The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society has honored Prof. Dr. Wolfram Burgard with the ‘Pioneer in Robotics and Automation Award’ for his pioneering research in robotics. The award ceremony took place on 22 May 2025 as part of the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Nuremberg’s sister city Atlanta.
Burgard is being honored for his contributions to probabilistic state estimation, perception and machine learning in robotics. His research contributes to autonomous systems being able to recognize their environment more precisely, compensate for uncertainties and optimally plan their movements. This significantly advances the development of mobile robotic systems, autonomous vehicles and industrial automation.
“I am very happy to receive this honor from the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society,” says Burgard. “My goal has always been to research methods that make robots more intelligent, so that machines can not only perceive their environment, but also understand it and act autonomously within it. At the University of Technology Nuremberg, we benefit from a dynamic, innovation-driven environment that offers ideal conditions for advancing this vision of intelligent, autonomous systems.”
Founding President Prof. Dr. Michael Huth congratulates: “With his pioneering work in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence, Prof. Burgard is making a valuable contribution to scientific excellence and the development of practical technologies. He is therefore an excellent fit for UTN and, with his expertise and experience, will significantly strengthen the development of our Department of Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence. On behalf of the entire university, I would like to congratulate him on this honor.”
Burgard has been the founding chair of the Department Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence since 2022 and holds the top professorship for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at UTN, which is funded by the Bavarian High-Tech Agenda. He has already received numerous prestigious awards for his work, including the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize and an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council. In 2022, he also received the IEEE Technical Field Award for Robotics and Automation.
UTN presents research in the sister city of Atlanta
In addition to the award ceremony, UTN is presenting its latest research work at ICRA, one of the largest robotics conferences in the world. This includes, for example, smart hoover robots that use vision-language models to recognize objects and a drone that can track people using linguistic descriptions.
Atlanta plays a special role for Nuremberg: the two cities have been sister cities for 25 years and live out their partnership intensively. The world-renowned Georgia Institute of Technology, based in Atlanta, was UTN’s first international scientific cooperation partner. The corresponding agreement was concluded at the end of 2023 during a delegation trip led by Nuremberg’s Lord Mayor Marcus König: “City partnerships have many advantages – exchange at a scientific level now plays a major role here. This emphasizes the importance of Nuremberg as a city of science. And this award also shows that our UTN is already an excellent address in the start-up phase.”
About the award
The ‘Pioneer in Robotics and Automation Award’ honors individuals who have had a lasting impact on robotics and automation by initiating new areas of research or technical developments. Special consideration is given to the pioneering work and the long-term impact of the work.
About the Robotics and Automation Society
The Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) is one of 39 technical societies of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). With over 19,000 members worldwide, the RAS is committed to advancing research and development in the field of robotics and automation and promoting the exchange of scientific and technological knowledge – both for the benefit of the professional community and for the good of society.
About the University of Technology Nuremberg
The University of Technology Nuremberg (UTN), founded in 2021, is the first newly established public university in Bavaria since 1978. The UTN is a living laboratory building a university for the age of AI and the rapidly advancing changes in technology, business and society. The UTN strives to become a strong regional force in research, teaching and transfer and an internationally leading university of the 21st century with regional roots and a global outlook.
The 37-hectare, sustainable UTN campus will form the center of the new Lichtenreuth district in Nuremberg, close to the historic city center. Around 6,000 students, 200 professors and at least 2,000 employees will study and work there. Study programs will integrate aspects of technology, liberal arts, social sciences and natural sciences to ideally prepare students for the interdisciplinary requirements of the new world of work.
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Head of UnitCommunication Unit
Deputy Press OfficerCommunication Unit
The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society has honored Prof. Dr. Wolfram Burgard with the ‘Pioneer in Robotics and Automation Award’ for his pioneering research in robotics. The award ceremony took place on 22 May 2025 as part of the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Nuremberg’s sister city Atlanta.
Burgard is being honored for his contributions to probabilistic state estimation, perception and machine learning in robotics. His research contributes to autonomous systems being able to recognize their environment more precisely, compensate for uncertainties and optimally plan their movements. This significantly advances the development of mobile robotic systems, autonomous vehicles and industrial automation.
“I am very happy to receive this honor from the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society,” says Burgard. “My goal has always been to research methods that make robots more intelligent, so that machines can not only perceive their environment, but also understand it and act autonomously within it. At the University of Technology Nuremberg, we benefit from a dynamic, innovation-driven environment that offers ideal conditions for advancing this vision of intelligent, autonomous systems.”
Founding President Prof. Dr. Michael Huth congratulates: “With his pioneering work in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence, Prof. Burgard is making a valuable contribution to scientific excellence and the development of practical technologies. He is therefore an excellent fit for UTN and, with his expertise and experience, will significantly strengthen the development of our Department of Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence. On behalf of the entire university, I would like to congratulate him on this honor.”
Burgard has been the founding chair of the Department Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence since 2022 and holds the top professorship for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at UTN, which is funded by the Bavarian High-Tech Agenda. He has already received numerous prestigious awards for his work, including the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize and an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council. In 2022, he also received the IEEE Technical Field Award for Robotics and Automation.
UTN presents research in the sister city of Atlanta
In addition to the award ceremony, UTN is presenting its latest research work at ICRA, one of the largest robotics conferences in the world. This includes, for example, smart hoover robots that use vision-language models to recognize objects and a drone that can track people using linguistic descriptions.
Atlanta plays a special role for Nuremberg: the two cities have been sister cities for 25 years and live out their partnership intensively. The world-renowned Georgia Institute of Technology, based in Atlanta, was UTN’s first international scientific cooperation partner. The corresponding agreement was concluded at the end of 2023 during a delegation trip led by Nuremberg’s Lord Mayor Marcus König: “City partnerships have many advantages – exchange at a scientific level now plays a major role here. This emphasizes the importance of Nuremberg as a city of science. And this award also shows that our UTN is already an excellent address in the start-up phase.”
About the award
The ‘Pioneer in Robotics and Automation Award’ honors individuals who have had a lasting impact on robotics and automation by initiating new areas of research or technical developments. Special consideration is given to the pioneering work and the long-term impact of the work.
About the Robotics and Automation Society
The Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) is one of 39 technical societies of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). With over 19,000 members worldwide, the RAS is committed to advancing research and development in the field of robotics and automation and promoting the exchange of scientific and technological knowledge – both for the benefit of the professional community and for the good of society.
About the University of Technology Nuremberg
The University of Technology Nuremberg (UTN), founded in 2021, is the first newly established public university in Bavaria since 1978. The UTN is a living laboratory building a university for the age of AI and the rapidly advancing changes in technology, business and society. The UTN strives to become a strong regional force in research, teaching and transfer and an internationally leading university of the 21st century with regional roots and a global outlook.
The 37-hectare, sustainable UTN campus will form the center of the new Lichtenreuth district in Nuremberg, close to the historic city center. Around 6,000 students, 200 professors and at least 2,000 employees will study and work there. Study programs will integrate aspects of technology, liberal arts, social sciences and natural sciences to ideally prepare students for the interdisciplinary requirements of the new world of work.
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Peter Diehl
Communication Unit
Agnes Pelzl
Communication Unit