Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Christian Klaes
Professor Dr. Christian Klaes is a neuroscientist at the Ruhr-University in Bochum. His research focuses on Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI), Virtual Reality, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in medicine. He has extensive experience in neurophysiology, working with non-human primates and tetraplegic human patients. In 2021, he became Professor for Neurotechnology at RUB. He also leads the Incubator Health+ of the WorldFactory Start-up Center.
Office Manager
Silvia Wolko
Silvia is a trained publishing clerk and supports the KlaesLab and Incubator Health+ at RUB. She has set up two projects that guide schoolchildren and students in text entry and text correction and support companies in presentation layout design. Silvia enriches the team with her organizational activities, creative contributions, and strength in promoting key networking.
Post-Doctoral Researchers
Dr. Artur Pilacinski
Art received his PhD from University of Tuebingen. At Klaeslab he works on number processing in single neurons, phantom touch, intuitive biomechanics, and collaborative robotics. He runs the VRS conference and occasionally posts on Bluesky.
PhD Students
Namit Mishra
Namit has a Master's degree in Computational Mechanics from the University of Duisburg-Essen with specialization in mathematical modelling. He joined Klaeslab as a PhD student, associating with the Terahertz.nrw research network focused on using deep learning to uncover neuronal activity through terahertz waves. His interests are neurodegenerative diseases, bio-signals, neuroimaging, computational modelling, and virtual reality tests.
Lia Wagner
Lia completed her Master's degree in Biomedical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University and was already working in the KlaesLab during her Master's thesis. She conducted an exploratory analysis of EEG and eye-tracking data to investigate neural correlates of non-visual saccades. She is currently working on the collection and analysis of dense fMRI datasets using AI methods to develop individualized neurofunctional models.
Sebastian Wiedenski
Sebastian obtained his master's degree on hierarchical decoders and movement prediction based on novel features of biophysical signalling in humans. Interested in both technology and neurobiology, he joined KlaesLab to pursue his interests in the functionality and improvement of the human brain through neurotechnological research. He is also involved in planning and execution of the VR Summit, especially the Hackathon organization.
Master's Student
Jannis Steinert
Jannis completed his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at Ruhr University Bochum, specializing in robotics and automation technology. In 2025, he began writing his master's thesis at KlaesLab in collaboration with the Chair of Production Systems. His research focuses on analyzing human attention in interactions with collaborative industrial robots using EEG and eye-tracking technologies.
Research Assistants
Rasti Salam
Rasti is currently doing his Master's degree in Physics at Ruhr University Bochum, specializing in Nuclear and Particle Physics. At Klaeslab, Rasti works as a PR & Communications representative for the VR Summit project, an initiative by RUB that focuses on advancing virtual reality technologies and their applications.
Alumni
Former members who have contributed to our research