In spite of considerable progress towards prosthetic devices controlled by neuronal signals, brain-machine interfaces and other neurotechnological devices, however, user-friendly, neurotechnical devices for everyday use remain a vision of the future, with numerous fundamental biological, technical, computational, clinical, and ethical problems still to be solved. The aim of the BCNT-FT consortium is the development of bidirectional hybrid neurotechnical devices for human usage. This will be implemented in three research clusters, each consisting of projects organized around a common goal: to understand the principles, to advance technology, and to explore and extend clinical applications. Each project addresses issues central to neurotechnology, from basic questions on decoding neuronal signals, interfacing biological neuronal networks to technical devices, actuators and real-time feedback systems, via the stable recording and interpretation of neuronal signals, to the clinical testing and application of new technologies. Research in the BCNT-FT will be supported by a matching, interdisciplinary training program for neurotechnology. In collaboration with industrial, applied and clinical partners neuroprosthetical devices for biomedical application will be developed.