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

Phd or Post-Doc Robot Learning positions at INRIA Bordeaux
by Manuel Lopes 18 Aug '15

18 Aug '15

To all interested, We are seeking applications for phd students (3years) and/or postdocs (2.5years) in the area of artificial intelligence and robot learning at Inria. Our interests are in developing machines that are able to learn novel skills and capable of natural and robust interaction with people. We focus our research on intelligent exploration techniques, robot learning and automatic learning of representation for artificial intelligence. One position is open to work in an international research project (with partners from Canada, Sweden, Spain, Belgium and France). The candidates will be involved in research in the areas of deep learning of action and state representations, and interactive machine learning. The candidates must have strong mathematical competences, experience in machine learning and programming proficiency (e.g. C/C++, Matlab, Python or Java). Knowledge of deep learning and/or experience with real robots is a plus. Inria is a highly reputed french national center for computer science and automation. It has more than 3000 researchers and is distributed among 8 centers. These positions are for the Flowers Team at Inria Bordeaux Sud-Ouest and will involve travelling for collaborating with the project partners. Bordeaux is a growing city with a wonderful natural landscape, a very active city life and with a booming economy. Is has a very privileged location: 3h from Paris, 2h from Toulose, 30 minutes from the sea and 2hours from the Pyreness mountains. It has very good travel connections with fast trains and international flights including low-cost companies. Interested candidates should send a detailed CV, and email addresses of three references to Manuel Lopes at manuel.lopes(a)inria.fr . Review of applications will continue until the position is filled. Desired starting date is 1 of November 2015. http://flowers.inria.fr http://3rdhandrobot.eu/ http://www.inria.fr http://www.bordeaux.fr/ --------------------------------------------------------------- Manuel Lopes - Researcher flowers.inria.fr/mlopes FLOWERS team Phone: +33524574179 INRIA Bordeaux Sud-Ouest, Bat. A29 351 Cours de la Libération 33405 Talence, Cedex, France ---------------------------------------------------------------

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MSc program in Neural Systems and Computation - University of Zurich and ETH Zurich
by Michael Pfeiffer 17 Aug '15

17 Aug '15

We are inviting applications for the MSc program in Neural Systems and Computation, an interdisciplinary program offered as a Joint Master Program by the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland. The program offers a theoretical and laboratory training in neural computation and systems neuroscience. It offers hands-on knowledge of data gathering, analysis and scientific presentation. Students join an international and interdisciplinary research community with expertise in neuroinformatics, advanced experimental techniques and neuromorphic engineering. Further information can be found on our homepage http://www.nsc.uzh.ch. We offer a specialized full-time Masters program open to students with a Bachelor’s degree in the following disciplines: neurosciences, information technology, electrical engineering, biology, physics, computer sciences, chemistry, mathematics, and mechanical/chemical/control engineering. The core courses (all offered in English) provide a common foundation for students with different educational backgrounds, and cover the following: 1. Systems Neurosciences 2. Neural Computation and Theoretical Neuroscience 3. Neurotechnologies and Neuromorphic Engineering The application deadline for students starting in Spring Semester 2016 is *September 15th 2015*. Details about the application process and required documents can be found here: http://www.nsc.uzh.ch/?page_id=10 Mentors of the program are Richard Hahnloser, Kevan Martin, Daniel Kiper, Giacomo Indiveri, Ruedi Stoop, Tobi Delbruck, Shih-Chii Liu, Klaas Enno Stephan, Fritjof Helmchen, Jean-Pascal Pfister, Fatih Yanik, Michael Pfeiffer, Matthew Cook, Valerio Mante, Arko Ghosh, and Wolfger von der Behrens. The program is affiliated with the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Faculty (MNF) at the University of Zurich (UZH) and the Information Technology and Electrical Engineering Department (D-ITET) of the ETH Zurich. All applications are handled by the University of Zurich. Application documents should be sent by email to nsc(a)ini.uzh.ch. Best regards, Michael Pfeiffer -- ========================================= Dr. Michael Pfeiffer Postdoc, Program coordinator NSC Institute of Neuroinformatics University of Zurich and ETH Zurich Winterthurerstrasse 190 CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland Tel. +41 44 635 30 45 Fax +41 44 635 30 53 pfeiffer (at) ini.phys.ethz.ch http://www.ini.uzh.ch/~pfeiffer/ =========================================

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Update 1: 2016 IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence
by IEEE WCCI 2016 17 Aug '15

