Trustworthy Human-Robot Interaction Summer School

June 10–13 2024 at Comenius University Bratislava

THRISS logo

The Trustworthy Human-Robot Interaction Summer School or THRISS welcomes participants from different backgrounds to meet for four days and deepen their knowledge in the interdisciplinary fields of Cognitive Robotics and Human-Robot Interaction. From Robotics Engineering to Computer Science, Social Psychology, Cognitive, and Neuroscience, etc., the Summer School is designed for Ph.D. and experienced master’s students willing to meet, discover, and learn about robotic cognitive models to promote trustworthy social interactions with humans. The event is organized under the TERAIS project within the international collaboration among the Comenius University of Bratislava (SK), the University of Hamburg (DE), and the Italian Institute of Technology (IT). Participants will have the chance to join presentations and meetings with Keynote Speakers, practice with Workshops on Human-Robot Interaction, and expose their research at the MEiCogSci Student Conference, connected with the Summer School.

New info: the submission deadline has been extended to 12.04.2024. More detail on the enrolment below.

Humans and Robots: from Mutual Understanding to Trust

Social interaction is not always an easy task. Others’ behavior might be ambiguous and hard to grasp. As a result, sometimes it is difficult to establish a common ground, the minimum grade of reciprocal understanding required for interactions to be meaningful, and this is particularly true for social interactions between humans and robots, the study of which is generally termed the Human-Robot Interaction or HRI. While humans develop their socio-cognitive abilities for improving mutual understanding quite early in their lives, robots lack such skills. Utilizing cognitive modeling within cognitive robotics is a way to make robots more considerate and aware of people as well as make their behavior more legible and explainable and make robots more socially appealing and available. Not just the appearance, but behavior and interaction of robots with humans should lead people to trust them, rendering this trust as justified. At the intersection of Social Robotics, Human-Robot Interaction, and Cognitive Robotics, research calls for a multidisciplinary effort. The Summer School on Cognitive Robotics for Social Interaction promotes this multifaceted approach.

Organizing Committee

General Chair:
prof. Igor Farkaš (Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia)
Organizing Chairs:
prof. Zuzana Černeková (Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia)
Dr. Kristína Malinovská (Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia)
Program Chair:
Dr. Carlo Mazzola (Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, Italy)
Communication Chair:
Hassan Ali (University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany)

Invited Speakers and Lecturers

  • Alessandra Sciutti (Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, Italy)
  • Andrej Lúčny (Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia)
  • Bipin Indurkhya (Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland)
  • Martin Takáč (Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia)
  • Matthias Kerzel (University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany)
  • Michal Vavrečka (Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia)
  • Pablo Barros (Sony Corporation, Brussels, Belgium)

Workshops Topics (preliminary)

  • Sensorized robotic devices for human-aware HRI
  • Trustworthy computer vision for HRI
  • Robotics workshop with the Neuro-Inspired COmpanion (NICO) robot
  • AI ethics

Student Enrolment

Costs

The attendance at the summer school is free of charge. We do not offer travel bursaries or accommodation, that is up to the participants to cover.

Eligibility

Both Ph.D. and experienced master’s students are invited to apply to the summer school. We will consider applications from various research backgrounds, such as: Computer Science, Robotics, Cognitive Science, and Psychology, etc.

As the summer school is held in English, good command of the English language is required. We also require basics of programming in Python and some level of previous knowledge and experience in robotics, computational modeling, human-robot interaction or empirical research using experimental design.

Application Requirements

  • Curriculum Vitae (CV): 2–3 pages, including educational and academic background, relevant internships and/or work experiences, list of publications (if available), and a list of professional references.
  • Motivation Letter: expressing clearly your interests in the summer school, and outlining prospects for potential future research.
  • Short Motivation Video (max. 3 minutes, optional): applicants are also invited to submit an optional motivation video, conveying additional insights into their qualifications and motivation.
  • A Letter of Recommendation (optional).

Submission Guidelines

  • All documents must be written in English and submitted electronically in PDF format.
  • Please send your application to thriss2024(AT)terais.eu. Include the THRISS Summer School 2024 and applicant names in the title.
  • Submission Deadline: 31.03.2024 12.04.2024
  • All complete applications will undergo a thorough selection process. Upon acceptance, you will receive an official acceptance letter via email with the offer to join the THRISS summer school.
  • Notifications of acceptance will be sent out during the course of April, the latest by 30.04.2024.