March 2015 - Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

Students: spend the summer improving brain research software tools in Google Summer of Code

by Malin Sandström

Hi all, (apologies for cross-posting) are you a student interested in brain research and software development? Or do you know one? This year again, INCF is participating as mentoring organization in the Google Summer of Code, a global program that offers students stipends to spend the summer writing code for open source projects. INCF has 27 project proposals offered by mentors from the international research community, many of them with a computational neuroscience slant. All projects deal with development and/or improvement of open source tools that are used in the neuroscience community. You can see our full list of projects here: https://incf.org/gsoc/2015/proposals To be eligible, students must fulfill the Google definition of 'student': an individual enrolled in or accepted into an accredited institution including (but not necessarily limited to) colleges, universities, masters programs, PhD programs and undergraduate programs. Student applications open on *Monday, March 16.* <https://incf.org/gsoc/2015/proposals> Please forward to anyone you think might be interested! Best regards, Malin Sandström (INCF org admin for GSoC) GSoC questions welcome to: gsoc(a)incf.org -- Malin Sandström, PhD Community Engagement Officer malin.sandstrom(a)incf.org International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility Karolinska Institutet Nobels väg 15 A SE-171 77 Stockholm Sweden http://www.incf.org

March 12, 2015

What is the precision of synaptic plasticity?

by Terry Sejnowski

http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2015/03/11/016329 Hippocampal Spine Head Sizes are Highly Precise Thomas M Bartol, Cailey Bromer, Justin P Kinney, Michael A Chirillo, Jennifer N Bourne, Kristen M Harris, Terrence J Sejnowski The size of an EPSP is highly correlated with the the spine head volume for excitatory synapses on pyramidal cells. Spine heads on a dendrite originating from the same axon had the same volume, regardless of whether they were large or small. This has implications for the precision of the mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity. Terry -----

March 12, 2015

[meetings] Living Machines IV: Final Call for Papers, Satellite Events and Sponsors

