September 2019 - Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

PhD positions in Computational Cognitive Neuroscience (Max Planck Institute CBS, Leipzig, Germany)

by Martin Hebart

The independent research group Vision and Computational Cognition (led by Dr. Martin Hebart) at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, invites applications for PhD students. *Our research group* seeks to understand how humans recognize and categorize visually-perceived objects. Towards this goal, we use a wide range of behavioral and neuroimaging methods, including visual psychophysics, online crowdsourcing, functional MRI and magnetoencephalography (MEG). The emphasis lies on identifying and characterizing reproducible and interpretable behavioral and brain activity patterns that serve as a basis for our understanding of mental and neural representations of objects. *The Max Planck Institute* is equipped with excellent neuroimaging research facilities (several Siemens 3T and 7T MRI scanners, 306-channel MEG, EEG, virtual reality, eye-tracking) and offers dedicated support staff. Leipzig has been called “Germany’s new cultural hot spot“ (The Guardian) and is located just a little over an hour south of Berlin. *The successful applicant* will have a passion for visual and cognitive neuroscience, with good analytical and quantitative skills, and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team. Candidates are expected to have experience in the analysis of behavioral or neuroimaging data (e.g. fMRI, MEG, or EEG) and have good programming skills in Python, Matlab,or R. Experience with machine-learning methods (e.g. Scikit-Learn, PyTorch, TensorFlow), data/code sharing platforms (e.g. GitHub, Docker), or basic web programming (HTML, JavaScript) are desirable. Scientific publications are not required; however, applicants are expected to demonstrate scientific writing skills. The expected starting date is flexible but no earlier than February 1st, 2020. The position is funded for three years, with the possibility of an extension for an additional year. For the full job advertisement including more information about the group, qualifications, required documents and application procedures, please go to http://www.cbs.mpg.de/vacancies (subject heading: *“PhD 14/19”*). All applications received by *November 15th, 2019* will be considered. In case of questions, please contact Martin Hebart at hebart(a)cbs.mpg.de <hebart(a)cbs.mpg.de>.

Sept. 24, 2019

Postdoc position in Computational Cognitive Neuroscience (Max Planck Institute CBS, Leipzig, Germany)

by Martin Hebart

The independent research group Vision and Computational Cognition (led by Dr. Martin Hebart) at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, invites applications for a postdoctoral researcher. *Our research group *seeks to understand how humans recognize and categorize visually-perceived objects. Towards this goal, we use a wide range of behavioral and neuroimaging methods, including visual psychophysics, online crowdsourcing, functional MRI and magnetoencephalography (MEG). The emphasis lies on identifying and characterizing reproducible and interpretable behavioral and brain activity patterns that serve as a basis for our understanding of mental and neural representations of objects. *The Max Planck Institute* is equipped with excellent neuroimaging research facilities (several Siemens 3T and 7T MRI scanners, 306-channel MEG, EEG, virtual reality, eye-tracking) and offers dedicated support staff. Leipzig has been called “Germany’s new cultural hot spot“ (The Guardian) and is located just a little over an hour south of Berlin. *The successful applicant* will have a strong interest in the analysis of large-scale neuroimaging datasets using encoding models and machine-learning methods. Candidates are expected to have considerable experience in the analysis of neuroimaging data, strong programming skills in Python or Matlab, and a solid understanding of inferential statistics. Experience with machine learning-methods and related tools (e.g. Scikit-Learn, PyTorch/TensorFlow) and data/code sharing platforms (e.g. GitHub, Docker) are desirable. Candidates are expected to have a PhD in psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, computer science, or a related field. The expected starting date is flexible but no earlier than February 1st, 2020. The position is funded for three years, with the possibility of an extension for an additional year. For the full job advertisement including more information about the group, qualifications, required documents and application procedures, please go to http://www.cbs.mpg.de/vacancies (subject heading: *“PD 15/19”*). All applications received by *November 15th, 2019* will be considered. In case of questions, please contact Martin Hebart at hebart(a)cbs.mpg.de.

