People

Pawel Romanczuk

Principal Investigator

Behavioral Biology

HU Berlin

 

Email:

Phone: +49 30 2093 6780

 

Photo: SCIoI

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Pawel Romanczuk

Pawel Romanczuk

Photo: SCIoI

Pawel Romanczuk holds a professorship on Complexity Research in Adaptive Systems at HU. For SCIoI, he works at the interface of applied mathematics, theoretical physics, and behavioral biology. He focuses on collective behavior of organismic systems. His research bridges analytical and synthetic sciences to study self-organization, evolutionary adaptations, and functional dynamical behavior.

Projects

Pawel Romanczuk is member of:

• Project 11: Dynamical Collective Adaptation and Learning
• Project 12: Learning of intelligent swarm behavior
• Project 26: The collective dynamics underlying personal and social information integration
• Project 27: Speed-accuracy tradeoffs in collective estimation
• Project 33: Shepherding behaviour in predator-prey interactions
• Project 34: Weighing personal and social information in cooperative problem solving
• Project 41: Self-organised criticality in animal collectives
• Project 42: Behavioral contagion in human and artificial multi-agent systems
• Project 51: Navigating the explore-exploit trade off in collective search
• Project 52: Evolution of collective cognition through individual-level selection
Bartashevich, P., Knopf, L., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Transient milling dynamics in collective motion with visual occlusions. Conference on the Simulation of Adaptive Behavior (SAB).
Bartashevich, P., Herbert-Read, J. E., Hansen, M. J., Dhellemmes, F., Domenici, P., Krause, J., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Collective anti-predator escape manoeuvres through optimal attack and avaoidance strategies. Communications Biology, 7(1586). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-07267-2
Deffner, D., Mezey, D., Kahl, B., Schakowski, A., Romanczuk, P., Wu, C. M., & Kurvers, R. (2024). Collective incentives reduce over-exploitation of social information in unconstrained human groups. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47010-3
Govoni, P., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Fundamental Visual Navigation Algorithms: Indirect Sequential, Biased Diffusive, & Direct Pathing. arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2407.13535
Karimian, M., Reeh, F., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Behavioural Contagion in Human and Artificial Multi-Agent Systems: A Computational Modeling Perspective. Conference on Complex Systems 2024: CCS’24 Exeter London.
Karimian, M., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Predicting the Dynamics of Behavioral Contagion in Human Groups with an Increment Drift-Diffusion Model. DPG Spring Meeting 2024.
Karimian, M., Reeh, F., Daneshi, A., Brass, M., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Behavioural Contagion in Human and Artificial Multi-agent Systems: A Computational Modeling Approach. From Animals to Animats 17. SAB 2024, 145–156. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-71533-4_11
Licht, M., Burns, A., Pacher, K., Krause, S., Bartashevich, P., Romanczuk, P., Hansen, M., Then, A., & Krause, J. (2024). Sailfish generate foraging opportunities for seabirds in multi-species predator aggregations. Biology Letters, 20(7). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0177
Mengers, V., Raoufi, M., Brock, O., Hamann, H., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Leveraging Uncertainty in Collective Opinion Dynamics with Heterogeneity. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 27314. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-78856-8
Mezey, D., Deffner, D., Kurvers, R. H., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Visual social information use in collective foraging. PLoS Computational Biology, 20, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012087
Mezey, D., Bastien, R., Zheng, Y., McKee, N., Stoll, D., Hamann, H., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Purely vision-based collective movement of robots. arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2406.17106
Pacher, K., Krause, J., Bartashevich, P., Romanczuk, P., Bideau, P., Pham, D., Burns, A., Deffner, D., Dhellemmes, F., Binder, B., Boswell, K., Galván-Magaña, F., Domenici, P., & Hansen, M. (2024). Evidence for a by-product mutualism in a group hunter depends on prey movement state. Functional Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14638
Puy, A., Gimeno, E., Torrents, J., Bartashevich, P., Miguel, M. C., Pastor-Satorras, R., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Selective social interactions and speed-induced leadership in schooling fish. Proceedings National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2309733121
