- Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

Call for papers: Symposium on Mathematics of Neuroscience

by Ruairidh McLennan Battleday

Symposium on the Mathematics of Neuroscience. ICNAAM, Rhodes, 20-26th September 2021. Two decades into the 21st century, can we claim to be any closer to a unified model of the brain? In this exploratory symposium, we invite submissions for short talks and posters presenting general mathematical models of brain function. We give priority to those models that account for brain or behavioural data, or provide simulations to that effect. The symposium will be held at the applied mathematics conference ICNAAM 2021, to be held virtually and in person on the island of Rhodes, Greece from the 20-26th of September 2021 (www.neuromonster.org) Submission is by 250-word abstract before the 30th August, sent to the organizers Prof Dan V. Nicolau Jr (dan.nicolau(a)qut.edu.au) and Dr Ruairidh M. Battleday ( battleday(a)princeton.edu) -- Dr. Ruairidh McLennan Battleday, BMBCh (Oxon) MA Cognitive Science Fellow Computational Cognitive Science Lab, Department of Computer Science Princeton University Department of Statistics St John's College University of Oxford

Aug. 17, 2021

Assistant Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging at UC Riverside

by Aaron Seitz

Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging in the UCR Psychology Department Tenure-Track Assistant Professor The Department of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position with a focus on Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging beginning July 1, 2022. We seek applicants who investigate individual differences, as well as diverse populations, in cognitive and neural mechanisms of aging. We are particularly interested in candidates whose research will benefit from the social, ethnic, and linguistic diversity of Southern California’s aging population. Specific topics of research can address any area of cognitive psychology that will add to or complement our existing research specializations in perception, action, learning, memory, language, and experience-driven change. We are further interested in candidates whose research includes quantitative methods such as computational neuroscience; uses neuroimaging methodologies; makes connections between human, animal, and computational perspectives of cognition; and/or makes connections with the Developmental, Social/Personality, and/or Behavioral Neuroscience areas of the Department. Applicants should be committed to excellence in undergraduate and graduate education, and interest in teaching courses related to cognitive neuroscience, aging, cognition, and quantitative methods is desirable. Review of applications will begin on 11/15/2021 and will continue until the position is filled. Candidates who apply by this date will be given full consideration. The University of California, Riverside is a world-class research university with an exceptionally diverse undergraduate and graduate student body (http://diversity.ucr.edu/)<http://diversity.ucr.edu/>. Its mission is explicitly linked to providing routes to educational success for underrepresented and first-generation college students. A commitment to this mission is a preferred qualification. The department is particularly interested in candidates who have experience working with students from diverse backgrounds and a demonstrated commitment to improving access to higher education for underrepresented students. The campus is surrounded by mountain ranges and is only an hour away from ski slopes, surfing, and hiking in mountain and desert environments. It boasts a fully-accredited child care facility and maintains a commitment to “family friendly” policies and programs. A Ph.D. in psychology, neuroscience or a related discipline is required at the time of appointment, and relevant postdoctoral experience and significant publications are expected. Salary level will be competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience. Advancement through the faculty ranks at the University of California is through a series of structured, merit-based evaluations, occurring every 2-3 years, each of which includes substantial peer input. Applications must include a cover letter, curriculum vita, statements of research and teaching interests, reprints and preprints, a statement of contributions to diversity, and three letters of recommendation. All application materials must be submitted through AP Recruit at: https://aprecruit.ucr.edu/apply/JPF01442. For more information about the position, please contact the Search Committee Chair, Dr. Aaron Seitz, Department of Psychology, at aseitz(a)ucr.edu<mailto:aseitz@ucr.edu>. UCR is a world-class research university with an exceptionally diverse undergraduate student body. Its mission is explicitly linked to providing routes to educational success for underrepresented and first-generation college students. A commitment to this mission is a preferred qualification. The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. -Aaron ************************************************** Aaron Seitz, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Director of UCR Brain Game Center Director of UCR Aging Initiative Campbell Endowed Term Chair for Research Excellence and Undergraduate Research Mentoring University of California, Riverside 900 University Ave. Riverside, CA 92521 Ph: (951) 827-6422 Fax: (951) 827-3985 Email: aseitz(a)ucr.edu<mailto:aseitz@ucr.edu> Web: http://faculty.ucr.edu/~aseitz/ BGC: http://braingamecenter.ucr.edu<http://braingamecenter.ucr.edu/> **************************************************

