Basic Mechanisms of Learning and Forgetting in Natural and Artificial Systems

Basic Mechanisms of Learning and Forgetting in Natural and Artificial Systems (European Commission 5th Framework project HPRN-CT-1999-00065)
Robert M. French, Project Director,
Total Amount of the Grant: 980,000 euros,
Duration: 4 years + 1 year extension. Completed: 2005.

This five-year project received a 980,000 euro grant from the European Commission to carry out a highly multi-disciplinary theoretical, empirical, and computational study of the basic mechanisms of learning and forgetting. Participating members of the project were from the University of Warwick (Nick Chater) and Birkbeck College (Denis Mareschal) in England, the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Axel Cleeremans) and the Université de Liège (Bob French) in Belgium and the Université de Grenoble (Bernard Ans/Stephane Rousset) in France. The areas of inquiry that the project focused on ranged from theoretical mathematics at Warwick to fMRI studies at Grenoble, from implicit learning at Brussels to infant cognitive development at Birkbeck. The primary goal of the project was to train young European researchers in a variety of cognitive science research skills. Six Ph.D’s were awarded. Two post-docs in the project were awarded permanent faculty positions upo n conclusion of their work in the project. In addition, approximately 80 publications and 4 books were produced by members of the project.