University of Dhaka  ·  Est. 2022  ·  Advancing AI for Real-World Impact

Cortex AI
Research Group

We build AI systems that reason, perceive, and act — across language, healthcare, and bio-inspired robotics.

15+
Publications
9
Q1 Journals
300+
Citations
4
Research Grants
2M+
BDT Awarded
About

Who We Are

The Cortex AI Research Group is an independent research group founded in 2022 by Shifat E. Arman at the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Dhaka.

We conduct cross-disciplinary research in artificial intelligence — building systems that are deployable, interpretable, and grounded in real clinical, agricultural, and engineering needs. Our work spans from hospital CT scan analysis to robotic locomotion to natural language benchmarking.

We publish in top venues including ACL, IEEE, Springer, Elsevier, and RSC, supported by four competitive government research grants from the Ministry of Science & Technology and the ICT Division.

Agentic AI Vision-Language Models Medical Imaging Agricultural AI Robotics Nanophotonics
Director
Shifat E. Arman
Assistant Professor · Dept. of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Dhaka
Founded
2022
University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Top Publication
ACL 2026 Findings
CORE A* · h5-index 236 · Accepted 2026
Latest Grant
ICT Division Innovation Fund
Smart biomimetic underwater robotics · 2024
Contact
shifatearman@du.ac.bd
shifatearman.github.io ↗
News

Latest Updates

2026 Decipede (Flexipede) wins the Silver Medal at the 8th World Invention and Creativity Exhibition (WICE) — selected for international finals in Malaysia. Also secures 4th Place at the Global Robotics & Innovation Consortium (GRIC) — selected for international finals in Turkey.
🥈 Silver · WICE 4th · GRIC
Apr 2026 Paper accepted to ACL 2026 (Findings) — Thinking Like a Botanist: Challenging Multimodal Language Models with Intent-Driven Chain-of-Inquiry. ACL is the #1 ranked venue in Computational Linguistics (h5-index 236, CORE A*). ✓ Accepted · ACL 2026
2025 TurtleBot became Champion at Robotronics Fest 2025. ICT Division Innovation Fund grant awarded for underwater robotics research. 🏆 Champion
2025 Shifat E. Arman receives the DU Research Excellence Award 2025 from the University of Dhaka — one of the youngest faculty members to receive this recognition. Award
Research

Featured Works

Decipede
Robotics  ·  Bio-Inspired Locomotion
Decipede (Flexipede): A Bio-Inspired Modular Myriapod Robot for Rough-Terrain Traversal
Cortex AI Research Group · University of Dhaka
A modular robot inspired by centipede and millipede locomotion — segments respond independently to navigate obstacles that stop conventional robots. Selected for international finals in Malaysia and Turkey.
🥈 Silver Medal · WICE4th Place · GRIC
TurtleBot
Robotics  ·  Underwater Systems  ·  ICT Innovation Fund
TurtleBot: A Biomimetic Underwater Exploration Robot Inspired by Sea Turtle Locomotion
Cortex AI Research Group · University of Dhaka
Sea turtle-inspired underwater robot using bio-inspired flipper locomotion for efficient underwater navigation. Funded by the ICT Division Innovation Fund, Bangladesh.
🏆 Champion · Robotronics Fest 2025
PlantInquiryVQA
ACL 2026 Findings  ·  CORE A*  ·  h5-index 236
Thinking Like a Botanist: Challenging Multimodal Language Models with Intent-Driven Chain-of-Inquiry
Sakib · Haque · Bin Amin · Abdullah · Hasan · Hossain · Arman · 2026
Introduces PlantInquiryVQA — 24,950 images, 138k QA pairs across 34 crops and 116 diseases — with a Chain-of-Inquiry framework for intent-driven botanical diagnostic reasoning. Evaluates 18 frontier MLLMs.
Published · ACL 2026Dataset: 138k QA Pairs
PATHWAYS
Agentic AI Benchmark
PATHWAYS: Evaluating Investigation and Context Discovery in AI Web Agents
Arman · Sakib · Taton · Haque · Bin Amin · 2026
A benchmark of 250 multi-step decision tasks testing investigative competence in web-based agents. Reveals a systematic Navigation–Discovery Gap and Investigative Hallucination across all frontier models tested.
Under Review
ICH Detection
Q1 Journal  ·  Clinical AI  ·  NICVD Collaboration
Deep Learning and Bayesian Optimization for Intracranial Hemorrhage Diagnosis from CT Scans
Cortex AI Research Group · NICVD, Dhaka
Automated ICH classification pipeline developed in clinical collaboration with the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Dhaka. Published in a Q1 journal.
Q1 PublishedClinical AI
SugarcaneAI
Agricultural AI  ·  COMPAG Journal
SugarcaneAI: Mobile-Deployable Deep Learning for Sugarcane Leaf Disease Diagnosis
Cortex AI Research Group · 2025
A lightweight model for diagnosing 15 sugarcane leaf diseases from mobile images. SugarcaneLD-BD dataset released. Currently under peer review at COMPAG.
Under Review
Nanophotonics
Q1 Journal  ·  Nanoscale · RSC
Deep Learning for Inverse Design of Nanophotonic Structures
Cortex AI Research Group
Generative and discriminative deep learning models for the inverse design of nanostructures from target optical responses. Published in Nanoscale and Nanoscale Advances (RSC).
Q1 PublishedRSC

