Driven by AI: legal challenges of autonomous mobility in road and maritime traffic
On Friday the 6th of February 2026, a conference on the legal challenges posed by self-driving cars and autonomous ships is taking place in the House of Connections, Groningen.
Legal questions concerning automated mobility are often addressed in isolation, whereas a joint approach could lead to more insights, new avenues to explore for solutions to legal problems, and perhaps even an entirely new outlook on the foundations of the legal systems governing automated mobility. This conference aims to foster this joint approach by addressing common legal questions from both the road and maritime sector, while also encouraging a multidisciplinary approach.
Join experts from diverse disciplines as they will shed their light on the main hurdles and core challenges for the legislator to enable autonomous mobility on water and land, and explore solutions together.
Programme
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09:00-09:15 |
Walk-in with coffee and tea
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09:15-09:30
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Welcome by Dr. Nynke Vellinga (University of Groningen)
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09:30-10:00
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Technical challenges legal experts should be aware of,
Prof. Ming Cao (University of Groningen)
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10:00-10:45
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Meaningful Human Control, Dr. Simeon Calvert (Delft University of Technology), Moderator: tbd
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11:45-11:00
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Coffee break |
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11:00-11:45
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Considerations on vehicle automation and human interaction, Prof. Marieke Martens (Eindhoven University of Technology)
Moderator: dr. Herman Veluwenkamp (University of Groningen) |
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11:45-12:00
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Poster Pitch
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12:00-13:00
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Lunch break
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13:00-13:45
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Automated driving and legal developments in Sweden, Jenny Lundahl (RI.SE), Moderator: prof. Albert Verheij (University of Groningen)
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13:45-14:30
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The Loi Badinter and automated driving, Prof. Véronique Nicolas (Nantes Université), Moderator: dr. Trix Mulder (Hanze University of Applied Sciences)
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14:30-14:45
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Coffee break
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14:45-15:30
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Benefits and challenges of compensation funds, Prof. Michael Faure (Maastricht University), Moderator: prof. Stefan Weishaar (University of Groningen)
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15:30-16:15
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The regulation of autonomous ships, Dr. Jeanette Andersson (VTI), Moderator: tba
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16:15-16:45
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Wrap-up
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16:45-17:45
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Posters + Borrel
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Call for Posters for (PhD) Students
Are you a (PhD) student studying in the North of the Netherlands (Groningen/Fryslan/Drenthe)? Are you doing research in the field of autonomous mobility? Share your work with us!
On 6 February 2026, the conference Driven by AI: legal challenges of autonomous mobility in road and maritime traffic will take place in Groningen. Through a poster presentation, you get the opportunity to share your insights with researchers and policymakers. Entries from all disciplines are welcome!
Make sure your poster meets the following requirements:
- The poster is in English;
- When selected, you will print the poster in A0 format and bring it to the conference;
- The text is easily readable (the size font is big enough);
- Your name and the names of other authors (if any), email address and school or university are all mentioned on the poster;
- The poster has not been used for other events;
Submit your poster by 17 December 2025 to n.e.vellinga@rug.nl. You will get notified of whether your poster has been selected for the conference by 10 January 2026.
Participation is free of charge.
This conference receives funding from the KNAW Early Career Partnerships programme of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences