February 2020 - Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

Modellers Workshop for the Brain Dynamics Toolbox, 1-20 March 2020

by Stewart Heitmann

Modeller’s Workshop for the Brain Dynamics Toolbox Online Course Mar 1-20, 2020 The Brain Dynamics Toolbox is an open toolbox for simulating dynamical systems in neuroscience. This on-line course is for researchers, students and instructors who wish to use the toolbox to build their own dynamical models. Participants learn the art of programming differential equations in Matlab and how to use the toolbox to solve those equations interactively. Topics include programming Ordinary Differential Equations, Partial Differential Equations, Delay Differential Equations, Stochastic Differential Equations, Auxiliary Plot Functions and command-line tools. Example code is provided in all cases. Course Website https://bdtoolbox.org/p/modellers-workshop/ Important Dates Early-bird enrolments ($100) close Sunday 8th March, 2020. Late enrolments ($125) close Friday 20th March, 2020. Stewart Heitmann | Computational Scientist Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute | Lowy Packer Building | 405 Liverpool St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010 Australia E: s.heitmann(a)victorchang.edu.au<mailto:s.heitmann@victorchang.edu.au> | @VictorChangInst Disclaimer The information contained in this communication from the sender is confidential. It is intended solely for use by the recipient and others authorized to receive it. If you are not the recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in relation of the contents of this information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. This email has been scanned for viruses and malware, and may have been automatically archived by Mimecast Ltd, an innovator in Software as a Service (SaaS) for business. Providing a safer and more useful place for your human generated data. Specializing in; Security, archiving and compliance. To find out more visit the Mimecast website.

Feb. 29, 2020

COSYNE 2020: Live streaming

by Tomas Hromadka

==================================================== Computational and Systems Neuroscience 2020 (Cosyne) MAIN MEETING 27 February - 01 March 2020 Denver, Colorado WORKSHOPS 02 March - 03 March 2020 Breckenridge, Colorado www.cosyne.org ==================================================== ---------------------------------------------------- LIVE STREAMING ---------------------------------------------------- Please note that tutorials and *selected* talks from Cosyne 2020 are streamed live on Cosyne youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzOTbZTHTubFNjANAR33AAg) ---------------------------------------------------- COSYNE ---------------------------------------------------- The annual Cosyne meeting provides an inclusive forum for the exchange of empirical and theoretical approaches to problems in systems neuroscience, in order to understand how neural systems function. The MAIN MEETING is single-track. A set of invited talks is selected by the Executive Committee, and additional talks and posters are selected by the Program Committee, based on submitted abstracts. The WORKSHOPS feature in-depth discussion of current topics of interest, in a small group setting. For details on workshop proposals please see below or visit Cosyne.org -> Workshops. Cosyne topics include but are not limited to: neural basis of behavior, sensory and motor systems, circuitry, learning, neural coding, natural scene statistics, dendritic computation, neural basis of persistent activity, nonlinear receptive field mapping, representations of time and sequence, reward systems, decision-making, synaptic plasticity, map formation and plasticity, population coding, attention, and computation with spiking networks. This year we would like to foster increased participation from experimental groups as well as computational ones. Please circulate widely and encourage your students and postdocs to apply. COSYNE INVITED SPEAKERS Matthew Botvinick (Deepmind/Princeton) Megan Carey (Champalimaud) John Cunningham (Columbia) Gul Dolen (Hopkins) Rainer Friedrich (FMI Basel) Sam Gershman (Harvard) Lisa Giocomo (Stanford) Christopher Harvey (Harvard) Mehrdad Jazayeri (MIT) Wei Ji Ma (NYU) Hendrikje Nienborg (Tuebingen/NIH) Linda Wilbrecht (Berkeley) Marta Zlatic (Janelia) ORGANIZING COMMITTEE General Chairs: Eugenia Chiappe (Champalimaud) and Christian Machens (Champalimaud) Program Chairs: Anne-Marie Oswald (U Pittsburgh) and Srdjan Ostojic (Ecole Normale Superieure Paris) Workshop Chairs: Catherine Hartley (NYU) and Blake Richards (McGill) Undergraduate Travel Chairs: Angela Langdon (Princeton) and Robert Wilson (U Arizona) Diversity Chairs: Eva Dyer (Georgia Tech, Emory) and Eric Shea-Brown (U Washington) Publicity Chair: Adam Calhoun (Princeton) Development Chair: Michael Long (NYU) Tutorial Chair: Il Memming Park (Stony Brook) EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Stephanie Palmer (U Chicago) Zachary Mainen (Champalimaud) Alexandre Pouget (U Geneva) Anthony Zador (CSHL) CONTACT meeting [at] cosyne.org ---------------------------------------------------- COSYNE MAILING LISTS ---------------------------------------------------- Please consider adding yourself to Cosyne mailing lists (groups) to receive email updates with various Cosyne-related information and join in helpful discussions. See Cosyne.org -> Mailing lists for details.

