December 2016 - Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

4th International Synthetic & Systems Biology Summer School, July 17-21, 2017, University of Cambridge, UK

by Giuseppe Nicosia

_________________________________________ Call for Participation (apologies for multiple copies) _________________________________________ 4th International Synthetic & Systems Biology Summer School *Biology meets Computer Science & Engineering* July 17-21, 2017, University of Cambridge, UK W: http://www.taosciences.it/ssbss/ E: ssbss.school(a)gmail.com F: https://www.facebook.com/ssbss.school/ APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 31, 2017 http://www.taosciences.it/ssbss/#application-form <http://www.taosciences.it/ssbss/#application-form> DESCRIPTION & GOALS: Recent advances in DNA synthesis have increased our ability to build biological systems. Synthetic Biology aims at streamlining the design and synthesis of robust and predictable biological systems using engineering design principles and advanced algorithms. Designing biological systems requires a deep understanding of how genes and proteins are organized and interact in living cells: Systems Biology aims at elucidating the cellular organization at gene, protein and network level using computational and biochemical methods. The Synthetic and Systems Biology Summer School (SSBSS) is a full-immersion five-day residential summer school at the Robinson College, University of Cambridge, UK on cutting-edge advances in systems and synthetic biology with lectures delivered by world-renowned experts. The school provides a stimulating environment for students (from Master students to PhD students), Post-Docs, early career researches, academics and industry leaders. Participants will also have the chance to present their results, and to interact with their peers, in a friendly and constructive environment. LIST OF SPEAKERS: * Antonino Cattaneo, Scuola Normale Superiore Pisa, Italy * Jasmin Fisher, Microsoft Research & Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, UK * Carole Goble, University of Manchester, UK * Jim Haseloff, University of Cambridge, UK * Jay Keasling, University of California, Berkeley, USA Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA Joint BioEnergy Institute, USA * Edda Klipp, Humboldt University, Germany * Natalio Krasnogor, Centre for Synthetic Biology and Bioexploitation, Newcastle University, UK * Markus Ralser, Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge, UK & The Francis Crick Institute London, UK * Uwe Sauer, Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland * Sarah Teichmann, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute & EMBL, European Bioinformatics Institute, UK SCHOOL DIRECTORS: * Massimo Gulisano, University of Catania, Italy * Giuseppe Nicosia, University of Catania, Italy * Steve G. Oliver, University of Cambridge, UK CALL FOR POSTERS & TALKS: The International Synthetic & Systems Biology Summer School is especially aimed to provide a stimulating environment for young researchers, Post-Doc and Ph.D. Students. They will have the possibility to present the results of their research activities on the topic of the summer school, and to interact with their scientific peers, in a friendly and constructive way. Applicants may submit an abstract to present their results. The abstract should be submitted before 31 March 2017. Suitable space will be reserved to the applicants for showing their posters. The poster must be written in English. For your poster, a board will be provided which measures 90cm tall by 70cm wide. You need to print and bring with you the poster to the school. Push tacks or Velcro adhesive will be provided at the conference to mount your poster to the board. POSTER & TALK SUBMISSION: Applicant may submit a research abstract for presentation using the Application Form. School directors and the Scientific Committee will review the abstracts and will recommend for poster or short-oral presentation. Abstract should be submitted by March 31, 2017. The abstracts will be published on the electronic hands-out material of the summer school. http://www.taosciences.it/ssbss/#application-form PREVIOUS EDITIONS: http://www.taosciences.it/ssbss2016/ http://www.taosciences.it/ssbss2015/ http://www.taosciences.it/ssbss2014/ MORE INFORMATION: W: http://www.taosciences.it/ssbss/ E: ssbss.school(a)gmail.com F: https://www.facebook.com/ssbss.school/ * Please help us distributing in your circles (emails, blogs, and social networks) the call for participation and call for oral talks/posters for SSBSS 2017. Together we will make SSBSS 2017 a great event! * SSBSS - Synthetic & Systems Biology Summer School Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/238417586492061/ Computational Synthetic Biology Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1014624245288596/

