Imaging and Computational Neuroscience Lab

ICON lab develops cutting-edge imaging and computational methods for biomedical research. Using these tools, we study the anatomy and function of biological systems in both normal and disease states. We have active research programs focusing on basic science and medical applications.

Examples of ICON Lab research in MRI reconstruction, image synthesis and functional brain imaging

About the lab

Our efforts in the medical field are focused on development of non-invasive diagnostic and monitoring technologies. We design ultra-fast and sensitive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic particle imaging (MPI) techniques through novel medical physics and deep learning approaches. Our designs utilize state-of-the-art neural network architectures and learning strategies. We utilize the fundamental advances in our techniques to push the envelope of sensitivity and specificity in targeted diagnosis of vascular, musculoskeletal and neurological diseases, and for molecular/cellular imaging.

We also pursue a computational neuroscience program targeted toward a quantitative understanding of human brain function and diseases. We use functional MRI and modern machine learning tools to study human sensory and cognitive systems during complex natural behavior. Specifically, we aim to locate functionally distinct areas of the human brain, and to reveal the type of information represented in each area. We are interested in how the human brain represents visual, auditory, and linguistic information; and how higher cognitive processes including attention, learning, and memory modulate these representations.

Latest publications

All publications
Physics-Driven Autoregressive State Space Models for Medical Image Reconstruction
Kabas B, Arslan F, Nezhad VA, Oguz KK, Ozturk S, Saritas EU, Çukur T
IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 2026
I2I-Mamba: Multi-modal medical image synthesis via selective state space modeling
Atli OF, Kabas B, Arslan F, Demirtas AC, Yurt M, Dalmaz O, Çukur T
IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 2026
MicroKAN: Mapping human brain microstructure using diffusion MRI and adaptive nonlinear modeling
Chen Y, Li Z, Wang Y, Li Y, Zheng J, Yang H, Liu M, Çukur T, Fan Q, Li Z, Lu J, Tian Q
NeuroImage, 2026
Semi-supervision for clinical contrast-weighted image synthesis from magnetic resonance fingerprinting
Yurt M, Alkan C, Cao X, Liao C, Zhou Z, Çukur T, Syed A, Pauly J, Vasanawala S, Setsompop K
Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine, 2026

Join the lab

We welcome motivated students and researchers with a background in electrical engineering, computer science, physics or a related field. Graduate students join through the MS and PhD programs of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Bilkent University.

To ask about openings, please email Prof. Çukur at cukur[at]ee.bilkent.edu.tr with your CV and a short note on your research interests.