Tamalika Banerjee is awarded the NWO Take-off grant

Prof. Dr. Tamalika Banerjee, Professor of Physics and Spintronics and CogniGron researcher at the University of Groningen, has received an NWO Take-off feasibility grant for her project “Brain-inspired integrated memory chips for energy-efficient computing.”

Banerjee’s project addresses a growing challenge in the field of artificial intelligence: the unsustainable energy demands of current AI hardware, which is based on the conventional von Neumann architecture. This architecture, with its strict separation of memory and processing, struggles to keep pace with the volume and complexity of modern AI workloads.

Her research group investigates brain-inspired computing as an alternative, using memristor devices — nano-scale components capable of mimicking neuronal behaviour. In previous work, the group has demonstrated key neural functionalities such as leaky-integrate-and-fire and oscillatory dynamics in thin-film oxide-based memristors.

With the Take-off grant, the team will develop a technology demonstrator and carry out feasibility studies for a neuromorphic oscillatory neural network, in collaboration with academic startup IMChip. The project ultimately aims to enable low-power, in-memory computing solutions that complement existing CMOS technology, with potential applications in wearable electronics and sensor systems.

More information and a full list of awarded Take-off projects.