Press release: German Excellence Initiative stirs excitement in the USA

If Freiburg's Cluster of Excellence in the field of neurotechnology is approved, colleagues from Seattle will have found a partner at eye level.

The United States Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE) in Seattle awaits a positive grant approval for the excellence cluster BrainLinks-BrainTools at Freiburg University since this would provide the center with a partner for future collaborations. During Prof. Dr. Wolfram Burgard's visit at the University of Washington in Seattle, he arranged a collaboration with CSNE in his function as the cluster's spokesperson.

The CSNE belongs to one of the few clusters of excellence that are funded by the United States National Science Foundation. Alongside the University of Washington, San Diego State University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) participate in the CSNE. Researchers at the Center work on technical solutions for helping people with neurological disorders as well as on neurologically based treatments and equipment.

This fits well with the research areas in which BrainLinks-BrainTools locates itself, and the colleagues in Seattle have repeatedly articulated their interest in a collaboration with the German initiative, as Burgard notes. "Such collaborations are rare and a mark of distinction for us," comments Burgard. Already in December 2011, Prof. Dr. Thomas Daniel, director of the CNSE, announced his interest in collaborating: "BrainLinks-BrainTools is an exciting project, and we will do our best to support it."

The collaboration aims at exchange on all scientific levels, cooperative grant applications, as well as joint development of courses in neurotechnology. The researchers will exchange data, tools, and software - a big sign of confidence in a field that is characterized by strong competition. As soon as a grant approval has been given for BrainLinks-BrainTools - the decision will be made on 15 June 2012 - the collaboration will start. This would be a first decisive step towards integrating Freiburg University in a network of international research of excellence in neurotechnology.