Doris Pischedda receives an X-Student Research Group grant from the BUA

We are very proud to announce that the Berlin University Alliance has granted SCIoI member Doris Pischedda funding for the creation of an X-Student Research Group. This initiative is aimed at giving students enrolled in one of the BUA partner universities the opportunity to participate in selected BUA projects such as the present one, called “Smart Robots: How perspective taking and social skills of a humanoid robot affect human’s perception of its social intelligence.”

Although advanced social robots are being increasingly used in everyday life, their behavior may still appear artificial. What makes people perceive robots as intelligent and human-like? This X-Student Research Group explores the effects that different features of the robot‘s behavior and its social skills have on how humans’ attribute social intelligence to robots. The group will conduct experiments where the robot’s skills (e.g., its ability to take the other’s perspective) are manipulated to assess how this affects people’s judgment of the robot’s social intelligence.

Prerequisites for participation:
– Being a Master’s student in one of these fields: Neuroscience, Psychology, Computer Science or Philosophy of Mind. Bachelor’s students in their final year who are trained in methodology and basic research methods or in programming are also eligible.
– Good command of written and spoken English.
– Knowledge of basic research methods or programming skills.
– Strong motivation and ability to work in teams.

Meetings take place weekly on Wednesdays, 10am–noon. There will be an introductory meeting on 21.04.2021, 10am, via Zoom.
To join, contact Dr Doris Pischedda (doris.pischedda@charite.de)

Students who study at an affiliated institution other than  Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin will be enrolled as BUA students of the offering institution in case of a place acceptance. For further information, please contact the staff of the BUA offices. Further information here.

(Photo by Murat Kirtay)