Feb. 28, 2020

PhD position in numerical methods for uncertainty quantification in large-scale brain activity

by Avitabile, D.

The Department of Mathematics of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam welcomes applications for a fully-funded, 4-year PhD student position in Computational Mathematics. In this project you will work on uncertainty quantification for large-scale brain dynamics under the supervision of Daniele Avitabile. The project lies at the intersection between mathematical neuroscience and computational mathematics. You will study and implement methods for spatio-temporal patterns in a novel class of neural field models, which are relevant to understand epileptic seizures, visual hallucinations and short-term working memory. You will be based in the Department of Mathematics at VU Amsterdam, and collaborate closely with Gabriel Lord, at Radboud University. The application deadline is the 19th of April 2020, and the starting date is the 1 September 2020, or earlier. Applications should be sent using the following link, which also contains further details on the advertised position workingat.vu.nl/ad/phd-position-in-uncertainty-quantification-for-large-scale-brain-dynamics/i462jk Informal enquires can be directed to Daniele Avitabile (d.avitabile(a)vu.nl) Daniele Avitabile Associate Professor in Applied Mathematics Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam www.danieleavitabile.com

Feb. 28, 2020

Postdoctoral position at Karolinska Institute

by Konstantina Kilteni

We are excited to announce an opening postdoctoral position at our lab in Karolinska Institute, to work on touch and tickle perception during voluntary movements! The main research focus of our lab ( https://ki.se/en/neuro/kilteni-laboratory) concerns how we distinguish self-generated from externally generated sensations. To address this question, we combine psychophysics, neuroimaging (fMRI, EEG) and neurostimulation (TMS) techniques. *What we offer:* - Access to research-dedicated 3T MR scanner, TMS and EEG. - Access to multiple robotic setups to study force, touch and tickle perception, as well as to EMG and motion tracking devices. - A dynamic, interdisciplinary, and international research environment, full of expertise and curiosity. *Requirements:* - A PhD in neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, biomedical engineering, computer science or a related discipline. - Experience in any of the project’s techniques (psychophysics, fMRI, TMS, EEG). - Keen interest in experimental approaches to study touch perception. - Motivation to work independently as well as in a team environment. Candidates will contribute to all steps of the research from literature review to implementation of study design, data collection, data analysis and preparation of manuscripts. The position is available for 1 year with the possibility for continuation for 1 more year, starting in May 2020 (with some flexibility on the starting date). An application should include a CV, a list of publications, a summary of current work and references. For further information, please follow the link: https://ki.varbi.com/what:job/jobID:320274/ Deadline of applications: *March 19th.* We are very curious and very excited about our research. *Join us!* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Konstantina Kilteni | Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Neuroscience | Karolinska Institutet Solnavägen 9 | 17165 Stockholm | Sweden http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6887-6434

