NEUROTEC Research Funded With 36.5 Million Euros

The German Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF for short, is funding the second phase of the Neuro-Inspired Artificial Intelligence Technologies for the Electronics of the Future (NEUROTEC) project with a total of 36.5 million euros until 2026. The aim of the project by Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University is to develop innovative electronic components. They are used as synapses in artificial neural networks and make an important contribution to the energy efficiency of AI applications.

In this way, Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH are intending to create an internationally renowned location for cutting-edge research when it comes to memristive circuits for neuromorphic computers. The approach is based on so-called memristive materials. Unlike the digital components used in computers and smartphones to date, these are non-digital resistors that can change their value and store it permanently.

In the first project phase from November 2019 to November 2021, the BMBF provided 13.2 million euros of funding for NEUROTEC from the emergency program for implementing the recommendations of the Commission on Growth, Structural Change, and Employment. In the second project phase, the research results are to be brought closer to economic exploitation. Funding is now being provided within the German Government's 2021-2024 Microelectronics. Trustworthy and Sustainable.For Germany and Europe. framework program with funds from the Structural Development Act for Mining Areas. Project partners are Forschungszentrum Jülich, RWTH Aachen University, and regional companies AIXTRON SE (Herzogenrath), aixACCT Systems GmbH (Aachen), AMOtronics UG (Aachen), SURFACE systems+technology GmbH & Co (Hückelhoven), and AMO GmbH (Aachen). Furthermore, NEUROTEC is synergetically linked with the Future Cluster NeuroSys from the BMBF’s initiative Clusters4Future.