Aug. 16, 2021

Call For Participation - Workshop on Spatio-temporal Aspects of Embodied Predictive Processing - StEPP @ ICDL2021 - 22.08.2021

by Stefan Heinrich

Call For Participation - Workshop on Spatio-temporal Aspects of Embodied Predictive Processing - StEPP @ IEEE ICDL2021 Schedule and Venue Date: 22. August 2021, 13:30-18:00h (GMT+8) Location: Online (Details will be announced on the website) All details and full schedule: https://sites.google.com/view/stepp21 Aims and Scope: Understanding human intelligence and building strong AI systems is a key challenge for our generation. A particularly puzzling aspect is that the human brain seems to cope very well with the highly variable and uncertain nature of perception and action, regarding both their signal characteristic and how they extend over time. Furthermore, it seems apparent that the information processing in the brain always involves previous bodily experiences and all our senses, thus is embodied and crossmodal. For explaining these characteristics, there are strong accounts that the brain is constantly predicting sensory input and feedback while minimising free energy in the prediction and is hierarchically abstracting the perception as well as hierarchically composing action. Furthermore, it is also hypothesised that mechanistic priors in the brain’s information processing induce a failure of hierarchical inference in the brain, accounting for atypical perception and action of psychiatric disorders. For example, some brains might have developed to focus too strongly on current sensory input while others might focus too strongly on memorised previous experience. A typically developed brain, in contrast, would show a fine balance compared to these two extreme priors. The big open mystery is: how is the brain developing this on a mechanistic level and thus how can this get learned within an AI system? Thus, to lift this mystery, we further need to bring together research from computational neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and artificial intelligence. With this workshop, we particularly want to wrap up different recent hypotheses, models, and experiments and discuss in-depth how to shape future imaging, behavioural, and developmental robotics studies as a complement to computational modelling and bio-inspired artificial intelligent algorithms. As a guiding theme, we aim to approach the following central questions: - How does the brain learn spatio-temporal stochasticity in perception and action? - What is the role of priors in learning spatio-temporal adaptive prediction? - How can developmental robotics help us to study spatio-temporal stochasticity as an analogy to infant learning? We examine these questions with the insight from invited key speakers from complementary fields as well as original contributions in breakout sessions in order to conclude the next steps within a panel discussion. Keynotes/Panellists and topics: - Jun Tani, Cognitive Neurorobotics, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) An analysis of meta-level cognitive processes of a variational recurrent neural network model when acting with the environment. - Marcel van Gerven, Artificial Cognitive Systems, Donders Institute, Radboud University How can the brain match the unreasonable effectiveness of backpropagation? - Takuya Isomura, Brain Intelligence Theory, RIKEN Center for Brain Science Reverse engineering Bayesian aspect of canonical neural networks. - Takamitsu Watanabe, Brain Network Dynamics, International Research Center for Neurointelligence (IRCN), The University of Tokyo Global and local brain dynamics underlying typical and atypical human intelligence. Organisers: Stefan Heinrich, IRCN, The University of Tokyo, Japan Shingo Murata, Dept. Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Keio University, Japan Yukie Nagai, IRCN & Institute for AI and Beyond, The University of Tokyo, Japan Yuichi Yamashita, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Japan -- ************************************************************* Dr. Stefan Heinrich Postdoctoral Project Researcher Cognitive Developmental Robotics Lab The University of Tokyo, Institutes for Advanced Studies, International Research Center for Neurointelligence Email: heinrich.stefan(a)ircn.jp https://developmental-robotics.jp/en/members/stefan_heinrich/ https://ircn.jp/en/ https://stefanheinrich.net/ *************************************************************