Feb. 28, 2020

BCAM course on Statistical Physics of Neural Networks, Bilbao, Spain, May 11-15, 2020

by Maurizio De Pittà

Dear colleagues, The Basque Center of Applied Mathematics (BCAM) in Bilbao, Spain, is hosting a 1-week course on "Statistical Physics of Neural Networks" by Yonatan Aljadeff (The Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel), during May 11-15, 2020. The course will consist of five lessons of 2-hour each in the morning, with the possibility to deepen the material taught in the class by frontal meetings with Dr. Aljadeff during the rest of the day. This is an excellent occasion to learn about some of the most advanced material in computational neuroscience. The course is tailored to students with a strong background in mathematics and physics, who are either at advanced undergraduate or graduate levels, as well as to students who are strongly interested in pursuing doctoral research in computational neuroscience. The program of the course is as follows: 1. Random matrices (RMT). The circular and elliptic laws. A statistical physics derivation of Girko’s circular law–the spectral density of an asymmetric random matrix; and the elliptic law–the spectral density for a random matrix with correlations. 2. Transition to chaos in random networks. Dynamic mean-field analysis (DMFT) of a neural network model with random synaptic weights. 3. Random networks with structure. Extension of the RMT and DMFT to partially random and partially structured systems, e.g. systems with cell-type dependent interactions, distance-dependent interactions, heterogeneous and correlated degree distributions, etc. 4. The classical perceptron. Gardner's calculation by Replica method of the capacity of a classical perceptron. 5. Perceptrons in neuroscience. Modern applications of perceptron theory: relating predictions of the synaptic weight distribution to empirical distributions; robustness to noise via excitation-inhibition balance; learning. Attendance to the course is free, but online registration is mandatory before May 8, 2020. There is also limited support available for Spanish and International students (outside of The Basque Country). Students who are willing to apply for financial support must register to the course before March 6, 2020, and indicate their will to apply for funding during the registration process. Registration and further information on the course may be retrieved from the link below: http://www.bcamath.org/en/courses/2020-05-11-bcam-course Thank you for your consideration. ----- Maurizio De Pitta' Research Fellow Research Line in Mathematical, Computational and Experimental Neuroscience BCAM -- Basque Center of Applied Mathematics https://sites.google.com/site/mauriziodepitta/home

Feb. 28, 2020

[Jobs] Early Stage Researchers (ERS) Positions in the EU-Marie Sklodowska-Curie ETN COBRA (COnversational BRAins)