Raoufi, M., Hamann, H., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Breaking Echo-chambers in Opinion Dynamics with Spatial Information. Artificial Life (ALife) 2024 Conference.
Raoufi, M., Hamann, H., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). LARS: Light Augmented Reality System for Swarm. ANTS 2024 Conference.
Raoufi, M., Hamann, H., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Messengers: Breaking Echo Chambers in Collective Opinion Dynamics with Homophily. arxiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2406.06440
Sevinchan, Y., Vollmoeller, C., Pacher, K., Bierbach, D., Krause, J., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Modelling and Analysing Collective Waving Behaviour in Large Fish Shoals. DPG Spring Meeting 2024, SKM (talk).
Sevinchan, Y., Vollmoeller, C., Pacher, K., Bierbach, D., Krause, J., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Spatio-temporal Dynamics of Social Contagion in Bio-inspired Interaction Networks. SAB 2024 (Peer-Reviewed Conference).
Zheng, Y., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Bio-inspired Agent-based Model for Collective Shepherding. From Animals to Animats 17. SAB 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-71533-4_14
Zheng, Y., Tang, W., Shee, A., Romanczuk, P., & Hueupe, C. (2024). Collective Dynamics in Dense Systems of Active Polar Disks. DPG Spring Meeting 2024.
Zheng, Y., & Romanczuk, P. (2024). Collective Shepherding. DPG Spring Meeting 2024.
Davidescu, M. R., Romanczuk, P., Gregor, T., & Couzin, I. D. (2023). Growth produces coordination trade-offs in Trichoplax adhaerens, an animal lacking a central nervous system. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2206163120
Gómez-Nava, L., Lange, R. T., Klamser, P. P., Lukas, J., Arias-Rodriguez, L., Bierbach, D., Krause, J., Sprekeler, H., & Romanczuk, P. (2023). Fish shoals resemble a stochastic excitable system driven by environmental perturbations. Nature Physics. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01916-1
Karimian, M., Reeh, F., & Romanczuk, P. (2023). Predicting the Dynamics of Behavioral Contagion in Human Groups: A Computational Modeling Perspective. Bernstein Conference 2023.
Lukas, J., Krause, J., Träger, A. S., Piotrowski, J. M., Romanczuk, P., Sprekeler, H., Arias-Rodriguez, L., Krause, S., Schutz, C., & Bierbach, D. (2023). Multispecies collective waving behaviour in fish. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0069
Raoufi, M., Romanczuk, P., & Hamann, H. (2023). Estimation of continuous environments by robot swarms: Correlated networks and decision-making. ICRA 2023. https://doi.org/10.1109/icra48891.2023.10161354
Raoufi, M., Romanczuk, P., & Hamann, H. (2023). Inter-individual Variations in Swarm Robotics with the Case Study of Kilobots. ICRA 2023/workshop “Heterogeneity in Multi-Robot Systems.” https://raaslab.org/icra2023-hmrs/#contr
Raoufi, M., Romanczuk, P., & Hamann, H. (2023). Individuality in Swarm Robots with the Case Study of Kilobots: Noise, Bug, or Feature? Artificial Life (ALife) 2023. https://doi.org/10.1162/isal_a_00623
Sarkanych, P., Krasnytska, M., Gomez-Nava, L., Romanczuk, P., & Holovatch, Y. (2023). Individual bias and fluctuations in collective decision making: from algorithms to Hamiltonians. Physical Biology. https://doi.org/10.1088/1478-3975/acd6ce
Sevinchan, Y., Bierbach, D., Gómez-Nava, L., Krause, J., & Romanczuk, P. (2023). Self-organized Criticality in Animal Collectives. DPG Spring Meeting 2023, SKM (poster).
Tump, A., Deffner, D., Pleskac, T., Romanczuk, P., & Kurvers, R. (2023). A cognitive computational approach to social and collective decision-making. Perspectives on Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916231186964
Winklmayr, C., Kao, A. B., Bak-Coleman, J. B., & Romanczuk, P. (2023). Collective decision strategies in the presence of spatio-temporal correlations. Collective Intelligence. https://doi.org/10.1177/26339137221148675
Bierbach, D., Gómez-Nava, L., Francisco, F. A., Lukas, J., Musiolek, L., Hafner, V. V., Landgraf, T., Romanczuk, P., & Krause, J. (2022). Live fish learn to anticipate the movement of a fish-like robot. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-3190/ac8e3e
Doran, C., Bierbach, D., Lukas, J., Klamser, P., Landgraf, T., Klenz, H., Habedank, M., Arias-Rodriguez, L., Krause, S., Romanczuk, P., & Krause, J. (2022). Fish waves as emergent collective antipredator behavior. Current Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.11.068
Poel, W., Daniels, B. C., Sosna, M. M. G., Twomey, C. R., Blanc, S. L., Couzin, I., & Romanczuk, P. (2022). Subcritical escape waves in schooling fish. Science Advances. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm6385