by Nathan F Lepora

______________________________________________________________ Final Call for Papers, Satellite Events and Sponsors Living Machines IV: The 4th International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems 28th to 31st July 2015 http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines To be hosted at the La Pedrera Barcelona, Spain In association with the Universitat Pompeu Fabra Accepted papers will be published in Springer Lecturer Notes in Artificial Intelligence Submission deadline March 16th, 2015 ______________________________________________________________ ABOUT LIVING MACHINES 2015 The development of future real-world technologies will depend strongly on our understanding and harnessing of the principles underlying living systems and the flow of communication signals between living and artificial systems. Biomimetics is the development of novel technologies through the distillation of principles from the study of biological systems. The investigation of biomimetic systems can serve two complementary goals. First, a suitably designed and configured biomimetic artefact can be used to test theories about the natural system of interest. Second, biomimetic technologies can provide useful, elegant and efficient solutions to unsolved challenges in science and engineering. Biohybrid systems are formed by combining at least one biological component—an existing living system—and at least one artificial, newly-engineered component. By passing information in one or both directions, such a system forms a new hybrid bio-artificial entity. The following are some examples: • Biomimetic robots and their component technologies (sensors, actuators, processors) that can intelligently interact with their environments. • Active biomimetic materials and structures that self-organize and self-repair. • Biomimetic computers—neuromimetic emulations of the physiological basis for intelligent behaviour. • Biohybrid brain-machine interfaces and neural implants. • Artificial organs and body-parts including sensory organ-chip hybrids and intelligent prostheses. • Organism-level biohybrids such as robot-animal or robot-human systems. ACTIVITIES The main conference will take the form of a three-day single-track oral and poster presentation programme, 29th to 31st July 2015, hosted at the La Pedrera, Barcelona, Spain. The conference programme will include five plenary lectures from leading international researchers in biomimetic and biohybrid systems, and the demonstrations of state-of-the-art living machine technologies. Agreed speakers are: Roger Quinn, Robots Insect Locomotion (Case Western Reserve University) Ryad Benosman, Neuromorphic. Event-based time oriented vision (Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, France) Barbara Mazzolai, Biomimetic Robots (IIT@SSSA, Italy) Robert Richardson, Exploration Robotics (Leeds University, UK) Jose Halloy, Collective intelligence in natural and artificial systems (Université Paris Diderot LIED) Also a special talk on Biomimetics in Design Nimish Biloria, Bio-inspired performative design (TU Delf University of Technology, The Netherlands) The full conference will be preceded by a day of Satellite Events hosted by the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. SUBMITTING TO LIVING MACHINES 2015 We invite both full papers and short papers in areas related to the conference themes. All contributions will be refereed and accepted papers will appear in the Living Machines 2015 proceedings which we expect to be published in the Springer-Verlag LNAI Series. Full papers (minimum 8 and up to 12 pages) are invited from researchers at any stage in their career but should present significant findings and advances in biomimetic or biohybid research; more preliminary work would be better suited to shorter paper submission (minimum 4 pages with a maximum of eight references and no more than two self-citations) Further details of submission formats will be circulated in an updated CfP and will be posted on the conference web-site. http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2015/submission Full papers will be accepted for either oral presentation (single track) or poster presentation. Extended abstracts will be accepted for poster presentation only. Authors of the best full papers will be invited to submitted extended versions of their paper for publication in a special issue of Bioinspiration and Biomimetics. Satellite events Active researchers in biomimetic and biohybrid systems are invited to propose topics for 1-day tutorials, symposia or workshops on related themes to be held 27-28th July at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Attendance at satellite events will attract a small fee intended to cover the costs of the meeting. There is a lot of flexibility about the content, organisation, and budgeting for these events. Please contact us if you are interested in organising a satellite event! EXPECTED DEADLINES March 16th, 2015 Paper submission deadline May 1st, 2015 Notification of acceptance May 22nd, 2015 Camera ready copy July 28th-31st 2015 Conference SPONSORSHIP Living Machines 2015 is sponsored by the Convergent Science Network (CSN) for Biomimetics and Neurotechnology. CSN is an EU FP7 Future Emerging Technologies Co-ordination Activity that also organises two highly successful workshop series: the Barcelona Summer School on Brain, Technology and Cognition (http://bcbt.upf.edu and the Capocaccia Neuromorphic Cognitive Engineering Workshop. The 2015 Living Machines conference will also be hosted and sponsored by the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Call for Sponsors. Other organisations wishing to sponsor the conference in any way and gain the corresponding benefits by promoting themselves and their products to through conference publications, the conference web-site, and conference publicity are encouraged to contact the conference organisers to discuss the terms of sponsorship and necessary arrangements. We offer a number of attractive and good-value packages to potential sponsors. ABOUT THE VENUE Living Machines 2015 returns to the venue of our first conference at the beautiful biomimetic building La Pedrera (Casa Mila) (https://www.lapedrera.com/en/home) designed by renowned modernist architect Antoni Gaudi. Attendees at the conference will get a free ticket to visit this historic building in the centre the Barcelona. Workshops will be held at the Poblenou Campus of Universitat Pompeu Fabra, close to hotel and restaurant area of the Diagonal and Ramblas de Poblenou and a short walk from Barcelona’s famous beaches. Organising Committee: Paul Verschure, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Co-chair) Tony Prescott, University of Sheffield (Co-chair) Stuart Wilson, University of Sheffield (Program Chair) Anna Mura, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Communications, Local Organiser) Nathan Lepora, University of Bristol (Communications) Living Machines 2015 Program Committee: Andrew Adamatzky, Robert Allen, Joseph Ayers, Yoseph Bar-Cohen, Lucia Beccai, Frédéric Boyer, Federico Carpi, Hillel Chiel, Anders Christensen, Danilo De Rossi, Angel del Pobil, Stéphane Doncieux, Marco Dorigo, Armin Duff, Volker Dürr Wolfgang Eberle, Benoît Girard, Roderich Gross, José Halloy, Koh Hosoda, Ioannis Ieropoulos, Auke Ijspeert, Holger Krapp, Cecilia Laschi, Nathan Lepora, Ben Mitchinson, Keisuke Morishima, Anna Mura, Jiro Okada, Enrico Pagello, Martin Pearson, Andrew Philippides, Tony Pipe, Tony Prescott, Roger Quinn, Sylvain Saighi, Thomas Schmickl, Reiko Tanaka, Eleni Vasilaki, Stefano Vassanelli, Paul Verschure, Stuart Wilson (Chair), Hartmut Witte

March 11, 2015

Postdoctoral Position in Human Intracranial Physiology at the National Institutes of Health

by Zaghloul, Kareem (NIH/NINDS) [E]

