“Robotics in and with society”: That was the title of Svenja Breuer's seminar for the TUM MIRMI graduate programme. The scientist, who is in the final stages of her doctoral thesis in ‘science and technology policy’ at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), took up the topic that Sonja Stabenow is also working on. Namely, the question of how a robot must be designed so that humans can – and want to – work with it. Stabenow has been enrolled in the TUM School of Engineering and Design graduate school since the beginning of the year. However, as she is also very interested in robotics, she is simultaneously participating in the TUM MIRMI graduate programme. The advantage: she can take advantage of the robotics-specific offerings, which also count towards the graduate school. ‘It costs nothing, you lose nothing, and you can choose what interests you,’ says Stabenow – for example, Svenja Breuer's seminar.
Robotics seminars and scientific clubs: spoilt for choice
In addition to seminars, the TUM MIRMI programme also offers training courses, international exchanges, and so-called scientific clubs. For the TUM master's graduate in mechatronics, robotics, and biomedical engineering, this is a great addition. ‘Compared to the USA, there are relatively few accompanying offers in Germany on the path to a doctorate,’ says the doctoral student. So now she is spoilt between attending seminars with Prof. Achim Lilienthal, Prof. Alexander König, or ABB robotics project manager Tobias Berninger, or participating in scientific clubs. For example, one of the new clubs is involved in organising company visits.
Scientific Clubs: Networking as a basis for interdisciplinary collaboration
Since Stabenow is currently conducting research in the research group for minimally invasive interdisciplinary therapeutic intervention, or MITI for short, at the TUM Clinic, it made sense for her to help organise a company visit to the medical technology company Brainlab. Two hours at the company, visiting the robotics department and the showroom, presented by a Brainlab engineer. Another club is something like the ‘Literary Quartet’ for robotics scientists. Instead of discussing books, participants in the Journal Club discuss new scientific papers. ‘Scientific clubs require a lot of initiative,’ says Stabenow, ‘but it's incredibly motivating because it leads to joint initiatives.’
Given that more than a hundred TUM chairs are now affiliated with TUM MIRMI, the robotics cosmos at TUM alone is huge. The graduate programme, therefore, also serves to bring together doctoral students from all these areas and promote exchange among them. A prerequisite for participation in the graduate programme is that a so-called MIRMI-PI, i.e., a professor who is organised in TUM MIRMI, supports involvement (see also: https://www.mirmi.tum.de/mirmi/people/principal-investigators/).
Sonja Stabenow: Combining robotics, medicine, and ergonomics
Robotics is interdisciplinary, often combining core robotics subjects such as engineering, computer science, and electrical engineering with medicine, ethics, or social sciences. Sonja Stabenow, for example, completed her master's degree in one of TUM's core robotics master's programmes. Still, during her master's thesis, she worked on a robotic system for medical applications in cooperation with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR). She is now pursuing her doctorate at the Chair of Ergonomics under Professor Klaus Bengler, a trained psychologist. Her topic, ‘Interaction paradigms for human-robot interaction in patient wards,’ combines all these elements: ‘Medicine cannot do without people. However, robotics often leaves them out because interaction is difficult,’ says Stabenow: ‘We need to focus more on people.’ Her goal: a robot as a colleague who understands interpersonal rules and supports hospital staff.
Further information
General information about the graduate programme and contact persons (Steering Committee): https://www.mirmi.tum.de/mirmi/lehre/doctoral-program/
Current seminars
Text: Andreas Schmitz
