What is the Joint Robotics Congress (JRC) 2021?
JRC is an event in Zurich, taking place on July 19-23, 2021. It is intended to bring together different subcommunities of robotics to establish new links, trigger exciting collaborations, and simply network with colleagues from academia and industry. Currently, the plan is to co-locate “Robotics: Science and Systems”, “IEEE International Conference on Humanoids”, “International Symposium on Robotics Research”, and “Fiend and Service Robotics”. The goal is to maintain the character of the individual conferences: they will have their own venue, review process, and conference program. But at the same time we want to foster the exchange across communities: there will be joint social events and one joint Congress Day on which all conference get together and can see selected presentations from each of the conferences plus exciting keynote presentations. And if in the process we can cut down on people’s travel and on our CO2 emissions… why not?
Why are you doing JRC?
Robotics is an integrative and diverse field. We believe that research in robotics progresses most easily when we all come together to exchange ideas and to learn from each other. It therefore is a logical idea to bring together people so that we can also bring together ideas. Moreover, attendees can profit from additional events like workshops or exhibitions.
The concept is not new. Other communities have done similar things with resounding success. For example, the 2019 Rehab Week brought together six conferences from the rehabilitation field—for the fifth time since 2011! It was a very natural next step to think that our community should try this too!
Why did you pick these four conferences to be part of JRC?
The selection of conference was somewhat of an organic process, depending on the people involved and on many other factors. For example, some conferences happen every two years and simply were not going to happen in 2021. We are very happy with the selection as we believe that it reflects a broad spectrum of our community. If the JRC were to happen again, we certainly will attempt to include additional conferences, so if your favorite conference is not included this time, hopefully it will be next time (if there is a next time).
Is JRC another ICRA or IROS?
Absolutely not. We do not want to (and it would be stupid to) compete with ICRA and IROS. JRC is an experiment. We don’t know if it will be a success. If not, it will probably disappear again. If it is a success—and we certainly hope so—it will maybe happen again in five or seven years. See? Very different from ICRA and IROS.
Is JRC just another conference?
No. It is a congress: an event that co-locates several conferences so that the members of the respective communities can interact with each other and profit from additional elements like workshops, exhibitions, or plenary talks.
How do I submit to JRC?
Paper submissions will happen through the participating conference. So please stay tuned to hear from them and watch their websites for announcements.
Will JRC become a regular event?
JRC is an experiment. We don’t know if it will be a success. If not, it will probably disappear again. If it is a success—and we certainly hope so—it will maybe happen again in five or seven years.
Can I attend multiple conferences?
Short answer: yes. Longer answer: conference talks and poster sessions will be open for all JRC attendees to support cross-conference interaction. However, priority access is given to people that registered for the corresponding conference.