Tianwei Bao

M.S. in Computer Science @ Northwestern University

B.S. in Computer Science & Data Science @ University of Wisconsin-Madison

Scaling embodied AI to solve complex societal challenges through efficient learning.

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About Me

I will be joining the General Robotics Lab at Duke University as a Ph.D. student in Robotics (MEMS), advised by Dr. Boyuan Chen, starting Fall 2026. I completed my Master's in Computer Science at Northwestern University, advised by Dr. Manling Li and Dr. Zhaoran Wang. Before that, I completed dual B.S. degrees in Computer Science and Data Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with distinction.

I am interested in foundation models for embodied agents and optimization for decision-making. The long-term goal of my research is to develop a new generation of data-driven methods, theory, and systems that tailor artificial intelligence toward addressing societal challenges through (1) efficient autonomous learning and (2) effective coordination in multi-agent systems involving humans and robots.

Research Interests

Enabling efficient autonomous learning and effective multi-agent coordination for complex societal challenges

Foundation Models for Embodied Agents

Developing large-scale models that enable robots to understand and interact with the physical world through natural language and visual perception.

Spatial Reasoning

Investigating how AI systems can develop robust spatial understanding for navigation, manipulation, and interaction in complex 3D environments.

Optimization for Decision-Making

Designing efficient optimization algorithms for decision-making in multi-agent systems, enabling autonomous agents and humans to cooperate effectively at societal scale.

Publications

Research contributions to embodied AI and intelligent decision-making

Challenge on LLMs for Embodied Agents

Manling Li*, Tianwei Bao*, Qineng Wang*, Yu Zhou*, Kangrui Wang*, Jiayuan Mao, Ruohan Zhang, Weiyu Liu, Tony Lee, Li Erran Li, Yejin Choi, Percy Liang, Li Fei-Fei, Jiajun Wu

NeurIPS 2025 Competition Track Accepted OpenReview Official Website

ActionEQA: Action Interface for Embodied Question Answering

Tianwei Bao*, Qineng Wang*, Kangrui Wang, Mingkai Deng, Guangyi Liu, Jiayuan Mao, Larry Birnbaum, Zhiting Hu, Eric P. Xing, Zhaoran Wang, Manling Li

TMLR Under Review

ENACT: Evaluating Embodied Cognition with World Modeling of Egocentric Interaction

Qineng Wang*, Wenlong Huang*, Yu Zhou, Hang Yin, Tianwei Bao, Jianwen Lyu, Weiyu Liu, Ruohan Zhang, Jiajun Wu, Li Fei-Fei, Manling Li

ICLR 2026 Accepted OpenReview Website

Knowledge-Driven Policy Retrieval: Beyond Semantic Search for Driver Support

Dingcheng Wang, Tianwei Bao, James Sebastian, Manling Li, Amy Liu

Amazon Consumer Science Summit 2026 Under Review

Service

Contributing to the research community through leadership and organization

Lead Organizer

Foundation Models for Embodied Agents (FMEA) @ NeurIPS 2025

Leading the organization of the FMEA workshop at NeurIPS 2025, which focuses on enhancing Large Language Models (LLMs) for embodied reasoning through a standardized evaluation protocol. The workshop includes the BEHAVIOR Challenge and EAI Challenge, evaluating critical embodied reasoning capabilities including goal interpretation, subgoal decomposition, action sequencing, and transition modeling.

December 2025 San Diego, CA

Official NeurIPS Page Official OpenReview Page

Education

Academic background and achievements

Aug. 2026 - Present

Ph.D. in Robotics (MEMS)

Duke University

Durham, NC

Advisor: Boyuan Chen

Lab: General Robotics Lab

Mar. 2024 - Mar. 2026

M.S. in Computer Science

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

GPA: 3.945/4.0

Advisors: Manling Li, Zhaoran Wang

Sep. 2019 - May 2023

B.S. in Computer Science, B.S. in Data Science

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Madison, WI

GPA: 3.913/4.0

Honors & Awards

Recognition for academic excellence and achievements

Distinction in the Major

2023

Awarded for outstanding academic achievement in Computer Science

Graduated with Distinction

2023

Top academic honors for undergraduate degree

GRE Score: 333/340

2022

V: 164 (94^th pct.)
Q: 169 (93^rd pct.)

Summer Study Scholarship

2020

Undergraduate Scholarship for Summer Study at UW-Madison

Dean's List

2020-2023

5 consecutive semesters of academic excellence

TOEFL Score: 109/120

2018

R: 29, L: 27, S: 25, W: 28

News & Updates

Recent highlights and announcements

March 2026

🎉 Accepted to Duke University PhD Program

I am thrilled to announce that I have been accepted to the Robotics (MEMS) Ph.D. program at Duke University. I will be joining the General Robotics Lab under the supervision of Dr. Boyuan Chen, starting Aug. 2026.

September 2025

ActionEQA Submitted to TMLR

Submitted my first-authored paper on Embodied Question Answering to Transactions on Machine Learning Research (TMLR).

May 2025

NeurIPS 2025 Competition Accepted

Our challenge on "LLMs for Embodied Agents" has been accepted to the NeurIPS 2025 Competition Track.

March 2024

Started my Master's degree at Northwestern University

Started my Master's degree at Northwestern University under the guidance of Dr. Manling Li and Dr. Zhaoran Wang.