André PexiederTeaching & PhD Courses Physiology lab I BIO-378 The physiology laboratory introduce the experimental methods in the biomedical field, including experimental set-ups, transducers, signal conditioning, data acquisition and processing.The physiological end results illustrate the contents of the Physiologie par systèmes course. Physiology lab II BIO-379 The physiology laboratory introduce the experimental methods in the biomedical field, including experimental set-ups, transducer
Wulfram GerstnerWulfram Gerstner is Director of the Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience LCN at the EPFL. His research in computational neuroscience concentrates on models of spiking neurons and spike-timing dependent plasticity, on the problem of neuronal coding in single neurons and populations, as well as on the link between biologically plausible learning rules and behavioral manifestations of learning. He teaches courses for Physicists, Computer Scientists, Mathematicians, and Life Scientists at the EPFL. After studies of Physics in Tübingen and at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (Master 1989), Wulfram Gerstner spent a year as a visiting researcher in Berkeley. He received his PhD in theoretical physics from the Technical University Munich in 1993 with a thesis on associative memory and dynamics in networks of spiking neurons. After short postdoctoral stays at Brandeis University and the Technical University of Munich, he joined the EPFL in 1996 as assistant professor. Promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in February 2001, he is since August 2006 a full professor with double appointment in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences and the School of Life Sciences. Wulfram Gerstner has been invited speaker at numerous international conferences and workshops. He has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Neuroscience, Network: Computation in Neural Systems', Journal of Computational Neuroscience', and `Science'.
Pierre DillenbourgA former teacher in elementary school, Pierre Dillenbourg graduated in educational science (University of Mons, Belgium). He started his research on learning technologies in 1984. In 1986, he has been on of the first in the world to apply machine learning to develop a self-improving teaching system. He obtained a PhD in computer science from the University of Lancaster (UK), in the domain of artificial intelligence applications for education. He has been assistant professor at the University of Geneva. He joined EPFL in 2002. He has been the director of Center for Research and Support on Learning and its Technologies, then academic director of Center for Digital Education, which implements the MOOC strategy of EPFL (over 2 million registrations). He is full professor in learning technologies in the School of Computer & Communication Sciences, where he is the head of the CHILI Lab: "Computer-Human Interaction for Learning & Instruction ». He is the director of the leading house DUAL-T, which develops technologies for dual vocational education systems (carpenters, florists,...). With EPFL colleagues, he launched in 2017 the Swiss EdTech Collider, an incubator with 80 start-ups in learning technologies. He (co-)-founded 4 start-ups, does consulting missions in the corporate world and joined the board of several companies or institutions. In 2018, he co-founded LEARN, the EPFL Center of Learning Sciences that brings together the local initiatives in educational innovation. He is a fellow of the International Society for Learning Sciences. He currently is the Associate Vice-President for Education at EPFL.
Eugen Brühwilerbirth date: 19.11.1958 nationality: Swiss (native from Dussnang, Canton of Thurgau) Education : - July 1988 : doctoral degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland with a thesis entitled Fracture mechanics of dam concrete subjected to quasi-static and seismic loading conditions - December 1983 : civil engineering diploma (university degree) from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland Professional Experience : - Since 1st April 1995 : Professor of Structural Engineering at EPFL and Head of the Laboratory of Maintenance, Construction and Safety for Civil Structures (MCS) (often considered being the first chair worldwide devoted exclusively to existing civil structures). - 1991-94 Project Manager and structural engineer with the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), Division of Bridges and Structures, Zurich: Monitoring and maintenance of bridges and structures, Project manager and checking engineer for the construction of new bridges and rehabilitation of existing bridges. - 1989/90 Research associate at the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA : Fracture mechanics of concrete and fracture of concrete dams. - 1986-88 Doctoral student at EPFL-LMC (Building Materials, Prof. Wittmann) : Fracture mechanics of concrete, fracture of concrete dams under seismic loading - 1984/85 Research engineer at EPFL-ICOM (Steel Structures, Prof. Badoux and Prof. Hirt) : Fatigue behaviour and fracture mechanics of riveted bridges
Jevita PotheegadooAs a clinical neuropsychologist, I appreciate working with clinical populations, as I constantly learn a lot from the patients, enriching my knowledge not only on the illness but also on clinical and research practice.
I graduated from the University of Strasbourg (France), and obtained a Master's degree in clinical neuropsychology in 2005 from the University of Caen Basse-Normandie (France). I integrated the Psychiatry Department of the University Hospitals of Strasbourg as a neuropsychologist and pursued both clinical and research work on schizophrenia (INSERM unit). I investigated autobiographical memory impairment and self disorders in patients with schizophrenia, and obtained a Ph.D. in neuroscience (University of Strasbourg) in 2014. I joined the Blanke Lab (LNCO) as scientific collaborator in 2016.