Romanczuk, P., & Daniels, B. C. (2022). Phase Transitions and Criticality in the Collective Behavior of Animals — Self-Organization and Biological Function. Order, Disorder and Criticality. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811260438_0004
Tump, A. N., Wolf, M., Romanczuk, P., & Kurvers, R. (2022). Avoiding costly mistakes in groups: The evolution of error management in collective decision making. PLOS Computational Biology. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010442
Tump, A., Pleskac, T., Romanczuk, P., & Kurvers, R. (2022). How the cognitive mechanisms underlying fast choices influence information spread and response bias amplification in groups. Proceedings of the 44th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, 44, 658–664. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5m540872#main
Zhao, Y., Huepe, C., & Romanczuk, P. (2022). Contagion dynamics in self-organized systems of self-propelled particles. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06083-0
Bak-Coleman, J. B., Alfano, M., Barfuss, W., Bergstrom, C. T., Centeno, M. A., Couzin, I. D., Donges, J. F., Galesic, M., Gersick, A. S., Jacquet, J., Kao, A. B., Moran, R. E., Romanczuk, P., Rubenstein, D. I., Tombak, K. J., Bavel, J. J. V., & Weber, E. U. (2021). Stewardship of global collective behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(27). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2025764118
Bierbach, D., Francisco, F., Lukas, J., Landgraf, T., Maxeiner, M., Romanczuk, P., Musiolek, L., Hafner, V. V., & Krause, J. (2021). Biomimetic robots promote the 3Rs Principle in animal testing. ALIFE 2021: The 2021 Conference on Artificial Life. https://doi.org/10.1162/isal_a_00375
Daniels, B. C., & Romanczuk, P. (2021). Quantifying the impact of network structure on speed and accuracy in collective decision-making. Theory in Biosciences, 140, 379–390. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12064-020-00335-1
Klamser, P. P., Gómez-Nava, L., Landgraf, T., Jolles, J. W., Bierbach, D., & Romanczuk, P. (2021). Impact of Variable Speed on Collective Movement of Animal Groups. Frontiers in Physics, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2021.715996
Klamser, P., & Romanczuk, P. (2021). Collective predator evasion: Putting the criticality hypothesis to the test. PLOS Computational Biology. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008832
Krause, J., Romanczuk, P., Cracco, E., Arlidge, W., Nassauer, A., & Brass, M. (2021). Collective rule-breaking. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2021.08.003
Lukas, J., Auer, F., Goldhammer, T., Krause, J., Romanczuk, P., Klamser, P., Arias-Rodriguez, L., & Bierbach, D. (2021). Diurnal Changes in Hypoxia Shape Predator-Prey Interaction in a Bird-Fish System. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.619193
Lukas, J., Romanczuk, P., Klenz, H., Klamser, P., Arias Rodriguez, L., Krause, J., & Bierbach, D. (2021). Acoustic and visual stimuli combined promote stronger responses to aerial predation in fish. Behavioral Ecology, arab043. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arab043
Poel, W., Winklmayr, C., & Romanczuk, P. (2021). Spatial Structure and Information Transfer in Visual Networks. Frontiers in Physics. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2021.716576
Raoufi, M., Hamann, H., & Romanczuk, P. (2021). Speed-vs-Accuracy Tradeoff in Collective Estimation: An Adaptive Exploration-Exploitation Case. IEEE 2021 International Symposium on Multi-Robot and Multi-Agent Systems (MRS). https://doi.org/10.1109/MRS50823.2021.9620695
Bastien, R., & Romanczuk, P. (2020). A model of collective behavior based purely on vision. Science Advances, 6(6), eaay0792. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aay0792

Best Workshop Poster Award (ICRA 2024)

Das Gas- und Wasserfach (GWF) / Wasser + Abwasser – August 2025 - Gemeinsam klüger: Große Fischschwärme treffen bessere Entscheidungen

Fisch und Fang – August 2025 - Fischschwärme: Gemeinsam klüger

Vista al Mar – August 2025 - Mejor juntos y muchos

Verband Biologie, Biowissenschaften & Biomedizin Deutschland (VBio) – August 2025 - Gemeinsam klüger: Große Fischschwärme treffen bessere Entscheidungen

SSBCracK Defence, Science & Technology News – August 2025 - Study finds bigger fish shoals make faster, more accurate predator-escape decision

Leibniz Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FVB) – July 2025 - Weniger Fakenews: Größere Fischschwärme treffen bessere und schnellere Entscheidungen

Profil – September 2020 - Schwarmverhaltensforschung

Eurekalert, September 2019 - Uncovering hidden intelligence of collectives

Research

An overview of our scientific work

See our Research Projects