RIG Lecture Series: Weekly online lectures on robotics

Starting on October 30, 2025, the Robotics Institute Germany (RIG) will offer exciting weekly insights into current research work. Over the next twelve weeks, leading robotics researchers from universities and research institutions will present the latest developments, challenges, and visions and answer questions from the audience.

With this new lecture series, the RIG is building bridges between science, teaching, and the public—giving students in particular the opportunity to immerse themselves in current topics in robotics. Speakers include renowned researchers such as Prof. Dr. Tamim Asfour (RIG spokesperson and partner, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), Prof. Dr. Oliver Brock (co-spokesperson and partner of RIG, TU Berlin), and Prof. Dr. Georgia Chalvatzaki (RIG partner, TU Darmstadt), who was recently awarded the Alfried Krupp Prize.

Designed as a seminar for MSc and PhD students, the series is also open to anyone interested. In addition to imparting knowledge, the aim is to promote exchange between researchers, students, and the public.

The lectures will be recorded and made publicly available afterwards (link at bottom of this page).

Why it’s worth participating:

Insight into cutting-edge research: The series presents the latest developments firsthand.
Direct exchange: The speakers are available for questions after the lecture.
Open and accessible: Interested parties outside the university environment are also welcome to participate.
Reuse: The recordings are published so that lectures can also be accessed at a later date.

Dates:

The lectures always take place on Thursdays from 2:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. in English.

Oct 30, 2025 – Oliver Brock (TU Berlin) – Robotics and AI will never feel the same again
Nov 6, 2025 – Werner Kraus (Fraunhofer IPA) – AI-powered industrial robotics
Nov 13, 2025 – Florian Röhrbein (TU Chemnitz) – Introduction to Neurorobotics
Nov 20, 2025 – Wolfram Burgard (TU Nürnberg)
Nov 27, 2025 – Florian Hartmann (MPI-IS) – Introduction to Soft Robotics
Dec 4, 2025 – Nico Hochgeschwender (University Bremen) – Automated Validation and Evaluation of Cognitive Robots
Dec 11, 2025 – Georgia Chalvatzaki (TU Darmstadt) – Robot Learning of Mobile Manipulation OR Intro to Structured Robot Learning
Dec 18, 2025 – Tamim Asfour (KIT) – Robot Learning from Human Demonstration for Manipulation
Jan 8, 2026 – Jan Niehues (KIT) – Natural Language Interactions with Robots
Jan 15, 2026 – Uwe Aßmann, Sebastian Ebert (TU Dresden) – Distributed Petri Nets for Cobotics
Jan 22, 2026 – Svenja Breuer, Ruth Müller (TU München) – Robotics and Society: Lessons Learned from the Responsible Robotics Project
Jan 29, 2026 – Oskar von Stryk (TU Darmstadt) – Commercializing Robotic Innovations: Insights and Lessons from Three Startup Frontlines