Rolf GruetterAwards:
1999 Young Investigator Award Plenary Lectureship
, International Society for Neurochemistry
2011 Fellow
, ESMRMB
2011 Teaching Award
, Section Sciences de la Vie, EPFL
Pierre-André FarinePierre-André Farine received the Doctoral and Engineering Degrees in Microtechnology from University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, respectively in 1984 and 1978, and the Engineering in Microtechnology from ETS Le Locle in 1974.
He was working 17 years for the Swiss watch industries (Swatch Group), including developments for high-tech products, such as pager watches, watches including integrated sensors such as pressure, compass, altimeter and temperature sensors for Tissot. He was also involved in prototypes developments for watches including GPS and cellular GSM phones.
Since 8 years, he is Professor in Electronics and Signal Processing at the Institute of Microtechnology IMT, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Full professor at EPFL since January 1st, 2009, he works in the field of low-power integrated products for portable devices, including microelectronics for wireless telecommunications, UWB and GNSS systems. He is Head of the Electronics and Signal Processing Laboratory ESPLAB of the EPFL IMT-NE. His laboratory works also for video and audio compression algorithms and their implementation in low power integrated circuits.
Olexiy KochubeyTeaching & PhD PhD Students Nishant Jana Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Aiste Baleisyte, Denys Osypenko Courses Neural circuits of motivated behaviors BIO-499 Motivated behaviors fulfil the basic physiological needs of animals and enable their safety. In this course, you will learn about the neuronal circuits that sense and regulate internal states, detect dangers in the environment, and organize appropriate behavioral responses.
Aude BillardExpertise
RoboticsMachine LearningArtificial IntelligenceHuman-Robot InteractionMechatronicsDynamical Systems ControlComputational Neuroscience
Aude Billard is full professor and head of the LASA laboratory at the School of Engineering at the Swiss Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), and the Director of the Swiss Innovation Booster on Robotics. Dr. Billard acts as the President of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS), after serving in several roles in the administrative and executive committe
Giovanni De MicheliExpertise
Design technologies for integrated systems on silicon, such as synthesis, hw/sw codesign and low-power design, as well as systems on heterogeneous platforms including electrical and biological components.
Scientific Director of EcoCloud Center at EPFL
Directing activities towards creating sustainable computation including AI.Designing energy-savvy data centers and edge devices.
More information
Please read http://si2.epfl.ch/~demichel/
Giovanni De Micheli is a research scientist in electronics and Jean-Philippe HoggeTeaching & PhD PhD Students Constant Philippe Panisset, Pierrick Paul Louis Giroud-Garampon Past EPFL PhD Students Sudheer Kumar Jawla, Guillaume Michel Le Bars Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Falk Braunmüller Courses Fusion and industrial plasma technologies PHYS-632 The course provides an overview of the technologies that are essential for fusion developments and for industrial plasmaapplications, highlighting the synergies between the two fields. The aim is to provide a combined th
Ugo SiravoTeaching & PhD Courses Fusion and industrial plasma technologies PHYS-632 The course provides an overview of the technologies that are essential for fusion developments and for industrial plasmaapplications, highlighting the synergies between the two fields. The aim is to provide a combined theoretical andexperimental background to the various topics.
Laurie PorteTeaching & PhD PhD Students James Winston Irawati Tumbokon, Oliver Morais Moura Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Matteo Fontana, Pedro Andres Molina Cabrera, Arsène Tema Biwole Courses Atomic and radiative processes in plasmas PHYS-762 The course covers atomic structure, collisional-radiative (CR) processes, and spectroscopic techniques. Students learn to critically apply CR models, evaluate spectroscopic tools, and interpret experimental data obtained in different plasmas.
Henry MarkramHenry Markram started a dual scientific and medical career at the University of Cape Town, in South Africa. His scientific work in the 80s revealed the polymodal receptive fields of pontomedullary reticular formation neurons in vivo and how acetylcholine re-organized these sensory maps.
He moved to Israel in 1988 and obtained his PhD at the Weizmann Institute where he discovered a link between acetylcholine and memory mechanisms by being the first to show that acetylcholine modulates the NMDA receptor in vitro studies, and thereby gates which synapses can undergo synaptic plasticity. He was also the first to characterize the electrical and anatomical properties of the cholinergic neurons in the medial septum diagonal band.
