Robert Riener studied Mechanical Engineering at TU München, Germany, and University of Maryland, USA. He received a Dr.-Ing. degree from the TU München in 1997. After postdoctoral work from 1998-1999 at the Centro di Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, he returned to TU München, where he completed his Habilitation in the field of Biomechatronics in 2003. In the same year he became assistant professor at ETH Zurich and Spinal Cord Injury Center of the University Hospital Balgrist (“double-professorship”); since 2010 he has been full professor for Sensory-Motor Systems at ETH Zurich, and since 2016 also full professor at the medical faculty of the University of Zurich. Since 2012, Riener is member of the Department of Health Sciences and Technology, which he was chairing as head 2016 – 2018. He was guest professor at USC Los Angeles and SSSA Pisa, and he still is at SJTU Shanghai. Riener has published more than 500 peer-reviewed journal and conference articles, 36 books and book chapters and filed 26 patents. He has received 26 personal distinctions and awards including the euRobotics Technology Transfer Awards 2011, 2012, and 2021.

Riener’s research focuses on the investigation of the sensory-motor interactions between humans and machines. This includes the development of user-cooperative robotic devices and virtual reality technologies applied to neurorehabilitation. Riener is the initiator and organizer of the Cybathlon, which was honored with the European Excellence Award, the Yahoo Sports Technology Award and two REIMAGINE Education Awards. In 2018 Riener obtained the honorary doctoral degree from the University of Basel. In 2022 Riener became president of the ICORR (International Consortium of Rehabilitation Robotics) and since 2023 he is member of the Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences (SATW).