PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Maurice Rekrut

Maurice Rekrut is a senior researcher at DFKI who develops EEG-based brain-computer interfaces for use outside the lab. He earned degrees in biomedical and neural engineering at HTW Saarbrücken and completed a computer science doctorate at Saarland University on speech imagery BCIs. His work spans transfer learning for silent-speech BCIs, research on EEG variability, and methods that reduce electrode counts for speech-imagery systems. Since 2020, he leads DFKI's Cognitive Assistants BCI-Lab, whose work includes EEG workload modelling and pre-screening for ADHD in school children.

Now at
Cognitive Assistants Department

Timeline

  1. 2007–2013

    Degrees in biomedical engineering

    At HTW Saarbrücken, he earns a BSc in Biomedical Engineering in 2011 and an MSc in Biomedical Engineering with a focus on Neural Engineering in 2013.

  2. 2013–2018

    Software engineering at DFKI

    From May 2013 to October 2018, he works as a software engineer in DFKI's Department for Intelligent User Interfaces. He contributes to the assisted-living projects SUCH and BMBF-funded MOBIA.

  3. 2018–2023

    A doctorate in speech BCIs

    In October 2018, he moves to DFKI's researcher track and begins a Computer Science PhD at Saarland University under Antonio Krüger. He completes the doctorate in 2023 with the thesis “Leveraging EEG-based Speech Imagery Brain-Computer Interfaces.”

  4. 2022

    Training silent-speech BCIs

    In 2022, he coauthors a paper with Abdulrahman Mohamed Selim and Antonio Krüger on improving silent-speech BCI training through transfer from overt speech.

  5. 2023

    Studying BCI variability

    In December 2023, he launches the NEARBY project with Inria Bordeaux and DFKI Bremen to study how variability in brain activity affects BCI performance.

  6. 2025

    Reducing EEG electrode counts

    In 2025, he and Johannes Ihl, Tobias Jungbluth and Antonio Krüger test electrode-reduction methods across three EEG-based speech-imagery datasets. Their study finds that the original 64 channels can be reduced by half without significant loss in classification accuracy.

  7. As of October 2026

    Senior researcher and lab head

    As of October 2026, he is a Senior Researcher in DFKI's Cognitive Assistants Department. Since 2020, he leads the Cognitive Assistants BCI-Lab, which develops BCIs for out-of-lab use and focuses on EEG workload modelling, imagined and spoken-speech detection, and ADHD neurodiagnostics; in 2026, it researches EEG-based pre-screening for ADHD in school children through NESCADE.

Career

  1. Since 2020Cognitive Assistants DepartmentLab Lead
  2. Since 2013DFKISoftware Engineer, Researcher

Education

  1. 2023Saarland UniversityPhD
  2. 2013Saarland University of Applied SciencesBSc and MSc

From the biography.

  1. Nonprofit roles are 2.3 times as common in AI safetyIncludes DFKI. We estimate where people focused on safety, alignment and evaluation work. Nonprofit roles appear for 25.1% of safety people with known affiliations, compared with 11.0% in other areas.
  2. The top 10 organizations employed 22% of people shaping AI in 2025: 51% of company researchers and 21% of university researchersIncludes DFKI. We estimate the share of people shaping AI who worked at the top 10 organizations each year from 1955 to 2025, comparing concentration across companies, universities, and institutes and labs.
  3. The United States employs an estimated 48% of people shaping AIIncludes DFKI. We estimate where the people shaping AI work today, how universities, companies and research institutes split across countries, and how country shares have changed since the 1960s.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes DFKI. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Maurice Rekrut yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Maurice Rekrut - CV mauricerekrut.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Personen – Das Kompetenzzentrum für Ambient Assisted Living ccaal.dfki.de. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Team – Social, Cognitive and Affective AI scaai.dfki.de. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Maurice Rekrut mauricerekrut.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. How low can you go: evaluating electrode reduction methods for EEG-based speech imagery BCIs frontiersin.org. Checked 21 October 2026.