PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Alois Knoll

Also known as Alois C. Knoll, Alois Christian Knoll

Alois Knoll is a computer scientist whose work connects artificial intelligence with robotics and autonomous systems. He earned an engineering diploma in Stuttgart in 1985 and a computer science doctorate in Berlin in 1988; after a professorship at Bielefeld, he joined TUM in 2001 and led a Fraunhofer robotics department through 2004. He co-founded fortiss, coordinated European robotics projects, led neurorobotics work, and headed TUM's AI traffic projects through Providentia. IEEE elevated him to Fellow in 2023, and acatech elected him in 2025; as of October 2026, he is a professor at TUM's Chair of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Real-Time Systems.

Born
1961
Works
1,683
Badges

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026. Citations and h-index are hidden because this OpenAlex record may be incomplete or mix in other authors.

Timeline

  1. 1985–1993

    Electrical engineering and a doctorate

    Knoll earns a diploma in electrical and communications engineering at the University of Stuttgart in 1985 and a computer science doctorate at the Technical University of Berlin in 1988. He qualifies to teach computer science at university level in 1993.

  2. 1993–2004

    Bielefeld, TUM, and Fraunhofer

    In 1993, he joins the University of Bielefeld's Faculty of Technology as a full professor and leads its Technical Informatics research group through 2001. He is a computer science professor at TUM from 2001 and serves on the board of Fraunhofer's Institute for Autonomous Intelligent Systems from 2001 to 2004, leading one of its robotics departments.

  3. 2009–2018

    Fortiss and ECHORD

    He co-founds fortiss, the Munich Software and Systems Institute, in 2009 and launches the EU robotics project ECHORD. From 2013 to 2018, he coordinates ECHORD++, an EU initiative that brings robotics industry, research institutes and universities together to advance robot technologies toward market readiness.

  4. 2010–2023

    Neurorobotics and the Human Brain Project

    He takes part in the Human Brain Project's pilot phase and leads its Neurorobotics section through 2023. His neurorobotics work connects neuroscience, artificial intelligence and robotics.

  5. 2021

    AI for road traffic

    In 2021, Knoll leads TUM's Providentia and Providentia++ projects, using radar and cameras with AI to create a digital twin of traffic.

  6. 2023

    IEEE Fellow

    In 2023, IEEE elevates him to Fellow for contributions to human-robot interaction and neurorobotics.

  7. October 2025

    Election to acatech

    At its annual General Assembly in October 2025, acatech elects him as one of 27 new members.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at TUM's robotics chair

    He is a professor of Computer Science at TUM's Chair of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Real-Time Systems, within the School of Computation, Information and Technology.

Career

  1. Since 2001Technical University of MunichProfessor of Computer Science at the Chair of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Real-Time Systems
  2. From 2009FortissCo-founder
  3. 2001–2004Fraunhofer-GesellschaftBoard Member; Robotics Department Lead
  4. 1993–2001Bielefeld UniversityFull Professor

Education

  1. 1988Technische Universität BerlinComputer Science doctorate
  2. 1985University of StuttgartDiploma in Electrical and Communications Engineering

From the biography.

  1. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes Alois Knoll. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Technical University of Munich. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  3. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Technical University of Munich. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.
  4. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Technical University of Munich. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Alois Knoll - Lehrstuhl für Robotik, Künstliche Intelligenz und Echtzeitsysteme ce.cit.tum.de. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Neurorobotics humanbrainproject.eu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. The road of the future is digital tum.de. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Congratulations to the IEEE Fellows Class of 2023 ieee-ras.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Developments at acatech – acatech Annual Report 2025 annualreport2025.acatech.de. Checked 20 October 2026.