Aug. 15, 2021

[jobs] Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence Sheffield Hallam University - College of Business, Technology and Engineering - Department of Computing

by Di Nuovo, Alessandro

Closing date 22/08/21 at 23:30 We are seeking an outstanding individual who can make a strong academic contribution in Cognitive Computing and Intelligent Systems. You will join a large and vibrant Computing Department that is engaged in both teaching and research. The teaching and research activities in Computing are consistent with the University aims of being the leading applied university in the UK and deliver practical knowledge, skills and solutions that meet the needs of employers and society. Your main duties and responsibilities will include: * Design, develop and deliver teaching across a wide range of modules and within artificial intelligence. * Contribute to the research and innovation in artificial intelligence by publishing high-quality outputs, applying for funding, and undertaking knowledge transfer projects. We would be particularly interested in any candidate with experience of artificial intelligence and robotics. You must hold a PhD (or equivalent) in a relevant subject and possess excellent communication skills. Teaching experience at undergraduate level, is essential, including developing excellent teaching materials and assessments, delivering lectures and tutorials, supervising dissertations as well as assessing and marking student work. It is expected that the successful candidate will contribute to module and course developments, and therefore having knowledge and experience of course development would be beneficial. An excellent research record and reputation, including publications of the highest quality suitable for submission to the REF (UK Research Excellence Framework), would be advantageous. Applications from people with strong backgrounds in cognitive computing and experience of programming in Python, C++, ROS and Tensorflow (or similar) would also be desirable. More information: https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/CIE152/lecturer-senior-lecturer-in-artificial-in… Alessandro Di Nuovo, PhD Professor of Machine Intelligence Leader of Technological and Digital Innovations, Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre College of Business, Technology and Engineering Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom Email: a.dinuovo(a)shu.ac.uk<mailto:a.dinuovo@shu.ac.uk>

Aug. 13, 2021

2nd SMILES workshop, Aug 31st: Sensorimotor Interaction, Language and Embodiment of Symbols

by Xavier Hinaut

* WHAT The SMILES workshop is about Sensorimotor Interaction, Language and Embodiment of Symbols (SMILES). It is a satellite event from the ICDL 2020 (International Conference on Developmental Learning). * WHEN Tuesday 31st of August 2021. Planned schedule (it might change): 9am - 8.30pm CEST (UTC+2). * WHERE Online event on Zoom. (Link sent to registered people the day before, see LINKS section) * WHO 8 Invited speakers from multiple fields: neurolinguistics, speech communication, language evolution, developmental science, social robotics, computational neuroscience, language acquisition. - Morten Christiansen, Cornell University, NY, USA & Aarhus University, Denmark - Kaya de Barbaro, University of CaliforniaSan Diego, USA - Cynthia Matuszek, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA - Yair Lakretz, NeuroSpin Center, Gif sur Yvette, France - Harm Brouwer, Saarland University, Germany - Jean-Luc Schwartz, Gipsa lab, Grenoble-Alpes University, France - Daniel Dor, Tel Aviv University, Israel - Lauren Emberson, University of British Columbia, Canada * LINKS - ** Website **: https://sites.google.com/view/smiles-workshop/home - ** Registration is free but mandatory **: https://forms.gle/tyvMdbb8UJFyXZky8 - Contact: smiles.conf(a)gmail.com - ICDL conference website: https://icdl-2021.org/ * WHAT+ (Short Description) On the one hand, models of sensorimotor interaction are embodied in the environment and in the interaction with other agents. On the other hand, recent Deep Learning development of Natural Language Processing (NLP) models allow to capture increasing language complexity (e.g. compositional representations, word embedding, long term dependencies). However, those NLP models are disembodied in the sense that they are learned from static datasets of text or speech. How can we bridge the gap from low-level sensorimotor interaction to high-level compositional symbolic communication? The SMILES workshop will address this issue through an interdisciplinary approach involving researchers from (but not limited to): - Sensori-motor learning, - Emergent communication in multi-agent systems, - Chunking of perceptuo-motor gestures (gestures in a general sense: motor, vocal, ...), - Sensori-motor learning, - Symbol grounding and symbol emergence, - Compositional representations for communication and action sequence, - Hierarchical representations of temporal information, - Language processing and acquisition in brains and machines, - Models of animal communication, - Language evolution, - Understanding composition and temporal processing in neural network models, and - Enaction, active perception, perception-action loop. SMILES workshop organisers - Xavier Hinaut, Inria, Bordeaux, France - Clément Moulin-Frier, Inria and Ensta ParisTech, Bordeaux, France - Silvia Pagliarini, Inria, Bordeaux, France - Michael Spranger, Sony AI and Sony CSL, Tokyo, Japan - Tadahiro Taniguchi, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan - Anne S. Warlaumont, University of California, Los Angeles, America - Junpei Zhong, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom Xavier Hinaut Inria Researcher (CR) Mnemosyne team, Inria LaBRI, Université de Bordeaux Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives www.xavierhinaut.com

