From April 3 to April 6, Dr. Alexey Mikhailov, Head of the UNN Laboratory of Thin Film Physics and Technology, took part in the International Conference on Memristive Materials, Devices & Systems  (MEMRISYS 2017) in Athens, Greece. Memristive nanomaterials are currently in the focus of attention of the world's leading research and industrial centers, and the studies in this area have advanced to a new interdisciplinary level. This landmark event for the first time brought together almost all the world's leading scientists in this field, whose achievements are related to paradigmatic changes in various fields of science and technology. At the opening of the conference, Professor Leon Chua from the University of California at Berkeley, who in 1971 theoretically predicted the existence of memristors (the fourth passive component type of electrical circuits after resistors, capacitors and inductors), gave a plenary lecture. After that, over 200 presentations were given during parallel sections covering a wide range of theoretical and practical topics, including application of memristors for information storage and computing on new bio-like principles.  Alexey Mikhailov made an oral and a poster presentation on the results of interdisciplinary research conducted at the UNN Physics and Technology Research Institute and the Nizhni Novgorod Neuroscience Center. These results include the study of the nonlinear dynamics of neuromorphic systems based on memristive devices and neuron-like generators, and creating a prototype artificial neural network based on a memory chip to be used in autonomous control for robotic systems based on neuronal cultures of the brain-on-a-chip type.

During the visit to Greece, the Agreement on scientific and technical cooperation between Lobachevsky University and the National Centre of Scientific Research “Demokritos” was finalized.  This Agreement provides for joint basic and applied research in the field of neuromorphic and quantum computations using memristor nanomaterials (in a consortium with the Kurchatov Complex of NBICS Technologies, the Democritus University of Thrace, the University of Patras, and the Hellas Research and Technology Foundation).