Human-Centric ICT for Industry 5.0 2026

Scientific Coordinators
Nicola Vanello and Riccardo Costanzi   hc_ict_summerschool@dii.unipi.it 

Operational Manager
Corinna Caporali hc_ict_summerschool@dii.unipi.it

Summer/Winter School Office support.summerschool@unipi.it 

 

Language: English

Period: 22 – 27 June 2026

Deadline: 22 May 2026

Program Intensity: Full-time

ECTS: 6

Tuition fees: 500€

  • IMPORTANT NOTICE: PhD students enrolled in doctoral programs of the Department of Information Engineering of the University of Pisa (specifically Information Engineering and Smart Industry) are exempt from the payment of the tuition fees.

DESCRIPTION and AIMS

The Summer School “Human-Centric ICT for Industry 5.0”, organised by the University of Pisa within the FoReLab project, offers an intensive one-week programme of 30 hours of lectures and 12 hours of collaborative project work on the ICT technologies enabling the transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, with the person — operator, user, or patient — placed at the centre of the design process. The programme spans Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models, affective computing (now strengthened by a dedicated component on speech analysis for emotion and mood recognition), collaborative robotics and shared autonomy, RFID for localisation and sensing, AR/MR for training, 5G/6G telecommunications, assistive technologies, and One Health principles in engineering design. Theory is combined with two hands-on laboratory sessions — one on RFID systems for workplace safety, and one on shared-autonomy teleoperation of a Franka Emika Panda robot using webcam-based hand tracking — and with a collaborative project work in which students, organised into multidisciplinary task forces with defined managerial roles (CTO, COO, Sustainability, HR, CEO), analyse realistic industrial scenarios and design human-centric innovation strategies to be pitched before the faculty. A distinctive feature of the school is the active participation of industry representatives (including Baker Hughes and Linfa Digitale), who share first-hand experience on how human-centric technologies are implemented in real production contexts, bridging academic research and industrial practice.

Students interested in earning the 6 ECTS credits are required to agree with the Summer School coordinators on a Project Work topic, and then submit their written report by email.

The Summer School will be activated with at least 20 students. The maximum number of participants is set to 45 students.

Lectures and project teamwork will take place in Pisa, School of Engineering, Largo Lucio Lazzarino 1 

The program will be activated also in distance learning mode (TEAMS platform).

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of the school, participants will have acquired an integrated and up-to-date overview of the ICT technologies enabling the transition to Industry 5.0, together with cross-disciplinary competences ranging from the design of human-in-the-loop systems to the analysis of the socio-organisational impact of technological innovations, and the ability to translate technological opportunities into concrete, sustainable business strategies

CONTENTS

Thematic Areas

The programme covers the main ICT enabling technologies for Industry 5.0 in a cross-disciplinary way, including:

  • Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models (LLMs) for industry, with insights into federated learning, explainable AI, and model personalisation;
  • Affective computing and emotional state monitoring, with a component strengthened this year by speech signal analysis for emotion and mood recognition, complementing traditional approaches based on physiological signals (HRV, EEG, EDA);
  • Collaborative robotics, shared autonomy, and haptic interfaces for human-machine teaming;
  • RFID technologies for automatic identification, localisation, and sensing, with applications to workplace safety;
  • Augmented and Mixed Reality (AR/MR) for education and training;
  • 5G/6G telecommunications supporting industrial cyber-physical systems;
  • Assistive technologies and One Health principles in engineering design;
  • Innovative sensing technologies for human monitoring.

Hands-on Laboratory Activities

Complementing the theoretical lectures, the Summer School includes two hands-on practical sessions that allow participants to directly experience some of the technologies studied:

  • Practical Session #1 — RFID technology for safety applications: participants will see a real RFID system in operation, exploring the capabilities of UHF passive tags, fixed and portable readers, and RFID sensors for localisation, tracking, and environmental monitoring (temperature, humidity, fill level) in industrial and workplace safety contexts.
  • Practical Session #2 — Partners in Control: Franka Emika Panda Teleoperation Workspace: a laboratory on shared autonomy in which students will implement an operator-assistance function for the teleoperation of a Franka Emika Panda robot performing pick-and-place tasks. The system, based on ROS within a Docker environment, uses webcam-based hand tracking as the primary input, providing a concrete real-time experience of human-robot collaboration.

Project Work: Applying Human-Centric ICT in Real-World Scenarios

An integral and distinctive component of the school is the collaborative project work entitled “From technology to strategy: designing human-centric innovation”. Participants, organised into multidisciplinary “company innovation task forces” of 4–5 people, take on specific managerial roles — CTO, COO, Sustainability & Compliance Manager, HR & Change Manager, CEO/Strategy Lead — and are asked to analyse realistic industrial scenarios (traditional food manufacturing, Tier 2 automotive, public healthcare, sustainable logistics) in order to design innovative solutions based on the technologies presented during the week.

The pathway is structured in four phases: context analysis, technology selection, design of an implementation roadmap, and a final pitch before the faculty. This approach enables participants to integrate technical competences with a strategic perspective, simultaneously considering technological feasibility, return on investment, ESG impact, and workforce acceptance.

Contribution from Industry

A distinctive feature of the school is the active participation of industry representatives, who join the academic faculty bringing first-hand testimonies from the field. Contributions include, among others, Baker Hughes on systems engineering as a practice for designing human-in-the-loop strategies, and Linfa Digitale S.r.l. on the state of the art of Industry 4.0 and the challenges of Industry 5.0 adoption. This cross-fertilisation between academic research and industrial experience offers participants a concrete perspective on how human-centric technologies are actually implemented in real production contexts.

APPLICATION

Admission Requirements

Being a university student (Master or PhD) or having a University degree in the field of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Management) disciplines.

Required Documents

  • Identity Document (*PASSPORT in case you are a foreign student*)
  • Enrolment Form
  • Curriculum Vitae

All the documents must be in pdf format, in order to upload them on the portal when required.

Application has to be submitted via Alice portal following the instructions of the “How to apply” page.

IMPORTANT DATES AND DEADLINES:

  • 2 March 2026: opening of the payment portal
  • 22 May 2026: application deadline
  • 4 June 2026: tuition fees payment deadline

FEES

Tuition fees: 500€

  • IMPORTANT NOTICE: PhD students enrolled in doctoral programs of the Department of Information Engineering of the University of Pisa (specifically Information Engineering and Smart Industry) are exempt from the payment of the tuition fees.

Pay fees by Debit/Credit Card or PayPal online using the following Payment Form

NOTICE:

  • International students without Italian Tax Code: please tick the box ‘Anonymous’ in order to disable the field ‘Italian personal ID/VAT number’.
  • Please type your NAME and SURNAME next to the pre-filled text of the field ‘Reason’
  • Please pay only after receiving the admission letter

REFUND POLICY: 

There will be no refund of paid tuition fees

Previous Editions

Human-Centric ICT for Industry 5.0 2025

Human-Centric ICT for Industry 5.0 2024

AllegatoDimensione
PDF icon Programme_Draft.pdf65.86 KB
22 Aprile 2026
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