Dec. 26, 2016

CFP - 13th International Conference on Machine Learning and Data Mining in Pattern Recognition (MLDM 2017)

by Sandhya Prabhakaran

Hi, ** We apologize in advance if you receive multiple copies of this CFP ** ** Kindly help to distribute this CFP to your mailing list ** *4th Call for Papers * 13th International Conference on Machine Learning and Data Mining in Pattern Recognition (*MLDM 2017*) www.mldm.de July 15th - 21st, 2017 New York, USA Chair: Prof. Dr. Petra Perner Institute of Computer Vision and applied Computer Sciences, IBaI Leipzig/Germany Program Committee Sergey Ablameyko Belarus State University, Belarus Michelangelo Ceci Universtiy of Bari, Italy Patrick Bouthemy INRIA VISTA, France Xiaoqing Ding Tsinghua University, China Christoph F. Eick Universtiy of Houston, USA Ana Fred Technical University of Lisboa, Portugal Giorgio Giacinto University of Cagliari, Italy Makato Haraguchi Hokkaido University of Sapporo, Japan Dimitris Karras Chalkis Institute of Technology, Greece Adam Krzyzak Concordia University, Canada Thang V. Pham University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Linda Shapiro University of Washington, USA Shashank Shekhar VMware Inc., USA Tamas Sziranyi MTA-SZTAKI, Hungary Francis E.H. Tay National University of Singapore, Singapore Alexander Ulanov HP Labs, Russia Zeev Volkovich ORT Braude College of Engineering, Israel Patrick Wang Northeastern University, USA Aim of the Conference ------------------------- The MLDM´2017 conference is the tenth event in a series of Machine Learning and Data Mining meetings, initially organised as international workshops. The aim of MLDM´2017 is to bring together from all over the world researchers dealing with machine learning and data mining, in order to discuss the recent status of the research in the field and to direct its further developments. Basic research papers as well as application papers are welcome. All kinds of applications are welcome, but special preference will be given to multimedia related applications, biomedical applications, and webmining. Paper submissions should be related but not limited to any of the following topics: * association rules * case-based reasoning and learning * classification and interpretation of images, text, video * conceptional learning and clustering * Goodness measures and evaluaion (e.g. false discovery rates) * inductive learning including decision tree and rule induction learning * knowledge extraction from text, video, signals and images * mining gene data bases and biological data bases * mining images, temporal-spatial data, images from remote sensing * mining structural representations such as log files, text documents and HTML documents * mining text documents * organisational learning and evolutional learning * probabilistic information retrieval * Selection bias * Sampling methods * Selection with small samples * similarity measures and learning of similarity * statistical learning and neural net based learning * video mining * visualization and data mining * Applications of Clustering * Aspects of Data Mining * Applications in Medicine * Autoamtic Semantic Annotation of Media Content * Bayesian Models and Methods * Case-Based Reasoning and Associative Memory * Classification and Model Estimation * Content-Based Image Retrieval * Decision Trees * Deviation and Novelty Detection * Feature Grouping, Discretization, Selection and Transformation * Feature Learning * Frequent Pattern Mining * High-Content Analysis of Microscopic Images in Medicine, Biotechnology and Chemistry * Learning and adaptive control * Learning/adaption of recognition and perception * Learning for Handwriting Recognition * Learning in Image Pre-Processing and Segmentation * Learning in process automation * Learning of internal representations and models * Learning of appropriate behaviour * Learning of action patterns * Learning of Ontologies * Learning of Semantic Inferencing Rules * Learning of Visual Ontologies * Learning for robots * Mining Images in Computer Vision * Mining Images and Texture * Mining Motion from Sequence * Neural Methods * Network Analysis and Intrusion Detection * Nonlinear Function Learning and Neural Net Based Learning * Real-Time Event Learning and Detection * Retrieval Methods * Rule Induction and Grammars * Speech Analysis * Statistical and Conceptual Clustering Methods: Basics * Statistical and Evolutionary Learning * Subspace Methods * Support Vector Machines * Symbolic Learning and Neural Networks in Document Processing * Time Series and Sequential Pattern Mining * Mining Social Media * Audio Mining * Cognition and Computer Vision Important Dates ----------------- Deadline for paper submission: January 15, 2017 Notification of acceptance: March 18 , 2017 Submission of camera-ready copy: April 05, 2017 Submission guidelines ------------------------- Authors can submit their papers in long or short version: Please submit the electronic version of your camera-ready paper through the COMMENCE conference management system (http://www.mldm.de/CMS/) If you have any problems with the system please do not hesitate to contact info(a)mldm.de. Long Papers Long papers must be formatted in the Springer LNCS format. They should have at most 15 pages. Papers will be reviewed by the program committee. Accepted long papers will appear in the proceedings book "Machine Learning and Data Mining in Pattern Recognition" published by Springer Verlag in the LNAI series. Extended versions of selected papers will be published in a special issue of an international journal after the conference. Short Papers Short papers are also welcome and can be used to describe work in progress or project ideas. They should have no more than 5 pages and must be also formatted in Springer LNCS format. Accepted short papers will be presented as posters in the poster session. They will be published in a special poster proceedings book. Papers will be submitted via the online reviewing system. Best Paper Award ---------------------- The best scientific paper is distinguished with a Best Paper Award. A outstanding contribution in the field of Machine Learning and Data Mining for Pattern Recognition will be awarded with the Best Paper Award. There will be three nominations for the Best Paper Award before the conference. All nominee will receive a certificate. The final decision of the Best Paper Award will be made based on the presentation and the discussion. The Best Paper Award will be a certificate and a prize money of 500 Euro for the research team. Tutorials ----------------------------------------- Data Mining Tutorial Prof. Dr. Petra Perner, Institute of Computer Vision and Applied Computer Sciences IBaI, http://www.data-mining-forum.de/t_dm.php Case-Based Reasoning Tutorial Prof. Dr. Petra Perner, Institute of Computer Vision and Applied Computer Sciences IBaI, http://www.data-mining-forum.de/t_cbr.php Intelligent Image Interpreation and Computer Vision in Mediceine, Biotechnology, Chemistry & Food Industry Prof. Dr. Petra Perner, Institute of Computer Vision and Applied Computer Sciences IBaI, http://www.data-mining-forum.de/t_iicv.php Workshops (http://www.data-mining-forum.de/workshops.php) ---------------------------------------------------------------- * Intern. Workshop I-Business to Manufacturing and LifeScience B2ML 2017 * Intern. Workshop on Data Mining in Marketing DMM 2017 * Intern. Workshop Case-Based Reasoning CBR-MD 2017 * Intern. Workshop on Multimedia Forensic Data Analysis MFDA 2017 Exhibition ----------- 16th Industrial Exhibition on Intelligent Data and Image Analysis IEDA 2017 We like to invite you to present your company or publishing house at the Industrial Exhibition ieda 2017 (www.iedaexhibition.de) If you do not with to receive the newsletter, please press here http://ibai-institut-newsletter.de/cgi-bin/mail/manager.cgi? action=delete&email=pperner%40ibai-institut.de&group1=cbr.