He carried out a first postdoctoral study as a Fulbright Scholar at the NIH, on the biophysics of ion channels on synaptic vesicles using sub-fractionation methods to isolate synaptic vesicles and patch-clamp recordings to characterize the ion channels. He carried out a second postdoctoral study at the Max Planck Institute, as a Minerva Fellow, where he discovered that individual action potentials propagating back into dendrites also cause pulsed influx of Ca2 into the dendrites and found that sub-threshold activity could also activated a low threshold Ca2 channel. He developed a model to show how different types of electrical activities can divert Ca2 to activate different intracellular targets depending on the speed of Ca2 influx an insight that helps explain how Ca2 acts as a universal second messenger. His most well known discovery is that of the millisecond watershed to judge the relevance of communication between neurons marked by the back-propagating action potential. This phenomenon is now called Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity (STDP), which many laboratories around the world have subsequently found in multiple brain regions and many theoreticians have incorporated as a learning rule. At the Max-Planck he also started exploring the micro-anatomical and physiological principles of the different neurons of the neocortex and of the mono-synaptic connections that they form - the first step towards a systematic reverse engineering of the neocortical microcircuitry to derive the blue prints of the cortical column in a manner that would allow computer model reconstruction.
He received a tenure track position at the Weizmann Institute where he continued the reverse engineering studies and also discovered a number of core principles of the structural and functional organization such as differential signaling onto different neurons, models of dynamic synapses with Misha Tsodyks, the computational functions of dynamic synapses, and how GABAergic neurons map onto interneurons and pyramidal neurons. A major contribution during this period was his discovery of Redistribution of Synaptic Efficacy (RSE), where he showed that co-activation of neurons does not only alter synaptic strength, but also the dynamics of transmission. At the Weizmann, he also found the tabula rasa principle which governs the random structural connectivity between pyramidal neurons and a non-random functional connectivity due to target selection. Markram also developed a novel computation framework with Wolfgang Maass to account for the impact of multiple time constants in neurons and synapses on information processing called liquid computing or high entropy computing.
In 2002, he was appointed Full professor at the EPFL where he founded and directed the Brain Mind Institute. During this time Markram continued his reverse engineering approaches and developed a series of new technologies to allow large-scale multi-neuron patch-clamp studies. Markrams lab discovered a novel microcircuit plasticity phenomenon where connections are formed and eliminated in a Darwinian manner as apposed to where synapses are strengthening or weakened as found for LTP. This was the first demonstration that neural circuits are constantly being re-wired and excitation can boost the rate of re-wiring.
At the EPFL he also completed the much of the reverse engineering studies on the neocortical microcircuitry, revealing deeper insight into the circuit design and built databases of the blue-print of the cortical column. In 2005 he used these databases to launched the Blue Brain Project. The BBP used IBMs most advanced supercomputers to reconstruct a detailed computer model of the neocortical column composed of 10000 neurons, more than 340 different types of neurons distributed according to a layer-based recipe of composition and interconnected with 30 million synapses (6 different types) according to synaptic mapping recipes. The Blue Brain team built dozens of applications that now allow automated reconstruction, simulation, visualization, analysis and calibration of detailed microcircuits. This Proof of Concept completed, Markrams lab has now set the agenda towards whole brain and molecular modeling.
With an in depth understanding of the neocortical microcircuit, Markram set a path to determine how the neocortex changes in Autism. He found hyper-reactivity due to hyper-connectivity in the circuitry and hyper-plasticity due to hyper-NMDA expression. Similar findings in the Amygdala together with behavioral evidence that the animal model of autism expressed hyper-fear led to the novel theory of Autism called the Intense World Syndrome proposed by Henry and Kamila Markram. The Intense World Syndrome claims that the brain of an Autist is hyper-sensitive and hyper-plastic which renders the world painfully intense and the brain overly autonomous. The theory is acquiring rapid recognition and many new studies have extended the findings to other brain regions and to other models of autism.
Markram aims to eventually build detailed computer models of brains of mammals to pioneer simulation-based research in the neuroscience which could serve to aggregate, integrate, unify and validate our knowledge of the brain and to use such a facility as a new tool to explore the emergence of intelligence and higher cognitive functions in the brain, and explore hypotheses of diseases as well as treatments.
Didier TronoAfter obtaining an M.D. from the University of Geneva and completing a clinical training in pathology, internal medicine and infectious diseases in Geneva and at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Didier Trono embarked in a scientific career at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research of MIT. In 1990, he joined the faculty of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies to launch a center for AIDS research. He moved back to Europe seven years later, before taking the reins of the newly created EPFL School of Life Sciences, which he directed from 2004 to 2012. He is now actively engaged in the efforts of Switzerland to integrate new technologies in the fields of precision medicine and personalized health.