A full-time post-doctoral position focused on understanding the neural correlates of human cognitive function is available in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the NIH. This position involves studies focused on analyzing and manipulating human intracranial electrophysiological signals, including single-unit activity, local field potentials, and electro corticography (ECoG), captured from patients with medically refractory epilepsy and from patients receiving deep brain stimulation surgery. Post-doctoral fellows will join a laboratory aimed at understanding the neural mechanisms that underlie human memory and decision making and at developing novel and innovative techniques to directly communicate with those circuits. We are seeking candidates that are highly creative, motivated, and independent with a Ph.D. in neuroscience, biomedical engineering, or a related field. Candidates must have a strong research background, with a record of relevant publications. Candidates will be encouraged and expected to participate in independent laboratory research, and will be expected to write scholarly manuscripts. Candidates must be able to lead and work well in a team. Candidates should have strong computational, quantitative, and/or engineering skills, with proficiency in developing custom code (Matlab, Python, etc.) for data analysis preferred. Past medical research is not required, but candidates must be willing to perform experiments in a clinical setting. Candidates will interact with clinical staff, graduate students, research fellows, and must have excellent spoken and written English skills. Applicants should submit a brief statement of research activities and interests, a current CV, and names and contact information of at least three references. Salary will be commensurate with experience and accomplishments. To arrange a meeting with the PI and to send materials required for consideration for this appointment please contact Dr. Zaghloul at: zaghloulka(a)mail.nih.gov<mailto:zaghloulka@mail.nih.gov> NIH, an agency of DHHS, is an equal opportunity employer.

March 11, 2015

ECMLPKDD 2015 : Nectar Track

by ECMLPKDD 2015

The European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles and Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases (ECMLPKDD 2015) will take place on September 7 of 2015, in Porto Portugal ( <http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org/> http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org/) and includes a Nectar Track that offers conference attendees a compact overview of recent scientific advances at the frontier of machine learning and data mining with other disciplines, as published in related conferences and journals. We invite senior and junior researchers to submit summaries of their own work published in neighboring fields, such as (but not limited to) artificial intelligence, data analytics, bioinformatics, games, computational linguistics, computer vision, geoinformatics, health informatics, database theory, human computer interaction, information and knowledge management, robotics, pattern recognition, statistics, social network analysis, theoretical computer science, uncertainty in AI, network science, complex systems science, and computationally oriented sociology, economy, statistics and biology. Particularly welcome is work that illustrates the pervasiveness of data-driven exploration and modelling in science and technology, as well as innovative applications. Accepted NECTAR contributions will be presented as talks or posters and included in the conference proceedings. Important dates Submission deadline: May 4, 2015 Notifications of acceptance: June 1, 2015 Submission of camera ready copies: June 15, 2015 Detailed information about the Nectar Track is available on: http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org/submission/call-nectar-track-contributions For further information please contact the ECMLPKDD 2015 Nectar Track Chairs: Ricard Gavaldà (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya) Dino Pedreschi (Università di Pisa) Hope to see you all soon in Porto, Portugal!!! The publicity chairs of the ECMLPKDD 2015, Carlos Abreu Ferreira Ricardo Campos --- Este e-mail foi verificado em termos de vírus pelo software antivírus Avast. http://www.avast.com

March 10, 2015

Two postdoctoral positions in Systems/Computational Neuroscience, UPenn

by Nicole Rust

Two postdoctoral positions - one purely computational and another combined experimental and computational - are currently available in the laboratory of Nicole Rust at the University of Pennsylvania. Both positions are focused on understanding object-related processing at higher stages of the primate visual system. Of particular interest are the neural mechanisms responsible for our ability to remember the enormous numbers of objects that we have encountered before, and how the same neural populations can both encode visual memories after a single experience and support perceptually stable object representations. Our research group uses a variety of methods, including awake primate neurophysiology, population decoding, and computational modeling, to arrive at descriptions of the transformations that occur as object-related signals propagate through the brain. More information about the lab can be found here: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/psych/rust-lab. The Rust lab is part of a substantive Systems, Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience community at UPenn and is part of the newly established Penn Computational Neuroscience Initiative: http://cni.upenn.edu/. Candidates should have a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Biomedical Engineering, or a related field prior to starting. Essential qualifications include strong quantitative skills. To inquire about this position, please contact Nicole Rust nrust(a)psych.upenn.edu.

March 10, 2015

Re: [Comp-neuro] CFP 7th International Conference on Evolutionary Computation Theory and Applications - ECTA 2015