Dec. 24, 2016

Postdoc Position in Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience at UT Austin

by Taillefumier, Thibaud O

The Neuroscience Department invites applications for a postdoctoral research position to work with Professors Ila Fiete (http://clm.utexas.edu/fietelab/) and Thibaud Taillefumier (https://mathneuro.cns.utexas.edu/) in the Center for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience (CTNC) and in collaboration with a network of experimental collaborators at UT Austin. Research at CTNC broadly aims at developing new theoretical approaches to better understand how the brain computes. Candidates with a background in nonlinear dynamics, statistical physics, machine learning, or information theory are particularly welcome. Applicants should have a PhD in mathematics, physics, computational neuroscience or related computational fields. Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, a list of publications, a brief description of research interests, and should arrange for three letters of recommendation to be sent. All application materials as well as any inquiries should be sent to thibaud(a)utexas.edu<mailto:thibaud@utexas.edu> and ilafiete(a)mail.clm.utexas.edu<mailto:ilafiete@mail.clm.utexas.edu>. Salary starts at $47484 and will be commensurate to the candidate qualifications. UT Austin is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, ancestry, or national or ethnic origin. Department of Neuroscience The University of Texas at Austin 100 E 24th Street Stop C7000 Austin, TX 78712 www.neuroscience.utexas.edu<http://www.neuroscience.utexas.edu>

