Awards, Funding, & Outreach
Awards
2023 EU Product Safety Award
The EU Product Safety Award encourages and honors innovative business initiatives and research that make a difference for consumers. This year, the Gold Medal was awarded to Eduard and Hadassah for their innovative research on diversity in robot design, testbed, and safety standardization.
“The Commission is committed to promoting gender inclusiveness in standards, and this research is really a prime example of it,” the Jury noted.
Grants
Total funding attraction - 2.172.750 EUR (Since 2019)
Breakdown
(2022) DT4REGIONS Ideathon on AI Potential for Preventive Healthcare for the idea “FAIDEN: Food Prevention Using AI at Leiden University.” Value: 2.500 EUR.
(2022) ERC Starting Grant for SAFEandSOUND. Personal grant. Value: 1.500.000 EUR
(2022) NWO Diversity Initiative Award for the project Diversity Equity and Inclusion in Embodied AI: Reflecting on and Re-imagining our Future with Embodied AI, funded by 4TU.Federation, and led by Zaga, C., Cila, N., Lupetti, M. L., Lee, M., Huisman, G., Fosch-Villaronga, E. Value: 50.000 EUR
(2022) ZonMw Clinical DECIsion support system voor het carDiovasculaire risico managEment in de eerstelijnsgezondheidszorg: een Verantwoordelijk- en Aansprakelijkheidsperspectief (DECIDE-VerA). ZonMw contribution for the consortium led by LUMC: 199.450 EUR. Value for Leiden Law School: TBD.
(2022) Erasmus+ ACT.AI. EU total contribution: 399.293 EUR. Value for Leiden University: 119 .071 EUR. Awarded and ungranted due to Russian conflict.
(2022) Horizon Europe BIAS Project. EU total contribution: 4.652.640 EUR (coordinator NTNU, Norway). Value for the eLaw Center for Law and Digital Technologies 416.250 EUR.
(2020) Global Transformation and Governance Challenges Seed Grant to create the GENDERING ALGORITHMS. Value 10.000 EUR.
(2020) Financial Support for Third Parties Action (FSTP) from the H2020 Eurobench Project, 60.000 EUR to work on the subproject PROPELLING: Pushing forward RObot dEveLopment for LawmakING. Value: 60.000 EUR.
(2020) Meijers Prize for the best published article of each faculty research programme, Leiden University, Value: 500 EUR.
(2020) COVR Award, 60.000 EUR to work on the subproject LIAISON: Liaising robot development and policy making to increase overall robot safety. Main project: H2020 COVR Being safe around collaborative and versatile robots in shared spaces. Value: 60.000 EUR.
(2019) EURA Young Scholar Prize, European Center of Excellence on the Regulation of Robotics and AI. Value: Conference personal invitation.
(2019) Personal Visiting Researcher Grant, Research Council of Norway. Value: 7000 EUR.
(2019) Erasmus+ ICM Teaching Staff Exchange Grant. Value: 3500 EUR.
(2019-2021) Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. Value: 2 year full-time contract (EU Contribution 63.000 EUR).
(2018) The ideas of my Ph.D. Thesis “Create a European Robot Impact Assessment” and “Create a Robot Seal” have been Included in the “EYE2018 Report: 100 ideas for a better future,'' an event organized by the European Parliament.
(2018) Selected for the invitation-only Robotics Science and Systems (RSS) Pioneers Workshop. Value: Travel expenses
(2018) Selected as Talent for the Mission -1 at Mindfire Foundation, Davos, Switzerland. Value: Travel expenses
(2017) Grindley Grant, Competitive Conference Attendance Funding, Experimental Psychology Society. Value: Travel expenses
(2016) JSAI-isAI Competitive Workshop Organization Grant, Yokohama, Japan. Value: 1500 EUR.
(2013-2016) Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate Full Scholarship. Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), European Commission. Value: 3-year full PhD Scholarship
(2011) Erasmus Scholarship to join Université Toulouse Capitole I, France.
(2007) Second Award in “Programa Argó”, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Catalonia. Value: 1100 EUR
(2007) First Price High School Dissertation, Jaume Mimó High School, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Catalonia.
(2007) High School with Honors, Government of Catalonia. Value: First year university tuition free.
(2007) Orator, Grant to Study English in the U.K., Government of Catalonia. Value: 2-week full board in the UK.
Podcasts
The lawyer in the room
Technaid's Research Digest
In this episode we move away from our focus on robotic and biomedical engineering and move on to important aspects for the development and use of the exoskeletons of the future, such as attention to diversity with Eduard Fosch Villaronga
Make Robots Safe
Justice and AI Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (JUST-AI JMCE) 'Meet the Expert' Podcast n°1
How can robots and AI systems enhance the state of our health and promote inclusivity? These are in essence the issues that Eduard Fosch Villaronga seeks to answer through the groundbreaking research he conducts within the Safe & Sound and BIAS projects. As an Associate Professor at the University of Leiden, Eduard and his team are currently conducting arduous but also necessary and rewarding research on the ways in which care robots and recruitment algorithms can, and even should be designed in order to truly enhance human abilities and equality. One of the deliverables of both projects is to advise policy makers on the best ways forward in regulating care robots and AI systems used in the labour market. So listen carefully, as Eduard explains the philosophy, methodology, output and impact of the Safe and Sound and BIAS projects.
