Heike Schmidt-Felzmann

Dr. Heike Schmidt-Felzmann serves as a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy/Ethics within the Department of Philosophy at the School of History and Philosophy, University of Galway. She actively supervises PhD students and contributes to multiple academic programs across disciplines including Computer Science, Nursing, and Social Sciences.

Her research focuses on ethical dimensions of emerging technologies, particularly:

• AI and robotics ethics with emphasis on ethics-by-design approaches
• Healthcare ethics specializing in mental health applications
• Feminist bioethics and ethics for marginalized communities
• Relational information technologies including care robots and AI companions

She integrates clinical psychotherapy experience into her ethical analyses of neurodivergent and gender-diverse healthcare needs.

Her 108+ publications demonstrate consistent output in AI ethics, with recent work examining social robot implementation in care settings, data privacy valuation, and interprofessional education frameworks. This research trajectory reveals increasing focus on practical ethics integration within healthcare technology development.

Scientific recognition includes:

• EDI Project Fund award (2024)
• Leadership roles in European research consortia

She has secured significant research funding through EU projects including COST Actions CHIPME and RANCARE, H2020 MARIO project, and ERASMUS+ PROSPERO initiative. Her supervision portfolio includes 23 postgraduate students across Philosophy, Nursing, and Computer Science programs, with recent teaching innovations in AI ethics for technical disciplines.

Her laboratory work centers on European collaborative networks including COST Action on Wearable Robotics (CA16116) where she served as WG4 lead on ethical, legal and social issues, and the RANCARE consortium addressing nursing care rationing.