On October14, The China-Germany FScience and Technology Innovation Cooperation Conference was held in Berlin, Germany. The communication between the representatives of technology, politics and businesses from both countries was focused on innovation policies for science and technology, and on achievements in development and key cooperation fields. NPU’s Vice President Song Baowei, Professor Xie Songyun from the NPU’s School of Electronic Information, Professor Klaus Obermayer from Technical University of Berlin (TUB), Deputy Director Li Yun of NPU’s Institute of Science and Technology, and Deputy Director Duan Libing of NPU’s Office of International Cooperation attended this conference.

"The technology of brain computer interfaces for the control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle formations", which was developed jointly by the team of Professor Xie and the team of Professor Obermayer, was presented to more than 200 Chinese and German guests at the conference. After listening to the introduction of the cooperation achievements, Minister Wang Zhigang of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, inspected the demonstration of the brain-computer interface for the UAV formation with great interest, and expressed his praise and encouragement for the cooperation achievements of NPU and TUB. Wang Chengwen, Deputy Director of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), put forward many valuable suggestions for extending Sino-German collaborations on basic research. Zhao Yan, Director-General of Department of Science and Technology of Shaanxi Province, also gave significant advice for further research directions of the work on brain-computer interfaces in control. In front of the booth, a large number of guests from home and abroad showed their strong interest in the achievements.

Professor Xie and Professor Obermayer have been working closely together for more than 16 years in the areas of brain cognition, brain-computer interface and artificial intelligence. Both sides have signed eight international cooperation agreements, and have established the "Shaanxi Joint International Research Center on Integrated Techniques of Brain-Computer Interfaces for Unmanned System" and the "NPU-TUB Joint Laboratory for Neural Informatics". More than 20 scientific research projects were completed. Both groups have published more than 60 peer-reviewed papers, authorized/applied 20 invention patents, and obtained 16 national / provincial awards. They have trained more than 200 postgraduate students. The UAV project may lead to several future applications specifically to emergency situations, where unmanned vehicles have to be applied.

Writer:Gao Yang Translation:He Boyi;Wang Zhenzhen