This project will support the 4th International IEEE EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering during April 29-May 2, 2009 in Antalya, Turkey. The objective of this conference is to highlight progress in Neural and Cognitive Engineering, an emerging field bridging molecular, cellular, systems, cognitive and behavioral neuroscience with engineering, physics, chemistry, mathematics and computer science. This neural engineering conference will further stimulate neural engineering research and education among neuroscientists, chemists, engineers, computer scientists and mathematicians. Neural engineering deals with many aspects of basic and clinical problems associated with neural dysfunction including the representation of sensory and motor information, the electrical stimulation of the neuromuscular system to control the muscle activation and movement, the analysis and visualization of complex neural systems at multi-scale from the single-cell and to the system levels to understand the underlying mechanisms, the development of novel electronic and photonic devices and techniques for experimental probing, the neural simulation studies, the design and development of human-machine interface systems and artificial vision sensors and neural prosthesis to restore and enhance the impaired sensory and motor systems and functions. The Technical Program Tracks include: (1) Imaging and Mapping the Brain (Functional, Molecular and Cellular), (2) Brain-Computer Interface, (3) Neural Signal Processing and Modeling, (4) Neuro-Nanotechnology, (5) Neural Prostheses, (6) Neuro-Robotics, (7) Cognitive Engineering and Science, (8) Neural Informatics, and (9) Others.
In addition to the keynote, plenary, platform and poster sessions, the conference will also have a panel to focus on the challenges of making a career in the rapidly growing, interdisciplinary fields of neural engineering, from being hired as part of a team and finding exciting new research opportunities, all the way up to becoming a team leader and what to look for when organizing that team and choosing its members. Options will be discussed for graduate studies and research internationally as well as within the United States, and for collaboration among researchers and students internationally. Particular emphasis will be placed on the current trend in scientific research communities toward integration of multiple, previously distinct, fields, and the need for students of all backgrounds and areas of academic interest to move toward careers in neural engineering and neurotechnology.
This award is co-funded by the Biomedical Engineering Program and Office of International Science and Engineering.
