Professor Étienne Koechlin of École Normale Supérieure (PSL) has been elected as an academician of the World Academy for Artificial Consciousness (WAAC)

We are pleased to announce that Professor Étienne Koechlin, a cognitive neuroscientist at École Normale Supérieure (PSL), has been elected an academician of the World Academy for Artificial Consciousness (WAAC) for his foundational research on hierarchical control in the prefrontal cortex, rule–value integration, and conscious planning.

Over many years, Professor Koechlin has combined theory with human neuroimaging to propose a cascade architecture of lateral prefrontal executive control: a posterior-to-anterior hierarchy along the rostro–caudal axis in which successively anterior regions regulate behavior according to stimuli, context, and temporal episodes. This framework established the neural basis of modern research on “hierarchical control.” He subsequently used an information-theoretic approach to characterize how executive functions integrate information across multiple prefrontal subdivisions to achieve unified action selection. In recent work, his team has revealed how the prefrontal cortex integrates reward expectations and beliefs under uncertainty to guide human decision-making.

• Global Collaboration and Academic Ecosystem

Academicians of the World Academy for Artificial Consciousness hail from institutions such as Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Cambridge, the University of California, the French Academy of Sciences, the University of Padua, the University of Queensland, Columbia University, and the University of Exeter. Honorary Academicians come from a wide range of countries and regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Canada, Australia, Spain, and China. In addition, leading scientists from prominent research institutes and technology companies—such as Google, the Allen Institute for Brain Science, and ZEEKR—also participate.

• About WAAC

The World Academy for Artificial Consciousness (https://www.waac.ac/) is a global academic institution established in Paris in 2025. Its mission is to advance frontier research and international collaboration in artificial consciousness through the integration of science, technology, and philosophy. The Academy publishes open research, policy recommendations, evaluation standards, and more. The current President is Academician Yucong Duan, and the Secretary-General is Dr. Yingbo Li. The Honorary Academician List: On May 3, 2025, WAAC released its first batch of Top 100 Honorary Academicians, recognizing scholars who have made foundational or leading contributions to the theory of artificial consciousness.