PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Josh Bongard

Josh Bongard is a computer scientist whose research connects evolutionary robotics, embodied intelligence and living machines. He studied computer science at McMaster, completed graduate degrees at Sussex and Zurich, worked at Cornell, and joined the University of Vermont faculty by 2007. His early work included a self-modeling robot and a 2006 book with Rolf Pfeifer on how bodies shape thought; he received a Microsoft Research fellowship and MIT Technology Review's TR35 recognition in 2007, and the PECASE in 2010. In 2020, he co-led a team designing frog-cell living robots; in 2021, he joined the team behind self-replicating Xenobots and, in 2025, coauthored a paper on synergy in complex systems. As of October 2026, he is UVM's Veinott Professor of Computer Science, directs the Morphology, Evolution & Cognition Laboratory and Vermont Advanced Computing Center, and co-directs the Computational Story Lab.

Timeline

  1. 2006

    A robot that models itself

    In 2006, at Cornell's Computational Synthesis Lab, he works with Hod Lipson and graduate student Viktor Zykov on a four-legged robot that models its body and changes its gait after a leg is removed.

  2. 2006

    A book on embodied intelligence

    In 2006, he and Rolf Pfeifer publish How the Body Shapes the Way We Think. The book argues that bodily form and material properties shape thought.

  3. By 2007

    Degrees and a UVM appointment

    He earns an undergraduate degree in computer science from McMaster University, an MSc from Sussex University, and a PhD from the University of Zurich. He conducts postdoctoral research in Cornell's Computational Synthesis Lab under Hod Lipson before becoming an assistant professor of computing science at UVM by 2007.

  4. 2007–2010

    Early career awards

    In 2007, he receives the Microsoft Research New Faculty Fellowship, and MIT Technology Review names him to its TR35 list of innovators under 35. In 2010, President Barack Obama presents him with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) at a White House ceremony.

  5. 2020

    Designing living robots

    In 2020, he co-leads a UVM–Tufts team that uses an evolutionary algorithm on UVM's Deep Green supercomputer to design living machines from frog cells. Tufts biologists assemble and test the designs.

  6. 2021

    Self-replicating Xenobots

    In 2021, he and his former doctoral student Sam Kriegman join a team that discovers a new form of biological reproduction and creates the first self-replicating Xenobots. The team's research appears in PNAS in November 2021.

  7. 2025

    A paper on synergy

    In 2025, he coauthors “The topology of synergy: Linking topological and information-theoretic approaches to higher-order interactions in complex systems,” contributes supervision, and is affiliated with UVM's Vermont Complex Systems Institute and Department of Computer Science.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor and lab director

    As of October 2026, he is the Veinott Professor of Computer Science at the University of Vermont and directs the Morphology, Evolution & Cognition Laboratory. He also directs the Vermont Advanced Computing Center and co-directs UVM's Computational Story Lab. His research centers on evolutionary robotics, evolutionary computation and physical simulation.

Career

  1. NowUniversity of VermontAssistant professor of computing science
  2. Cornell UniversityPostdoctoral researcher

Education

  1. McMaster UniversityUndergraduate computer science degree
  2. University of SussexMaster's degree
  3. University of ZurichPhD

From the biography.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of Vermont. 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.
  2. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes Cornell University. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.
  3. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Cornell University. 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.
  4. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorateIncludes Cornell University. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorate. Across 2,116 people with both an undergraduate degree and a doctorate recorded, we trace which undergraduate schools feed which doctoral programs, how often students stay at the same school, and how paths differ by birth-country region.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

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

  1. Cornell robot discovers itself and adapts to injury when it loses one of its limbs news.cornell.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. How the Body Shapes the Way We Think by Rolf Pfeifer, Josh Bongard penguinrandomhouse.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Prof. Joshua Bongard uvm.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Technology Review magazine names two Cornellians to annual list of 'Young Innovators' news.cornell.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Josh Bongard | The University of Vermont uvm.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Microsoft Research awards Josh Bongard prestigious 2007 New Faculty Fellowship uvm.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Josh Bongard named to Technology Review's prestigious TR35 list of top young innovators uvm.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. Team Builds the First Living Robots uvm.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. Self-Replicating Living Robots Spur World-Wide Media Blitz uvm.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  10. The topology of synergy: Linking topological and information-theoretic approaches to higher-order interactions in complex systems journals.plos.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  11. Artificial Intelligence | The University of Vermont uvm.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  12. Don’t Panic! AI from the Inside ft. UVM's Josh Bongard - Calendar of Events events.uvm.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.