Our partners in Technion have recently published a new article covering their work on training memristive devices. Please see more on our publication page.
New publication from Technion
Brains in a Dish Artwork Display
Dr Eric Hill and colleagues from Aston enjoyed an “exciting new immersive exhibition” to support the open delivery and accessibility of science to the community through large scale kinetic installations with glass, light and body recognition software.
This is an accumulation of over 7 years work, with an amazing online gallery here.
Visual Display of Neurons
David Jenkins yet again shows off the multi-couloured delights of his neurons in a linked video here. Two of his fellow researchers are partially colour blind, so to help with their visualisation of the cell types and domains he has selected colours that they can discriminate.
See more of the amazing images in the NEU-CHiP gallery.
Summer Placement in Lboro NEU-ChiP Labs
Loughborough School of Science hosted 3 excellent students and 2 amazing teachers from St. John’s College Cardiff over a week in the summer. Everyone had hands on experience of multiple lab practicals ranging from culturing living cells to making micro-devices in a clean room. The students fed back from their experience that they learned a lot and were able to explore areas of science that they have never thought about.
The students got to grips with the micro world, using a scanning electron microscope to see the surfaces of materials at this very small scale.
During July, I undertook a work experience with Dr Roach at Loughborough University which was an incredible experience. It really brought my passion for science alive and I was able to experience chemistry and biology in a practical setting. My most memorable moment was probably gas chromatography which interested me by how many uses it had and the explanations by the members of staff were brilliant. I was able to use this experience to strengthen my application for medicine and it motivated me to continue along this career path.
Matthew Logan
Using Schlieren photography you can visualise small changes in air density, even the thermal changes from a hand.
We went to Loughborough University to undertake work in the laboratories there with Dr. Roach for work experience, during which we experienced quite a lot of amazing things that combined chemistry, physics and biology together. My favourite part was looking at electron microscopy, as I could look into any part I wanted to observe and the appearance was so magical that it let me realize that a very, very small corner on the earth could have such a wonderful world inside. Besides this we also done many fantastic things such as cell cultures, fluorescent imaging and analysis Chemistry which greatly broadened my horizons. As an overseas student, I haven’t done any formal practical work before the AS level, so this trip was quite challenging for me, but it really taught me a lot of useful skills and developed my interest in natural science. Really want to thank Dr. Roach as he was so kind and knowledgeable that he arranged our rewarding trip perfectly and helped us so much along the way.
Estella Shi
Thank you very much for this amazing trip!
It was quite a long week with lots to see and do, but everyone left smiling and making plans for a return next year. St. John’s College Cardiff students are welcome anytime – and their teachers are pretty fun too.
Paul Roach
Anna Conferences in Greece
Last week I had my first poster presentation at the @EMBO workshop “Neural stem cells: From basic understanding to translational applications” in Greece. It has been a pleasure to attend such interesting talks as well as meet amazing people. @NSC_BrainDamage @NeuChiP – Anna-Christina Häb from the University of Barcelona
First NEU-CHiP Consortia Meeting
Held at the University of Barcelona, almost all partners were able to make a physical meeting (save 2 who sadly had covid and couldn’t fly, so dialed in virtually). This was a really exciting meeting, sharing updates, feeding in for further progression of the project and enjoying each other’s company in the very scenic environment.
We have progressed a lot over these last months, with a lot more to do building on the capabilities of the team. This is such an exciting project to be a part of, with many avenues to explore and innovate.
Eric Hill chats on sofa science
As part of this informal science chat Eric covers his research interests in stem cell science towards treatments and possible cures for dementia. As part of this he couldn’t resit bringing in some of the really futuristic tools and tech that are underpinning NEU-ChiP.
PhD Studentships Available
PhD position in neuroengineering and machine learning in biological neuronal networks as part of the NEU-CHiP EU-funded project.
Continue reading “PhD Studentships Available”BBC Midlands Today
Drs Parri and Hill appeared on BBC Midlands Today to discuss the NEU-CHiP project. The reporters visited the Aston centre, taking a look at the laboratory facilities and to get a better understanding of what the project is going to offer.
This was a great opportunity for us to inform a generalist audience, and we hope that we will be able to update as the project launches.
NEU-CHiP on the Radio Airwaves
Dr Eric Hill was invited to appear on BBC Radio 4 to discuss our vision for biological artificial intelligence. It was a lively show with lots of discussion surrounding the work, what we want to achieve and how this will be done. Certainly there are always ethical considerations when human stem cells get bought up in conversation, but Eric gave sound advice to listeners about or cell sources and intention of using these to provide artificially engineered neuronal cell circuits.