Dec. 23, 2016

Open position as an MEG physicist/engineer

by Jochem Rieger

The newly founded Neuroimaging Center at the European Medical School of the University of Oldenburg, Germany, offers a position for an *MEG-Physicist/Engineer (salary level E13/TV-L, initially 3 years) * The Neuroimaging Center hosts a state of the art magnetoencephalograph (Elekta Triux) and a magnetic resonance tomograph (Siemens Prisma 3T) and is embedded in an excellent interdisciplinary scientific environment (e.g. the DFG Cluster of Excellence "Hearing 3 All") with a strong research focus on neurosensory, neurocognitive, and medical research. We seek for a highly motivated candidatewith an academic university degree. The position requires a degree in physics, engineering, neuroscience, or psychology with documented research experience in magnetoencephalography methods. In addition, fluency in English is necessary. A doctoral degree is a plus. German and experience in the design of neurocognitiveexperiments are desirable. Successful candidates will be responsible for the operation and administration of the MEG-system, the infrastructure, the development and improvement of measurement and analyses techniques and user consultancy. The University of Oldenburg is rapidly growing and offers a vibrant scientific environment with strong foci on cognitive and sensory neuroscience and a new medical school. The European Medical School is a cooperation project between the Universities of Oldenburg and Groningen as well as four local hospitals. Oldenburg is an attractive city in Germany's northwest with excellent quality of life. It is close to Bremen, Hamburg, Groningen, and approx. 1 h from the North Sea. The University of Oldenburg is dedicated to increasing the percentage of women in science. Therefore, female candidates are particularly encouraged to apply and will be given preference in cases of equal qualification. Handicapped applicants will be given preference if equally qualified. Electronic applications (one pdf file) are preferred and can be send to: Professor Dr. Jochem Rieger: Jochem.rieger(a)uni-oldenburg.de Applications by mail should be sent to: Prof. Jochem Rieger Universität Oldenburg Kuepkersweg 74 (W30) 26129 Oldenburg Germany The application process is open until 31.1.2017. Applications should include your CV, a list of most recent publications, and a statement of interest (max. 3 pages). For inquiries contact jochem.rieger(a)uni-oldenburg.de

Dec. 22, 2016

PhD studentship in 2P imaging and population coding

by Matthias Hennig

A fully funded PhD studentship is available in the Precision Medicine DTP at Edinburgh: "Deficits and rescue of neuronal population coding in the sensory cortex of mouse models of autism spectrum disorders" This project will be jointly supervised by Nathalie Rochefort, Peter Kind (CIP, Edinburgh) and Matthias Hennig (Informatics, Edinburgh). The studentship is available to EU citizens. For more information, and to apply, go to: http://www.ed.ac.uk/usher/precision-medicine/how-to-apply/deficits-and-resc… For informal inquiries, please contact Nathalie Rochefort: n.rochefort(a)ed.ac.uk -- Matthias H Hennig http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/mhennig/ The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

