school 2010 - 2010 5th International Summer School on Emerging Technologies in Biomedicine

Dear colleagues,

the Summer School follows a rise since 2000, when it began as a satellite event of the 2nd European Symposium on Biomedical Engineering. The 4th International Summer School, held in Patras two years ago, was very successful both in numbers and satisfaction of participating students and speakers. The financial crisis has failed to thwart the implementation, but only to postpone it by several months. I am therefore pleased to be able to announce the organization of the 5th International Summer School that will take place September 26th-October 1st, 2010, in Patras, Greece.

The explosive growth of the field of Biomedicine and its associated techniques is continuing. The aim of the summer school remains the same: to inform young students and future scientists about the latest trends in the field. The organizing committee has decided from 2006 and on, each installment would specifically focus on a topic and for second time the International Summer School will deal with Neuroengineering and Neuroscience. This year's special topic is:

“High Throughput Communication between Brain and Machines”
Our event is organized in partnership with NEUROMATH, an ESF COST Action (BM0601).

We are also glad to announce that the COST office will provide several grants to help students covering expenses towards attending the School. Students who wish to apply for grant will have to submit their CV too. Selection will be based on academic merit and research potential. More information will be posted in the website soon.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) use signals recorded from the brain to translate thoughts in actions. Both invasive and noninvasive approaches have proven effective. Although the progress in translating analog voltages recorded at the electrode tip into control signals for the prosthesis is remarkable a bottleneck in the communication between brain and machines hampers to reach the speed, accuracy, and reliability necessary for real-world applications. Developing BCI systems that are practical for non-experts remains a major challenge for Neuroscientist and Neuro-engineers. In this context this year special topic of the School was selected.

The six days event will act as a forum where Theoreticians, Neuroscientists and Neuro-engineers will present the latest and future theories and methodologies about how to achieve high throughput communication between the brain and the external world and thus providing the framework to find advanced solution in benefit of handicapped persons and elder people.

The presentations will consist of a series of invited talks given by experts of major research groups, within ?but not limited to?the optimization of brain source modeling, the invasive and non-invasive approaches in increasing the speed of information flow between brain and external devices. The venue of the 5th International Summer School will be the Hestia of Sciences of Patras, situated in a scenic place close to the university campus. The organizers will provide means of transportation form the venue to the hotels.

The high level of scientific presentations combined with the warm traditional Greek hospitality and the many events organized in Patras will make this Summer School an enriching and pleasant experience for both speakers and students.

I am looking forward to seeing you in Patras,

Warm regards

A. Bezerianos, Chairman