Full publication list: Google Scholar

Research Areas

What We Work On

01
Agentic AI
Autonomous agents, tool use, multi-step reasoning, and goal-directed systems. PATHWAYS benchmark for investigative web agent evaluation.
Under Review
02
Multimodal Vision-Language
Intent-driven VQA, Chain-of-Inquiry benchmarking, and domain-specific multimodal evaluation. PlantInquiryVQA with 138k curated QA pairs.
ACL 2026 · CORE A*
03
AI in Healthcare
ICH detection from CT scans, retinal disease diagnosis, and cancer cell analysis — in clinical partnership with NICVD, Dhaka.
Q1 Published
04
AI in Agriculture
Mobile-deployable crop disease diagnosis — sugarcane, banana, mango, cotton — using efficient deep learning architectures.
Q1 Published
05
Bio-Inspired Robotics
Underwater biomimetic robots and modular myriapod locomotion systems. TurtleBot and Decipede — internationally awarded.
Int'l Awards
06
AI in Nanophotonics
Generative and discriminative AI for inverse nanostructure design from target optical responses. Published in Nanoscale (RSC).
Q1 Published
Funding

Research Grants

YearProjectFunding BodyRole
2025–26
Deep Learning and XAI for Interpretable Microscopic Tissue Image Analysis for Cancer Diagnosis
Ministry of Science and Technology, Bangladesh
MoST Bangladesh
Assoc. PI
2024–25
Building Smart Biomimetic Robots for Underwater Operations
ICT Innovation Fund, ICT Division, Bangladesh
ICT Division
Principal PI
2023–24
Rapid Assessment of Plant Responses to Climate-Induced Stress Using AI
University Grants Commission of Bangladesh
UGC Bangladesh
Co-PI
2023–24
SmartPDE: Deep Learning Based Plant Disease Epidemiology and Forecasting
University Grants Commission of Bangladesh
UGC Bangladesh
Co-PI

Total competitive funding: 2,000,000+ BDT

Team

People

Shifat E. Arman
Shifat E. Arman
Founding Director & Principal Investigator  ·  Assistant Professor, Dept. of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Dhaka
Research Students
Jul Jalal
Jul Jalal Al-Mamur Sayor
MSc Thesis Student
RME · Univ. of Dhaka
Syed Nazmus Sakib
Syed Nazmus Sakib
BSc Project Student
RME · Univ. of Dhaka
Samudra Jit Saha
Samudra Jit Saha
BSc Project Student
RME · Univ. of Dhaka
Md Tashrif Uzzaman
Md Tashrif Uzzaman
BSc Project Student
RME · Univ. of Dhaka
Mahabub Morshed Prottoy
Mahabub Morshed Prottoy
BSc Project Student
RME · Univ. of Dhaka
Abid Chowdhury
Abid Chowdhury
BSc Project Student
RME · Univ. of Dhaka
Nafiul Haque
Nafiul Haque
BSc Project Student
RME · Univ. of Dhaka
Academic Collaborators
Dr. Mohammad Zabed Hossain
Dr. Mohammad Zabed Hossain
Professor · Dept. of Botany, University of Dhaka
Dr. Hasan Muhammad Abdullah
Dr. Hasan Muhammad Abdullah
Associate Professor · Gazipur Agricultural University
Clinical & Industry Collaborators
Dr. Nahid Hasan
Dr. Nahid Hasan
Cardiology (Course), NICVD · MUHC, Rajshahi
Shahrear Bin Amin
Shahrear Bin Amin
Co-Founder & MD, Nymph Solutions Ltd. · Founding Engineer, VLM Run
Dr. Asif Iqbal
Dr. Asif Iqbal
Medical Officer · MD Cardiology (course), NICVD
Alumni
Tapodhir Karmakar Taton
Tapodhir Karmakar Taton
PhD Student, Deakin University, Australia
Mahmudul Hassan Nashim
Mahmudul Hassan Nashim
MS · Miami University, Ohio, USA
Tapos Biswas
Tapos Biswas
BSc Graduate · Dept. of RME, Univ. of Dhaka
Join Us

Open Positions

01
Undergraduate Researchers
BSc students in CS, engineering, or mathematics interested in applied deep learning, robotics, or NLP. Python experience helpful but not required. Strong motivation valued over prior experience.
02
Graduate Students
MSc thesis students working on research problems in Agentic AI, Multimodal Vision-Language Models, or clinical AI. Strong mathematical background preferred.
03
Research Collaborators
Open to academic and industry collaborations in Agentic AI, multimodal systems, clinical AI, and agricultural AI. Joint grant proposals and co-authorship considered.

Send your CV and research interests to shifatearman@du.ac.bd

Contact

Get in Touch

Email
shifatearman@du.ac.bd
Personal Website
shifatearman.github.io ↗
Google Scholar
300+ Citations  ·  9 Q1 Journals
Location
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dept. of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Dhaka

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