Malte Helmert
Malte Helmert studies automated planning and combinatorial search, including shared methods that use abstractions to guide problem solving. Helmert earned a Freiburg computer science diploma in March 2001 and a doctorate in June 2006. He worked in Bernhard Nebel’s Foundations of AI group from April 2001 to May 2011. He studies finding actions that let agents achieve goals. Helmert and Jendrik Seipp published work on counterexample-guided Cartesian abstraction refinement in 2013. The work received the ICAPS influential paper award in 2025. He also coauthored work on cost-optimal planning and certificates that planning tasks have no solution.
- Now at
- University of Basel
- Works
- 356
- Citations
- 5,796
- h-index
- 39
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.
Timeline
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2001–2006
Training in automated planning
Helmert earned a Freiburg computer science diploma in March 2001 and a doctorate in June 2006. He worked in Bernhard Nebel’s Foundations of AI group from April 2001 to May 2011. He studies finding actions that let agents achieve goals.
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2004–2009
Planning heuristics
He published a 2004 paper on causal graph analysis and a shared 2009 paper with Carmel Domshlak on landmarks, critical paths and abstractions. The latter received an ICAPS best paper award. These are specific contributions within his heuristic search planning program.
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2011
Basel and shared planning systems
Helmert joined Basel in June 2011. He contributed to shared planning systems in the 2011 International Planning Competition, including Fast Downward Stone Soup and LAMA.
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2013–2025
Abstraction refinement
Helmert and Jendrik Seipp published work on counterexample-guided Cartesian abstraction refinement in 2013. The work received the ICAPS influential paper award in 2025. He also coauthored work on cost-optimal planning and certificates that planning tasks have no solution.
Sources and credits
Photo: ai.dmi.unibas.ch; Malte Helmert profile photograph; creator not stated. License: Not stated by source. Source: ai.dmi.unibas.ch. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.