. Guy Van den Broeck - News web.cs.ucla.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.