17 Aug '15

Dear Colleagues, Below please find some updated information about 2016 IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence (IEEE WCCI 2016). 2016 IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence Vancouver Convention Centre, Vancouver, Canada 25-29 July 2016 www.wcci2016.org-------~*******~----------- Call for Special Sessions -------~*******~----------- Special session proposals are invited to the 2016 IEEE WCCI. Special session proposals should include the title, aim and scope (including a list of main topics), and the names of the organizers of the special session, together with a short biography of all organizers. A list of potential contributors will be very helpful. All special sessions proposals should be submitted to the Special Sessions Chairs. Click here to know more about provisionally accepted IEEE WCCI 2016 special sessions ( http://www.wcci2016.org/spsessions.php). -----~*******~------ Speakers -----~*******~------ World renowned computer scientist and computational theorist, Chair Professor at Harvard University, 2010 Turing Award winner, Professor Leslie Valiant will deliver a Keynote at IEEE WCCI 2016. The 2016 IEEE Frank Rosenblatt Award winner, Professor Ronald R. Yager (IEEE Fellow), will receive his Award and deliver a Keynote at IEEE WCCI 2016. ---------------~*******~------------------- Indexing of Conference Proceedings ---------------~*******~------------------- The IEEE WCCI conference proceedings (including previous IJCNN, FUZZ-IEEE and CEC) have been included in the IEEE Xplore and traditionally indexed by other important databases, such as Web of Knowledge ISI Thomson, SCOPUS, EI, etc. --------~****~-------- Venue Information --------~****~-------- Pinnacle Vancouver Harbourfront Hotel and Vancouver Marriot Pinnacle Downtown are the IEEE WCCI 2016 designated congress hotels. Special congress room rates are avaiable now. Make your reservations early to enjoy these special room rates (http://www.wcci2016.org/venue.php)! -------~****~------- Important Dates -------~****~------- - Special Session & Workshop Proposals Deadline: 15 November 2015 - Competition & Tutorial Proposals Deadline: 15 December 2015 - *Paper Submission Deadline: 15 January 2016* - Paper Acceptance Notification Date: 15 March 2016 - Final Paper Submission & Early Registration Deadline: 15 April 2016 - IEEE WCCI 2016: 25-29 July 2016 For more information on the congress, please visit: www.wcci2016.org *Alternatively we can also be reached on the following social media platforms:* - https://www.facebook.com/WCCI2016; - https://twitter.com/wcci2016; - http://www.weibo.com/wcci2016; - http://t.qq.com/wcci2016 We look forward to welcoming you in Vancouver next year! Best wishes, KC Tan and Gary G. Yen 2016 IEEE WCCI General Co-Chairs

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High performance computing workshop at SFN 2015 Annual Meeting
by Ted Carnevale 17 Aug '15

17 Aug '15

What: This workshop is intended for neuroscientists who are engaged in computationally intensive tasks such as large modeling projects or analysis of neuroimaging data. With support from NSF, we are developing and expanding the Neuroscience Gateway Portal (NSG, http://www.nsgportal.org/), which eliminates most administrative and technical barriers involved in using high performance computing (HPC) resources. NSG offers free computing time and has a simple user interface so you can focus on productive research. Software currently installed includes the Freesurfer Software Suite, the Virtual Brain Empirical Data Pipeline (Schirner et al., 2015), and simulators such as Brian, MOOSE, GENESIS3, NEST, NEURON, and PyNN. This workshop will combine didactic presentations by NSG's developers, discussions with experienced users, and hands on instruction in how to use the portal. Where: Downtown Chicago, site TBA. When: 9AM - Noon on Saturday, October 17, 2015. Speakers: Amit Majumdar, Subha Sivagnanam, Padraig Gleeson, Simon Rothmeier, Ted Carnevale Registration deadline: Friday, October 2, 2015 For more information see http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/nsg2015/nsg2015.html or contact Ted Carnevale [ted dot carnevale at yale dot edu] or Amit Majumdar [majumdar at sdsc dot edu] References: Schirner, M., Rothmeier, S., Jirsa, V.K., McIntosh, A.R., Ritter, P.. An automated pipeline for constructing personalized virtual brains from multimodal neuroimaging data. Neuroimage 117:343-357, 2015.