by Alessandro D'Ausilio

Applicants are invited for two Early Stage Researchers (ESR) of EU Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) to be hosted at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT). The positions are for a fixed-term of 3 years and the successful applicants are expected to register for PhD at the University of Ferrara, in Translational Neurosciences and Neurotechnologies. The two Early Stage Researchers (ESR) of COBRA H2020 project (G.A. N. 859588), an EU Innovative Training Network of MSCA involving 9 partners, which will train a group of 15 researchers that will be the next generation of researchers to accurately characterize and model the linguistic, cognitive and brain mechanisms deployed by human speakers in conversational interactions with human interlocutors as well as artificial dialog systems. ERS2 Objectives: When people are engaged in meaningful social interaction, they automatically and implicitly adjust their speech, vocal patterns and gestures to accommodate to others. Although these processes have extensively been explored at the behavioral level, very little is known about their neural underpinnings. Prior investigations have shown that suppression of alpha oscillations, overlaying sensorimotor regions, are a possible marker of action-perception coupling during non-speech (Tognoli & Kelso, 2015) and speech based (Mukherjee et al., 2019) interactive tasks. The project, by running dual-EEG recordings, will investigate if behavioral speech alignment translates into identifiable brain oscillatory markers. Key objectives are (i) to develop and validate metrics to quantify phonetic accommodation during natural speech interactions and (ii) to identify electrophysiological markers of between-speaker convergence. Expected results: - A computational pipeline, based on deep-learning methods, to extract phonetic accommodation patterns of speakers engaged in a meaningful social interaction; - A significant contribution to the field of hyper-scanning by exploring the neurophysiological correlates of phonetic convergence during conversations. Based in Ferrara, Italy Full-time three-year contract, starting September 2020 PhD enrolment at: University of Ferrara Main supervisor’s institution: Italian Institute of Technology Main supervisor: Prof. Alessandro D’Ausilio, Prof. Luciano Fadiga Secondments: - AMU (Aix-Marseille Universitè, France): making-up of linguistic material in both Italian and French, contribution to design of experimental set-up and to phonetic analyses (5,5 months); - HU-ZAS (Humboldt-Universität, Germany): Assessment of a repertoire of metrics for measuring phonetic convergence in conversational speech (5 months). Contact: alessandro.dausilio(a)iit.it <mailto:alessandro.dausilio@iit.it> ERS10 Objectives: For adults, mastering the segmental and supra-segmental aspects of a second language (L2) is particularly challenging. Although we know that such a capability is partially maintained during adulthood, we do not know yet how to facilitate effective and long-lasting L2 learning. This project is based on the hypothesis that when people engage in meaningful social interactions, they automatically and implicitly align at multiple levels (Pickering, Garrod, 2013), including the phonetic (Mukherjee et al., 2019) and the facial expression ones. ESR10 will tackle the fundamental scientific question of speech alignment in L2 and whether it drives long-lasting improvements in L2 skills. Key objectives are (i) to investigate the dynamics of alignment in L2 (English) and (ii) to quantify improvements when participants are engaged in a conversation with native speakers. Expected results: - Validation of a set of game-like tools to quantify L2 speech and facial movements alignment; - Exhaustive investigation of alignment in L2, its relation with L2 proficiency before training and long term retention of L2 improvements. Based in Ferrara, Italy Full-time three-year contract, starting September 2020 PhD enrolment at: University of Ferrara Main supervisor’s institution: Italian Institute of Technology Main supervisor: Prof. Alessandro D’Ausilio, Prof. Luciano Fadiga Secondments: - IISAS (Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia): training on methods for analyzing acoustic-prosodic alignment in dialogues (5 months); - DAVI (DAVI, France): training on how to explore facial movement alignment in L2 (5,5 months). Contact: alessandro.dausilio(a)iit.it <mailto:alessandro.dausilio@iit.it> Contract The ESR will be contractually employed for 36 months by the main institution, and will be covered under the social security scheme of the enrolling country. The contract will be compliant with the applicable EC Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions-ITN general conditions. Experience eligibility requirement: Eligible applicants must be in the first 4 years of their research careers (full-time equivalent research experience) at the date of the recruitment (measured from the time the Master’s degree has been obtained). Eligible applicants must not hold a Doctoral Degree yet. Mobility eligibility requirement: The fellow must not have resided and not have carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Italy for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the recruitment date,. Selection process Applications must contain the following: • An up-to-date CV, without gaps, in order for the selection committee to easily check the mobility and experience requirements. CVs that either do not clearly show the applicant’s past experience, or have gaps, will be considered ineligible; • A letter exposing her/his motivation for a COBRA PhD fellowship, and her preference for two of the fifteen PhD projects proposed in COBRA; • At least 1 reference letter (in English) from one former supervisor and/or professor; • The scan of the degree (usually the master’s degree) which would formally entitles her/him to embark on a doctorate, either in the country in which the degree was obtained, or in the country in which the researcher will be recruited. If the degree has not been obtained yet, the applicant will have to provide a declaration of her/his university stating that the degree will be obtained before the expected starting date; • Transcripts of records (document indicating the applicant’s ranking and marks within her/his master’s degree as well as the courses/modules she/he has followed). • The complete application should be provided in the form of one single pdf file, named as follows: lastname-firstname.pdf. THE APPLICATION IS DONE VIA THE COBRA WEBPAGE: https://www.cobra-network.eu/ <https://www.cobra-network.eu/> DEADLINE: MARCH 31st 2020

