Home

Mission statement

The research unit KERMIT (Knowledge-based Systems) adopts a holistic view on mathematical and computational modelling, acknowledging the needs of our modern information society with a particular focus on the applied biological sciences. It strives to keep a unique balance between theoretical developments and practical applications, a strategy that has proven particularly successful, regarding the output, visibility and recognition of the team. It plays a pioneering role by promoting existing as well as developing new methods in a broad range of disciplines.

Methodological expertise

KERMIT started out in 2000 with two men and a dog as a team in fuzzy set theory and preference modelling, and quickly expanded into the fields of artificial/computational intelligence and operations research. Over the years, it has evolved into a holistic team covering the entire data-to-decision pipeline. It provides methodological expertise in the following areas:

  • image processing and computer vision (e.g. mathematical morphology, filters)
  • knowledge-based systems (e.g. bioportals, ontologies)
  • dynamical modelling (e.g. differential equations, cellular automata, individual-based models)
  • data science and machine learning (e.g. time series prediction, structured prediction, deep learning, big data)
  • management of imprecision and uncertainty (e.g. probability, possibility and fuzzy set theory; stochastic modelling, theory of copulas)
  • optimization and operations research (e.g. preference modelling, multi-criteria decision making)

News

Doctoral degree for Baoying Shan

On October 9, 2024, Baoying Shan defended her Ph.D. thesis "Compound extreme climate events: conceptual definitions, statistical identification, ecological and agronomical effects" and was awarded the title of Doctor of Bioscience Engineering: Mathematical Modelling. Baoying was supervised by Bernard De Baets and Niko Verhoest. The research of Baoying was supported by the China Scholarship Council.

PhD Baoying PhD Baoying PhD Baoying
All KERMIT news

Publications

Most recent journal publications
Biblio logo(779) A multi-perspective exploration of the salinization mechanisms of groundwater in the Guanzhong Basin, China
D. Mu, P. Li, B. De Baets, D. Li, Z. Li and S. He
(2024) SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT. 957, 177421.
Biblio logo(778) No six-cell neighborhood cellular automaton solves the parity problem
A. Nenca, B. Wolnik and B. De Baets
(2024) THEORETICAL COMPUTER SCIENCE. 1021, 114923.
Biblio logo(777) A dissection of the monotonicity property of binary operations from a dominance point of view
Y. Wang, L. Zedam, B. Q. Hu and B. De Baets
(2024) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPROXIMATE REASONING. 175, 109304.
All KERMIT publications