Complex and challenging decisions: the STAR Lab team explores trustworthy fundamental AI to help people make better decisions in situations from sustainable logistics, to robust planning under uncertainty, to fair energy markets.

Research

The TU Delft STAR Lab confronts a fundamental question of the AI era: how can machine intelligence assist individuals and groups who face complex decision trade-offs? We research how bringing together data and models, human preferences, and AI reasoning can facilitate outcomes better for society. We make impact through partnering with companies, universities, municipalities and government departments.
Data-driven optimisation

We bring together data and models to solve complex combinatorial optimisation problems. By tackling real-world problems in socio-technical situations, we gain fundamental insights into the complementary interplay of machine learning and model-based search.
Agent-based social simulation

We design scalable computational models using micro-simulation, behavioural and spatial data, and participatory modelling, to understand the trade-offs of policy interventions, particularly in urban settings.
Learning & scheduling under uncertainty

We recognise that decision making is ripe with uncertainty, and this uncertainty has multiple forms. By disentangling aleatoric and epistemic uncertainty, we develop understanding of how AI algorithms can be made more reliable.

Projects

PortCall.Zero
PortCall.Zero
NWO (2025-30)

Sustainable terminal services

Optimisation

Uncertainty

Simulation


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FMaaS
FMaaS
NWO (2024-29)

Freight Management as a Service

Optimisation

Uncertainty


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HaPSISH
AIFES
AiNed (2023)

AI for the future energy system

Optimisation

Uncertainty


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Plug-In
Plug-In
Dutch Ministry EZK (2022-26)

HGV energy hubs

Optimisation

Uncertainty


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TULIPS logo
TULIPS
EU Green Deal (2022-26)

Sustainable landside transport

Optimisation

Simulation


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E-pi logo
Epistemic AI
Horizon 2020 (2021-26)

Redefining the basis for AI

Uncertainty


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B4B logo
Brains for Buildings
Dutch Ministry EZK (2021-25)

Data-driven building optimisation

Uncertainty

Optimisation


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Voestalpine logo
Voestalpine
Industrial (2021-22)

Job planning and sequencing

Optimisation


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HaPSISH
OPTIMAL
NWO (2020-25)

Machine learning for optimisation

Optimisation


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TAILOR logo
TAILOR
EU Horizon 2020 (2020-24)

Trustworthy AI

Simulation

Optimisation


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HaPSISH
SAM-FMS
NWO (2020-24)

Scheduling cyber-physical systems

Optimisation


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HaPSISH
HaPSISH
NWO (2016-20)

Energy system integration

Optimisation

Uncertainty


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DCSMART
DCSMART
EU Horizon 2020 (2016-19)

Energy system integration

Simulation

Uncertainty


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Recent News

Master's graduate

Sian Hallsworth, MSc, graduated on "Mixed-Integer Non-linear Formulation for Optimisation over Trained Transformer Models"

Accepted paper

AAAI 2025, "Epistemic Bellman Operators" (EWRL'24 pdf)

Accepted paper

Journal of Process Control, "Data-Driven Robust Optimization with Machine Learning Enabled Uncertainty Set" (pdf)

Accepted paper

BNAIC 2024, "An Efficient Decremental Algorithm for Simple Temporal Networks" (pdf)

Master's graduate

Laurens Krudde, MSc, graduated on "Demand Responsive Transport to Replace a Fixed-Line Bus Service"

New STAR Lab doctoral student

Xueying Ou, FMaaS project

Accepted paper

IJCLR 2024, "Benchmarking in Neuro-Symbolic AI"

Accepted paper

Mathematical Programming, "Machine Learning Augmented Branch and Bound for Mixed Integer Linear Programming" (pdf)

Master's graduate

Michel Woo, MSc, graduated on "A Hybrid Genetic Search Approach to Optimizing Last-Mile Vehicle Routing"

Master's graduate

Siddhartha Sen, MSc, graduated on "Golf Course Routing Using Artificial Intelligence"

Master's graduate

Vincent Bockstael, MSc, graduated cum laude on "Spectral Modularity: Conceptual Challenges, Algorithmic Enhancements and Systematic Benchmarking"

Master's graduate

Martin Michaux, MSc, graduated on "A Scalable Knowledge Graph-Powered System for Multi-Document Query-Answering"

Master's graduate

Lars van Koetsveld van Ankeren, MSc, graduated cum laude on "Real-time Monitoring of Building Energy Systems"