Showcasing King's College London robotics research to promote collaboration and advance science and education.

The King's Robotics Symposium 2026 aims to promote collaborations in robotics and AI. The event will showcase Kings' robotics research in the fields of surgical and interventional engineering, autonomous systems, assistive technologies, and human–robot interaction.

The programme includes presentations from Kings' academics, networking sessions, demos, and a keynote speech by Professor Antonio Bicchi from the University of Pisa and Italian Institute of Technology, a pioneering scientist in robotics, haptics, and control Systems. 

Who is this event for?

This event is open to professionals in robotics and AI - including researchers, academics, engineers, PhD students and stakeholders from industry, government, funding agencies and non-governmental organisations.

Due to high demand, the event is now invite-only. You will need a password to be able to order a ticket. If you would like to attend please email ildar.farkhatdinov@kcl.ac.uk to get the password.

Agenda

09:30-10:00 - Welcome and refreshments

10:00-10:15 - Welcome by Sir Bashir M. Al-Hashimi, Vice-President (Research & Innovation), King's College London

10:15-11:45 - Lightning talks: Surgical robotics with the School of Biomedical Engineering researchers :

• Professor Christos Bergeles: Microsurgical robots: from concept to clinical translation
• Professor Prokar Dasgupta: Robotics in surgery (TBC)
• Professor Kawal Rhode: Robotics for cardiovascular interventions
• Dr Rachel Sparks: Computer assisted planning for robotic surgical interventions
• Dr Alejandro Granados: Surgical robotics and autonomy
• Professor Tom Vercauteren: Image understanding for surgical robotics

11:45-12:45 - Keynote speaker - Professor Antonio Bicchi, Senior Scientist at the Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, and Chair of Robotics at the University of Pisa

12:45-13:55 - Lunch & demos

13:55-15:45 - Lightning talks: Autonomous robotics with Department of Engineering researchers:

• Dr Shan Luo: Visual-tactile intelligence for robot dexterity
• Dr Emmanuel Spyrakos: Towards unified control of fixed- and floating-base articulated-soft robots for enhanced physical interaction
• Dr Matthew Howard: Teaching humans to teach robots
• Dr Hak-Keung Lam: Explainable AI for control applications

With Department of Informatics researchers:

• Dr Martim Brandão: Wellbeing, fairness, and explainability in robotics
• Dr Matteo Leonetti: Model-based reinforcement learning for autonomous service robots
• Dr Yali Du: From human knowledge to cooperative AI: Leveraging LLM-based reasoning

1545 -16:15 - Refreshment break and networking

16:15-17:30 - Lightning talks: Human-robot interaction and assistive technology

• Dr Letizia Gionfrida, Department of Informatics: Vision-based robotics for mobility assistance
• Dr Nicola Bailey, Department of Engineering: Flexure mechanisms for high performance robotics and automated processes
• Dr Oya Celiktutan, Department of Engineering: Designing socially acceptable interactions with embodied agents
• Dr Gerard Canal, Department of Informatics: Autonomous assistive robots
• Dr Ildar Farkhatdinov, School of Biomedical Engineering: Physical human-robot interaction for medical robotics
• Dr Khen Elimelech, Department of Informatics: Lifelong robot learning by abstraction

17:30 -19:00 - Networking reception

Please note the agenda is subject to modifications.