Feb. 28, 2020

Scientific software developer position at the SimLab Neuroscience, Juelich, Germany

by Abigail Morrison

Dear colleagues, We have another scientific software developer position available in the SimLab Neuroscience at the Juelich Supercomputing Centre, Juelich Research Centre, Germany. We are looking for candidates with a proven track record in developing scientific software who are interested in developing a modern HPC-amenable simulator for morphologically detailed neuronal networks, and engaging with the neuroscience community. For a full description and details of how to apply, please see the announcement on our website: https://www.fz-juelich.de/SharedDocs/Stellenangebote/_common/dna/2020-061-E… Closing date: 15 March 2020 All the best, Abigail Morrison -- Prof. Dr. Abigail Morrison IAS-6 / INM-6 / SimLab Neuroscience Jülich Research Center & Computer Science 3 - Software Engineering RWTH Aachen http://www.fz-juelich.de/inm/inm-6 http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc/slns http://www.se-rwth.de Office: +49 2461 61-9805 Fax # : +49 2461 61-9460 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Volker Rieke Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feb. 27, 2020

Postdoc position available - computational modeling and real-time fMRI neurofeedback of language

by Narly Golestani

With the launch of a new ‘NCCR Evolving Language’ (http://www.snf.ch/SiteCollectionDocuments/nfs/Faktenblatt_NCCR_evolvinglang…) which involves nearly 40 different research groups from a large variety of disciplines across Switzerland, we seek to fill a Postdoc position for a four-year project starting in May 2020, or at the selected candidate’s earliest convenience. Our goal is to make progress in understanding the importance of prosody in language processing. To this end, we plan to carry out a set of studies involving both computational modeling of fMRI data and real-time fMRI neurofeedback to understand the mechanisms whereby prosody and rhythm support linguistic processing per se. The computational modeling work will be an extension of our recent work on the neural encoding of acoustic information in speech sounds (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31285622) The research will be done in the group of Narly Golestani (www.brainandlanguagelab.org<http://www.brainandlanguagelab.org>) in Geneva, in collaboration with researchers in Switzerland and abroad (Elia Formisano in Maastricht, and Frank Scharnowski in Vienna). Applicants should hold a degree in Biomedical Engineering, Computational Neuroscience, or a related field, and should have solid experience in human brain imaging, and ideally also in computational modelling (i.e. encoding / decoding) of fMRI data, real-time fMRI based neurofeedback, machine learning, statistics and programming. The NCCR places great emphasis on gender diversity and we particularly encourage women to apply. To apply, please send a cover letter, CV, names and contact information of 2-3 references as well as any other relevant documents to Narly.Golestani(a)unige.ch<mailto:Narly.Golestani@unige.ch>. Feel free to contact me should you have any questions. Deadline for application: March 15th 2020 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brain and Language Lab Prof. Narly GOLESTANI Department of Psychology Campus Biotech 9 Chemin des Mines, 1202 Genève +41 22 379 53 52 <https://outlook.unige.ch/owa/redir.aspx?SURL=5WTo-p-J-W9FrDydU-0WU4PdMytUGs…>http://www.brainandlanguagelab.org https://twitter.com/brain_lang_lab ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <https://outlook.unige.ch/owa/redir.aspx?SURL=5WTo-p-J-W9FrDydU-0WU4PdMytUGs…>

