Developing computers inspired by the brain.

Requiring enormous amounts of time and energy to run scientific simulations, traditional computers are reaching their limits. However, computer simulations are a prerequisite for many future technologies.

We therefore need entirely new types of computing systems. One promising approach is neuromorphic computing. This imitates the functional principles of the brain. After all, our thinking organ is an impressively efficient system; using on the energy that it takes to power a single light bulb, the brain can perform tasks that a supercomputer could only solve with the power consumption of a small city. In addition, the brain is often far superior to traditional computers in terms of capacity, robustness, and processing speed.

To ensure that neuromorphic technologies can reach their innovative potential, we are continuing to develop them at Forschungszentrum Jülich. Our work is interdisciplinary: neuroscientists are studying how the brain works, while materials scientists are developing components that imitate synapses and other parts of nerve cells. Physicists and engineers are also working on the complex networking of neuronal systems and the design of special neuromorphic chips. Computer scientists then integrate these into modular supercomputer systems. In this way, the computer of the future will be modeled after the human brain

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