Aug. 13, 2021

WU TSAI POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS Phase II: Call for Applicants

by Gustavo Santana

The Wu Tsai Institute (WTI) is a new neuroscience institute at Yale that seeks to understand human cognition and explore human potential by establishing an inclusive and interdisciplinary community spanning the biological, psychological, and computational sciences. People, collaborations, and diverse perspectives are at the heart of WTI’s mission. To this end, we are announcing a new postdoctoral fellowship program to attract and foster the career success of a new generation of integrative scientists. The fellowships offer a generous stipend ($60K starting) for up to 3 years, funds for training, cohort-based professional development and community-building activities, and access to cutting edge facilities in the new Wu Tsai Institute (WTI) at Yale, dedicated to integrative studies of the mind. International applicants are welcome. We encourage applications from scientists from backgrounds historically underrepresented in science and/or who have a demonstrated commitment to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion. The call features four co-mentored areas of research, carefully selected for the mentors' outstanding interdisciplinary research and the labs' inclusive and supportive training environments. Students from this listserv may be especially interested in working with Drs. David van Dijk and Jessica Cardin, who are interested in mentoring someone with a background in computer science, applied math, computational biology, or other engineering discipline, and experience working with large datasets for the development of cutting-edge machine learning methods for newly developed large-scale brain imaging techniques. Candidates who are interested in joining the WTI, but who have other research interests are also welcome to apply to our Open-Track, to join any of the almost 100 labs affiliated with the WTI. The deadline for applications is September 15. You can find more information and application instructions here: https://bit.ly/WTIPostdocFellows Best, Gustavo Madeira Santana PhD Student @ Yale @gumadeiras

Aug. 13, 2021

CFP - IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence for Brain Computer Interfaces (4-7 Dec 2021)

