Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Prof.dr.ir. Wil van der Aalst is a full professor at RWTH Aachen University, leading the Process and Data Science (PADS) group. He is also the Chief Scientist at Celonis and part-time affiliated with the Fraunhofer FIT. Currently, he is also deputy CEO of the Internet of Production (IoP) Cluster of Excellence, co-director of the RWTH Center for Artificial Intelligence, and speaker of the RWTH ICT Profile Area. His research interests include process mining, data science, process intelligence, business process management, artificial intelligence, machine learning, workflow automation, Petri nets, process modeling, and simulation. Many of his papers are highly cited (he is one of the most-cited computer scientists in the world and has an H-index of 188 according to Google Scholar with over 170,000 citations), and his ideas have influenced researchers, software developers, and standardization committees working on process support. According to Research.com, he is the highest-ranked computer scientist in Germany and ranked 8th worldwide (ranking 2025). He previously served on the advisory boards of several organizations, including Fluxicon, Celonis, ProcessGold/UiPath, and aiConomix/Automaited. Van der Aalst received honorary degrees from the Moscow Higher School of Economics (Prof. h.c.), Tsinghua University, and Hasselt University (Dr. h.c.). He is also an IFIP Fellow, IEEE Fellow, ACM Fellow, and an elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities, the Academy of Europe, the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts, and the German Academy of Science and Engineering. In 2018, he was awarded an Alexander-von-Humboldt Professorship.
The Process and Data Science (PADS) group, headed by prof.dr.ir. Wil van der Aalst, is one of the research units in the Department of Computer Science. The scope of PADS includes all activities where discrete processes are analyzed, reengineered, and/or supported in a data-driven manner. Process-centricity is combined with an array of DS-AI-ML techniques. The group’s research and teaching activities can be characterized by the keywords Process Mining, Data Science, Process Science, Machine Learning, Business Process Management, Data Mining, Discovery, Conformance Checking, and Simulation. The group was established in the context of the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship awarded to Prof.dr.ir Wil van der Aalst in 2017. The award is Germany’s most prestigious and valuable prize for international researchers. The PADS group supports RWTH’s strategy to further strengthen its Data Science capabilities. The group also closely collaborates with the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology (FIT). Currently, the main research focus is on Process Mining (including process discovery, conformance checking, performance analysis, predictive analytics, operational support, and process improvement). Object-Centric Process Mining (OCPM) is taken as the starting point for the advanced application of AI and ML. This is combined with neighboring disciplines such as operations research, algorithms, discrete event simulation, business process management, and workflow automation.
Since September 2021 I'm serving as Chief Scientist of Celonis. Before I had an unpaid advisory role as independent Chief Scientific Advisor to Celonis. I'm supporting Celonis in accelerating its leadership in the process mining and execution management space and work closely with the Celonis product and engineering organization, and the Celonis Academic Alliance to advance process mining innovations in both the commercial and academic sectors. Celonis believes that every company can unlock its full execution capacity. Powered by its market-leading process mining core, the Celonis Execution Management System provides a set of applications, and developer studio and platform capabilities for business executives and users to eliminate billions in corporate inefficiencies. Celonis has thousands of customers, including ABB, AstraZeneca, Bosch, Coca-Cola, Citibank, Danaher Corporation, Dell, GSK, John Deere, L’Oréal, Siemens, Uber, Vodafone and Whirlpool. Celonis is headquartered in Munich, Germany and New York City, USA and has 15 offices worldwide.
The Research Group Process Mining of Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT and the Fraunhofer Center for Process Intelligence provide process mining services and R&D. Fraunhofer FIT, as a partner for digitization, Industry 4.0, and the Internet of Things, has been developing IT solutions tailored to people and seamlessly integrated into business processes for 40 years. FIT not only provides guidance but also shapes the digital transformation in business, the environment, and society. Process mining plays a key role in this development. Process Mining for Python (PM4Py) and Cortado for Interactive Process Discovery serve as examples of powerful process mining tools developed by FIT.