Cecilia Laschi

Cecilia Laschi is a robotics professor whose work on embodied intelligence uses flexible, animal-inspired bodies to simplify robot control and reduce energy use. She earned computer-science and robotics degrees in Italy, visited Waseda, and coordinated OCTOPUS, a project that studied octopus bodies and brains through soft underwater robotics. She founded the first IEEE-RAS International Conference on Soft Robotics in 2018 and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Southern Denmark in 2023. In 2025, she was a Principal Investigator at SMART M3S, an AI and robotics group. As of October 2026, she is a professor at NUS and directs its Advanced Robotics Centre and Soft Robotics Lab; in September 2026, her team published an octopus-inspired soft-robot arm design that uses a single continuous artificial muscle to produce several controlled bends.

Now at: National University of Singapore
Works: 550
Citations: 22,315
h-index: 64
Badges: Rising
Loyal

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

Timeline

1993–1998

Degrees in computer science and robotics

She graduates in computer science from the University of Pisa in 1993 and receives a PhD in robotics from the University of Genoa in 1998.
2001–2002

A visiting researcher at Waseda

At Waseda University in Tokyo, she works as a JSPS visiting researcher from 2001 to 2002.
2009–2013

Coordinating the OCTOPUS project

She coordinates the European Commission's OCTOPUS project, which runs from 2009 to 2013. The team investigates the octopus's body and brain with a soft robotic arm designed to move in water, extend its arms, reach and grasp.
2018

Founding RoboSoft's first conference

In 2018, she founds and serves as General Chair of the IEEE-RAS First International Conference on Soft Robotics in Livorno.
2023

An honorary doctorate

In November 2023, she receives an honorary doctorate from the University of Southern Denmark for research in bio-inspired robots and soft robotics.
2023

Embodied intelligence in soft robots

In 2023, she describes soft robotics as a focus on embodied intelligence, using flexible, passively formable bodies to make robot control simpler and more energy efficient.
2025

Principal investigator at SMART

She is a Principal Investigator at SMART M3S, whose research group works on AI and robotics. With the M3S T2 team, she develops soft robots for human-machine interaction and collaboration.
As of October 2026

Directing NUS robotics research

She is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at NUS CDE and directs the NUS Advanced Robotics Centre and the Soft Robotics Lab based in CDE. In September 2026, her team publishes the Science Advances paper ‘Octopus-inspired muscle activation unlocks high-DOF motion from a single actuator,’ which uses one continuous artificial muscle to produce several controlled bends.