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Call for Papers: 7th International Conference on Brain Inspired Cognitive Systems (BICS), 11-13 Dec 2015, Hefei, China
by Dr Amir Hussain 16 Aug '15

16 Aug '15

BICS'2015 Call for Papers (with journal ONLY conference proceedings - see details below!) With apologies for any cross-postings, please help circulate this CFP to friends and colleagues. Thank you in advance. BICS'2015 CFP website: http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/events/bics2015/cfp_e.html (ALL papers accepted (after a rigorous peer-review process) for presentation at the Conference will be published in the leading ISI-SCI indexed Springer journal: Cognitive Computation (http://springer.com/12559) as a multi-part Special Issue! - for more details, see the conference website, and below) Introduction to BICS'2015: The seventh 2015 International Conference on Brain Inspired Cognitive Systems (BICS 2015) will be held on December 11-13, 2015, in Hefei, Anhui, China, as a sequel of BICS 2004 - 2013. The first BICS 2004 was held in Stirling, Scotland, UK and the last BICS 2013 was held in Beijing, China, 9-13 June 2013 (http://www.conference123.org/bics2013/). The aim of BICS 2015 is to provide a high-level international forum for scientists, engineers, and educators to present the state-of-the-art of brain inspired cognitive systems research and applications in diverse fields. The conference will feature plenary lectures given by world renowned scholars, regular sessions with broad coverage, and special sessions focusing on popular and timely topics. Proceedings Information: BICS 2015 will be unique in that there will be no conference proceedings. ALL accepted papers will be published (following a rigorous peer review process) in the leading ISI-SCI indexed Springer journal: Cognitive Computation (http://springer.com/12559), as a multi-part Special Issue. Conference Location The conference will be held in Anhui University in Hefei, China. Hefei, formerly known as Hofei, Luzhou, or Luchow, is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province in Eastern China. Hefei Xinqiao International Airport provides scheduled passenger service to major airports in China and international cities as well. Hefei plays an important role in scientific research in China. It has seven national laboratories, second only to Beijing. We would be delighted to welcome you to Hefei in December. For more details on the venue, including travel information, see: http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/events/bics2015/venue_e.html Important Dates Full paper submission: 15 September 2015 First notification: 31 October 2015 Conference Dates: 11-13 December 2015 Revised/final manuscripts due: 31 December 2015 BICS'2015 Issue Publication Date: early 2016 Paper Submission: All prospective authors are invited to submit full-length papers (10-15 pages maximum) through the online Springer submission system (selecting the BICS2015 Special Issue), with a covering letter indicating the paper is being submitted for BICS'2015 (hhttp://www.editorialmanager.com/cogn/ <http://www.editorialmanager.com/cogn/>) - please indicate the relevant BICS Symposium name (see topics list on the Conference website). The submission of a paper implies that the paper is original and has not been submitted under review or copyright protected elsewhere. The authors of accepted papers will have an opportunity to revise their papers. If the paper is accepted, at least one of the authors listed on the paper (or his/her representative) must attend the conference and present the paper. On behalf of: BICS'2015 General co-Chairs: Professor Amir Hussain (University of Stirling, Scotland, UK) and Professor Bin Luo (Anhui University, China) and BICS'2015 Organizing Committee ( http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/events/bics2015/committee_e.html ) For any enquiries, please email: ahu(a)cs.stir.ac.uk or luobin(a)ahu.edu.cn -- The University is ranked in the QS World Rankings of the top 5% of universities in the world (QS World University Rankings, 2014) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

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The Virtual Brain Node #3 Workshop - REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
by Tanya Brown 14 Aug '15

14 Aug '15

** *NODE#3* : Training Workshop Chicago, IL - SfN 2015 Conference *October 16, 2015* www.thevirtualbrain.org/node3 In this workshop we will explain the fundamental principles of full brain network modelling using the open source neuroinformatics platform *The Virtual Brain (TVB)*. This simulation environment enables the biologically realistic modelling of network dynamics using Connectome-based approaches across different brain scales. Configurable brain network models generate macroscopic neuroimaging signals including functional MRI (fMRI), intracranial and stereotactic EEG, surface EEG and MEG for single subjects. Researchers from different backgrounds can benefit from an integrative software platform including a supporting framework for data management (generation, organization, storage, integration and sharing) and a simulation core written in Python. The architecture of TVB supports interaction with MATLAB packages, for example, the well-known Brain Connectivity Toolbox. *Workshop Goals:* to create a conceptual and technical understanding of the various network modelling approaches in TVB; familiarization with TVB graphical user interface, Python and Matlab programming environment and data formats. *Workshop Format: * lectures and hands-on tutorials - *space is limited** ================================================================== *For more details and registration, please visit our website <http://www.thevirtualbrain.org/>: * *http://www.thevirtualbrain.org/node3 <http://www.thevirtualbrain.org/node3>* ================================================================== *Important Dates:* - August 10, 2015 – Registration Open - *space is limited** - October 9, 2015 – Registration Closed - October 16, 2015 – TVB NODE#2 Training Workshop *Location:* Hyatt Regency Chicago Downtown Hotel <http://chicagoregency.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html> 151 East Wacker Drive Chicago, IL, 60601, USA *Note: This is a Society for Neuroscience (SfN) 2015 conference official satellite event.* With our best regards, *The TVB Team <http://www.thevirtualbrain.org/tvb/zwei/team>* -- *Tanya Brown* Program Manager - The Virtual Brain Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest 416-785-2500 x 2782 tbrown(a)research.baycrest.org