Sept. 24, 2019

Workshop on big models and big data at SFN 2019

by Carnevale, Nicholas

Space is still available in the *NSG and HPAC – Large Scale Simulations and Data Processing* workshop, which will be held in Chicago on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019, as a satellite to the SFN 2019 meeting. Come to this workshop to learn about high performance and high throughput computing resources that can help you deal with big data sets or computationally intensive modeling projects. Discover what's in the pipeline, meet the developers, and find out how you can participate and/or take advantage of resources that are already freely available. But act quickly, because the *registration deadline is Thursday, October 10*. See http://www.nsgportal.org/NSG_HPAC_SfN2019_Wkshop.web.htm for the workshop's program, and https://neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/nsg2019/nsg2019.html for the online registration form. --Ted

Sept. 23, 2019

PostDoc in decision making & learning (Berlin/Potsdam)

by SoyoungQ Park

Dear all, we are seeking for a DFG-funded postdoctoral researcher to work on learning and decision making ( http://www.dife.de/jobs-karriere/stellenangebote/detail.php?id=524&lang=en) I would appreciate it very much if you forward this to interested candidates. Have a great week! Best regards Soyoung

Sept. 23, 2019

NIH-funded Postdoc / Software Engineer position to work on tool for multiscale modeling of brain circuits

by Salvador Dura

A Postdoc or Software Engineer position is available at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center (Brooklyn, New York) to develop and disseminate NetPyNE, a tool for data-driven multiscale modeling of brain circuits. The position is funded by a recently awarded 5-year NIH grant. For more details on the software tool see our recent eLife publication (https://elifesciences.org/articles/44494 <https://elifesciences.org/articles/44494>) and tool website (www.netpyne.org <http://www.netpyne.org/>). The successful candidate would be a salaried employee of the University with a competitive remuneration and benefits package. The position is initially for 1 year with renewal of up to 5 years. Responsibilities: - Improve the software tool to ensure its reliability, robustness and reproducibility. - Collaborate with an external software company to extend the tool's graphical user interface (GUI). - Update the tool's online documentation and develop interactive tutorials. - Organize, prepare and teach conference workshops/tutorials and yearly courses to train users. - Provide ongoing support to neuroscience researchers across the world who use the tool to model different brain regions and phenomena (see www.netpyne.org/models <http://www.netpyne.org/models> and www.netpyne.org/forum <http://www.netpyne.org/forum>) - Encourage, coordinate and manage open source code contributions from interns, graduate students or researchers (usually online via GitHub: https://github.com/Neurosim-lab/netpyne <https://github.com/Neurosim-lab/netpyne>). - Continue ongoing collaborations with other neuroscience initiatives, including Open Source Brain (www.opensourcebrain.org <http://www.opensourcebrain.org/>), Neuroscience Gateway (www.nsgportal.org <http://www.nsgportal.org/>), Human Neocortical Neurosolver (www.hnn.brown.edu <http://www.hnn.brown.edu/>) and Human Brain Project Collaboratory (www.humanbrainproject.eu <http://www.humanbrainproject.eu/>). Required: - MSc (or equivalent degree) in Engineering, Computer Science or related discipline. - Expertise programming in Python, including tools for scientific computing (numpy, scipy, pandas, etc), with 5+ years of demonstrable experience. - Experience (3+ years) in collaborative software development as part of a team. - Experience writing unit tests, debugging code, using profiling tools and refactoring existing code bases to improve maintainability. - Proficiency with Git/Github and Linux (shell scripting, ssh, etc) - Experience giving presentations, tutorials and/or product demonstrations. - Spoken and written English language proficiency Desired: - Experience in research/academic environment and/or neuroscience background. - Experience in GUI design/implementation using JavaScript. - Experience with the NEURON simulator using the Python interpreter. - Experience running parallelized large-scale simulations on supercomputers. - Experience in data science, data visualization and machine learning. How to apply: Please send your CV, a brief cover letter, and contact information for 3 references to Salvador Dura-Bernal (salvaordura(a)gmail.com <mailto:salvaordura@gmail.com>)

