Three days packed with exciting expertise in robotics and education from more than 20 countries - that's the "Robotics in Education (RiE) Conference 2026" (external link, opens in a new window), which is taking place at Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences in Wolfenbüttel until Friday, 17 April. Robotics experts from countries including France, Spain, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Cyprus, India, Taiwan, Ecuador and the USA took part.
In almost 60 scientific presentations and subsequent discussions, the experts from all over the world exchanged views on the latest findings on the use of robotics in teaching-learning situations. RiE 2026 is the 17th edition of the conference. It has been held in different countries since 2010.
Prof Dr Reinhard Gerndt from the Faculty of Computer Science at Ostfalia is organising the conference this year together with his colleague Richard Balogh from the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava. "This conference is probably the most important international conference on teaching with robots and for robotics in Europe," says Gerndt. "We are delighted that we were able to bring the RiE conference to Ostfalia University this year."
Ina Schiering, Ostfalia Vice President for Research, Development and Technology Transfer, opened the international conference with 80 participants on Wednesday, 15 April: "What excites me most about this conference is its strong practical relevance. The projects, platforms and methods discussed here show how robotics can make abstract concepts tangible, promote collaboration and empower learners to actively participate in a digital world."
Introductory keynotes for the conference were given by neurobiologist Prof. Dr Martin Korte from TU Braunschweig, an expert in the cellular foundations of learning, memory and forgetting, Silke Schick, specialist in innovative technologies in the education sector at Betzold GmbH, and Jérôme Laplace, founder of Generation Robots, one of Europe's leading providers of service robots and robotic equipment for research and industry.
In addition to the conference programme, which primarily served to promote direct exchange between robotics didactics experts, there were various company presentations, workshops, a poster show and a laboratory tour of the most important innovations on Thursday afternoon. Topics included teaching robots, teaching modules and curricula for various target groups, whether for children of kindergarten age, different school levels or teaching at universities. "In addition to teaching robotics skills, the focus is also very specifically on methods for using robots to make other STEM content, such as artificial intelligence, easier to experience and easier to learn," says Ostfalia scientist Gerndt.
Ostfalia researchers were also represented with contributions at the RiE conference, such as the team led by Prof Dr Dagmar Meyer with the current project "Robotics for Everyone" (Robo4Ever) - a project that focuses on teaching future skills. An interdisciplinary course is being designed here to which students from all faculties are invited. Without any programming knowledge, students in the Ostfalia Assistive Technologies Laboratory will have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with future applications for robots in teams using the example of mobile autonomous robotics. "This promotes important future skills such as interdisciplinary work and innovation expertise," explains project manager Prof Dr Dagmar Meyer. "The students work together to develop their own ideas on how autonomous mobile assistance robots can be used sensibly and communicate their ideas to the other teams through practical demonstrations in a futuristic model scenario."
More about the Robotics in Education (RiE) conference: https://rie.science/2026/index.html (external link, opens in a new window)
You can also find out more about research into assistive technologies in the latest podcast episode: www.ostfalia.de/forschen/forschungsprofil/podcast (external link, opens in a new window)