ROBOT-DOC · ROBOTics for Development Of Cognition

The ROBOT-DOC proposal aims at the establishment of a multi-national doctoral training network for the interdisciplinary training on developmental cognitive robotics. Developmental robotics is a novel approach to the design of robots that takes direct inspiration from the developmental mechanisms studied in children by psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists. The Fellows will develop advanced expertise of domain-specific robotics research skills and of complementary transferable skills for careers in academia and industry. They will acquire hands-on experience through experiments with the open-source humanoid robot iCub, complemented by other existing robots available in the network’s laboratories. The hardware and software of iCub is just becoming available, so ROBOT-DOC provides an excellent one-off timely opportunity to make real international progress in Europe by training a critical mass of researchers. Research training will be centred on a series of training milestones such as two summer schools, international conferences and interdisciplinary research methods workshops. Fellows will also be directly involved and closely supervised for research in novel projects on embodied cognition, motivational and affective mechanisms, neuro-robotics modelling, developmental psychology, sensorimotor learning, social interaction and higher-order cognitive modelling. An individual coaching programme will support each Fellow’s training progress as well as professional and personal enhancement through individualised skill development plans. The ROBOT-DOC network consists of an excellent balance of academic and industrial partners, and of European and international laboratory leaders in developmental cognitive robotics. The network activities will have a significant impact on the career perspectives of the Fellows through training opportunities on industrial and academic research projects and skills. The network will contribute to the enhancement of the European R&D interd