8th International Summer School of Neuroengineering

Brief description

The NeuroEngineering School, pioneered by Prof. M. Grattarola in 2000 with the First European School of Neuroengineering, was offered in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2012 and 2018. This edition will focus on perception and on how it influences human movements and robot control. Specifically, the focus will be on how the somatosensory system and its artificial analogues process and integrate movement, force and tactile information.

Objectives

The NeuroEngineering School aims to introduce PhD students and post-docs from different backgrounds (engineering, life sciences, physics) to the basis of human somatosensation and the computational and technological methods to integrate sensing in robots.  The first two days will provide an overview of somatosensory process mechanisms at the physical, behavioural, biomechanical, and neural level, including implications for motor control and learning. 
Then we will provide the basis for understanding the artificial tactile-proprioceptive sensing and feedback.The following three days will develop this topic in three translational fields: (1) neurorehabilitation (2) prosthetics and sensory restoration; (3) robotics: humanoids and robot-assisted surgery. 

Description

The NeuroEngineering School will take place from 13^rd to 17^th July 2020.  The activities will include plenary lectures by internationally recognized experts operating at the interface between Neuroscience, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Participants will then be divided in focused discussion groups, whose activities will include hands on computational and laboratory activities.

We will organize poster sessions for the PhD students attending the school, during which they will present their research in an interactive form. An award committee will select the best poster based both on the quality of the work and the presentation.
Finally, we will also offer exhibition opportunities for the companies working in these fields, which will present their technologies for all the duration of the school.