Sept. 21, 2019

Postdoc in neural data analysis at UCSD

by Gal Mishne

A postdoctoral position is available in the research group of Gal Mishne in the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute (HDSI) at UC San Diego. This NIH-funded position includes research on multimodal data analysis, manifold representations of neural activity and multiscale modeling of motor learning. The position offers excellent interdisciplinary training possibilities at the intersection of machine learning, applied mathematics and computational neuroscience, and includes collaboration with experimental neuroscientists. The position is open immediately as of September 2019. Qualifications: Applicants should have (or expected to get in a near future) Ph.D. in electrical/biomedical engineering, computer science, applied mathematics, neuroscience, or other related fields. Applicants should have strong quantitative and programming skills, a track record of published papers and a strong interest in biomedical applications. Preferred Qualifications: Prior experience in the areas of machine learning / data-driven methods, signal processing and/or computational neuroscience, will be viewed favorably but are not strictly required. The position is for one year with renewal for a second and third year pending satisfactory progress. To apply for the position, please e-mail your CV, brief research statement and the contact information for three references to Gal Mishne at gmishne(a)ucsd.edu or at https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/14703. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply. The Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute is an academic unit at UC San Diego with a focused mission - to lay the groundwork for the scientific foundations of this emerging discipline, develop new methods and infrastructure, and train students, faculty and industrial partners to use data science in ways that will allow them to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Sept. 20, 2019

NeuroEng 2019, Abstract Submission Extended until October 4, however Early bird registration ends tonight.

by Steven Wiederman

NeuroEng 2019 is the 12th Australasian Workshop on Computational Neuroscience and Neural Engineering to be held in Adelaide, Australia, November 29-30. Due to several requests, Abstract submission for NeuroEng 2019 is extended until October 4th. However, Early Bird Registration ends midnight tonight (Note GMT+10). You can register at this link <%20http:/www.conferenceonline.com/conference_invitation/22847/?key=4FB9B222-4F05-4D7E-91F6-0D70018F77AB> or via neuroeng.org.au Keynote speakers include Professor Barbara Webb (University of Edinburgh) and Professor Yves De Koninck (Univeriste Laval). We also have talks by Prof Andre van Schaik (WSU), Prof David Grayden (Uni Melbourne), Prof Geoff Goodhill (QBI), A/Prof Pulin Gong (Uni Sydney), Prof Mark Jenkinson (Oxford) and many others. Topics include: Neurophotonics, Theoretical, Mathematical and Computational Neuroscience, Neuroprosthetics and Brain Machine Interfaces, Neural Modelling and Engineering, Neuromorphic Engineering, EEG Analysis, Neural Information Processing, Neuroinformatics, Cognitive Modelling, Neuroimaging and Connectomics, Brain Dynamics and Neurophysics. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. regards, Steve Dr Steven Wiederman +61 403 079 575, steven.wiederman(a)adelaide.edu.au<mailto:steven.wiederman@adelaide.edu.au>

