MSCA-IF: Joint application at the University of Granada. Department of Signal Theory, Telematics and Communications

Professor Miguel Ángel López Gordo, from the Department of Signal Theory, Telematics and Communications at the University of Granada, welcomes postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (MSCA-IF) in 2019 at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (more information: http://sl.ugr.es/09Qg).

Brief description of the institution:

The University of Granada (UGR), founded in 1531, is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. It serves more than 60000 students per year, including many foreign students, as UGR is the leader host institution in the Erasmus program. UGR, featuring 3650 professors and more than 2000 auxiliary personnel, offers a total of 75 degrees through its 112 departments and 28 centers.

UGR is also a leading institution in research, located in the top 5/10 of Spanish universities by a variety of ranking criteria, such as national R&D projects, fellowships awarded, publications, or international funding. UGR is one of the few Spanish Universities listed in the Shanghai Top 500 ranking (http://www.arwu.org/), and it is also well recognized for its web presence (http://www.4icu.org/top200/).

Internationally, we bet decidedly by our participation in the calls of H2020, both at partner and coordination. For the duration of the Seventh Framework Programme, the UGR has obtained a total of 66 projects, with total funding of 17.97 million euros, and for H2020, until 2015, more than 25 projects with total funding of more than 6 million euros. Our more than 3,000 researchers are grouped into 365 research groups covering all scientific fields and disciplines.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group

The University of Granada (UGR) is one of the most prestigious universities in Spain. The UGR is one of the 50 best universities in the world in Computer Science and the first Spanish in this area (Academic Ranking of World Universities in Engineering / Technology and Computer Sciences - 2016). In the academic plan, +60K students attend graduate and posgraduate curses. UGR hosts a large population of Erasmus students (ca. 2k).

The Center for Research in Information Technology and Communications (CITIC-UGR, https://citic.ugr.es/?lang=en) is the international center of reference in ICT of UGR. The research lines includes: High Performance Architectures, Bioinformatics,  eHealth, Software Engineering, Neural Engineering, Data Mining, Nanoelectronics, Cell Networks and Sensors, Image Recognition, Control Systems, Signal Processing, Virtual Reality and Soft Computing and Artificial Vision. In addition, a Doctorate Program specializing in Information and Communication Technologies is imparted to the center

The Brain-computer Interfaces Lab (BCILAB, https://www.ugr.es/~bcilab/) of CITIC-UGR performs R+D in neuro-engineering. The BCILAB develops electronic devices for neurometry and stimulation, software for neuro-affective applications and biosignald and data processing. The lab is equipped with tools for electronic development, behavioral and electrophysiological experiments and virtual reality head-sets for cognitive rehabilitation. We cover a wide range of applications in neurometry, such as is in education, special needs education, rehabilitation, military, marketing, etc.

Project description

Dementia is high priority for Public Health Systems (PHS) at global scale because of population aging. Only in 2015, the estimated costs in USA was 818 billion dollars. With a global prevalence of 40 million people, Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most important cause for dementia. It is estimated to double every 20 years until at least 2040.

The AD diagnostic is based on a neurophysiological evaluation supported with additional complementary tests. The analysis of EEG in rest state is a promising technique to complement the diagnostic. EEG tests have some inconvenient such as the price, the unavailability of immediate results, it cannot be implemented in the consultation room, need for specialized premises and equipment as well as additional bureaucracy.

Vision. In this project we envision a simple tool for the expert evaluator (the neurologist or neuro-psychologist) to practise an immediate EEG test in the consultation room. The technical difficulty to practise this complementary test would be no more than blood pressure measurement.

Goals. We propose wireless system to practise immediate EEG resting state test during the specialist consultation. This wearable system will integrate algorithms to cloud-compute the EEG data with generation of results online. 

Results and Impact. We expect a high impact on PHS in terms of costs and anticipated diagnostic. This will lead to a personalized therapy with better prognostic, as well as improvement of quality of life of patients and relatives. 

Research Area

Information Science and Engineering (ENG)

For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Professor Miguel Ángel López Gordo (malg@ugr.es):

• CV
• Letter of recommendation (optional)