Student Support for the Fourth International Brain-Computer Interface Meeting

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

This is funding to support student travel to and participation in the 4th International Brain-Computer Interface (IBCI) Meeting, which will be held May 31-June 4, 2010, in Asilomar, California. Brain-computer interface research explores avenues of controlling devices directly from brain signals, and the IBCI Meetings constitute the flagship conference for the field. Effective BCI research requires highly interdisciplinary interactions involving neuroscience, psychology, engineering, mathematics, computer science, and clinical rehabilitation. Because no standard venue brings these groups together, the IBCI meeting serves a critical catalyst for technology dissemination, new collaborations, and educational opportunities for students. NSF funding will enable approximately 40 students, including undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, to attend and participate in the conference. All of the NSF funding will be used for student travel, registration, and student-only event costs. The organizers' main objective will be to give students a significant educational and professional experience in the BCI field, and to provide opportunities for them to gain depth in their specific interest areas. The conference will begin with a specialized student colloquium on the afternoon before the full conference starts, which will provide lectures from prominent experts in the BCI field. This will give the students a solid foundation for understanding the rest of the conference. There will also be a student poster session and prizes for the best student research projects, and students will have access to research leaders for informal question-and-answer sessions at the end of each day. The students will participate fully in the main conference as well, mentored by their advisors and other senior conference participants. This year's conference will have an increased focus on student participation, ensuring a good experience for the students as well as encouraging young researchers to explore the BCI field for their research. Exposure to prominent researchers in the BCI field will allow students to receive invaluable feedback on their work, and to make connections that may result in new research directions. Broader Impacts: Student participation in the three previous IBCI meetings has been very fruitful; a large number of those who attended have now graduated and are prominent researchers in the BCI field. The Journal of Neural Engineering has agreed to publish the Proceedings of this meeting as a series of peer reviewed papers in a special issue, which will further disseminate the results of the meeting. The organizers are actively working to recruit students from traditionally underrepresented groups to attend the conference. Supporting student participation in the IBCI conference will educate, motivate, and inspire the future leaders in brain-computer interface research while promoting diversity which will strengthen the BCI research community.