by Chun-Shu Wei

The IEEE Symposium on the Computational Intelligence for Brain Computer Interfaces (CIBCI) will be held in Orlando, Florida at IEEE SSCI 2021 on 4-7 December 2021. A brain-computer interface (BCI) is a communication pathway for a user to interact with his/her surroundings by using brain signals, which contain information about the user’s cognitive state or intentions. The brain signals could be non-invasive, e.g., the scalp electroencephalogram (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and invasive, e.g., electrocorticography (ECoG). Early BCI systems were mainly used to help people with disabilities. For example, motor imagery based BCIs have been used to help severely paralyzed patients to control powered exoskeletons or wheelchairs without the involvement of muscles, and event related potential spellers enable patients who cannot move nor speak to type. Recently, the application scope of BCIs has been extended to able-bodied people. However, there are still many challenges in the transition of BCIs from laboratory settings to real-life applications, including the reliability and convenience of the sensing hardware, and the availability of high-performance and robust algorithms for signal analysis and interpretation. This symposium focuses on the latter. It will discuss how advances in computational intelligence can facilitate BCI signal processing, feature extraction, and pattern recognition, in order to make them more robustness and reliability in everyday applications. Research Topics Topics of interest include but are not limited to: Potential impact of AI/CI on the human workforce and distribution of wealth Potential impact of AI/CI on privacy Possible bias in AI/CI systems (e.g. can a deep neural network trained to detect lying from spoken language be more likely to get a false positive result for one racial group more than another) Safety of AI/CI systems embedded in autonomous and automated systems (e.g. autonomous vehicles, nuclear power plant control systems) Human-machine Trust and Risk in AI/CI Systems Ethics of AI/CI systems in business, economics or manufacturing Specific applications of AI/CI and the potential ethical/social benefits and risks (e.g. Marking of student assignments, assessment of legal documents, automated decision making in the stock market, medical research) Legal implications of AI/CI (e.g. legal liabilities when things go wrong; how do you certify systems that can ‘learn’ from their environment etc.) Need and direction for developing formal standards in ethics for AI/CI Public perception of AI/CI Impact of AI/CI on human cognition and social relatedness Role of AI/CI in politics and in manipulating public opinion Ethics and Legal implications of use of AI/CI in National Security Ethics in games and virtual reality Important Dates Paper Submissions: August 20th 2021 Paper Acceptance: October 1st 2021 Camera ready Paper: October 15th 2021 Early Registration: October 15th 2021 Conference dates: December 4th to 7th 2021 Paper Submission Each paper should be between 6 to 8 pages, including figures, tables and references. A maximum of two extra pages per paper is allowed (i.e., up to 10 pages), at an additional charge of US$100 per extra page. All papers should be submitted using the IEEE two-column conference style file. All papers must be submitted through the IEEE SSCI 2021 online submission system which will open in April 2021. Authors will need to select the symposium they wish to submit to from the dropdown list of research areas in the submission system. Program Committee Yu-Kai (YK) Wang (Chair), University of Technology Sydney, Australia Gang Li (Co-Chair), University of Glasgow, UK Fani Deligianni (Co-Chair), University of Glasgow, UK Chun-Shu Wei (Co-Chair), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan Boon Giin, Lee, University of Nottingham Ningbo China Trung-Hau Nguyen, Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam Dalin Yang, Pusan National University, South Korea Ogechi Onuoha, University of Glasgow, UK Fu-Yin Cherng, National Taiwan University, Taiwan Poyuan Jeng, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan Kuan-Jung Chiang, University of California San Diego, USA Tien-Thong Nguyen Do, University of Technology Sydney, AU Fred Chang, University of Technology Sydney, AU About SSCI IEEE SSCI is an established flagship annual international series of symposia on computational intelligence sponsored by the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society. IEEE SSCI 2021 promotes and stimulates discussion on the latest theory, algorithms, applications and emerging topics on computational intelligence across several unique symposia, providing an opportunity for cross-fertilization of research and future collaborations. IEEE SSCI 2021 will feature exciting keynotes, panel discussions, oral presentations and social events. COVID-19 The organizers are carefully monitoring the current situation concerning COVID-19 and will Provide regular up-to-date information regarding the conference format. At this stage the conference is planned to take place in Orlando, Florida from 4th to the 7th of December 2021. The next review of the conference format will be in April 2021. Please check the website for more information IEEE SSCI 2021. Policy on Multiple Submissions IEEE SSCI 2021 will not accept any paper that is under review, has been accepted, or has been published in any other venue at the time of submission or during the review process of IEEE SSCI 2021. If in doubt, email your question to the Program Chairs, Prof. Alice Smith at smithae(a)auburn.edu or Prof. Carlos Coello at carlos.coellocoello(a)gmail.com. Review Process Each paper submitted to IEEE SSCI 2021 will receive at least three reviews. The paper will be assessed based on originality, significance, adherence to the scientific method, correctness, clarity and quality of scientific presentation. The decision made on the paper by the Program Chairs is final. Submission and Registration Restrictions There are no restrictions on the number of papers submitted by a single author. However, each accepted paper must have at least one of its authors with a full registration to the conference. A full registration covers up to two accepted papers. Archiving policy IEEE allows authors to have their paper appears in a public archive such as Techrxiv (https://www.techrxiv.org/) or Arxiv (https://arxiv.org/) The PSPB Operations Manual (www.ieee.org/documents/opsmanual.pdf) contains the policies related to posting of preprints of articles submitted to IEEE publications. Copyright All accepted papers at IEEE SSCI 2021 will be published in the IEEE SSCI 2021 proceedings, copyrighted by IEEE. Dr Yu-Kai Wang, Dr Gang Li, Dr Fani Deligianni, Dr. Chun-Shu Wei