Feb. 27, 2020

Masters fellowships in computational neuroscience within the Interdisciplinary Master in Life Science at ENS/PSL Paris

by boris gutkin

Mathematics of Neural Circuits team (Pi Boris Gutkin, https://lnc2.dec.ens.fr/en/teams/mathematics-neural-circuits) at the Laboratory for Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, Ecole Normale Superieure Paris France is looking for highly qualified candidates to support for the masters (m1 and m2) fellowship competition within the Interdisciplinary Master in Life Science ENS Paris. Within the framework of the PSL Q-Life Institute of Convergence <https://www.univ-psl.fr/q-life>, a scholarship program offering competitive stipends for students following the Interdisciplinary Master in Life Science (IMaLiS <https://www.enseignement.biologie.ens.fr/spip.php?rubrique44>) has been established to specifically support two categories of students : International students (10,000 €/year), French students with a degree in a scientific discipline other than Life Sciences (6,000 €/year). In addition to providing the fellowship, the program can reserve rooms at the Cité International Universitaire de Paris <http://www.ciup.fr/en/> for some of the students. The deadline is April 17 2020. More details on the program can be found here: https://www.enseignement.biologie.ens.fr/spip.php?article189&lang=fr <https://www.enseignement.biologie.ens.fr/spip.php?article189&lang=fr> For more information and preliminary interview please contact: boris.gutkin(a)ens.fr Boris Gutkin, PhD Research Director CNRS Group for Neural Theory, LNC INSERM U960 Institut d'Etude de la Cognition de l'Ecole normale supérieure Ecole normale superieure, Paris Sciences et Lettres* 29 rue d'Ulm. 75005 Paris, France Phone: +3314432 <tel:%2B33144322674>2956 Internet:http://gnt.ens.fr/ <http://audition.ens.fr/>

Feb. 27, 2020

Vacancy for studying the visual cortex

by Pieter Roelfsema

We have an exciting opportunity for a PhD-student or postdoc to work on the neuronal mechanisms for object perception and perceptual organization Project description The perception of objects and their segregation from cluttered backgrounds requires interactions between lower and higher areas of the visual cortex. In this project we will simultaneously record from low-level and higher-level cortical areas of the temporal stream in monkeys trained on tasks that rely on object vision. We compare the activity of neurons in the different brain areas to the tuning of units in deep neural networks, to elucidate the contributions of feedforward and feedback connections between brain areas. We expect from you: You are highly motivated, self-driven with a degree in neuroscience, (neuro)psychology, biomedical sciences, natural sciences, material science, mathematics, physics, etc. A high level of written and spoken English and good programming skills are required. You will have experience with neurophysiological techniques, the analysis of neuronal activity in alert animals, and a background in neuroscience. You should expect from us: • Mentoring, supervision and training • Access to state-of-the art infrastructure • A stimulating international research environment Environment The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (www.nin.nl) is the country’s leading fundamental neuroscience research institute. It provides a critical mass of scientists and neuroscience technologies, together with a highly interactive, dynamic, multi-cultural environment. English is the working language of all research groups. Amsterdam is an internationally oriented city and an attractive, progressive and easy-to-integrate environment. The research groups have members from more than 27 nations with backgrounds ranging from philosophy to engineering. Appointment We offer an exciting job at a dynamic research institute and an attractive package of fringe benefits. The position is for a period of 3 or 4 years in total for a postdoctoral researcher or PhD-student, respectively. The first appointment is for one year with an extension for the remaining period pending on an evaluation. Salary The salary will be commensurate with experience and institutional guidelines based on the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities; CAO NU). Full time monthly salary for a PhD student is € 2.325,- in the 1st year to € 2.979,- in the 4th year before taxes. The starting salary for a postdoctoral researcher depends on experience and ranges from € 3.123,- to € 4.274,-.- before taxes. A 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% year-end bonus are excluded. A 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% year-end bonus are excluded. We offer travel expenses, paid parental leave, flexible working hours, 30 days paid leave per year and help by finding a house. Starting date The position is available from Mid 2020 To apply Please, send your application to l.van.der.vecht(a)nin.knaw.nl<mailto:l.van.der.vecht@nin.knaw.nl> including: 1. A Curriculum Vitae 2. An application letter 3. Two (for PhD applicants) or three (for postdoctoral applicants) reference letters Evaluation of candidates will begin immediately, and continue until the position is filled. We aim to fill the position between April and July 2020. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, sexual orientation, nationality, disability, etc.

Feb. 27, 2020