Ecosystems Technology and Design for Nanoelectronics

CNRS Research Director_x000D_ _x000D_ D.Phil from the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford in 1981_x000D_ _x000D_ Simon Thorpe, born in 1956 near London, studied Psychology and Physiology at the University of Oxford, where his obtained his doctorate with Prof. Edmund Rolls in 1981. After a year as a postdoc with Max Cynader in Canada, he moved to France where he joined Michel Imbert's laboratory in Orsay before moving to Paris. Recruited as a CNRS researcher in 1983, he was one of the founding members of the Brain and Cognition Research Centre (CerCo) that was created in Toulouse in 1993. His research has covered a wide range of subjects, ranging from the neurophysiology of the frontal cortex, and the visual system of both monkeys and cats. But more recently, he has become particularly well known for his work on the mechanisms of ultra-rapid categorisation in both man and monkey. He is also well known for his theoretical work on neural coding, and more specifically the potential of temporal coding schemes based on waves of spikes. This work led to the creation of a high tech start-up company in 1999. SpikeNet Technology currently employs 11 staff and develops bio-inspired software and hardware systems for image processing and object recognition