Dec. 22, 2016

Call for applications: SMART START - a joint training program in Computational Neuroscience for young researchers

by Smart Start Coordination Office

Call for applications Ready for a SMARTSTART into Computational Neuroscience? We invite first and second-year Master students with a background in related fields to apply to our joint training program SMARTSTART. The program aims at complementing previous studies with concepts, theories and techniques of Computational Neuroscience. SMARTSTART consists of two programs. Both of them last one year each and take place at numerous locations of the Bernstein Network and further locations throughout Germany. SMARTSTART 1 provides financial support to then second-year Master students, allowing them to attend supplementary courses and training visits at participating institutions. Students will receive an experienced faculty mentor who will advise and guide them at this educational stage. SMARTSTART 2 provides fully funded positions for pre-PhD students. At the start of the program, these students will have already obtained their Master´s degree and are in the process of selecting a PhD project. SMARTSTART 2 allows them to elaborate their own PhD proposal as a collaborative project between two labs. This comprises exchange visits as well as voluntary attendance of lectures and courses offered by participating institutions. Both SMARTSTART programs will commence the second round in the winter term 2017/18. The Deadline for application is Tuesday, February 28, 2017. More information can be found on our website: www.smartstart-compneuro.de<http://www.smartstart-compneuro.de/> Best regards, Kathrin Hebert -- Smart Start - Joint Training Program in Computational Neuroscience Coordination Office Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience | Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS) Branch Office of the Forschungszentrum Jülich at the University of Freiburg Hansastr. 9A | 79104 Freiburg, Germany phone: (+49) 0761 203 9593 mail: smartstart(a)fz-juelich.de<mailto:k.hebert@fz-juelich.de> web: http://www.smartstart-compneuro.de/ Twitter: NNCN_Germany<https://twitter.com/NNCN_Germany> YouTube: Bernstein TV<https://www.youtube.com/user/BernsteinNetwork> Facebook: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany<https://www.facebook.com/BernsteinNetwork/> LinkedIn: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany<https://www.linkedin.com/company/bernstein-network-computational-neuroscien…><https://www.linkedin.com/company/bernstein-network-computational-neuroscien…> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dec. 22, 2016

Announcing Okinawa/OIST Computational Neuroscience Course 2017

by Erik De Schutter

OKINAWA/OIST COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE COURSE 2017 Methods, Neurons, Networks and Behaviors June 26 to July 13, 2017 Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Japan https://groups.oist.jp/ocnc The aim of the Okinawa/OIST Computational Neuroscience Course is to provide opportunities for young researchers with theoretical backgrounds to learn the latest advances in neuroscience, and for those with experimental backgrounds to have hands-on experience in computational modeling. We invite graduate students and postgraduate researchers to participate in the course, held from June 26th through July 13th, 2017 at an oceanfront seminar house of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University. Applications are through the course web page (https://groups.oist.jp/ocnc) only; January 3 - February 5, 2017. Applicants will receive confirmation of acceptance in March. Like in preceding years, OCNC will be a comprehensive three-week course covering single neurons, networks, and behaviors with ample time for student projects. The first week will focus exclusively on methods with hands-on tutorials during the afternoons, while the second and third weeks will have lectures by international experts. The course has a strong hands-on component based on student proposed modeling or data analysis projects, which are further refined with the help of a dedicated tutor. Applicants are required to propose their project at the time of application. There is no tuition fee. The sponsor will provide lodging and meals during the course and may support travel for those without funding. We hope that this course will be a good opportunity for theoretical and experimental neuroscientists to meet each other and to explore the attractive nature and culture of Okinawa, the southernmost island prefecture of Japan. Invited faculty: • Upinder Bhalla (NCBS, India) • Erik De Schutter (OIST) • Kenji Doya (OIST) • Bard Ermentrout (University of Pittsburgh, USA) • Ila Fiete (University of Texas Austin, USA) • Sonja Grün (Research Centre Jülich, Germany) • Shin Ishii (Kyoto University, Japan) • Jason Kerr (MPI Bonn, Germany) • Bernd Kuhn (OIST) • Subkin Lim (NYU Shanghai, China) • Michele Migliore (Institute of Biophysics, Italy) • David Redish (University of Minnesota, USA) • Reza Shadmehr (Johns Hopkins University, USA) • Greg Stephens (OIST) • Yoko Yazaki-Sugiyama (OIST) • Charles Wilson (University of Texas San Antonio, USA)

