Verena Hafner

Prof. Verena Hafner is a Professor at the Institute of Computer Science within the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Humboldt University of Berlin. She leads the Adaptive Systems group, focusing on interdisciplinary research at the intersection of robotics, AI, and cognitive science. Her work emphasizes human-robot interaction, adaptive learning mechanisms, and embodied cognition.

Her research explores:

• Design and impact of socially interactive robots in educational and cognitive contexts
• Trust dynamics and transparency in human-robot relationships
• Development of bio-inspired AI models and sensorimotor learning systems
• Philosophical and ethical dimensions of artificial consciousness and agency

Analysis of her recent publications (2023-2025) reveals strong emphasis on educational robotics, cognitive modeling, and humanoid robot design. Key trends include multimodal learning architectures, trust calibration in HRI, and biologically-inspired AI frameworks. Her work consistently bridges theoretical AI with applied human-centered experimentation.

She supervises graduate students including Michael Piechotta (doctoral candidate) and leads the Adaptive Systems laboratory investigating lifelong learning in artificial agents.