Tony Belpaeme is a Professor at Ghent University and Senior Researcher at imec. He received his PhD in Computer Science from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). At Ghent University he leads a team studying cognitive robotics and human-robot interaction. Starting from the premise that intelligence is rooted in social interaction, Belpaeme and his research team try to further the science and technology behind artificial intelligence and social human-robot interaction. This results in a spectrum of results, from theoretical insights to practical applications. He coordinated several large-scale European projects studying how robots can support children while learning a second language (H2020 L2TOR) and how long-term human-robot interaction can be use in pediatric applications (ALIZ-E), and worked on robots for Autism Spectrum Disorder therapy and value-aware Human-Robot Interaction.
Domains of expertise
- Artificial intelligence
- Robotics
- Human-robot interaction
- Cognitive systems
Selected projects & research platforms
VALAWAI (Value-aware Artificial Intelligence) is a Horizon Europe Pathfinder project which studies consciousness and awareness in AI. It specifically looks at how AI can understand and act according to human norms and values. The project is a collaboration between Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, and Sony Computer Science Labs.
L2TOR (Second Language Tutoring using Social Robots) was a European project coordinated by Tony Belpaeme. It studied how robots can be used to tutor a second language to young children, as social robots have marked benefits over screen-based tutoring technologies. The project involved partners from The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany and Türkiye.
DREAM (Development of Robot-Enhanced therapy for children with AutisM spectrum disorders) was a European project studying how social robots could be used to offer Autism Spectrum Disorder therapy. It was a collaboration between Sweden, Romania, Belgium, United Kingdom and France.
Selected publications
- Pinto-Bernal, M., Biondina, M., & Belpaeme, T. (2025). Designing Social Robots with LLMs for Engaging Human Interaction. Applied Sciences, 15(11), 6377.
- Bartneck, C., Belpaeme, T., Eyssel, F., Kanda, T., Keijsers, M., & Šabanović, S. (2024). Human-robot interaction: An introduction. Cambridge University Press.
- Belpaeme, T., Kennedy, J., Ramachandran, A., Scassellati, B., & Tanaka, F. (2018). Social robots for education: A review. Science robotics, 3(21), eaat5954.
Work details
- tony.belpaeme@ugent.be
- Universiteit Gent (ELIS), Technologiepark 126, 9052 Gent, Belgium
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonybelpaeme/
- https://research.ugent.be/web/person/tony-belpaeme-0/en