Kerstin Dautenhahn, Dr. rer. nat.

Kerstin Dautenhahn is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo. She is a Canada 150 Research Chair in Intelligent Robotics and is cross-appointed to the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, and the Department of Systems Design Engineering at University of Waterloo. She is Visiting Professor at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. At Waterloo she is the Director of the Social and Intelligent Robotics Research Laboratory (SIRRL)).

The main areas of her research are Human-Robot Interaction, Social Robotics, Assistive Technology, Developmental Robotics and Health Technologies. She is Editor in Chief (jointly with Prof. Angelo Cangelosi - University of Manchester, UK) of the Journal Interaction Studies- Social Behaviour and Communication in Biological and Artificial Systems published by John Benjamins Publishing Company, Editorial Board Member of Adaptive Behavior, Sage Publications, Associate Editor of the International Journal of Social Robotics, published by Springer. She is an Editor of the book series Advances in Interaction Studies, published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. Dr. Dautenhahn is on the Advisory Board of the journal AI and Society (Springer). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), Fellow of the IEEE, member of ACM, and a Lifelong Fellow of AISB. Since 2006 she has been part of the Standing Steering Committee of the IEEE conference RO-MAN (Human and Robot Interactive Communication).

Graduate students or postdoctoral candidates interested in joining Dr. Dautenhahn's lab are encouraged to first review the following information: https://uwaterloo.ca/social-intelligent-robotics-research-lab/graduatepostdoc-applicants.

Please note that Dr. Dautenhahn will only respond to inquiries from applicants who meet the necessary research qualifications and track record.

• Human-robot Interaction, Social Robotics, Assistive Robotics, Health Technologies, Robot-mediated education and therapy, Developmental Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Life

• 1993, Dr. rer. nat. Natural Sciences, University of Bielefeld, Germany
• 1990, Diploma Biology, University of Bielefeld, Germany

• 2023 Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
• 2023 Research Excellence Award (Waterloo Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
• 2018 Lifelong Fellow of the Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour
• 2019 IEEE Fellowship awarded for contributions to social robotics and human-robot interaction
• 2022 35 Women in Robotics Engineering and Science (WiRES) honoree @ IEEE IROS 2022

• ECE 493 - Special Topics in Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
• ECE 750 - Special Topics in Computer Software
  • Taught in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
• SYDE 599 - Special Topics in Systems Design Engineering
  • Taught in 2021

