April 2018 - Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

Creating a list of important computational predictions
by Yiota Poirazi 04 Jan '21

04 Jan '21

Dear all, I believe you would agree that, the greatest recognition of our computational work comes with the experimental verification of our computational predictions. To highlight the most important outcomes of our theoretical work and facilitate a closer interaction with experimental labs so as to increase the chances of our predictions being experimentally tested, I would like to encourage you to nominate your favorite prediction at the following google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJZ2RrXJ0nZonIuyNzN0Cl gXDKDb7xTzoJOiqZTGxm9Kh7ow/viewform?c=0&w=1&usp=mail_form_link This effort started during the CNS 2017 meeting in Antwerp with the support of the OCNS Board. The resulting list will be posted on the CNS 2017 web site and disseminated in social media, as a reference for experimentalists. Thank you very much for supporting this important effort! Best wishes, Yiota Poirazi -- Panayiota Poirazi, Ph.D. Research Director Computational Biology Laboratory Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) Foundation of Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH) Vassilika Vouton, P.O.Box 1385, GR 70013, Heraklion, Crete GREECE Tel: +30 2810 391139 Fax: +30 2810 391101 Εmail: poirazi(a)imbb.forth.gr Lab site: www.dendrites.gr FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence <http://www.fens.org/Outreach/FENS-Kavli-Network-of-Excellence/> -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by *E.F.A. Project* <http://www.efa-project.org>, and is believed to be clean. Click here to report this message as spam. <http://mailgate1.imbb.forth.gr/cgi-bin/learn-msg.cgi?id=4BCD7A00A1.A57D7&to…> -- Panayiota Poirazi, Ph.D. Research Director Computational Biology Laboratory Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) Foundation of Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH) Vassilika Vouton, P.O.Box 1385, GR 70013, Heraklion, Crete GREECE Tel: +30 2810 391139 Fax: +30 2810 391101 Εmail: poirazi(a)imbb.forth.gr Lab site: www.dendrites.gr FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence <http://www.fens.org/Outreach/FENS-Kavli-Network-of-Excellence/>

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Postdoctoral positions in computational neuroscience and artificial intelligence
by Maxim Bazhenov 01 Mar '19

01 Mar '19

Applications are invited for post-doctoral research positions in the laboratory of Dr. Maxim Bazhenov at the University of California, San Diego to study memory and learning and to develop neuroscience inspired computer algorithms capable of continual learning and adapting to the novel situations and contexts.This project involves close collaboration with the experimental laboratory of Dr. Bruce McNaughton (UC Irvine). The ultimate goal of the work is to advance the knowledge of how human and animal brains learn from experience and apply these principles to the artificial systems to enable continuous learning without catastrophic forgetting. The successful candidate will collaborate with a team of researchers to design neural network models of dynamic interactions between the hippocampus and neocortex during learning and memory consolidation in sleep and awake based on experimental data. These models will be used to derive learning principles that can be combined with advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning. An ideal candidate should have experience in computational/theoretical neuroscience and a basic knowledge of machine learning, or, alternatively, experience in machine learning algorithms and some basic knowledge of neuroscience. Experience with hierarchical learning, reinforcement learning, and/or goal-directed decision-making would be particularly helpful. The University of California offers excellent benefits. Salary is based on research experience. Applicants should send a brief statement of research interests, a CV and the names of three references to Maxim Bazhenov at mbazhenov(a)ucsd.edu -- Maxim Bazhenov, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Medicine, Neurosciences Graduate Program, UCSD, School of Medicine http://www.bazhlab.ucsd.edu/

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Columbia Workshop on Brain Circuits, Memory and Computation 2018
by Aurel A. Lazar 16 Dec '18

