NSF Award
2433860
Brain-computer interface (BCI) research explores avenues of controlling devices directly from brain signals. Thus, BCI technology is a powerful control option for neuro-prosthetic limbs, as well as a potential communication option for people with severe motor disabilities or disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), brain stem stroke, cerebral palsy, and spinal cord injury, who may have little or even no muscle control and therefore no means of communication with the external world. The International Brain-Computer Interface (IBCI) meeting is the flagship conference for the field, and the 11th in the series will be held June 2-5, 2025, at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta, Canada. Effective BCI research requires interdisciplinary interactions involving neuroscience, psychology, engineering, mathematics, computer science, and clinical rehabilitation, and the IBCI meetings serve as critical catalysts for technology dissemination, new collaborations, and educational opportunities for students. Sponsored in the early years primarily by NIH, the IBCI conferences are now under the auspices of the BCI Society, and the 2025 International BCI meeting will focus on emerging applications and techniques to foster research leading to technologies that enable people to interact with the world through brain signals. NSF funding will enable an additional 18 students, including undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, all from United States institutions, to attend and participate in the conference by supporting their travel and registration as well as the cost of student-only events. Student participation in previous IBCI meetings has been very fruitful; many of those students have now graduated and are prominent researchers in the BCI field. The organizers are actively working to recruit student attendees from traditionally underrepresented groups. More information about the conference may be found online at https://bcisociety.org/bci-meeting/. <br/><br/>Reflecting the growth of the field of BCI research, 450 or more participants are expected to attend this year's meeting, including investigators from at least 200 BCI research groups. the program will be similar to that of the successful 2023 meeting, preserving new sessions related to neuroethics and recognition of an exceptional early career researcher. All attendees commit to the entire meeting, from the opening reception and dinner on the evening of Monday, June 2 through the closing session on Thursday afternoon, June 5. A main objective of the conference is 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. To these ends, and guided by feedback from a survey of 2018 IBCI attendees, the conference will include interactive events such as workshops and poster sessions along with 7 plenary keynote talks which will be complemented by research sessions and master classes, a BCI users forum as well as BCI didactics sessions, and a Women in BCI social. With all participants housed on site and all meals for all attendees taken together on site, there will be ample opportunity for informal discussions. This creates a unique opportunity for students and trainees to mingle with and learn from established researchers.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