The Law of Tech Podcast
The impact of automated gender recognition systems
In 2024, I was interviewed by Hadassah Drukarch, the founder of The Law of Tech. The Law of Tech is a platform that aims to equip (aspiring) legal professionals with the knowledge necessary to understand the ongoing technology-driven transformation of the law and legal industry. In the podcast, we talk about the impact of automated gender recognition systems:
Debates
Fosch-Villaronga, E. and Torras, C. (2019) Roboethics: new consensus in the man-robot relationship. Dialogues for Democratic Quality. Puzzled Democracies: formulating new consensus. [Diàlegs per a la Qualitat Democràtica. Democràcies perplexes: formulant nous consensos] Palau Macaya. Ernest Lluch Foundation, November 14, Barcelona, Catalonia.
Fosch-Villaronga, E. (2021) Diversitat, Intel·ligència Artificial, i Medicina. XI Jornades R+D+I. TIC Salut Social Foundation, Catalan Ministry of Health.
AI Automation and Normalization at WAAG Foundation
Conversation with Mushon Zer Aviv, Dr. Eduard Fosch-Villaronga and Lucas Evers
Service
Consumer Safety Network - European Commission
Contribution to the revision of the Product Safety Directive
In 2020, Eduard served the European Commission in the Sub-Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI), connected products and other new challenges in product safety to the Consumer Safety Network (CSN) to revise the General Product Safety directive.
https __ec.europa.eu_safety_consumers_consumers_safety_gate_home_documents_Subgroup_opinion_final_format (1).pdfSamenwerken om algoritmen te verbeteren
Na een persoonlijke ervaring besloten docenten van de rechtenfaculteit en informatica aan universiteit Leiden om hun krachten te bundelen. Eduard Fosch-Villaronga en Tessa Verhoef maken in het robotlab van de universiteit plannen om de algoritmen die veel websites en apps gebruiken om het geslacht van hun gebruikers te bepalen te verbeteren.
AI & LGBTI+ Empowerment
An exploration of opportunities and risks, stakeholders and possible interventions in four societal sub-areas
Contributed as interviewee to the Kromhout, M., Jak, L., van den Broek, L., & Thissen, L. (2024) Kunstmatige Intelligentie en lhbti+ emancipatie: een verkenning van kansen en risico’s, stakeholders en mogelijke interventies in vier maatschappelijke deelgebieden (Artificial Intelligence and LGBTI+ empowerment: an exploration of opportunities and risks, stakeholders and possible interventions in four societal sub-areas). Commissioned by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW).
Publicatie AI en lhbtiqa+.pdfNews items
Blog articles
Fosch-Villaronga, E. & Drukarch, H.G. (2020) Introducing the future of robot regulation. Medium. Available at https://eduard-fosch-villaronga.medium.com/introducing-the-future-of-robot-regulation-bf4fe6361a79, last modified Feb 1, 2021.
Hof, S. van der, & Fosch-Villaronga, E. (2020) Growing up with AI - A call for further research and a precautionary approach. Response to the Policy guidance on AI for children (draft 1.0, September 2020) presented by UNICEF and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. Leiden Law Blog, October 20.
Fosch-Villaronga, E. (2019) A summer Shandong University. Leiden Law News.
Fosch-Villaronga, E., and Aymerich-Franch (2019) Me, myself and my avatar might be the same person. Binary District Journal.
Press mentions
Leiden University (2020) Eduard Fosch Villaronga: 'Robots are mainly for the average person.' SAILS Program. Our workers.
Colmjon, E. (2020) Vriend of Vijand. Leidsch Dagblad, 11 Sept
NTNU (2020) Robot technology for everyone or only for the average person? Science Codex
Tamò-Larrieux, A. (2020) DSI Insights: Privatsphärenschutz während einer Pandemie. INSIDE IT.
News Staff (2020) Queering Of Robots Will Make Them Designed To Include The LGBTQ+ Community. Science 2.0.
NTNU (2020) Are robots designed to include the LGBTQ+ community?
La vanguardia (2019) Robótica y ética, una relación confusa. La Vanguardia (Spanish major newspaper).
Interviews
Enk, M. van (2020) ‘Leiden has a special atmosphere, almost like a family’. Leiden University News.
(2020) Why a drag queen is given less exposure than a white supremacist.
Knoester, M. (2019) Robots and our data: opportunity or danger? Leiden University News.
(2019) Eduard Fosch Postdoc at Leiden Law School, studies the legal implications of robots. Leiden University News.
Invitation to the Chilean Supreme Court
Fosch-Villaronga, E. & Lopez-Belloso, M. (2020) Artificial Intelligence and Criminal Law: A bitter candy? Seminar XX years of criminal procedure reform. Directorate of Studies of the Chilean Supreme Court, Nov 11, online.
Carta Agradeciemiento Reforma Procesal Penal[16].pdfEduard Fosch-Villaronga.pdf