16 Dec '18

Columbia Workshop on Brain Circuits, Memory and Computation 2018 <http://www.bionet.ee.columbia.edu/workshops/bcmc/2018> BCMC 2018 March 15-16, 2018 Center for Neural Engineering and Computation <http://cnec.columbia.edu/> Columbia University, New York, NY, USA Overview The goal of the workshop is to bring together researchers interested in developing executable models of neural computation/processing of the brain of model organisms. Of interest are models of computation that consist of elementary units of processing using brain circuits and memory elements. Elementary units of computation/processing include population encoding/decoding circuits with biophysically-grounded neuron models, non-linear dendritic processors for motion detection/direction selectivity, spike processing and pattern recognition neural circuits, movement control and decision-making circuits, etc. Memory units include models of spatio-temporal memory circuits, circuit models for memory access and storage, etc. A major aim of the workshop is to explore the integration of various sensory and control circuits in higher brain centers. A Fruit Fly Brain Hackathon <http://www.bionet.ee.columbia.edu/hackathons/ffbh/2018> is being conducted in conjunction with the workshop. Workshop participants are welcome to attend the hackathon. Registration Registration is free but all participants have to register <https://bcmc2018.eventbrite.com/>. Thank you! Organizer and Program Chair Aurel A. Lazar <http://www.ee.columbia.edu/~aurel>, Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University. Program Overview (Confirmed Speakers) Misha B. Ahrens <https://www.janelia.org/lab/ahrens-lab>, Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, VA. Davi Bock <https://www.janelia.org/lab/bock-lab>, Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, VA. Claude Desplan <https://wp.nyu.edu/desplanlab/>, Department of Biology, New York University. Mark A. Frye <http://www.fryelab.net/>, Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles. C. Giovanni Galizia <http://neuro.uni-konstanz.de/03team/content/galizia.html>, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz. Maria N. Geffen <https://geffenlab.weebly.com/maria.html>, Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania. Hokto Kazama <http://kazama.brain.riken.jp/index.php>, Riken Brain Science Institute, Tokyo. Donggen Luo <http://mgv.pku.edu.cn/?co=posts&ac=faculty&catalog=enpiintro&pname=en_Dongg…>, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing. Thomas Nowotny <http://www.sussex.ac.uk/profiles/206151>, Department of Informatics, University of Sussex. Pavan Ramdya <https://ramdya-lab.epfl.ch/home>, Brain Mind Institute, EPFL, Lausanne. Aravinthan D.T. Samuel <https://scholar.harvard.edu/aravisamuel/home>, Department of Physics and center for Brain Science, Harvard University. Simon G. Sprecher <http://www.sprecherlab.com/simon-sprecher/>, Department of Biology, University of Fribourg. Seth Tomchik <http://www.scripps.edu/tomchik/>, The Scripps Research Institute Florida. Joshua T. Vogelstein <http://jovo.me/>, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering and Institute for Computational Medicine, Johns Hopkins University. Scott Waddell <https://www.dpag.ox.ac.uk/research/waddell-group>, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford. Anthony M. Zador <http://zadorlab.cshl.edu/>, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Aurel http://www.bionet.ee.columbia.edu

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CFP: FLAIRS 2017, Marco Island, FL,
by bisant＠umbc.edu 18 Oct '18

18 Oct '18

CALL FOR PAPERS FLAIRS 2017, Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Symposium Special Tracks on Data mining and Special Track on Cyber Security Marco Island, Florida http://www.flairs-30.info/ Paper submission deadline: November 21, 2016. Notifications: January 23, 2017. Camera ready version due: February 27, 2017. FLAIRS is an interdisciplinary artificial intelligence conference which especially encourages novel ideas and which features a double-blind review process. Data Mining Track This special track will be devoted to data mining with the aim of presenting new and important contributions in this area. Papers and contributions are encouraged for any work related to Data Mining. Topics of interest may include (but are in no way limited to): 1. Applications such as Intelligence analysis, medical and health applications, text, video, and multi-media mining, E-commerce and web data, financial data analysis, cyber security, remote sensing, earth sciences, bioinformatics, and astronomy. 2. Modeling algorithms such as hidden Markov models, decision trees, neural networks, statistical methods, or probabilistic methods; case studies in areas of application, or over different algorithms and approaches. 3. Feature extraction and selection. 4. Post-processing techniques such as visualization, summarization, or trending. 5. Preprocessing and data reduction. 6. Knowledge engineering or warehousing. Papers dealing with Cloud-based unstructured data or Cloud-based tool suites, such as Mahout or Apache Spark, are also encouraged. Cyber-Security Track Original high quality papers are sought for leading edge research and applications relating to the application of AI and Cyber Security. Topics of interest may include but are not limited to: · Machine Learning for Intrusion Detection Systems · NLP for text analysis in Cyber Security · Video and CCTV semantic analysis for terrorist or criminal action detection · AI & Biometrics, Internet of Things, and Cloud Computing security · AI & SCADA systems, Network Systems, and Embedded Systems security · Formal and theoretical approaches of intelligent security in WSNs · Legal and policy issues in intelligent security · Integrity, privacy, authentication and access control · Intelligent secure systems in multimedia databases · Social networks security · Intelligent incident response techniques in network and communication systems · Risk analysis and intelligent management · Virtual Private Networks intelligent security · Automated reasoning techniques of incidents and evidence analysis · Evidentiary aspects of digital forensics · Collaborative intelligent investigation · Intelligent systems in management, storage and reassembly · Steganography, watermarking, and forensic techniques in multimedia content processing · Lightweight security techniques · Intelligent Large-scale investigations and Big Data · Innovative non-repudiation techniques · Intelligent vulnerability analysis and assessment · Attacks tracking · Data hiding, tamper detection and recovery techniques · Security of e- healthcare systems and applications Note: We invite original papers (i.e. work not previously submitted, in submission, or to be submitted to another conference during the reviewing process). Submission Guidelines Interested authors should format their papers according to AAAI formatting guidelines. The papers should be original work (i.e., not submitted, in submission, or submitted to another conference while in review). Papers should not exceed 6 pages (or 4 pages for short paper, to be presented as a poster) and are due by November 21, 2016. For FLAIRS-30, the 2017 conference, the reviewing is a double blind process. Author names and affiliations should be Xd out on submitted papers to provide double-blind reviewing. Papers must be submitted as PDF through the EasyChair conference system, which can be accessed through the main conference web site (http://www.flairs-30.info/) Note: do not use a fake name for your EasyChair login - your EasyChair account information is hidden from reviewers. Authors should indicate which special track they are submitting to. The proceedings of FLAIRS will be published by the AAAI. Authors of accepted papers will be required to sign a form transferring copyright of their contribution to AAAI. FLAIRS requires that there be at least one full author registration per paper.