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Deep Learning and Continuous Time Computing - Track at SAC 2016 - Second CFP
by Davide Zambrano 14 Aug '15

14 Aug '15

Dear all, This is a Second Call for Paper to join our track at SAC 2016. The deadline for the submission of papers and SRC research abstract is September 11, 2015. Apologies for cross posting. Best regards. ACM Symposium on Applied Computing (SAC) 2016 The 31st Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing in Pisa, Italy, April 3 – 8, 2016. (webpage : http://www.acm.org/conferences/sac/sac2016/ <http://www.acm.org/conferences/sac/sac2016/>) Deep Learning and Continuous-Time Computing (webpage : http://event.cwi.nl/sac2016/ <http://event.cwi.nl/sac2016/>) Topics of interests: Deep learning Continuous-time learning Spiking Neural Networks Asynchronous computation Large scale parallel simulations and computing Neuromorphic computing Important Dates are published on the Conference <http://www.acm.org/conferences/sac/sac2016/>or Track <http://event.cwi.nl/sac2016/>webpages. Track Program Committee: Sander Bohte, CWI Amsterdam (NL) (Track Chair — email to s.m.bohte(a)cwi.nl <mailto:s.m.bohte@cwi.nl> ) Davide Zambrano, CWI Amsterdam (NL) (Track Chair — email to d.zambrano(a)cwi.nl <mailto:d.zambrano@cwi.nl> ) Thomas Nowotny, University of Sussex (UK) Stephen Furber, University of Manchester (UK) Karl Tuyls, University of Liverpool (UK) Shih-Chii Liu, University of Zurich/ETH Zurich (CH) Robert Babuska, Delft University of Technology (NL) Andre Gruning, University of Surrey (UK) Max Welling, University of Amsterdam (NL) Narayan Srinavasa, HRL Laboratories LLC (USA) Eleni Vasilaki, University of Sheffield (UK) Giacomo Indiveri, University of Zurich/ETH Zurich, (CH) Important notice: Paper registration is required, allowing the inclusion of the paper, poster, or SRC abstract in the conference proceedings. An author or a proxy attending SAC MUST present the paper. This is a requirement for including the work in the ACM/IEEE digital library. No-show of registered papers, posters, and SRC abstracts will result in excluding them from the ACM/IEEE digital library. Dr. Davide Zambrano PostDoc at CWI, Amsterdam (NL) MSc in Biomedical Eng. - PhD in Biorobotics D.Zambrano(a)cwi.nl Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) Science Park, 123 1098 XG - Amsterdam

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Reminder: Call for Papers: "Intelligent Music Systems and Applications" (Special Issue of the ACM Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology)
by perfe 14 Aug '15

14 Aug '15

Please re-distribute (and accept our apologies for any cross-posting) We are happy to announce the following call for papers: =========================================================== ACM Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology Special Issue on Intelligent Music Systems and Applications http://www.cp.jku.at/journals/tist_imsa_2015_cfp.html =========================================================== With the advent of music information retrieval (MIR), intelligent technologies have become an essential part of music systems and applications. This is evidenced by today’s omnipresence of digital online music stores and streaming services, which rely on music recommenders, automatic playlist generators, and music browsing interfaces. A large amount of MIR research leading to intelligent music applications deals with the extraction of musical and acoustic information directly from the audio signal using signal processing techniques. Other strategies exploit contextual aspects of music, not present in the signal, for example, community meta-data and trails of user interaction, as found, for instance, on social media platforms. Recently, also user-centric aspects are being considered, such as affect, personality, and user context. Intelligent music systems have also been developed as music creation tools, in which case the modeling of a composer's preferences or of genre/stylistic features are required. Topics of interest ------------------ This special issue addresses all aspects of music information, i.e., music content, context, and user aspects. Highest quality research that has not been published, nor is under review elsewhere, targeting one or more of the following topics in the context of intelligent music systems and applications is welcome: • Music Information Systems • Music Recommendation and Playlist Generation • Intelligent Music and Audio Browsing Interfaces • Games Based on Intelligent Music Analysis • Automatic Accompaniment or Real-time Tracking of Performances • Music Synthesis • Automatic Composition • Automatic Lyrics Generation • MIR in the Music Production Domain • Semantic Content Analysis, Knowledge Extraction, and Music Indexing • Collaborative Tags, Social Media Mining, Network Analysis • User Modeling and Personalized Music Systems • Personality, Emotion, and Affect • Hybrid Systems using Content and Context • Multimedia Approaches to MIR and Cross-media Recommendation • Large-Scale Music Retrieval • Evaluation, Mining of Ground Truth, and Data Collections Schedule -------- Paper Submission Deadline September 27, 2015 Notification after First Review Cycle December 20, 2015 Paper Revisions Deadline February 21, 2016 Final Notification April 24, 2016 Submission of Camera Ready Paper May 22, 2016 Manuscript submission --------------------- Please submit your manuscript through the ACM TIST submission system at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tist (select "Special Issue: Intelligent Music Systems and Applications" as the manuscript type). Submissions must adhere to the ACM TIST instructions and guidelines for authors available at http://tist.acm.org/authors.html. Guest editors ------------- Markus Schedl Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria Yi-Hsuan Yang Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan Perfecto Herrera Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain Contact ------- If you have any further questions, please contact us via e-mail: Markus Schedl (markus.schedl(a)jku.at), Yi-Hsuan Yang (yang(a)citi.sinica.edu.tw), and Perfecto Herrera (perfecto.herrera(a)upf.edu)

