Profile

I am Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Computer Science (research groups: Machine Learning & Computational Systems Biology) at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Sheffield. I am also Visiting Professor (Gastprofessor) at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, University of Antwerp.

My research focuses on developing and applying biological models and ideas to advancing our understanding of the brain mechanisms for learning. More specifically I wish to unveil mechanisms by which synaptic connections between neurons are modified when acquiring information. For this purpose, I give particular emphasis to unsupervised and reinforcement learning. Further I aim to apply this knowledge to general problems such as understanding animal and human behaviour and in specific applications such as the design of bio-inspired (intelligent) machines and the field of neuroprosthetics.

Research grants
EU FP7 Marie Curie International Training Network NAMASEN on Neuroprosthetics. Principal investigator. Project duration: 10/2011-9/2015.
University Research Fund - Divisional Directors Award. Principal Investigator. Seed-core funding: 7/2010-2/2011.
Royal Society International joint collaboration. Principal investigator. Project duration: 6/2010-5/2012.

Selected publications

Academic duties
Academic Editor, PLoS One.
Review Editor, Frontiers in NeuroEngineering.

Current PhD Students
Adam Tomkins and Fernando Perez-Diaz.