About us

The CAN Lab, under the School of Digital Sciences, conducts research and development in the areas of Cognitive Science, Assistive & Health technologies, and Neurocomputing. Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary, scientific study of the processes of the mind by bringing together linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, computer science, and anthropology. We mainly focus on a branch of cognitive science called affective computing that refers to the study and development of systems that can recognize, process and simulate emotions. Neurocomputing (also known as computational neuroscience) is a field that uses mathematical and computational methods to gain a greater understanding of the normal and abnormal functioning of different brain regions. Medical and assistive devices help in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of various diseases, in preventing injuries during medical procedures and in improving the quality of life of those afflicted with incurable medical conditions. Specifically, CAN Lab is focused on four areas (i) Computer-based brain research to gain a greater understanding of the normal and abnormal functioning of different brain regions (ii) Computer-based research to understand the normal and abnormal functioning of the human emotion system (iii) Development of medical/assistive devices to prevent and manage medical conditions. 

CAN Lab is also credited with giving Digital University Kerala its first patent.

Opportunities

• If you are applying for a post-doctoral fellowship from a funding agency (e.g. SERB, DST, DBT, CSIR etc.) and have a good research proposal that aligns with the research interests of CAN Lab, you may contact us if you would like us to be your host and mentor.

• Internship Opportunities (unpaid) in IoT and Medical Devices. 

• Internship Opportunities (unpaid) in Computational Neuroscience. 

News

30th June 2025: Our paper titled 'Enhancement of Calcium Responses by KIR Current Inactivation in Medium Spiny Neurons' has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Biosciences. 

6th May 2025: Our Intra-operative Autotransfusion device won 1st prize in the Innovation category at the 4th International Congress on Innovations in Global Surgery at Blantyre, Malawi from 4 to 6 May.

8th April 2025: Our paper titled 'A Novel Intra-operative Autotransfusion Device For Low-Resource Settings' has been accepted for presentation at the 4th International Congress on Innovations in Global Surgery at Blantyre, Malawi from 4 to 6 May. 

1st April 2025: Anju Cyriac, Integrated MSc (UM-DAE Center for Excellence in Basic Sciences), has completed her 4-month internship at CAN Lab in the area of Computational Neuroscience. 

4th March 2025:  Swetha P, BTech (NIT Calicut), has completed her 6-month internship at CAN Lab. She has been selected by Chubb through campus recruitment.

28th February 2025: The first part of the Phase I trials of our IAT device has been successfully conducted at CMC Vellore. 

5th February 2025: An MoU has been signed with CMC Vellore to conduct Phase I trials of our IAT (Intraoperative Autotransfusion) device.

5th November 2024: Nuha Fathima, BS-MS, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, completed her 4-month internship at CAN Lab in the area of Computational Neuroscience. She has been accepted for a PhD position in Computational Neuroscience at the University of Regensberg, Germany. 

16th October 2024: CAN Lab has received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board of CMC Vellore to conduct Phase I trials of our Autotransfusion device.

25th July 2024: Muhsina H, a 4-year BS-MS student from IISER Pune, completed her one-month long internship at CAN Lab in the area of Computational Neuroscience.

3rd June 2024: Swetha P, BTech (NIT Calicut), has joined the CAN Lab as a research intern under the Earn While You Learn program. 

27th May 2024: CAN Lab delivers DUK's inaugural patent. The novel IAT (Intraoperative Autotransfusion) device being developed at CAN Lab has been granted a patent (Patent no. 539411) in India. This also happens to be the first patent granted in the name of Digital University Kerala since its inception.

23rd May 2024: Dr. Mithun Padmakumar has been selected for a competitive, merit based travel award instituted by the organizing committee to participate in the 33rd Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting, Natal, Brazil, July 20-24, 2024.

9th May 2024: Our paper, "Effect of Focused Ultrasonic Stimulation via Intramembrane Cavitation in the Squid Giant Axon" has been accepted for an oral presentation at 33rd Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting, July 20-24, 2024 at Natal, Brazil.

1st March 2024: Our IAT (Intraoperative Autotransfusion) device under development finds mention in the supplementary appendix of a Lancet article (Volume 12, Issue 3, March 2024). See the article and the appendix.

22nd January 2024: Dr. Vijay Anand Ismavel and Dr. Ann Miriam from CMC Vellore visited the CAN lab and held discussions on various medical projects. 

19th January 2024: CAN Lab has three full-time PhD positions available in the area of Computational Neuroscience for CSIR/UGC JRF awardees. Click here to apply.

5th January 2024: Suryasis Dutta, a 3rd year I2 BS-MS Biology Major student of IIISER Thiruvananthapuram, completed his one-month long internship at CAN Lab in the area of Computational Neuroscience.

15th November 2023: CAN Lab has a vacancy for a Research Assistant (Project). 3-year Engineering Diploma (Electrical / Electronics / Instrumentation / Computer Hardware) holders are eligible to apply. The last date to apply is 30th November 2023. For details and to apply online see KUDSIT-777-SO_AD-2023-upload.pdf (duk.ac.in) 

13th July 2023: India's Electronics & IT Secretary, Shri Alkesh Kumar Sharma, IAS visited CAN Lab and was briefed about the research going on there. He also witnessed the working demonstration of the prototype of a medical device under development.

6th April 2023: The gravity-driven apparatus for blood salvage and autotransfusion developed at CAN was presented in the seminar on “Innovative Blood Transfusion Strategies for Blood Deserts in LMICs" at Harvard University.

9th March 2023: Digital University Kerala filed a patent for the gravity-driven apparatus for blood salvage and autotransfusion developed at CAN. 

28th February 2023: CAN Lab has three open full-time Ph.D positions (with full DUK scholarship and complete free waiver) available in the area of Computational Neuroscience. Last date to apply: 16th June 2023.

2nd January 2023: Mr. Ajeesh MV joined CAN Lab to assist in the research projects. He brings with him around 7 years of experience working at IIT Bombay.

23rd November 2022: Dr. Joseph Tharion, Senior Research Scientist, DUK, gave a presentation and demonstration of the working prototype of the first medical device being developed at the CAN, in front of the medical experts at CMC Vellore.

3rd October 2022: Dr. Mithun Padmakumar was felicitated as part of the Engineers Day celebrations organized jointly by TCCI (Thiruvananthapuram Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and Executive Knowledge Lines. The event was inaugurated by G. Madhavan Nair, former chairman of ISRO and the Chief Guest was T. P Sreenivasan, former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations.

28th Sep 2022: An MoU was signed between DUK and K-DISC, under which, CAN will receive a funding of Rs. 71 lakhs over a period of three years for the research and development of three medical devices.

31st May 2022: Dr. Mithun Padmakumar received the Nava Kerala Post-doctoral fellowship certificate from the Chief Minister of Kerala.

18th February 2022: Dr. Mithun Padmakumar is selected for the DST-CSRI post-doctoral fellowship.