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Iba Lab
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A lab that builds new ways for AI to solve problems, drawing on evolution and the emergence of intelligence.
AboutAbout the lab
Artificial intelligence that computes evolution.
The Iba Lab studies computation and systems built around two keywords: "evolution" and "the emergence of intelligence."
From methods for solving optimization problems to learning and inference in artificial intelligence, the lab aims at "problem solving that learns from nature."
The lab combines metaheuristics, such as evolutionary computation and swarm intelligence, with machine learning, deep learning, and large language models.
The lab also conducts research on complex systems and artificial life, as well as practical research on AI education.
Key terms
- Evolutionary computation
- A method that follows the evolution of living things, searching for good answers by combining and altering candidate solutions
- Metaheuristics
- A general term for problem-solving approaches that gradually search for good answers, regardless of the type of problem
- Large language model
- An AI that has learned how words connect from large amounts of text. It is used for text generation and conversation
NewsLab news
Won Best Student Paper and Best Paper at ALIFE2026
An undergraduate student won the Outstanding Graduation Thesis Award and the Department Chair's Special Award
An undergraduate student won the IEEE Young Researcher Award
A co-authored paper won an Outstanding Paper Award at the international conference IIAI2025
Won the Outstanding Paper Award at the international conference CyberSciTech 2024
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies computation and systems built around the keywords "evolution" and "the emergence of intelligence." Its aim is "problem solving that learns from nature," ranging from methods for solving optimization problems to learning and inference in artificial intelligence.
*Illustrative imageEvolutionary Computation and Metaheuristics
In the course of evolution and development, living organisms solve certain kinds of optimization problems. Metaheuristics are problem-solving methods that learn from nature based on this idea, and evolutionary computation and swarm intelligence are representative examples.
*Illustrative imageLLMs and Metaheuristics
The lab studies metaheuristics for large language models, and large language models for metaheuristics. Its goals include automatic programming and effective prompt generation.
*Illustrative imageDeep Neuroevolution
This is a framework that integrates deep learning and evolutionary computation. By using genetic search to find the optimal network and its training parameters, it removes the effort of building networks by trial and error.
*Illustrative imageSmarter Optimization
When the objective function is complex or its form is unknown, solving an optimization problem analytically becomes difficult. The lab integrates evolutionary computation and machine learning to develop algorithms that efficiently search for solutions with high evaluation values.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Iba Lab consist of faculty, doctoral and master's students, undergraduate students writing their graduation theses, and research students.As of 2026
- ProfessorHitoshi IbaPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorHiroshi DohiPublications ↗
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “The flock of starlings acting as a swarm. - geograph.org.uk - 124593” John Holmes / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Evolutionary Computation and Metaheuristics: “Genetic algorithm” Kacperkossa12 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- LLMs and Metaheuristics: “Multiple attention heads” DancingPhilosopher / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Deep Neuroevolution: “Deep Learning” Sven Behnke / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Smarter Optimization: “Rastrigin function” Diegotorquemada / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Tsuruoka Lab): “Othello-Standard-Board” Zen ar218 / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Yamasaki Lab): “Artificial Neural Network with Chip” mikemacmarketing / photo on flickr / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Hirose-Natsuaki Lab): “Radar image of the Danube Delta ESA223752” European Space Agency / CC BY-SA 3.0 igo (cropped)
- Related lab (Esaki-Ochiai Lab): “Ethernet Patch Panel” Kbh3rd / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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