by Calendar Sites

CALL FOR PAPERS 7th International Conference on Evolutionary Computation Theory and Applications ECTA 2015 Website: http://www.ecta.ijcci.org/ November 12 14, 2015 Lisbon, Portugal Regular Papers Paper Submission: June 2, 2015 Authors Notification: September 1, 2015 Camera Ready and Registration: September 30, 2015 Position Papers Paper Submission: July 14, 2015 Authors Notification: September 16, 2015 Camera Ready and Registration: September 30, 2015 Sponsored by: INSTICC-Institute for Systems and Technologies of Information, Control and Communication INSTICC is Member of: WfMC Workflow Management Coalition OMG Object Management Group FIPA Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents In Cooperation with: AI*IA Associazione Italiana per l'Intelligenza Artificiale AAAI Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence APPIA Associação Portuguesa Para a Inteligência Artificial Logistics Partner: SCITEVENTS Science and Technology Events Considered a subfield of computational intelligence focused on combinatorial optimisation problems, evolutionary computation is associated with systems that use computational models of evolutionary processes as the key elements in design and implementation, i.e. computational techniques which are based to some degree on the evolution of biological life in the natural world. A number of evolutionary computational models have been proposed, including evolutionary algorithms, genetic algorithms, the evolution strategy, evolutionary programming, swarm intelligence and artificial life. This conference intends to be a major forum for scientists, engineers and practitioners interested in the study, analysis, design, modeling and implementation of evolvable systems, both theoretically and in a broad range of application fields. ECTA welcomes both theoretical research and practical applications. The conference also aims to foster hybrid approaches within evolutionary computation and also involving fuzzy computation and neural computation. IJCCI KEYNOTE LECTURES Julian Togelius, New York University, United States Yaochu Jin, University of Surrey, United Kingdom PUBLICATIONS All accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings, under an ISBN reference, on paper and on CD-ROM support. SCITEPRESS is member of CrossRef ( <http://www.crossref.org/> http://www.crossref.org/) All papers presented at the conference venue will be available at the <http://www.scitepress.org/DigitalLibrary/Default.aspx> SCITEPRESS Digital Library. The proceedings will be submitted for indexation by Thomson Reuters Conference Proceedings Citation Index (ISI), INSPEC, DBLP, EI (Elsevier Index) and Scopus. AWARDS The awards will be announced and bestowed at the conference closing session. IJCCI CONFERENCE CHAIR Joaquim Filipe, Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal / INSTICC, Portugal PROGRAM CO-CHAIRS Agostinho Rosa, IST, Portugal Juan Julian Merelo, University of Granada, Spain CONFERENCE TOPICS: * Genetic Algorithms * Machine Learning * Cognitive Systems * Artificial Life * Representation Techniques * Evolutionary Multiobjective Optimization * Game Theory and Applications * Evolution Strategies * Evolutionary Robotics and Intelligent Agents * Society and Cultural Aspects of Evolution * Concurrent Co-operation * Co-evolution and Collective Behavior * Biocomputing and Complex Adaptive Systems * Bio-inspired Hardware and Networks * Swarm/Collective Intelligence * Evolutionary Art and Design * Hybrid Systems * Memetic Algorithms PROGRAM COMMITTEE <http://www.ecta.ijcci.org/ProgramCommittee.aspx> http://www.ecta.ijcci.org/ProgramCommittee.aspx ECTA SECRETARIAT Address: Av. D. Manuel I, 27A, 2º esq. 2910-595 Setúbal - Portugal Tel.: +351 265 100 033 Fax: +44 203 014 8813 e-mail: ecta.secretariat(a)insticc.org Please check further details at the conference website (http://www.ecta.ijcci.org) _____ <http://www.avast.com/> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com <http://www.avast.com/> --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com

March 10, 2015

ECMLPKDD 2015 : PhD Session

by ECMLPKDD 2015

The European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles and Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases (ECMLPKDD 2015) will take place on September 7 of 2015, in Porto Portugal ( <http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org/> http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org/) The conference includes a PhD session that provides an environment for students to exchange their ideas and experiences with peers and senior researchers in machine learning, data mining, and related areas. We invite PhD students (PhD in progress or defended not earlier than 31st December 2014) to submit papers on all aspects of machine learning, knowledge discovery and data mining, including real-world applications. Papers submitted to ECML/PKDD 2015 PhD session will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be presented in the special PhD session at ECMLPKDD 2015 and will be published in the session proceedings which will be available through the conference website. Important Dates Paper submission deadline: June 10 2015 Author notification: July 15 2015 Camera-ready: August 5 2015 Doctoral consortium session: September 7 2015 Detailed information about the PhD Session is available on: http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org/submission/doctoral-consortium For further information please contact the ECMLPKDD 2015 PhD Chairs: Jaakko Hollmen (Aalto University) Panagiotis Papapetrou (Stockholm University) Hope to see you all soon in Porto, Portugal!!! The publicity chairs of the ECMLPKDD 2015, Carlos Abreu Ferreira Ricardo Campos --- Este e-mail foi verificado em termos de vírus pelo software antivírus Avast. http://www.avast.com

