New DFG post graduate programme at FAU

€4 million for the development of heterogeneous imaging systems

Modern digital cameras with automatic facial recognition, computer tomographs and smart phones – all these devices have something in common: they can process or analyse pictures to create modified images of reality. To do so, in addition to a main processor, the devices tend to use additional processors which specifically assist in image processing or creation, and as such the devices function “heterogeneously”. It is the aim of the German Research Foundation’s newly established 1773/1 post graduate programme “Heterogeneous Imaging Systems” at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) to plan, develop and create such heterogeneous imaging systems. The DFG is providing the programme with funding in excess of €4 million for an initial period of four and a half years. Given that the topic is already a firmly established component of university teaching at FAU, the research programme will facilitate the involvement of talented students. Within the current funding period, a total of 16 new post graduate programmes have been set up by the DFG.

“There are countless examples of devices which use heterogeneous imaging systems”, says Prof. Dr. Marc Stamminger who heads up the post graduate programme at the FAU Department for Computer Science 9 (computer graphics). “They can be found in advance driver assistance systems in cars, in computer games that use sensors to capture the movements of gamers, in navigation systems with 3D graphics and much more besides.”

But for computer scientists, “heterogeneous” does not just mean the use of numerous processors within a device. Heterogeneous also means that a specific computer programme can be run on entirely different computers – for example equally on a smart phone or a high-end PC. This, in turn, places particular demands on the software.

Both forms of heterogeneity result in numerous questions which are to be clarified and researched within the framework of the post graduate programme. In particular, the research scientists hope to develop tools and methods for the programming of heterogeneous imaging systems, as well as new applications and algorithms; these could then be applied, for example, to the fields of medical technology and consumer electronics. Over and above this, the research scientists are also working on the development of new types of image sensors.

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uni | media service | news No. 22/2012 on 9.2.2012