RIG Lecture Series

Starting on April 23, 2026, 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 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. 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.

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. 

Apr 23, 2026 – Freek Stulp (DLR) – Foundation Models in Robotics: Breakthroughs and Open Questions.
Apr 30, 2026 – Roberto Calandra (TU Dresden) – Perceiving, Understanding, and Interacting through Touch
May 7, 2026 – Julia Starke (University Lübeck) – Grasping with Multi-Fingered Hands in Humans and Robots
May 21, 2026 – Aamir Ahmad (University of Stuttgart) – Active Perception in Multi-Robot Teams
May 28, 2026 – Majid Khadiv (TU Munich) – Humanoid Robots in the Real World: Hype or Imminent Reality?
Jun 4, 2026 – No lecture (holiday in some states)
Jun 11, 2026 – Slawomir Stanczak (TU Berlin) – Distributed Goal-Oriented Systems in 6G: Consensus-based Cooperative Intelligence Over-the-Air with Applications to Collaborative Robotics
Jun 18, 2026 – Jürgen Gall (University of Bonn) – Controllable Video Generation, Action Anticipation, and Detecting Failures
Jun 25, 2026 – Arne Rönnau (KIT) – From Insects and Mammals to Advanced Robot Locomotion
Jul 2, 2026 – Martin Ruskowski (RPTU / DFKI) – AI-based industrial robotics based on the Open Smart Factory Architecture 
Jul 9, 2026 – Grace McFassel (TU Darmstadt) – Plan- and Information-Based Approaches to Robot Design (Tentative)

How to attend:

Zoom Link: https://tu-berlin.zoom-x.de/j/65483469197?pwd=PrKcCPr3PXa7GCRHibikLZescaYbKL.1 

Meeting ID: 654 8346 9197

Passcode: 356150 

Please note that the number of participants is limited for technical reasons.

For more information, please visit the official website for the lectures.