Francisco Bellas Email & Phone Number

In 1999 I finished my BsC in Physics, starting a pre-doctoral stage at the University of Coruña (UDC) in the field of robotics within the Integrated Group for Engineering Research (GII) of the UDC. In 2003 I obtained a PhD degree in Computer Science and in 2004 I obtained a grant in the Parga Pondal program of the Galician regional government (postdoc position). In 2008, I became part of the staff of stable professors of the UDC as a “Profesor Contratado Doctor”, and from 2012 until 2021 I was a “Profesor Titular de Universidad” (Associate professor). In 2021 I obtained a Full Professor position at UDC.My research career in the last 10 years has been structured in 2 main lines within the GII: cognitive robotics and education in artificial intelligence. Within the first topic, the last 10 years have been really active with the development of different European (DREAM) and National (CARAMBA) projects. Currently, I must highlight the Horizon 2020 project called PILLAR Robots in which we are the leaders, coordinating a team of researchers in 4 different countries.In 2016, we decided to launch a spin-off company (MINT SL) with the initial aim of commercializing the Robobo educational robot. I was appointed coordinator of this project (https://theroboboproject.com), whose activity has led to the award of National (ROBOBO2.0) and European (ROSbobo) innovation projects. Recently, we have been finalists in the Smart Toys Competition 2.0, organized by the Dubai Future Foundation and the World Economic Forum, getting a remarkable international impact.From this work in the spin-off emerged a new research line in the GII, coordinated by me, focused on artificial intelligence education for pre-university students. I must highlight the award, in 2019, of the European Erasmus+ project entitled "Developing an Artificial Intelligence Curriculum adapted to European High School (AI+)". I have recently been granted with 3 research projects to continue this line: AIM@VET project (Erasmus+ K220VET), ProgTutor (Spanish TED2021), and Digital First (ERASMUS-EDU-2023-PI-FORWARD).During 2023 I have been member of the Squad 5 working group of the European Digital Education Hub, about AI in Education. Within this European organization, I have been recently appointed as the leader of a new squad about Explainable AI in Education. Finally, I collaborate as an international expert with the University of Qatar in the project titled "Developing an Evidence-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) educational framework".