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Up to 8 PhD fellowships in Cognitive Neuroscience at SISSA, Trieste, Italy
by Alessandro Treves 16 Aug '18

16 Aug '18

SISSA is an elite postgraduate research institution, focused on Maths, Physics and Neuroscience. It operates in English: many among its students and faculty are not Italian. Campus above Trieste, overlooking the Gulf. Research approaches in the CNS PhD https://phdcns.sissa.it/ span the range from cognitive psychology and imaging in humans to behavioural neuroscience and multiple single-unit recording in rats, mathematical and computational modeling; with research groups led by Domenica Bueti, Davide Crepaldi, Mathew Diamond, Chris Mathys, Raffaella Rumiati, Alessandro Treves and Davide Zoccolan. Allied approaches are pursued in other SISSA PhDs. All admitted students receive a 4-year fellowship and engage full-time in research based in Trieste, with limited coursework in the first few months, talks and seminars throughout the year and a TEX event in the summer, see https://indico.sissa.it/event/26/ First deadline for EU candidates: March 2, 2018, for nonEU: March 31, 2018 -- Alessandro Treves http://people.sissa.it/~ale/limbo.html SISSA - Cognitive Neuroscience, via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy +39-040-3787623 Ambassador (BlaBlaCar) +39-349-2504602

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COSYNE 2018: Talks are available online
by Tomas Hromadka 28 Apr '18

28 Apr '18

==================================================== Computational and Systems Neuroscience (Cosyne) www.cosyne.org ==================================================== COSYNE 2018 TALKS AVAILABLE ONLINE We are pleased to announce that selected talks presented at Cosyne 2018 are now available online. Cosyne 2018 tutorial on 'Statistical models for neural data', presented by Jonathan Pillow, is available as well. Links to current playlists are available at www.cosyne.org. Best regards, Cosyne organizers

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Postdoc in electrophysiological source imaging
by Daniel Wójcik 27 Apr '18

27 Apr '18

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE: kESI – kernel-based method of electrophysiological source imaging The Neuroinformatics Laboratory (http://neuroinflab.pl/) at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology (http://www.nencki.gov.pl) invites applications for a postdoctoral position. The goal of the project is to develop, implement and investigate, a new technique of source localization of specific events in neural activity, such as a seizure, from multimodal imaging data, including ECoG (strip and grid electrodes), depth electrophysiological recordings, and MRI data from humans. The method will be validated with ground truth model data and tested on clinical data obtained from epilepsy patients. The fellow will build on already existing tools and techniques developed in the lab (https://github.com/Neuroinflab/kCSD-python) see especially Potworowski et al. 2012 and Ness et al. 2015 (https://neuroinflab.wordpress.com/publications/) The ideal candidate will have a strong computational background, experience in numerical solutions of PDEs, electrodynamics, computational neuroscience, or brain imaging. We can only accept candidates 0 to 7 years after reception of PhD (+1,5 year per child for mothers). If you have a solid background in physics, maths, computer science, or engineering, and want to apply it to understanding or curing the brain, this position might be for you. Funding is available for 2-3 years. The gross yearly salary (“duże brutto”) is up to 120 000 PLN (~28 000 EUR) depending on employment time and experience. To find out its worth check out https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living and https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/comparison.jsp. To apply or inquire send email to d.wojcik(a)nencki.gov.pl. Applications should include a CV, statement of research interests, and the names and full contact details of one to three referees. To demonstrate your prowess in Python provide your github account or solutions to problems 1-4 provided here (https://neuroinflab.wordpress.com/tasks/ - at least two, the more the better). If you cannot satisfy these conditions but still think we should hire you, convince us. The deadline for application is May 31st, 2018. We will continue recruitment until the position is filled. https://neuroinflab.wordpress.com/jobs/postdoc-kesi/ -- Prof. Daniel K. Wojcik Laboratory of Neuroinformatics, Head Graduate School, Head Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology http://neuroinflab.pl/ http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0812-9872

