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Ongoing projects - Prof. Cristina Masoller

You can find information about finished projects here

 

2021 SGR 00606

Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR), Generalitat de Catalunya

 

Description: Financial support to the research group Dinàmica no Lineal, Òptica no Lineal i Làsers (DONLL), coordinated by Prof. Masoller

 

Information Processing and Sensing with Photonic Neurons

2024-2027

European Office of Aerospace Research and Development (EOARD) USA, FA8655-24-1-7022

 

Description: The goal of this project is to develop a new solution for energy-efficient information processing. In these days when artificial intelligence (AI) systems consume enormous amounts of energy and computing power is reaching the limits of digital electronics, new disruptive approaches are urgently needed. Neurons can, with extremely low power consumption, perform tasks that go far beyond the state of the art of AI systems. Efficient neural coding mechanisms are responsible for this amazing performance. Photonic neurons are optical systems with ultra-fast neuron-like spiking outputs. This project aims to implement in photonic neurons the mechanisms by which neurons encode information. We propose the development of laser systems and algorithms that accurately mimic neural information processing. At the hardware level, using commercial diode lasers (that are highly efficient, fast and low cost) we will build photonic neurons capable of using neural coding mechanisms for computation and sensing. To develop specialized photonic neurons that selectively respond to external inputs, we will conduct experiments and simulations to find conditions in which diode lasers respond to weak inputs, as neurons do. At the software level, we will develop new data analysis tools to decipher the information encoded in the emitted sequences of optical spikes.

 

Doctoral Network BE-LIGHT: Improving BiomEdical diagnosis through LIGHT-based technologies and machine learning

2023-2027

European Commission, HORIZON-101119924

https://belightproject.eu/

 

Description: Photonics is crucial for maintaining and increasing the competitiveness of EU industry, and light-based instruments are fundamental for non-invasive diagnostics and treatment of diseases, delivering huge economic benefits for national health systems. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have demonstrated their capability to classify and identify patterns in data, achieving reliability levels that are comparable to those of experienced physicians. To fully develop the potentials of these technologies, Doctoral Network BE-LIGHT will train 11 Researchers in photonic technologies (multispectral imaging, eye-tracking, optical coherence tomography, multispectral optoacoustic tomography, superresolution microscopy and optogenetics) that will be complemented with AI/ML, computational imaging and modelling. A close-to-the-clinic approach will allow them to advance the field of biomedicine, with the ultimate goal of improving the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of diseases in 3 main research areas: visual health, cardiovascular health, and analysis of cells and tissues (related to Parkinson’s and rare diseases) using super-resolution microscopy. BE-LIGHT brings together an interdisciplinary consortium of 7 top academic institutions, 3 internationally recognized hospitals, and 7 companies with complementary know-how in photonics, microscopy, AI/ML, medical instruments and clinical research, to promote inter-sectoral synergies. BE-LIGHT’s training program will provide the researchers with the complete set of skills that are nowadays key for their success in both academic and non-academic sectors. They will gain a broad understanding of how state-of-the-art light-based technologies work, a solid knowledge of ML and data processing, and will obtain experience in clinical and commercialization processes. BE-LIGHT will open for them a wide range of high-quality job opportunities.

Experiments and data analysis tools to characterize and forecast the output signals of complex systems

2022-2024

Agencia Estatal de Investigacion, PID2021-123994NB-C21, Spain

 

Description: The aim of this project is to advance the understanding of nonlinear and stochastic processes in different complex systems, by using and further developing appropriate data analysis tools, with the ultimate goals of forecasting and controlling nonlinear behaviors, and exploit them for applications. The project combines experiments, model simulations and data analysis. The datasets to be investigated include experimental spatio-temporal data (time series of the intensity emitted by semiconductor lasers, and the generated speckle patterns, experimentally recorded in our lab), synthetic data (obtained by simulation of neuronal models), and real-world data (biomedical signals and climatological datasets).

 

ICREA ACADEMIA

2021-2025

Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Generalitat de Catalunya.

 

Description: ICREA Academia is a grant for professors who have permanent positions in Catalan universities, to reduce their teaching load and intensify their research activities.

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