Kick-off Meeting for New MERCUR Research Project on Fairness in Human-Robot Teams

04/23/2026

The image shows a group of six people in a bright office standing side by side behind two identical, white, humanoid robots. The two robots in the foreground feature a rounded base that widens at the bottom, slender bodies, articulated arms, and heads with large, pink-glowing eyes, along with a landscape-oriented tablet mounted on each of their chests. Behind them, standing from left to right, are four men and two women: a man in a light blue shirt and dark jeans, a man wearing glasses in a light blue shirt and dark pants, a woman with crossed arms in a black top and wide, light grey pants, a woman in a light beige jacket and white pants, a man in a dark shirt, and a man in a grey sweater. The group is standing in front of a large window with partially closed vertical blinds and a radiator underneath. The room has white walls and a dark, slightly speckled floor, with some cables visible on the ground in the right background. — The project team at the kick-off meeting

In a very familiar and productive atmosphere, we discussed how we will collaborate in the coming months, the status of our current studies, and which additional studies we will be launching soon.

Yesterday, we met at Ruhr University Bochum for the official kick-off of our new MERCUR research project “FAIHRT”. In a very familiar and productive atmosphere, we discussed how we will collaborate in the coming months, the status of our current studies, and which additional studies we will be launching soon.

All involved project partners attended the successful kick-off meeting. Ruhr University Bochum was represented by Jun.-Prof. Dr. Laura Kunold and Elisabeth Liedmann. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Prilla and Yannic Söhngen attended on behalf of the University of Duisburg-Essen. Prof. Dr. Manuel Wiesche and Vincent Heimburg participated in the meeting for TU Dortmund University.

Together, we are investigating how fairness is perceived and shaped in teams of three or more members consisting of humans and robots. Rather than focusing solely on the direct interaction between one human and one robot, as is often the case in previous research, our joint qualitative and quantitative analyses emphasize team structures, specific task characteristics, and robot-related factors such as form and behavior.