RSS Pioneers is an intensive workshop for senior Ph.D. students and early-career researchers in the robotics community. Held in conjunction with the main Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) conference, each year the RSS Pioneers brings together a cohort of the world’s top early-career researchers. The workshop aims to provide these promising researchers with networking opportunities and help them navigate their next career stages, and foster creativity and collaboration surrounding challenges in all areas of robotics. The workshop will include a mix of research and career talks from senior scholars in the field from both academia and industry, research presentations from attendees, and networking activities. RSS Pioneers is planned to be an in-person workshop, excluding any unexpected developments. This is the ninth RSS Pioneers workshop and is planned to be held at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
RSS Pioneers is inspired by the format of the HRI Pioneers workshop. The first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth RSS Pioneers were successfully held in each year from 2018 to 2025.
Interested senior PhD students and postdocs are encouraged to apply. For detailed application instructions, please refer to the Call for Participation.
Application opens: January 21, 2026
Applications due: February 20, 2026
Notification of Acceptance: April 27, 2026
RSS Pioneers Workshop: July 12, 2026