The ever-increasing world of “big data” has placed huge challenges on data storage, computing and analysis, where biological inspired computing systems have been seriously evaluating as the future systems. It has been widely accepted that synapses are responsible for the massive parallelism and structural plasticity of the brain, and crucial to biological computations that underlie perception and learning. Therefore, the electronic synaptic devices that display the functional characteristics such as plasticity and learning are the most important building blocks of brain-inspired computing system and many neuromorphic applications. Recently has seen significant progress in the electronic synaptic devices that exhibit synapse-like operational characteristics. A broad spectrum of materials with configurable conductance has been explored and successfully demonstrated as electronic synapses, such as chalcogenide phase change materials, transition metal oxides, Perovskite oxides, magnetic materials, carbon-based materials, polymers, and etc. While some materials and related devices have been exploited technologically, there are still many fundamental questions to be answered with regards to capability, functionalities, performance required for neuromorphic applications. Besides the electronic synapse, different bio-inspired devices are required to mimic the different behaviors of the neurons or mimic the human sensors and organs for neuromorphic engineering.

This symposium brings together the technological and scientific communities to identify outstanding, fundamental problems, to present technological trends and to share current scientific results. The inextricable linkage between outstanding technological problems and gaps in the fundamental understanding make this symposium dedicated to electronic synapse for brain-inspired computing and neuromorphic engineering a synergistic event. Interdisciplinary topics related to physics, material science, neuroscience, and engineering will be connected by thoughtfully selected invited talks. The audience includes physicists, neuroscientists, chemists, materials scientists, device physicists, and engineers.