March 10, 2015

PhD position in Computational neuroscience in social cognition

by Emilija Meier-Faust

PhD position in Computational neuroscience in social cognition, 50% Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-University Berlin A doctoral position in the area Computational neuroscience in social cognition is available from April 1st for three years at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain in the Social Cognition group. The successful candidate will work with Prof. Isabel Dziobek, Ph.D. and Prof. Timothy R. Brick, PhD (Penn State University) as well as other research group members in the collaborative consortium „From emotion model to adaptive learning: Emotion sensitive systems for training social cognition“ (BMBF InterEmotio/EMOTISK). For information on the group visit: http://www.psychology.hu-berlin.de/profship/soccog The project aims at investigating the automatic classification of socio-emotional signals multimodally (facial expressions, gaze direction, brain activation) using computer vision, automatic emotion tracking, eyetracking, and fMRI methods among others. The successful candidate will have strong programming and quantitative research skills, including computer vision, statistical modeling, and machine learning. Interest in social cognitive/computational neuroscience, fMRI, psychophysics, and/or human-machine interaction and prior experience programming on open-source projects is a plus. Requirements: BMA/MSc in e.g. computer science, statistics, cognitive (neuro-)science, psychology (or any other relevant field) Background in statistics, computer vision, or statistical modeling Expertise in Matlab, C/C++, or equivalent programming languages Excellent skills in written and spoken English Strong motivation Terms and conditions for this position: Position is to start 1 April 2015 Position is available for 3 years Salary scale TV-L HU E13 (please contact mb-manager(a)hu-berlin.de) Application: To apply, please e-mail (isabel.dziobek(a)hu-berlin.de) your cover letter and CV (in one pdf file) including names of 2-3 referees and up to 5 reprints (also in pdf format). Files should be named as follows: YOURNAME_letter_cv YOURNAME_reprint_1 YOURNAME_reprint_2 YOURNAME_reprint_3 YOURNAME_reprint_4 YOURNAME_reprint_5 Please note: The max. size for all files sent in one mailing is 6 MB! Deadline: Please check http://www.mind-and-brain.de/people/social-cognition-group/

March 10, 2015

Postdoctoral position in Cognitive Neuroscience in Social Cognition

by Emilija Meier-Faust

Postdoctoral position in Cognitive Neuroscience in Social Cognition, 100% Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin A postdoctoral position in the area of Neuroimaging in Social Cognition is available from 1 April 2015 for three years at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain in the Social Cognition group. The successful candidate will work with Prof. Isabel Dziobek, Ph.D. and Prof. Timothy R. Brick, PhD (Penn State University) as well as other research group members in the collaborative consortium „From emotion model to adaptive learning: Emotion sensitive systems for training social cognition“ (BMBF InterEmotio/EMOTISK). For information on the group visit: http://www.psychology.hu-berlin.de/profship/soccog The project aims at investigating the associations between behavioral (e.g., facial expressions, eye movements) and physiological (e.g., neuronal activity, skin conductance response) parameters of social cognition and emotion processing in healthy individuals and those with autism spectrum disorder. Among others emotion induction and mimicry will be investigated using fMRI, eyetracking, and computer vision as well as automatic emotion tracking. A further focus will be on the trainability of socio-emotional processing using computer-based training programs targeting emotion recognition. The successful candidate will have strong quantitative research skills including knowledge about social cognitive/emotion neuroscience in fMRI and preferably also in psychopathology, psychophysics, and/or eyetracking. Interest in human-machine interactions, statistical modeling, and computational neuroscience is furthermore expected. Requirements PhD/doctorate in e.g. psychology, medicine, cognitive (neuro-)science, neurobiology (or any other relevant field) Solid background in statistics, experience with fMRI, psychophysics, or eyetracking Expertise in Matlab or equivalent programming languages Evidence of published peer-reviewed research Excellent skills in written and spoken English Strong motivation Terms and conditions for this position: Position is to start 1 April 2015 Position is available for 3 years Salary scale TV-L HU E13 (please contact mb-manager(a)hu-berlin.de) Application: To apply, please e-mail (isabel.dziobek(a)hu-berlin.de) your cover letter and CV (in one pdf file) including names of 2-3 referees and up to 5 reprints (also in pdf format). Files should be named as follows: YOURNAME_letter_cv YOURNAME_reprint_1 YOURNAME_reprint_2 YOURNAME_reprint_3 YOURNAME_reprint_4 YOURNAME_reprint_5 Please note: The max. size for all files sent in one mailing is 6 MB! Deadline: Please check http://www.mind-and-brain.de/people/social-cognition-group/

March 10, 2015