The exceptional ability of the human brain to recognize patterns, speech and images has long inspired the development of machine-learning algorithms and brain-like computer architectures. Taking inspiration from the human brain, Yoeri van de Burgt will work on the first Brain-Inspired Organic Modular Lab-on-a-Chip for Cell Classification (BIOMORPHIC), containing “artificial synapses”. These synapses, which are made of low-cost organic materials, form the basis of a hardware-based neural network that facilitate the development of a novel generation of cost-efficient “smart” biomedical sensors. In fact, BIOMORPHIC will particularly focus on the detection of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in blood, which remains a major challenge due to low prevalence and large morphological and molecular variability of CTC. Classification of such seemingly variable data is precisely the strength of neural networks. Van de Burgt: “If successful, BIOMORPHIC will form the basis for a low-cost disposable cancer diagnostic tool that can be quickly adopted in medical institutions and can act as a first check before further expensive diagnostics as well as a versatile personal monitoring tool.”