Dec. 22, 2016

[ECSQARU 2017] Second Call for Papers

by Alessandro Antonucci

The Fourteenth European Conference on Symbolic and Quantitative Approaches to Reasoning with Uncertainty SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS http://ecsqaru.idsia.ch The biennial ECSQARU conferences constitute a major forum for advances in the theory and practice of reasoning under uncertainty. Contributions come from researchers interested in advancing the scientific knowledge and from practitioners using uncertainty techniques in real-world applications. The scope of the ECSQARU conferences encompasses fundamental issues, representation, inference, learning, and decision making in qualitative and numeric uncertainty paradigms. Previous ECSQARU events have been held in Marseille (1991), Granada (1993), Fribourg (1995), Bonn (1997), London (1999), Toulouse (2001), Aalborg (2003), Barcelona (2005), Hammamet (2007), Verona (2009), Belfast (2011), Utrecht (2013), and Compiègne (2015). ECSQARU 2017 will be co-located with ISIPTA '17, the Tenth International Symposium on Imprecise Probability: Theories and Applications. The joint event will be held in Lugano (Switzerland), on July 10-14, 2017. ::: SCOPE ::: For ECSQARU 2017 we invite submissions of conference papers on topics which include but are not limited to: - Algorithms for uncertain inference - Applications of uncertain systems - Argumentation systems - Automated planning and acting under uncertainty - Belief functions - Belief revision & merging - Classification & clustering - Decision theory & decision graphs - Default reasoning - Description logics with uncertainty - Foundations of reasoning under uncertainty - Fuzzy sets & fuzzy logic - Game theory - Imprecise probabilities - Inconsistency handling - Information fusion - Learning for uncertainty formalisms - Logics for reasoning under uncertainty - Markov decision processes - Possibility theory & possibilistic logic - Preferences - Probabilistic graphical models - Probabilistic logics - Qualitative uncertainty models - Rough sets - Uncertainty & data ::: INVITED SPEAKERS ::: We are delighted of having the following invited speakers: - Leila Amgoud (IRIT, France) - Alessio Benavoli (IDSIA, Switzerland) - Jim Berger (Duke University, USA) - Didier Dubois (IRIT, France) - Eyke Hüllermeier (Paderborn University, Germany) ::: PROCEEDINGS AND SUBMISSIONS ::: In accordance with the previous conferences, the proceedings of ECSQARU 2015 will be published in the Springer Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence series. Authors are requested to prepare their conference papers in the LNCS/LNAI format. Submitted papers will be evaluated by peer reviews based on originality, significance, technical soundness, and clarity of exposition. Authors of accepted papers are expected to attend the conference to present their work. The instructions for submission and the author kit are available here: http://ecsqaru.idsia.ch/submissions-ecsqaru/ ::: IMPORTANT DATES ::: - Tuesday, February 21, 2017: Paper submission deadline - Tuesday, April 18, 2017: Author notification - Friday, April 28, 2017: Camera-ready copy due ::: IJAR SPECIAL ISSUE ::: Authors of selected papers will be invited to submit an extended version of their work to a special issue of the International Journal of Approximate Reasoning (IJAR, Elsevier). ::: SPRINGER YOUNG RESEARCHER AWARD ::: We also invite applications for the Springer Young Researcher Award. The prize, granted by Springer, will be awarded to one young researcher for excellent research in fields related to the ECSQARU scope. The award is open to Master students, PhD students and young post-doc researchers who have received their PhD in 2016 (or 2017). Applicants should have submitted a paper (not necessarily as first authors) to ECSQARU 2017. Applications should be received by the paper submission deadline (February 21, 2017). _________________________________ Alessandro Antonucci IDSIA Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence Via Cantonale (Galleria 2) CH-6928, Manno-Lugano, CH mail: alessandro(a)idsia.ch skype: alessandro.antonucci tel: +41 916108515 web: www.idsia.ch/~alessandro _________________________________

