euRobotics provides a unique structure for robotics in Europe, coordinates the road-mapping process for European robotics, fosters community building and boosts outreach. 

euRobotics Governance

About

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Current Governance

Discover the current governance

Board Members

Research and Industry board members

News

The latest news about euRobotics

About

The General Assembly

The General Assembly is the ultimate decisional body of the association where each full member has a vote. The General Assembly approves the general policy of the Association on the basis of proposals of the Board of Directors and gives recommendations to the Board of Directors for its application. It is typically held once a year in March together with the European Robotics Forum.

The Board of Directors

The Association is managed by the Board of Directors. Representatives of Members (i.e. organisations) with voting rights standing in for election by the General Assembly. Industry members vote for industry Board members, research members vote for research Board members. The current Board consists of 24 members, 12 from industry, 12 from research. To have a good representation of different stakeholder groups, also sub-categories are respected, e.g. for industry, large robot manufacturers, component providers, small and medium enterprises, or end users; for research, research organisations and higher education organisations, e.g. universities are represented. The term of individual Board members is 3 years with a rotating election mode.

The President

The President, not elected from the Board members, is expected to be a highly respected member of the European robotics community with an affiliation to an Industry Member. The President oversees representing the Association in front of the political institutions and other stakeholders at high level and on important occasions and matters.

The Vice-Presidents

The Vice-Presidents are elected from Industry and Research side to represent the respective group. They also represent the association in front of stakeholders.

The Executive Team

The Executive Team is a subgroup of the Board of Directors consisting of the two Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer, and three additional Board members. It acts in concert with the President, Secretary-General and euRobotics Office, to assist the Board of Directors with the preparation of documents and decisions, and to provide a flexible, senior resource for the management and execution of Board matters.

The Secretary-General and the Office

The Secretary-General is responsible for the day-to-day administrative management of the Association. The Secretary-General operates in accordance with the general guidelines he receives from the President and from the Board of Directors and under the supervision and authority of the Board of Directors. The euRobotics Office executes the daily management of the Association and to supports the Secretary-General and the Directors. Contact the office team at: secretariat(at)eu-robotics.net

Current governance

President - Dr. Bernd Liepert

Dr. Bernd Liepert has been president of euRobotics aisbl – the European Robotics Association since 2012. In this capacity he has been leading the European robotics community and representing it at high political levels.

Vice-President Research - Juha Röning
Vice-President Industry - Dr. Rainer Bischoff

Dr. Rainer Bischoff is the General Manager of Intrinsic Germany. Intrinsic is a robotics software and AI company at Alphabet. Previously, Rainer worked from 2002 to 2020 for KUKA, ultimately directing KUKA’s Corporate Research department as Vice President R&D. He is an euRobotics Director and Vice President Industry since September 2012. He has been repeatedly re-elected, the current term of office ending March 2022. As VP Industry he is also a member of the Executive Team.

Treasurer - Francesco Ferro

Secretary General - Dr. Reinhard Lafrenz

Dr. Reinhard Lafrenz became Secretary General of euRobotics in February 2016, after serving as senior researcher in the robotics and embedded systems at the Technical University of Munich and peviously at the University of Stuttgart. He also managed the EU-funded robotics projects, ECHORD and ECHORD++.

Contact: Reinhard.Lafrenz(at)eu-robotics.net

Board members

AllResearchIndustryExecutive team

Agirre Ibarbia, Jon

Tecnalia

Belbachir, Nabil

NORCE

Bischoff, Rainer

Intrinsic

Bisset, David

iTechnic

Ferro, Francesco

PAL Robotics

Kirstein, Franziska

Blue Ocean Robotics

Koudelkova Delimoges, Petra

Kraus, Werner

Fraunhofer-IPA

Leroux, Christophe

CEA

Martinez, Ramiro

Univ. Sevilla

Mayer, Mike

Schunk

Mechelinck, Mare

Uniklinik RWTH Aachen

Nikolakopoulos, Georgios

Luleå University of Technology

Piscioneri, Alessandro

Comau

Rocco, Paolo

Politechnico di Milano

Röning, Juha

Oulu University

Saenz, José

Fraunhofer IFF

Schärtl, Elisabeth

autonox Robotics

Schlette, Christian

University of Southern Denmark

Tomatis, Nicola

BlueBotics SA

Vincze, Markus

TU Wien

Vitiello, Nicola

SSSA

von Wichert, Georg

SIEMENS

Walker, Rich

Shadow Robot Company

Latest News

The robotics community is celebrating 40 years of IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS)

From 23 – 26 September 2024 the robotics community is celebrating 40 years of IEEE Robotics and Automation Society ...

euRobotics and one6G Association sign agreement to advance wireless communications and robotics research

Valencia, 5 or 6 September 2024 - At the one6G Summit 2024, euRobotics and the one6G Association have signed a ...

Bluepoint sale – euRobotics on the move

The Brussels Bluepoint building – home of euRobotics since the association was founded – has been sold to IHECS ...

It’s almost time for Future Labs Live

More than a conference. More than an exhibition. It’s almost time for Future Labs Live, which will take place in ...

Future Labs Live – what to expect 

Suddenly, Future Labs Live isn’t so far away. As an official partner, euRobotics will be represented in Basel at ...

Introducing… Georg von Wichert, Member of the euRobotics Board of Directors

Georg von Wichert at the new Siemens Technology Center Garching  For Georg von Wichert it is ‘back to the ...

Future Labs Live coming soon 

We’re looking ahead to June when euRobotics will be represented in Basel as an official partner for Future Labs ...

Introducing… Elisabeth Schärtl, Member of the euRobotics Board of Directors

Elisabeth Schärtl is part of the latest intake of euRobotics members who were elected to the BoD last month in ...