Pembe Gizem Özdil
pgizemozdil@gmail.com
about me
I am currently a Research Intern at
Google DeepMind Robotics, and in
Spring 2026 I will join the
Kempner Institute at Harvard University as
a Research Fellow.
My research interests broadly span biomechanics, motor control, and robotics.
Please feel free to reach out if you’d like to collaborate or learn more about my work.
I completed my Ph.D. at EPFL, Switzerland, in June 2026,
where I was advised by
Pavan Ramdya and
Auke Ijspeert.
During my Ph.D., I developed integrative computational models of the fruit fly to study motor control by combining behavioral data, physics-based simulations, and neural networks. My thesis received an EPFL Thesis Distinction Award. My doctoral research was generously supported by a
Swiss Government Excellence Ph.D. Fellowship and a
Google Ph.D. Fellowship.
Previously, I earned my B.S. in Electrical & Electronics Engineering with a double major in Mathematics from
Boğaziçi University, Turkey.
There, I worked on robot localization in
Işıl Bozma’s
Intelligent Systems
Laboratory.
news
My Ph.D. thesis received an EPFL Thesis Distinction Award. 🏅
We organized a workshop at IROS.
I started my internship at Google DeepMind Robotics in London.
Our preprint is out on arXiv: Musculoskeletal simulation of limb movement biomechanics in Drosophila melanogaster.
I presented my work at CNS 2025 in Florence, Italy.
I defended my Ph.D. thesis, "An integrative computational modeling approach for Drosophila motor control." 🎓
Our preprint is available on bioRxiv: Centralized brain networks underlie body part coordination during grooming.
Our paper was published in Nature Methods: NeuroMechFly v2: simulating embodied sensorimotor control in adult Drosophila.
I visited the Flatiron Institute in New York as a summer research intern.
I received a Google Ph.D. Fellowship. See my interview with EPFL Research Office here.
I presented at Beyond the Connectome and Simulated Bodies at Janelia Research Campus (USA).
I presented at the 67th Benzon Symposium in Copenhagen, Denmark.
I presented at Neuroscience 2022 in San Diego, USA.
Our paper was published in Nature Methods: NeuroMechFly, a neuromechanical model of adult Drosophila melanogaster.
I gave a virtual talk at the symposium on Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines and received an Honorable Mention.
I received a Swiss Government Excellence Ph.D. Fellowship.
I started my Ph.D. at Neuroengineering and Biorobotics Laboratories at EPFL.
selected publications
For a full list of my publications, please visit my Google Scholar profile.
NeuroMechFly v2: simulating embodied sensorimotor control in adult Drosophila
Nature Methods, 2024.
NeuroMechFly, a neuromechanical model of adult Drosophila melanogaster
Nature Methods, May 2022.