PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Samer Hassan

Also known as Samer Hassan Collado

Samer Hassan is a computer scientist whose research grew from agent-based social simulation in an artificial intelligence department into decentralized collaboration and blockchain-based organizations. After a 2006–2007 MSc in Artificial Intelligence at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, he completed a doctorate in social simulation there, with a thesis on data-driven agent-based modelling. His team built SwellRT, a backend for real-time collaborative apps whose intellectual property passed to the Apache Software Foundation in 2017. In 2017, he became principal investigator of P2P Models, a five-year project funded by a 1.5M€ European Research Council grant, and in 2021 he defined the DAO with Primavera De Filippi in Internet Policy Review. As of October 2026, he is an associate professor at Complutense, a Faculty Associate at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center, and a teacher of a course on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.

Born
1982
Works
96
Citations
2,115
h-index
21
Badges

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

Timeline

  1. 2000–2007

    Computer science and AI at Complutense

    He studies computer science at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid from 2000 to 2006. In 2006–2007, he takes an MSc in Artificial Intelligence with distinction at the university's Department of Software Engineering & Artificial Intelligence.

  2. 2007–2009

    A social simulation doctorate

    He earns a PhD in social simulation at the same department in 2007–2009, with the thesis "Towards a Data-driven Approach for Agent-Based Modelling: Simulating Spanish Postmodernisation", advised by Juan Pavón and Millán Arroyo. His methodological work explores combining software agents with fuzzy logic, data mining, natural language processing and microsimulation.

  3. 2010–2016

    Teaching in Beirut and Madrid

    He is a lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at the American University of Science & Technology in Beirut in 2010–2011. From 2011 to 2016, he is an assistant professor in the Department of Software Engineering & Artificial Intelligence at Complutense.

  4. 2013–2017

    SwellRT and the P2Pvalue project

    From 2013 to 2016, he is principal investigator of the Complutense team in the EU-funded P2Pvalue project, and his team builds SwellRT, a free and open-source backend for real-time collaborative apps. Ownership of SwellRT's intellectual property passes to the Apache Software Foundation in 2017.

  5. 2015–2017

    A Berkman Klein fellowship

    He is a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society in 2015–2017 and becomes a Faculty Associate there in 2017.

  6. 2017

    Leading the P2P Models project

    In 2017, he becomes principal investigator of P2P Models, a five-year project at Complutense funded by a 1.5M€ European Research Council grant. The project aims at blockchain-powered organizations that are decentralized and democratic, built on a software framework with agent-mediated Decentralized Autonomous Organizations.

  7. April 2021

    Defining the DAO

    In April 2021, he and Primavera De Filippi publish the entry "Decentralized Autonomous Organization" in Internet Policy Review. They define a DAO as a blockchain-based system in which people coordinate and govern themselves through self-executing rules on a public blockchain, with decentralised governance.

  8. As of October 2026

    Associate professor and Harvard affiliate

    He is an associate professor at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and a Faculty Associate at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center, and he teaches a course on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. In 2024, he joins The New School's Institute for Digital Cooperative Economy as affiliate faculty, and in 2025 he and coauthors publish a mixed-methods postmortem of the DAOstack platform in PeerJ Computer Science.

Career

  1. Since 2011Complutense University of MadridAssistant Professor
  2. From 2024New SchoolAffiliate Faculty
  3. 2015–2026Harvard University
  4. 2010–2011American University of Science and TechnologyLecturer
  5. 2008–2011University of Surrey

Education

  1. 2007Complutense University of MadridMSc in Artificial Intelligence
  2. 2006Complutense University of MadridPhD

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

Most-cited works

  1. Decentralized Autonomous Organization2021 · Internet Policy Review · 381 citations
  2. Blockchain technology as a regulatory technology: From code is law to law is code2016 · First Monday · 282 citations
  3. When Ostrom Meets Blockchain: Exploring the Potentials of Blockchain for Commons Governance2018 · SAGE Open · 185 citations
  4. An overview of decentralized autonomous organizations on the blockchain2020 · International Symposium on Open Collaboration · 165 citations
  5. A comparative analysis of the platforms for decentralized autonomous organizations in the Ethereum blockchain2021 · Journal of Internet Services and Applications · 118 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Complutense University of Madrid. 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. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Complutense University of Madrid. 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.
  3. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Complutense University of Madrid. 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. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes Harvard University. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.

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 Samer Hassan yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Short CV | Samer Hassan samer.hassan.name. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. PhD Thesis | Samer Hassan samer.hassan.name. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Samer Hassan - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. SwellRT - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Samer Hassan | Berkman Klein Center cyber.harvard.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. P2P Models - P2P Foundation Wiki wiki.p2pfoundation.net. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Decentralized Blockchain-based Organizations for Bootstrapping the Collaborative Economy - IMDEA Networks networks.imdea.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Decentralized Autonomous Organization | Internet Policy Review policyreview.info. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. Samer Hassan, researcher in decentralized collaboration samer.hassan.name. Checked 20 October 2026.
  10. The rise and fall of DAOstack | Berkman Klein Center cyber.harvard.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.