We are pleased to announce that Professor Nicola S. Clayton—Professor of Comparative Cognition in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS, elected 2010)—has been elected as an Academician of the World Academy for Artificial Consciousness (WAAC) for her outstanding contributions to corvid cognition, future planning, and signs of consciousness.
Using corvids (such as the western scrub-jay) as model species, Professor Clayton has long and systematically revealed episodic-like memory and future-oriented planning in nonhuman animals: her team provided the first behavioral evidence of “what–where–when” memory in Nature (1998), and further showed in Nature (2007) that scrub-jays can prepare for tomorrow, challenging the view that future planning is unique to humans. These studies offer milestone evidence for understanding animal intelligence and indicators of consciousness, and have profoundly influenced the development of comparative cognition.
- 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.