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PhD studentship. Dopamine, social cognition and bodily movement. Uni of Birmingham, UK.
by Jennifer Cook 26 Apr '18

26 Apr '18

*Dopamine, social cognition and bodily movement: unpacking a complex relationship (ERC-Funded PhD studentship)* Application deadline: 25th May 2018 Studentship start date: 30th July 2018 or as soon as possible thereafter. Summary: Applications are invited for a fully-funded (fees + stipend) Ph.D. to begin in July 2018. The candidate will work with Dr. Jennifer Cook ( www.jencooklab.com; http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/psychology/people/profile.aspx?Referenc…) on a European Research Council (ERC)-funded project on the relationship between social cognition, bodily movement and function of the dopaminergic neurotransmitter system (ERC-StG-Brain2Bee). Project description: Studies of Parkinson’s Disease have typically focused on difficulties with bodily movement (e.g. difficulties with walking), and studies of Autism have tended to focus on social cognition. The co-occurrence of social and movement symptoms is thus critically underappreciated; Parkinson’s Disease patients exhibit social symptoms, and motor challenges (e.g. difficulties with handwriting) are common in Autism. At present, the biological basis of co-occurring social and motor symptoms is unclear. Notably, both Autism and Parkinson’s Disease have been associated with atypicalities in the function of the dopaminergic neurotransmitter system. This Ph.D. project aims to improve understanding of the complex relationship between social cognition, bodily movement and the dopamine system. This aim will be achieved using psychopharmacology studies and behavioural training in typical individuals and in those with Autism or Parkinson’s Disease. Results from this package of work will help us to move closer to a cross-disorder understanding of factors underlying variation in social and motor ability. Research will be conducted at the School of Psychology at the University of Birmingham (http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/psychology/index.aspx) which is one of the largest and most successful psychology departments in the UK, currently ranked in the top 5 (REF 2014). How to apply: For more information and application details see https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=89414 or contact Dr. Jennifer Cook, j.l.cook(a)bham.ac.uk -- Dr Jennifer Cook Senior Research Fellow School of Psychology University of Birmingham www.jencooklab.com http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/psychology/people/profile.aspx?Referenc…

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Two postdoctoral positions at RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Japan
by Andrea Benucci 26 Apr '18

26 Apr '18

The Laboratory for Neural Circuits and Behavior at RIKEN Center for Brain Science near Tokyo (www.benuccilab.net) is seeking two postdoctoral candidates to work on theoretical and experimental projects. The ideal experimental candidate has a Ph.D. in a relevant field (e.g., Neuroscience, Biology, Genetics) and familiarity with optogenetic and calcium-imaging methodologies in rodents, with demonstrated experience in data analysis and modeling (Matlab or Python preferred). The theoretical candidate should have a Ph.D. in Computer Science, Mathematics, or Physics, be proficient in Matlab and Python (Theano, TensorFlow) programming, with demonstrated experience working with different classes of artificial neural networks (RNN, LSTM preferred). Applications should include a cover letter and a CV, and emailed to andrea(a)benuccilab.net

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AI & Augmented Cognition in the USAF of 2030 MicroLabs
by Jeff Krichmar 25 Apr '18

25 Apr '18

Dear Colleagues, Please consider this friendly reminder to join us for one of the upcoming AI & Augmented Cognition in the USAF of 2030 MicroLabs next week. These 60-90 minute interactive online events are part of a larger effort to illuminate the 2030 technology horizon for AI in the USAF context. To maintain the integrity of the process for our USAF sponsor, registration can only be completed through a closed community portal (https://hub.ki/groups/gmuai/overview) If you'd like to get involved, please use this link (https://goo.gl/CkntHq) to complete a 1-minute application for the community. For reference, the primary objective of the effort, as stated, is to illuminate the 2030 technology horizon for AI in the USAF context. A secondary objective is to facilitate the building of a community of USAF aligned experts who can provide continuing advice to the USAF as an external advisory board. The final objective is to facilitate the discussions necessary to build a pipeline of technological expertise in AI to avoid or respond to strategic surprise in this area. Sincerely, James Olds - former head of the Biological Sciences Directorate at NSF and university professor of neuroscience at George Mason University Stephen Fiore - Director, Cognitive Sciences Laboratory, and Professor with the University of Central Florida's Cognitive Sciences Program in the Department of Philosophy and Institute for Simulation & Training Jeff Krichmar - Professor in the Department of Cognitive Sciences and the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine. Jeff Krichmar Department of Cognitive Sciences 2328 Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92697-5100 jkrichma(a)uci.edu http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~jkrichma

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