“Research is great fun. I just love getting to the bottom of things,” says Alexander van Meegen. Since February, the junior professor of statistical physics has been researching and teaching information processing in neural networks at RWTH Aachen University.

He is currently researching the similarities between artificial and biological neural networks. Both systems have neural connections through which information is exchanged. Van Meegen says that this works very well on both the biological and technical sides. However, there are still many unanswered questions: “I want to use my research to find out exactly how information is processed and exchanged,” explains the junior professor.

Van Meegen and other researchers have already made some interesting observations in the field of artificial intelligence. “We know that technical neurons learn useful ways to represent data. So if a pixel in an image is changed, the network doesn’t usually deduce that it’s a completely different image.” What’s exciting is that certain neurons always react when they recognize a dog, for example. This information, explains van Meegen, is clearly visible to researchers in the network in form of so called ‘coding schemes’ .

The key question is whether such findings can also be partially transferred to the human brain and vice versa. “It can work both ways”, says van Meegen. However, there are limitations: technical systems are much easier to study than neural networks in the brain. “For example, we often don’t know exactly which neurons in the brain are connected to each other.”

So far, there is only one complete picture of the neural connections in the brain of fruit flies. In addition, the human brain is much more complex than today’s artificial intelligence. Van Meegen returned to Germany through a nationwide return program, the aim of which is to attract top talent in the field of future computing to North Rhine-Westphalia.

The program supports ambitious young scientists, who are given the opportunity to “establish their own research groups with international appeal at one of our universities,” says Science Minister Ina Brandes, adding: “The interest in a scientific career in North Rhine-Westphalia impressively demonstrates that researchers find an optimal environment for their work here.”

There were also personal reasons why he chose Aachen. On the one hand, the move was a good fit for his family. On the other hand, the scientist cites more altruistic motives: “I would like to give something back after receiving a very good education in Germany; all of which I received free of charge.” In many other countries, university tuition fees are high. In addition, the topic of AI is very prominent at RWTH, especially in physics. There are several renowned researchers here who are working in this field.

Van Meegen completed his bachelor’s degree in physics at Heidelberg University, followed by a master’s degree at Humboldt University in Berlin. He then completed his doctorate with a focus on computational neuroscience very close to his current place of work, at Forschungszentrum Jülich. His postdoctoral work took him to the Center for Brain Research at Harvard and the Brain Mind Institute in Lausanne.

However, it was not clear from the outset that he would one day work in this field of research. At one point, he also considered studying philosophy or sports. “I also thought long and hard about studying psychology—but in the end, I think I made the right decision in combining these interests,” says the researcher.