Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
Paschalis Gkoupidenis has a BSc in Physics from the University of Ioannina (2005), an MSc in Microelectronics from the University of Athens (2007) and a PhD in Materials Science from NCSR “Demokritos”, Athens, Greece (2014). During his PhD, his research focused on ionic transport mechanisms of organic electrolytes. In 2015 he started his postdoc at the Department of Bioelectronics (EMSE, France), where, he worked on the design and development of organic neuromorphic devices based on electrochemical concepts. In 2017, Gkoupidenis joined the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP, Mainz, Germany), and he is currently a Group Leader at the Department of Molecular Electronics. The research in his group focuses on the field of Organic Neuromorphic Electronics.
Organic neuromorphic electronics
Artificial intelligence applications have demonstrated their enormous potential for complex processing over the last decade. However, they are mainly based on digital operating principles while being part of an analogue world. Moreover, they still lack the efficiency and computing capacity of biological systems. Neuromorphic electronics emulate the analogue information processing of biological nervous systems. Neuromorphic electronics based on organic materials have the ability to emulate efficiently and with fidelity a wide range of bio-inspired functions. A prominent example of a neuromorphic device is based on organic mixed (ionic-electronic) conductors. Neuromorphic devices based on organic mixed conductors show volatile, non-volatile and tunable dynamics suitable for the emulation of synaptic plasticity and neuronal functions, and for the mapping of artificial neural networks in physical circuits. Finally, organic bio-inspired elements enable the local sensorimotor control/learning in robotics as well as neuromorphic concepts in sensing and biointerfacing.
Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research