Artificial Wet Neuronal Networks from Compartmentalised Excitable Chemical Media

Date:

2010-2013

Themes:

Bio-inspired computing, Bionanotechnology and Biosensors

Funding:

EU

The NEUNEU research programme is concerned with the development of mass-producible chemical information processing components and their interconnection into functional architectures. The individual supramolecular components will crudely resemble biological neurons and will be capable of excitation and self-repair. Self-organisation of organic compounds and proteins will be complemented with dielectrophoretic manipulation to fabricate small devices from interconnected supramolecular components. State-of-the-art micro- and nanoscale technologies will be exploited to take well established physico-chemical phenomena into the new context of forming a flexible and ef�cient substrate for a chemistry-based information technology. Through integrated modeling from component to architecture level a broad understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the implemented as well as related technologies will be established. This ambitious collaboration among computer scientists, biophysicists, chemical physicists, biochemists, chemical biologists and electrical engineers will develop the core science needed to build a future massively parallel computing infrastructure, will deliver prototype devices, and will pave the ground to harnessing bio- and nano-materials for a novel approach to cognitive computing.

Primary investigators

• Klaus-Peter Zauner
• Maurits De Planque
• Hywel Morgan
• Prof. George Attard (Chemistry)

Secondary investigators

• Dr Philip King
• Dr Gareth Jones
• Prof. Peter Dittrich (Jena)
• Prof. Jerzy Górecki (Warsaw)
• Prof. Andy Adamatzky (Bristol)

Partners

• Friedrich Schiller University, Jena
• Institute of Chemical Physics, Warsaw
• University of the West of England, Bristol

Associated research groups

• Agents, Interaction and Complexity
• Electronics and Electrical Engineering