Dec. 21, 2016

Call for Applications: ISSA Summer School 2017

by Yukie Nagai

Call for Applications: ISSA Summer School 2017 https://groups.oist.jp/issa Date: May 22nd – June 2nd, 2017 Venue: Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), Osaka, Japan https://cinet.jp/english/contact/ The Initiative for a Synthesis in Studies of Awareness, ISSA for short, is a group of scientists advocating an integrative approach to the study of consciousness and intelligence. ISSA will organize a two-week Summer School, with lectures covering a variety of topics in experimental and computational neuroscience, cognitive science, philosophy, complex systems, robotics and artificial intelligence. Following the lectures in the morning, students will engage in group disucussions and hand-on exercises in psychophysics, MRI, MEG, and robotics in the afternoon. First week: Fundamental lecturers and group discussions • Christof Koch (Allen Institute for Brain Science) • Ryota Kanai (ARAYA Brain Imaging, YHouse) • Larissa Albantakis (U Wisconsin-Madison) • Dan Zahavi (U Copenhagen) • Jun Tani (KAIST) Second week: Special topics and hands-on exercises • Kaoru Amano (CiNet) • Minoru Asada (Osaka U) • Kenji Doya (OIST) • Piet Hut (Institute for Advanced Study, ELSI, YHouse) • Hiroshi Ishiguro (Osaka U, ATR) • Shinji Nishimoto (CiNet) • Mariko Osaka (CiNet) • Nao Tsuchiya (Monash U) • Noriko Yamagishi (CiNet) Application: We invite graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to participate in the summer school. Organizers will provide lodging for all accepted students and travel support for selected students. The applications will be open till December 25, 2016 from the web site (https://groups.oist.jp/issa) The result of selection, based on the research interest, educational background, and the balance of gender and geographic origins, will be notified by February 2017. Co-Sponsors • Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet) • CREST Artificial Consciousness Project (leader: Ryota Kanai) • CREST Social Neuroscience Project (leader: Masahiko Haruno) • Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI), Tokyo Institute of Technology • KAKENHI Mental Time Project (leader: Shigeru Kitazawa) • KAKENHI Artificial Intelligence and Brain Science Project (leader: Kenji Doya) • Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) • YHouse (leaders: Piet Hut and Ryota Kanai) Web site: https://groups.oist.jp/issa Contact: Neural Computation Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology ncus (at) oist.jp — Yukie Nagai, Ph.D. Specially Appointed Associate Professor, Osaka University Visiting Researcher, Bielefeld University yukie(a)ams.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp http://cnr.ams.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp/~yukie/

Dec. 21, 2016

The Fruit Fly Brain Observatory (FFBO)

by Aurel A. Lazar

We would like to announce that we have released a unique open source platform for investigating fruit fly brain function, in both healthy and diseased brains. Our early version of the FFBO is at: http://fruitflybrain.org <http://fruitflybrain.org/> The Fruit Fly Brain Observatory (i) integrates within a single database, genetic, anatomical, neurophysiological data with computational models. It provides location, morphology, connectivity and biophysical properties of every neuron, (ii) is equipped with powerful executable tools for circuit generation, numerical simulation and user-friendly query and visualization, (iii) automatically generates models of the fly brain that can be simulated efficiently using multiple Graphics Processing Units. There are three main features of the FFBO: NeuroNLP, NeuroGFX and NeuroAPPs. NeuroNLP is natural language user interface for querying the NeuroArch fly brain database. NeuroGFX is a programming interface that automatically translates biological and modeling data into executable code that can be run on a local or cloud-based GPU servers. NeuroAPPs host integrated healthy and diseased models applications of the fruit fly brain. Our project The Fruit Fly Brain Observatory http://fruitflybrain.org <http://fruitflybrain.org/> is one of six finalists in the Open Science Prize Competition https://www.openscienceprize.org <https://www.openscienceprize.org/>. We are a collaborative effort between Columbia University, National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, and University of Sheffield, UK. It would be great if you can let people know about the competition and get them to hopefully vote for us at http://event.capconcorp.com/wp/osp/ <http://event.capconcorp.com/wp/osp/> :-) Aurel http://www.bionet.ee.columbia.edu <http://www.bionet.ee.columbia.edu/>

Dec. 20, 2016