Idiap Researcher Awarded SNSF Ambizione Grant to Advance Human Motor Control and Robotics

James received the grant for his project titled Confronting the Paradox of Human Motor Control – Leveraging Subtractive and Generative Models. The Ambizione grant supports early-career researchers as they take the next step toward establishing themselves as independent research scientists in Switzerland.

James’s research is driven by the commitment to developing technologies that enhance the lives of individuals with physical disabilities. While everyday activities often involve physical contact, the underlying mechanisms by which humans manage such interactions remain poorly understood. Addressing these questions is therefore key.

James’ motivation to pursue this study stems from his own life experience. In fact, he shares: "As a student with dyslexia, I spent a substantial amount of time in a special education classroom while growing up. There, I observed firsthand how assistive technologies – developed by scientists and engineers my friends and I never met – liberated us. My dream has always been to be one of those scientists, and this project represents an important step toward this goal." [1]

During his graduate studies at MIT, James developed experimental and computational tools to study contact-based tasks. With support from the Ambizione grant, he will now collaborate with Dr. Sylvain Calinon, senior research scientist and head of the Learning and Interaction group at Idiap, and Prof. Auke Ijspeert of EPFL, roboticist and neuroscientist. The goal will be to ask scientific questions about how humans manage contact, and engineering questions about how these ideas can be applied to robotics.

James is particularly enthusiastic about the potential for direct clinical and societal impact. A deeper understanding of contact could lead to quantitative measures of stroke recovery, more intuitive control strategies for upper-limb prostheses, and robots that interact with humans and their environments in a more natural and human-like way.

The Idiap Research Institute congratulates James on this remarkable achievement and looks forward to following the progress of his work!

[1] MIT News: Learning challenges shape mechanical engineer’s path