Human-in-the-Loop Co-design of Interactive Systems (coHu)
RTG 3222
Shaping the Future of Human-System Interaction
Interactive systems are becoming an integral part of modern healthcare, from assistive technologies and rehabilitation devices to surgical robots and intelligent medical systems. As these technologies become more capable and autonomous, ensuring effective collaboration between humans and machines is a key scientific and societal challenge.
The Research Training Group (RTG) coHu investigates how future human-system interfaces can be designed to make interactions more intuitive, reliable, and safe. We focus on the points where humans and technology meet: how users communicate with technical systems, how systems provide feedback, and how both sides can adapt to one another during interaction.
A central idea of coHu is that successful interaction cannot be achieved by considering technology or users in isolation. Instead, we combine co-design approaches, which jointly develop different system components, with human-in-the-loop methods that actively involve users throughout the design process. This allows us to better understand human needs, abilities, and expectations while ensuring that technical systems meet demanding performance and safety requirements.
Research Areas
Our research is organized into three complementary Research Areas, each consisting of several interconnected doctoral projects. Together, these projects address the methodological, human-centered, and technological foundations of future interactive systems:
- RA1: Co-design Methodology
- RA2: Human-System Co-adaptation
- RA3: Sensing, Communication & Control
Particular emphasis is placed on applications in medical engineering and medical robotics, where intuitive interaction, reliability, and safety are essential requirements. A more in-depth description of the research program and the research areas is available in the Research Program tab.
Qualification Programme and Doctoral Opportunities
Beyond research, coHu is dedicated to educating the next generation of scientists in human-system interaction. Doctoral researchers work closely with an interdisciplinary team of Principal Investigators and Associated Researchers, benefiting from joint supervision, international exchange, specialized training, and opportunities to develop both scientific and transferable skills. Through this combination of cutting-edge research and structured qualification, coHu aims to advance the foundations of human-system interaction while preparing researchers to address future challenges in academia, healthcare, and industry.
The RTG regularly recruits doctoral researchers who pursue their own PhD projects while contributing to the shared research goals of coHu. Applicants can choose from a range of doctoral projects distributed across the three Research Areas and are invited to indicate their three preferred research topics (referring to the research area subproject description) during the application process. Further information about the available projects, participating researchers, and current call for applications can be found on the respective pages of this website.