Sept. 20, 2019

POSTDOC Neural Dynamics of Temporal and Spatial Memory

by Andre Longtin

A theoretical/computational neuroscience postdoctoral position is available immediately in the Neurophysics and Nonlinear Dynamics group of André Longtin in the physics department and Centre for Neural Dynamics of the University of Ottawa. I am looking for someone trained in nonlinear dynamics and neural modeling, with a background in either physics or mathematics, and perhaps engineering. The work will focus on the dynamics of a population of core recurrent neurons within the hippocampus and their role in temporal and spatial memory. It will involve bridging single cell and network circuitry. The candidate will be involved in theoretical-experimental collaborations with the Profs. Len Maler and Jean-Claude Béïque, and may interact with other theorists and experimentalists in the Centre. Experience with experimental collaborations will be considered an asset. The researcher will join uOttawa’s Brain and Mind Research Institute’s Center for Neural Dynamics. uOttawa’s Neuroscience community is highly dynamic and offers a rich array of collaborative opportunities. Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is a green, multi-cultural city that offers the highest standard of living in the country and is second worldwide for quality of life (Numbeo index, 2015). The city has many parks including the UNESCO World Heritage Rideau Canal, and is surrounded by an extensive greenbelt and the vast Gatineau Park twenty minutes away. This bilingual, safe and culturally-rich city lies along the border between the provinces of Ontario and Québec, is a few hours of driving away from Montréal and Toronto and served by an international airport. The position is for one year with automatic renewal for a second year following satisfactory progress, and a possible extension to a third year. Interested candidates should submit their CV and a paragraph about research interests to alongtin(a)uottawa.ca<mailto:alongtin@uottawa.ca> . The successful candidate would be a salaried employee of the University with a competitive remuneration and benefits package. André Longtin

Sept. 19, 2019

postdoctoral position Canavier lab New Orleans- hippocampal modeling

by Canavier, Carmen C.

A Postdoctoral Researcher position is available in the computational neuroscience lab of Carmen Canavier in the School of Medicine, Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The position is to study cholinergic contributions to hippocampal information processing in close collaboration with electrophysiologist Sonia Gasparini. The successful candidate will construct a morphologically and biophysically realistic model of a hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neuron to explain the observed frequency selectivity of different dendritic regions for slow versus fast gamma band inputs. Some network modeling will also be required for the project. If interested, please apply at https://www.lsuhsc.edu/Administration/hrm/CareerOpportunities/Home/Detail/3… The primary duties will involve linear and non-linear analyses, writing code, calibrating single neuron models, and generating predictions that lead to additional experiments. Candidates must have a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science or a related field of study. The ideal candidate would have experience with the simulation package NEURON and some knowledge of the hippocampus. Familiarity with nonlinear dynamics, signal processing, and coding in C and or python in a Linux environment is also desirable. If you have questions, please email Dr. Canavier at ccanav(a)lsuhsc.edu<mailto:ccanav@lsuhsc.edu>. LSUHSC is an Equal Opportunity Employer for females, minorities, individuals with disabilities and protected veterans.

Sept. 18, 2019

Postdoc at the University of Leicester to work on human single cell recordings

by Quian Quiroga, Rodrigo (Prof.)

The Centre for Systems Neuroscience at the University of Leicester, UK, offers a 3-years postdoc position to study single cell recordings in humans – performed in epileptic patients for curative surgery. The project will investigate concept cells (a.k.a. Jennifer Aniston neurons) – that means, neurons in the hippocampus and surrounding areas that selectively fire to specific concepts, like different pictures and the written or spoken name of a particular person (e.g. Quian Quiroga et al, Nature 2005; Quian Quiroga Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2012), which are involved in declarative memory functions. For more details see: www.le.ac.uk/csn The successful candidate will contribute to performing recordings with patients in collaborating hospitals and the analysis of the data to investigate the role of these neurons in memory. He/She should have very good quantitative skills (data processing, and programing e.g. in Matlab) and a strong background or interest in neuroscience. He/She should be able to work both independently and as part of a research team within the Centre for System Neuroscience at Leicester and with our external collaborators. Informal enquiries are welcome and should be made to Paula Warrington, Research Centre Manager, csn(a)le.ac.uk or 0116 252 3249. To apply, please use this link: https://jobs.le.ac.uk/vacancies/1393/research-associate.html The applications should include a curriculum vitae and a brief description of their scientific interests The closing date for the applications is 21st October 2019. Cheers, Rodrigo Rodrigo Quian Quiroga Centre for Systems Neuroscience University of Leicester www.le.ac.uk/csn

Sept. 18, 2019