[meetings][CFP] Final Call: ICSR 2026 Workshop on Configuring Robot Roles for Children

***Apologies for cross-postings. Submission deadline in 1 week (June 2)***


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ICSR 2026 Workshop – Configuring Robot Roles for Children: Developmental, Communicative, and Ethical Dimensions Across Contexts and Domains
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Dear colleagues,


this is a friendly reminder that the deadline for submissions for our ICSR 2026 half-day workshop is in 1 week (see description below). The deadline has been extended to June 2, 2026 (11:59pm AoE).


The workshop focuses on a timely and important question in child–robot interaction: How should we design, conceptualize, and evaluate the social roles that robots may take on in children's lives?

Workshop website: https://smart-cognition-lab.de/icsr26/
Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=core26


Important Dates
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Submission deadline: June 2, 2026
Notification of acceptance: June 5, 2026
Workshop date: July 2, 2026


About the workshop
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Social roles are a fundamental mechanism through which humans structure interpersonal encounters—and people extend these role-based expectations to artificial agents as well. As socially assistive robots are starting to see broader use in diverse environments with children, the different social roles these robots are designed to embody (from established ones such as companion or tutor to emergent enactments) influence how children interact with them, how they perceive trust and authority, and how learning and participation unfold. This workshop aims to facilitate discussion across disciplines to improve our understanding of how social roles can be designed, adapted, and evaluated across developmental stages, contexts, cultures, and interaction goals, along with their dialogic, developmental, and ethical implications.

We welcome contributions from completed projects as well as work in progress. Participants without a submission are also welcomed.



Keynote speakers

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Aditi Kothiyal (Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar)

Kristyn Sommer (Griffith University, Australia)



Call for Submissions

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We invite *300-word abstracts* describing the motivation, approach, and key contributions of your work. Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:


• Effects of social role design (e.g., peer, teacher, novice, companion) on interaction and learning
• Developmentally appropriate role designs in educational or health settings
• Co-designing roles and behaviors of robots with stakeholders (e.g., children, educators, or caregivers)
• Dialogue design and multimodal cues that implement and co-construct roles
• Cross-cultural perspectives on robot roles and perceptions
• Moral expectations tied to robot roles, such as care, reliability, privacy, and responsibility
• Role dynamics in triadic and polyadic settings (e.g., robot–child–teacher; peer groups)
• Longitudinal work on evolving role adaptations and perceptions over time
• Transparency and explanation strategies for robot behavior and roles
• Ethical implications of robot role designs



Best regards,

The organizers

Nils Tolksdorf, Adriana Hanulíková, Sarah Kapp (Heidelberg University)




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