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• Ali Asl, Stephen L. Smith, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2025) To Lead or to Follow? Adaptive Robot Task Planning in Human-Robot Collaboration", accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO).
• Pourya Aliasghari, Moojan Ghafurian, Chrystopher L. Nehaniv, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2025) A Biologically Inspired Program-level Imitation Approach for Robots. Accepted for publication in IEEE Access.
• Steven Lawrence, Melanie Jouaiti, Jesse Hoey, Chrystopher Nehaniv, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2025) The role of social norms in human-robot interaction: A Systematic review. ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction 14.3 (2025): 1-44.
• Jule Körner, Shruti Chandra, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2025) Can Social Robots Improve People’s Attitudes towards Individuals who Stutter? ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction, https://doi.org/10.1145/3722122.
• Melanie Jouaiti, Chrystopher Nehaniv, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2025) What Do We Mean by Synchrony in Human-Robot Interaction Research? - Towards a Unifying Framework. Accepted for publication in Interaction Studies.
• Samira Rasouli, Moojan Ghafurian, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2025) CoDesign and User Evaluation of a Robotic Mental Well-Being Coach to Support University Students' Public Speaking Anxiety. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 32, 3, https://doi.org/10.1145/3718084.
• Kevin Fan, Melanie Jouaiti, Ali Noormohammadi-Asl, Kerstin Dautenhahn, Chrystopher L. Nehaniv (2025) Social Referencing Disambiguation with Robot Mental Imagery for Domestic Service Robots - System Implementation and Validation in an Object Selection Task, International Journal of Social Robotics Volume 17, pages 587–608.
• Ali Ayub, Zachary De Francesco, Patrick Holthaus, Chrystopher L. Nehaniv and Kerstin Dautenhahn (2025) Continual Learning through Human-Robot Interaction - Human Perceptions of a Continual Learning Robot in Repeated Interactions. International Journal of Social Robotics, Volume 17, pages 277–296.
• Moojan Ghafurian, Shruti Chandra, Rebecca Hutchinson, Angelica Lim, Ishan Baliyan, Jimin Rhim, Garima Gupta, Alexander M. Aroyo, Samira Rasouli, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2025) Systematic Review of Social Robots for Health and Wellbeing: A Personal Healthcare Journey Lens. ACM Transactions in Human-Robot Interaction 14(1), page 1-48.
• Shruti Chandra, Jennifer Fane, Negin Azizi, Mike Gray, Melissa Sager, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2024) Integrating New Instructional Assistive Technology in Remedial Instruction, Journal of Special Education and Technology, 25 pages, in press.
• Steven Lawrence, Negin Azizi, Kevin Fan, Melanie Jouaiti, Jesse Hoey, Chrystopher Nehaniv, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2024) Examining the Impact of Robot Norm Violations on Participants' Trust, Discomfort, Behaviour, and Physiological Responses - A Mixed Method Approach, ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction 14(3), pages 1 - 32.
• Samira Rasouli, Kerstin Dautenhahn, Chrystopher Lev Nehaniv (2024) Simulation of a Bio-Inspired Flocking-Based Aggregation Behaviour in Swarm Robotics. Biomimetics 9(11).
• Ali Noormohammadi-Asl, Kevin Fan, Stephen L. Smith, Kerstin Dautenhahn. Human Leading or Following Preferences: Effects on Human Perception of the Robot and the Human-Robot Collaboration (2024) Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Volume 183, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2024.104821.
• Delara Forghani, Moojan Ghafurian, Samira Rasouli, Chrystopher L. Nehaniv, and Kerstin Dautenhahn (2024) Evaluating People’s Perceptions of an Agent as a Public Speaking Coach. Paladyn, Journal of Robotics, Intelligent Agents, and Artificial Intelligence, vol. 15, no. 1, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1515/pjbr-2024-0004
• Pourya Alisaghari, Moojan Ghafurian, Chrystopher Nehaniv, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2024) How Non-experts Kinesthetically Teach a Robot over Multiple Sessions: Diversity in Teaching Styles and Effects on Performance. International Journal of Social Robotics Volume 16, pages 2079–2105.
• Mahsa Golchoubian, Moojan Ghafurian, Nasser L. Assad. Uncertainty-Aware DRL for Autonomous Vehicle Crowd Navigation in Shared Space (2024), accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles, doi: 10.1109/TIV.2024.3405330.
• Ali Ayub, Zachary de Francesco, Jainish Mehta, Kaled Yaakoub Agha, Patrick Holthaus, Chrystopher Nehaniv, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2024) A Human-Centered View of Continual Learning: Understanding Interactions, Teaching Patterns, and Perceptions of Human Users Towards a Continual Learning Robot in Repeated Interactions. ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction, Volume 13, Issue 4,https://doi.org/10.1145/3659110
• Hamza Mahdi, Melanie Jouaiti, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2024) Towards accessible robot-assisted physical play for children with physical disabilities: MyJay, from user-centred design to an initial feasibility study. Interaction Studies, Volume 25, Issue 1, Jun 2024, p. 36 - 69.
• Samira Rasouli, Moojan Ghafurian, Elizabeth Nilsen, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2024) University Students’ Opinions on Using Intelligent Agents to Cope with Stress and Anxiety in Social Situations. Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 153, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2023.108072.
• Alessandra Rossi, Kerstin Dautenhahn, Kheng Lee Koay, Michael L. Walters (2023) A matter of consequences: Understanding the effects of robot errors on people’s trust in HRI. Interaction Studies, 24(3), pp. 381-422
• Karen Bouchard, Peter Liu, Kerstin Dautenhahn, Jess Fiedorowicz, Jenifar Afrin, Michael Dans, Caroline McGuinty, C., & Heather Tulloch (2023) Cardiology professionals’ views of social robots in augmenting heart failure patient care. European Heart Journal - Digital Health, Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2024, Pages 69–76, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehjdh/ztad067.
• Mahsa Golchoubian, Moojan Ghafurian, Kerstin Dautenhahn and Nasser L. Azad (2023) Pedestrian Trajectory Prediction in Pedestrian-Vehicle Mixed Environments: A Systematic Review. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, vol. 24, no. 11, pages 11544-11567, Nov. 2023, doi: 10.1109/TITS.2023.3291196.
