Event

Natasha Merat to speak at SAFER Breakfast Event during AutoUI 2026

SAFER is pleased to welcome Professor Natasha Merat, one of the world's leading researchers in human factors and automated driving, to a special breakfast event on 24 September in connection with the AutoUI 2026 Conference.

Professor Merat, from the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds, has played a pivotal role in advancing our understanding of how people interact with automated and connected vehicles. Her research has significantly influenced the development and evaluation of future mobility systems across Europe and beyond.

At the event, Natasha Merat will present:

"Developing and Implementing a Social Readiness Framework for CCAM Large-Scale Demonstrations"

The seminar is hosted and moderated by Azra Habibovic, Scania.

AGENDA

From 08:00 Breakfast and networking

08:30 Seminar starts

09:45 End of seminar

Registration: If you are joining onsite, please sign up here prior to Sep 22 at 12:00 (SAFER partners only!). Online participation does not require registration, just use the Teams-link sent to SAFER partners. Are you missing your link get in touch with ekesand@chalmers.se.

We are grateful for the opportunity to host Natasha Merat and look forward to an inspiring discussion on one of the key challenges for the future deployment of automated mobility systems.

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BIO

Professor Merat OBE is an experimental psychologist and research group leader of the Human Factors and Safety Group @ITS Leeds with a 25+ year track record in Research leadership and Innovation. She leads the vehicle automation theme @ITS and is the founder of Virtuocity@Leeds, which houses the UK’s most advanced suite of distributed human-in-the-loop simulators. Her main research interests are in understanding the interaction of road users with new technologies. She applies this interest to studying factors such as driver distraction and driver impairment, and she is an internationally recognised expert in studying the human factors implications of highly automated vehicles. She has been involved in key UK and European Projects on automated vehicles, worth over £100M. She recently completed her sub-project leadership of the €30M Hi-Drive project, the European Commission’s flagship project on automated vehicles, and is currently leading the Societal Readiness work package of the Pre LSDemo Coordinated Support Action. Professor Merat has published over 250 peer-reviewed research articles and recently led the publication of an ISO technical specification on Driver readiness and intervention management for L2 automation.