Dr. Gina Adam, assistant professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the George Washington University, has received the 2023 Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award.
The YIP award is a three-year grant meant to foster creative basic research in science and engineering, enhance early career development for recipients, and increase recipients’ opportunities to engage in forwarding the Department of the Air Force’s mission. AFOSR received over 175 proposals for the YIP award, and Dr. Adam’s submission on Neurogenesis in Neuromorphic Computing: Hippocampus-inspired Dynamic Networks was among the winning proposals. The total amount of funding awarded for this three-year grant comes to $448,971.
This project will investigate realistic dynamic neural networks inspired by the hippocampal architecture and its specific neurogenesis capabilities. It will also research the algorithmic mapping to neuromorphic hardware based on existing and emerging device technologies, such as memristive synapses. Understanding learning and memory robustness in biological networks and translating it to neuromorphic technologies will significantly advance artificial intelligence with implications in autonomous systems capable of lifelong learning. Dr. Adam is very honored to have received this prestigious Award and looks forward to working on the project together with her team.
"The motivation behind this project is to draw inspiration from the brain structure, in particular the hippocampus region, and to understand the role of its structural complexity for its behavior and learning robustness. Our goal is to explore how much of that complexity needs to be translated in neuromorphic algorithms so we can design and build the next generation of neuromorphic hardware based on emerging technologies. This amazing AFOSR YIP opportunity will enable our group to explore new research directions and new interdisciplinary collaborations to make this bold vision a reality," said Dr. Adam.