• Moojan Ghafurian, Colin Ellard, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2023) An investigation into the use of smart home devices, user preferences, and impact during COVID-19. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, Volume 11, 2023, ISSN 2451-9588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2023.100300.
• Pourya Aliasghari, Moojan Ghafurian, Chrystopher Nehaniv, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2023) How Do We Perceive Our Trainee Robots? Exploring the Impact of Robot Errors and Appearance when Performing Domestic Physical Tasks on Teachers' Trust and Evaluations. ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction, Volume 12, Issue 3, https://doi.org/10.1145/35825.
• Melanie Jouaiti, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2023) Robot-Assisted Therapy for Upper Limb Impairments in Cerebral Palsy: A Scoping Review and Suggestions for Future Research. Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics, vol. 14, no. 1, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1515/pjbr-2022-0104.
• Moojan Ghafurian, Kang Wang, Isha Dhode, Mannat Kapoor, Plinio P. Morita, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2023) Smart Home Devices for Supporting Older Adults: A Systematic Review, in IEEE Access, vol. 11, pp. 47137-47158, 2023, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3266647.
• Abhinav Dahiya, Alexander M. Aroyo, Kerstin Dautenhahn, Stephen L. Smith (2023) A Survey of Multi-Agent Human-Robot Interaction Systems. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Volume 161,2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2022.104335.
• Mahsa Golchoubian, Moojan Ghafurian, Kerstin Dautenhahn and Nasser L. Azad (2023) Pedestrian Trajectory Prediction in Pedestrian-Vehicle Mixed Environments: A Systematic Review. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, vol. 24, no. 11, pp. 11544-11567, doi: 10.1109/TITS.2023.3291196.
• Sami Alperen Akgun, Moojan Ghafurian, Mark Crowley, and Kerstin Dautenhahn (2022) Using Affect as a Communication Modality to Improve Human-Robot Communication in Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue Scenarios. IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 3013-3030, 1 Oct.-Dec. 2023, doi: 10.1109/TAFFC.2022.3221922.
• Garima Gupta, Shruti Chandra, Torrey Loucks, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2022) Stuttering Treatment Approaches from the Past Two Decades: Comprehensive Survey and Review. Journal of Student Research, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.47611/jsr.v11i2.1562
• Hamza Mahdi, Sami Alperen Akgun, Shahed Saleh, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2022) A survey on the design and evolution of social robots — Past, present and future, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Volume 156, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2022.104193.
• Shruti Chandra, Garima Gupta, Torrey Loucks, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2022) Opportunities for social robots in the stuttering clinic: A review and proposed scenarios, Paladyn- Journal of Behavioral Robotics, vol. 13, no. 1, 2022, pp. 23-44. https://doi.org/10.1515/pjbr-2022-000
• Samira Rasouli, Garima Gupta, Elizabeth Nilsen, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2022) Potential Applications of Social Robots in Robot-Assisted Interventions for Social Anxiety, International Journal of Social Robotics, Volume 14, pages 1–32, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-021-00851-0
• Marcus Scheunemann, Christoph Salge, Daniel Polani, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2022) Human Perception of Intrinsically Motivated Autonomy in Human-Robot Interaction, Adaptive Behavior, 30(5), pages 451-472. doi:10.1177/10597123211066153.
• Moojan Ghafurian, Gabriella Lakatos, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2022) The Zoomorphic Miro Robot's Affective Expression Design and Perceived Appearance. International Journal of Social Robotics, volume 14, pages 945–962, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-021-00832-3
• Pourya Aliasghari, Moojan Ghafurian, Chrystopher L. Nehaniv, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2022) Impact of Nonverbal Robot Behaviour on Human Teachers’ Perceptions of a Learner Robot. Interaction Studies 22(2). pp. 141-176
• Kheng Lee Koay, Matt Webster, Clare Dixon, Paul Gainer, Dag Syrdal, Michael Fisher, and Kerstin Dautenhahn (2021) Use and Usability of Software Verification Methods to Detect Behaviour Interference when Teaching an Assistive Home Companion Robot. Paladyn – Journal of Behavioral Robotics 12: 402–422
• Moojan Ghafurian, Jesse Hoey, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2021) Social Robots for the Care of Persons with Dementia: A Systematic Review. ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction 10(4): 1-31
• John Edison Muñoz, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2021) Robo Ludens – A game design taxonomy for multiplayer games using socially interactive robots. ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction (THRI), 10(4), Article 32.
• Lakatos, Gabriella, Wood, Luke Jai, Syrdal, Dag Sverre, Robins, Ben, Zaraki, Abolfazl and Dautenhahn, Kerstin. "Robot-mediated intervention can assist children with autism to develop visual perspective taking skills" Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics, vol. 12, no. 1, 2021, pages 87-101.
• Dag Sverre Syrdal, Kerstin Dautenhahn, Ben Robins, Efstathia Karakosta, Nan Cannon Jones (2020) Kaspar in the wild: Experiences from deploying a humanoid robot in a school for children with autism. Paladyn- Journal of Behavioral Robotics 11(1), pages 301-326.
• Silvia Rossi, Alessandra Rossi, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2020) The Secret Life of Robots: Perspectives and Challenges for a Robot's Behaviours During Non-Interactive Tasks, International Journal of Social Robotics, volume 12, pages 1265–1278, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-020-00650-z
• Kheng Lee Koay, Dag Sverre Syrdal, Kerstin Dautenhahn, Michael L. Walters (2020) A narrative approach to human-robot interaction prototyping for companion robots, Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics, 11(1), pages 66-85. doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/pjbr-2020-0003
• Luke Jai Wood, Kerstin Dautenhahn, Austen Rainer, Ben Robins, Hagen Lehmann, Dag Sverre Syrdal (2019) Robot-Mediated interviews: A field trial with a potential real world user. Interaction Studies 21(2), pp. 243-267.

• Researchers develop a social robot to aid ‘lazy eye’ treatment
• Profs’ study to improve robot and human interaction
• Two profs honoured by the Royal Society of Canada
• How to build an anti-bullying robot
• Pandemic isolation increases acceptance of robot companions
• Two top researchers join Waterloo as Canada 150 Research Chairs
• Professor Kerstin Dautenhahn elevated to IEEE Fellow