The Koerber Prize for Science in Europe was awarded on September 7, 2000 in Hamburg, Germany to Dr. Christoph von der Malsburg (Professor of Systems Biophysics, Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany as well as Professor of Computer Science, Biology and Physics at the University of Southern California) and his research collaboration, consisting of Rodney Douglas (ETH Zurich), Amiram Grivnald (Weizmann Institute, Rehovot), Randolf Menzel (Free University, Berlin) and Wolf Singer (Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt).
Originated by a German industrialist who died in 1992, the Koerber Prize was envisioned as an opportunity to support European research teams. The award carries support for research over a three-year period. Von der Malsburg's collaboration is "supported by the Koerber-Prize to investigate elementary functions of the brain, specifically in the visual and olfactory systems, using the most advanced research tools. The project shall eludicate how the nervous system of animals process visual stimuli during recognition of an object and shall probe into possibilities for technological application of this capability of Gestalt perception to the recognition of patterns and speech." The specific work is centered on the phenomenon of temporal signal binding which was first proposed by von der Malsburg as a fundamental principle of brain function.
Christoph von der Malsburg first came to USC in 1988 as a joint faculty member in Computer Science, Biology and Physics as part of an interdisciplinary program initiated by then Dean of Natural Sciences, Dr. William Wagner. This program was intended to focus on the brain, incorporating biology, computer science and physics. As part of this program, Dr. von der Malsburg spends about half of each year on campus at USC, during which time he teaches a course titled Neural Network Self-Organization. He finds his best students are physicists, noting "Their mode of thinking is ideal for this type of work."In 1991, Dr. von der Malsburg founded the Neurocomputing Program at the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany. His focus has been on the binding phenomenon in the brain, i.e. the grouping of neurons on the basis of self-organized signal synchrony. "Some people see this signal coherence as the glue that gives consciousness to the brain," Dr. von der Malsburg stated. Additionally, he is the co-founder of the Eyematic Interfaces, Inc. located in Los Angeles, California. The company is applying the vision technology he has developed for the internet and other applications.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy joins with USC in congratulating Professor von der Malsburg and his group for receiving the Koerber Prize.
Department of Physics & Astronomy / USC Physics & Astronomy Newsletters /