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Section: Partnerships and Cooperations
European Initiatives
FP7 & H2020 Projects
MATHEMACS
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Title: MATHEmatics of Multi-level Anticipatory Complex Systems
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Coordinator: Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences
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see the webpage of the project.
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The MATHEMACS project aims to develop a mathematical theory of complex multi-level systems and their dynamics. In addition to considering systems with respect to a given level structure, as is natural in certain applications or dictated by available data, the project has the unique goal of identifying additional meaningful levels for understanding multi-level systems. This is done through a general formulation based on the mathematical tools of information and dynamical systems theories.
To ensure that the theoretical framework is at the same time practically applicable, three key application areas are represented within the project, namely neurobiology, human communication, and economics. These areas not only provide us with some of the best-known epitomes of complex multi-level systems, but also constitute a challenging test bed for validating the generality of the theory since they span a vast range of spatial and temporal scales.
Furthermore, they have an important common aspect; namely, their complexity and self-organizational character is partly due to the anticipatory and predictive actions of their constituent units. The MATHEMACS project contends that the concepts of anticipation and prediction are particularly relevant for multi-level systems since they often involve different levels. Thus, as a further unique feature, the project includes the mathematical representation and modeling of anticipation in its agenda for understanding complex multi-level systems.
For validating the theory on large heterogeneous data sets, the project has a specific component with exclusive access to a wide range of data from human movement patterns to complex urban environments.
In this way, MATHEMACS provides a complete and well-rounded approach to lay the foundations of a mathematical theory of the dynamics of complex multi-level systems.
RENVISION
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Coordinator: Instituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Pattern Analysis and Computer vision) Vittorio Murino
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The retina is a sophisticated distributed processing unit of the central nervous system encoding visual stimuli in a highly parallel, adaptive and computationally efficient way. Recent studies show that rather than being a simple spatiotemporal filter that encodes visual information, the retina performs sophisticated non-linear computations extracting specific spatio-temporal stimulus features in a highly selective manner (e.g. motion selectivity). Understanding the neurobiological principles beyond retinal functionality is essential to develop successful artificial computer vision architectures. RENVISION's goal is, therefore, twofold: i) to achieve a comprehensive understanding of how the retina encodes visual information through the different cellular layers; ii) to use such insights to develop a retina-inspired computational approach to high-level computer vision tasks. To this aim, exploiting the recent advances in high-resolution light microscopy 3D imaging and high-density multielectrode array technologies, RENVISION will be in an unprecedented position to investigate pan-retinal signal processing at high spatio-temporal resolution, integrating these two technologies in a novel experimental setup. This will allow for simultaneous recording from the entire population of ganglion cells and functional imaging of inner retinal layers at near-cellular resolution, combined with 3D structural imaging of the whole inner retina. The combined analysis of these complex datasets will require the development of novel multimodal analysis methods. Resting on these neuroscientific and computational grounds, RENVISION will generate new knowledge on retinal processing. It will provide advanced pattern recognition and machine learning technologies to ICTs by shedding a new light on how the output of retinal processing (natural or modelled) allows solving complex vision tasks such as automated scene categorization and human action recognition.
HBP
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see the webpage of the project.
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Understanding the human brain is one of the greatest challenges facing 21st century science. If we can rise to the challenge, we can gain profound insights into what makes us human, develop new treatments for brain diseases and build revolutionary new computing technologies. Today, for the first time, modern ICT has brought these goals within sight. The goal of the Human Brain Project, part of the FET Flagship Programme, is to translate this vision into reality, using ICT as a catalyst for a global collaborative effort to understand the human brain and its diseases and ultimately to emulate its computational capabilities. The Human Brain Project will last ten years and will consist of a ramp-up phase (from month 1 to month 36) and subsequent operational phases.
This Grant Agreement covers the ramp-up phase. During this phase the strategic goals of the project will be to design, develop and deploy the first versions of six ICT platforms dedicated to Neuroinformatics, Brain Simulation, High Performance Computing, Medical Informatics, Neuromorphic Computing and Neurorobotics, and create a user community of research groups from within and outside the HBP, set up a European Institute for Theoretical Neuroscience, complete a set of pilot projects providing a first demonstration of the scientific value of the platforms and the Institute, develop the scientific and technological capabilities required by future versions of the platforms, implement a policy of Responsible Innovation, and a programme of transdisciplinary education, and develop a framework for collaboration that links the partners under strong scientific leadership and professional project management, providing a coherent European approach and ensuring effective alignment of regional, national and European research and programmes. The project work plan is organized in the form of thirteen subprojects, each dedicated to a specific area of activity.
A significant part of the budget will be used for competitive calls to complement the collective skills of the Consortium with additional expertise.