The goal of Rehabilitation Robotics is to investigate the application of robotics in motor therapy procedures for recovering motor control and motor capabilities in persons with impairment following such diseases as stroke, as well as to develop robotic and mechatronic technical aids for independent living for disabled and elderly people.
The recent advances of rehabilitation procedures, methodologies and tools tends to include more and more the cognitive aspects of motor control, also exploiting the new technologies for brain imaging, which allows to close the loop’ from brain to action. This gives an increased role to robotics, which can be fruitfully employed in the rehabilitation of neuro-motor functions and motor capabilities, by providing tools that are in their nature flexible and programmable and that allow to set and assess procedures quantitatively. Robotic tools have been effectively applied not only to motor rehabilitation but also to support the psychological enrichment of the elderly.
At the same time, the development of assistive technology for the disabled and the elderly, after a period of a slow but steady scientific progress, seems to be mature for new research and application break-throughs by combining human-centred design methodologies with integrated micro-mechatronic and robotic systems. New important research projects in this field have been recently launched both at academic and industrial level worldwide, e.g. in Europe, Japan and Korea .
The growing interest in this area of robotics research is shown worldwide by the success of focused publications and events, like the special issue on rehabilitation robotics of the journal Autonomous Robots (2003), the ICORR conference (International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics), held biannually and the special sessions organized at latest ICRA, IROS, ICAR. The event promoted by the RAS jointly with the EMBS, the BioRob Conference (International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics), explicitly includes rehabilitation robotics among the main topics.
The IEEE Robotics & Automation Society (IEEE-RAS) Technical Committee on Rehabilitation and Assistive Robotics is seeking Student Representative volunteers interested in joining the committee and contributing to its activities.
As a Student Representative, you will support the Co-Chairs in organizing technical activities, with responsibilities including:
Student Representatives will be included in the meeting for ICRA Welcome Kit production in April.
For those who contribute significantly to the Welcome Kit, one complimentary student registration to a RAS-sponsored conference will be provided to the student representatives.
Position Overview
This volunteer position offers a valuable opportunity to connect with researchers and professionals in rehabilitation and assistive robotics, gaining professional experience while actively contributing to the research community.
Term of Appointment
The appointment runs from March 1, 2026, to February 28, 2027, with the possibility of renewal for up to 3 consecutive years, subject to eligibility and satisfactory performance. Each student may submit an application to only one Technical Committee.
Eligibility Requirements
Applicants must meet the following criteria:
Application Procedure
Applications must be submitted by February 15, 2026, via email with the subject line:
“Application to IEEE-RAS TC RAR Student Representative”
Applications should be sent to the following email addresses: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], and must include:
We look forward to receiving your applications and thank you for your interest in supporting the activities of the committee.
Tetsuyou Watanabe, Francesca Cordella, Edward Brown, Elisha Markus
Co-Chairs of the IEEE RAS TC on Rehabilitation and Assistive Robotics
