Neurorobotics Workshop at ICANN 2026

at the 35th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks
ICANN 2026 in Padua, Italy

About the workshop

Neurorobotics combines interdisciplinary research in machine learning, robotics, cognitive science, human-robot interaction, and bio-inspired artificial intelligence. Following the understanding-by-building methodology, Neurorobotics embeds neural models in robot platforms that interact with and learn from complex, multimodal environments, enabling model evaluation and improvement.

In this workshop, we aim to discuss approaches that, on the one hand, make robots more capable in complex, often physical, tasks and, on the other hand, ensure that their behaviour considers the needs of human interaction partners, is explainable, safe, predictable, and robust.

Following three successful Neurorobotics special sessions at ICANN 2023, 2024, and 2025, we are announcing the fourth edition. We aim to bring together researchers with diverse backgrounds and expertise to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing across Neurorobotics, cognitive robotics, and human-robot interaction.

Workshop Programme 2026

Time and place: Monday, 14 September 2026, 9.30 - 13.00, Congress Centre A, FISSPA, University of Padova (Map). Join us online: Neurorobotics Workshop at ICANN 2026 at MS Teams.

09:30 - 10:00	Opening
10:00 - 11:00	Talks 1 chair: Kristína Malinovská
10:00 - 10:20	MoNICOLar Depth Estimation - Hitchhiker's Guide to Fine-tuning Monocular Depth Foundation Models for Robotics Matthias Kerzel (University of Hamburg)
10:20 - 10:40	When to Make a Decision: Task-Sufficient Active Perception for Mobile Manipulator Robots Mariana da Silva Barros (University of Hamburg)
10:40 - 11:00	Towards VLA-Dreamer: Refining VLA Behavior using World Models Parsa Mastouri Kashani (University of Hamburg)
11:00 - 11:30	Coffee break
11:30 - 12:30	Talks 2 chair: Igor Farkaš
11:30 - 11:50	Self-Supervised Bio-Inspired Robotic Trajectory Planning with Obstacle Avoidance Kristína Malinovská (Comenius University Bratislava)
11:50 - 12:10	Optimization of sim-to-real transfer in the humanoid robot NICO Juraj Gavura (Comenius University Bratislava)
12:10 - 12:30	Motion Primitive Discovery in a Humanoid Robot via Self-Organising Maps for Phase Recognition Radovan Gregor (Comenius University Bratislava)
12:30 - 13:00	Closing Colloquium chair: Matthias Kerzel

Workshop Topics

Neural control and learning in robotics
Foundation models and generative AI in robotics
Sensor fusion, multimodal and active sensing in robots
Bio-inspired and developmental robotics
Human-robot interaction and collaboration
Cognitive architectures for robots
Trustworthy, human-aware and explainable robots
Computational models for robotic applications

Organizing committee

Prof. Dr. Stefan Wermter, University of Hamburg
Prof. Dr. Igor Farkaš, Comenius University Bratislava
Dr. Kristína Malinovská, Comenius University Bratislava
Dr. Matthias Kerzel, University of Hamburg
Jan-Gerrit Habekost, University of Hamburg
Miroslav Cibula, Comenius University Bratislava
Hassan Ali, University of Hamburg

Submission Instructions

Submission is closed

Contributions (full papers or extended abstracts) have to be submitted through the regular ICANN submission system.

Paper Length: If authors wish to have their contributions published, submissions must adhere to the ICANN 2026 regular paper format and rules. This workshop also accepts extended abstracts. However, extended abstracts will not be published. Accepted papers that comply with the ICANN 2026 regular paper guidelines will be published in the ICANN 2026 Workshop Proceedings.

Submit to: ICANN 2026 at Microsoft CMT and select track Neurorobotics

Important dates

Workshop Paper Submission Deadline: 6th June 2026
Notification of Acceptance or Rejection of workshop publications: 20th June 2026
Author registration (early bird): 29th June 2026