Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are technologies that allow the brain to interact directly with machines, and they entail measuring electrical signals from the brain and stimulating the brain. A BCI records brain signals, analyses them, and translates them into instructions that a computer can understand. Combined with artificial intelligence, these interfaces can radically change how humans interact with technology.

Together with 15 European partners, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Aarhus University has launched a major new multidisciplinary research project to develop technology and scale up the BCI talent pool.

The project is called DONUT (European Doctoral Network for Neural Prostheses and Brain Research), and it has received DKK 19.5 million (€ 2.6 million) in funding from Horizon Europe's Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme.

The project is divided into eight work packages, all of which contain research within BCI in one way or another. For the researchers at Aarhus University, the project in particular represents a major investment in measuring electrical signals in the brain: EEG measurements.

"The primary focus of DONUT is to address the many different challenges in brain-computer interfaces, primarily by educating and training new research talent in the field. Here at Aarhus University, we’re looking in particular at developing novel integrated circuit and system solutions for small, portable EEG devices for user-friendly everyday use," says Assistant Professor Milad Zamani from Aarhus University's Integrated Nanoelectronics research group, who is leading the Danish part of the project.

The Integrated Nanoelectronics research group, leading Integrated Circuit (IC) design activities in Denmark, is working with researchers from the Neurotechnology Lab at Aarhus University, a world leader in developing mobile EEG equipment.

"The DONUT project will enable us to understand the nuances of electrode connections, how they evolve over time, and their variability. This will all help to improve the quality of signals, and it won’t only advance our knowledge within BCI technology, it will also open up for new opportunities to improve the reliability and performance of ​portable EEG devices," says Associate Professor Kaare Mikkelsen.

He is backed by co-researcher, Assistant Professor Simon Lind Kappel:

"The academic and industrial network in the project provides very good opportunities to apply our work here at Aarhus University in a BCI context. I very much look forward to explore this area further,” he says.

The stated mission of the DONUT project is to establish a multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral network of talented PhD candidates for research into EEG-based BCI applications for use in areas such as improving the quality of life for patients, rehabilitation, neural prosthetics, diagnostics and early detection of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, as well as BCI research for everyday use and development of commercial products based on BCI and EEG technologies.

The project will strengthen Europe's innovation capacity in neural prosthetics and brain research.

The DONUT project is a collaboration between seven universities and eight companies and is being coordinated by Rhine-Waal University in Germany. The 15 partners are: Rhine-Waal University, Radboud University, KU Leuven, Miguel Hernández University, Aarhus University, Kaunas University of Technology, the Slovak Academy of Sciences, SNAP GmbH, MindAffect B.V., MindSpeller BCI, Technaid S.L., T&W Engineering, UAB SneakyBox, Evolving Systems Consulting s.r.o. and Promotionskolleg NRW.

The project will run until 31 December 2027.

Contact

Assistant Professor Milad Zamani
Research group: Integrated Nanoelectronics
Aarhus University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Email: mzamani@ece.au.dk
Tel.: +45 93522149

Associate Professor Kaare Mikkelsen
Research Group: Biomedical Machine Learning
Aarhus University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Email: mikkelsen.kaare@ece.au.dk
Tel.: +45 60612038

Assistant Professor Simon Lind Kappel
Research Group: NeuroTechnology Lab
Aarhus University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Email: slk@ece.au.dk
Tel.: +45 20693456