The project aims to advance the fundamental understanding of optical wave dynamics for neuro-inspired computing architectures. By creating space for idea and research exchange and through exploring high-risk approaches to information processing using light waves rather than electronic signals, the project seeks to establish disruptive methods and computational paradigms.

A central focus is the development of theoretical frameworks and experimental methodologies for optical neural networks. The goal is to demonstrate how light-based systems can execute computational functions that currently require complex electronic architectures – and can go even beyond the limitations of current top-down neuromorphic architectures. This approach addresses critical challenges in managing the approaching limit of performance capabilities of today’s brain-inspired models.

The fellowship strengthens key research directions at Leibniz IPHT and Friedrich Schiller University Jena in three interconnected areas: the physics of nonlinear wave propagation in highly nonlinear waveguides and fiber systems; the realization of neuromorphic computing principles using optical signals; and the application of optical intelligence to real-time data processing in biomedical imaging and diagnostics.

By enabling exploration of fundamentally new concepts at the intersection of photonics, nonlinear dynamics, and artificial intelligence, the project positions the institution at the forefront of next-generation computing technologies.

The research is supported by the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation through a WE Heraeus Research Fellowship awarded in November 2025.