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Postdoc job: Connectivity analysis in Brisbane, University of Queensland
by Ross Cunnington 14 Aug '15

14 Aug '15

Postdoctoral Research Fellow Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia Applications are invited for a position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Queensland Brain Institute (www.qbi.uq.edu.au) and Science of Learning Research Centre (www.slrc.org.au), Brisbane Australia. Research will involve modelling of connectivity using graph theoretical analysis, applied to physiological data recorded from students in school classrooms. This is a large and unique collaboration between neuroscience and education, bringing brain connectivity modelling methods to examine inter-person connectivity in school classrooms. Applicants must have a PhD in cognitive or computational neuroscience or a related area and strong research experience in connectivity data modelling. This position would suit someone with experience in brain connectivity analysis looking to further develop techniques to apply in novel ways. See more details at: http://jobs.uq.edu.au/caw/en/job/497744/postdoctoral-research-fellow CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: 28 AUGUST -+- A/Prof Ross Cunnington, Principal Research Fellow School of Psychology & Queensland Brain Institute University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia Phone: +61 7 3346 6330

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desperately seeking neural data scientists
by Liam Paninski 12 Aug '15

12 Aug '15

Hi all (apologies for the cross-post) - we have multiple postdoctoral positions open in statistical neuroscience and machine learning. Full details here: http://grossmancenter.columbia.edu/postdoc.html, and copied below. Please share with anyone who might be interested. L Postdoctoral positions in statistical neuroscience and machine learning Multiple postdoctoral positions are available immediately in Columbia University's Grossman Center for the Statistics of the Mind, a new center focusing on the intersection of neuroscience, machine learning, and statistics. The Grossman Center bridges Columbia's Statistics and Neuroscience departments, and is closely integrated with the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience. The Grossman Center is part of Columbia's larger, growing initiatives in neuroscience and data sciences, all located in New York City. The principal appointments will be in the Statistics department, in the research groups of Liam Paninski and/or John Cunningham, with ample opportunities for interaction with an exceptional group of experimental and theoretical collaborators, including M. Churchland, L. Abbott, D. Blei, R. Yuste, R. Bruno, T. Jessell, K. Miller, E. Hillman, E.J. Chichilnisky, E. Simoncelli, K. Shenoy, M. Ahrens, and more. Requirements: Qualifications include primarily a strong research portfolio in computational neuroscience, statistical neuroscience, machine learning, or a related field. Backgrounds in analyzing large neural datasets, modeling complex neural systems, and cutting-edge machine learning will be particularly valuable. These positions are highly quantitative and highly interdisciplinary; applicants should have a PhD in Electrical Engineering, Statistics, Machine Learning, Physics, Applied Mathematics, or Computational Neuroscience. Appointment: The initial appointments will be for one year, and are renewable. Salaries will be set based on experience and skills. Applicants should send email to "grossman at stat dot columbia dot edu" providing: 1. a one-page description of past research experience 2. a one-page description of future research interests and goals 3. a resume of educational and research experience, including publications 4. names of at least two people that could provide letters of reference All materials should be in pdf or plain text. Applications will be reviewed as they arrive until the positions are filled; interested candidates are encouraged to express their interest early. Due to demand, we may not be able to reply to all applications.

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