Aug. 10, 2021

NeuroML tutorials at INCF Training week: 23/26 August 2021

by Ankur Sinha

Dear all, Apologies for the cross posts. We will be conducting a NeuroML tutorial at the upcoming INCF training week at the end of August. This tutorial is intended for members of the research community interested in learning more about how NeuroML and its related technologies facilitates the standardization, sharing, and collaborative development of models. This tutorial will be offered twice during the Neuroinformatics Training Week: session 1 is targeted to participants residing in Europe, Africa, and the Americas while session 2 is targeted at participants residing in Asia and Australia. Session 1: 23 Aug 2021, 11:00-15:00 EDT / 17:00-21:00 CEST Session 2: 26 Aug 2021, 09:00-13:00 CEST / 16:00-20:00 JST / 17:00-21:00 AEST Registration is free for INCF members. For non-members, registration is only $20 for students and postdocs, and $50 for others. Please register here: https://www.incf.org/virtual-incf-neuroinformatics-training-week-2021 More information on the tutorial, including the topics to be covered can be found here: https://docs.neuroml.org/Events/202108-INCF-Training-Week.html -- Thanks, Regards, Ankur Sinha (He / Him / His) Research Fellow at the Silver Lab | http://silverlab.org/ Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, & Pharmacology University College London, London, UK Time zone: Europe/London

Aug. 9, 2021

Job research software engineer @ SWC/GCNU

by Joaquin Rapela

Hello list, I am the first member of the newly established Data Center of the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit (GCNU) and Sainsbury Wellcome Centre (SWC). The GCNU develops state-of-the-art neural data analysis and machine learning algorithms. The SWC performs sophisticated neuroscience experiments, and records unprecedented behavioral and neural data. Combining these data analysis methods and these behavioral and neural recordings we will revolutionize our understanding of how computation in neural circuits gives rise to behavior. The Data Center is growing and is looking for a research engineer; details appear below. Please contact Tom Mrsic-Flogel (https://www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/people/tom-mrsic-flogel) director of the SWC, or send me an email, if you have any question about this position. Cordially, Joaquin RESEARCH SOFTWARE ENGINEER - BEHAVIOUR AND NEURAL DATA The Sainsbury Wellcome Centre and the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit are looking for a proactive and creative Research Software Engineer to join the technical team in a newly established Data Centre. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in establishing data architectures and data processing pipelines for efficient querying of complex, large-scale and multi-format datasets of neural and behavioural data. Your work will directly contribute to our efforts to understand how the brain generates flexible, intelligent behaviour. The role will include developing, training and supervising a small team of research engineers to assist with the implementation of the software design and documentation. You will have a collaborative approach to work and the ability to build strong working relationships with colleagues to deliver successful research outcomes. Working alongside our IT team, you will create data management workflows for internal users and for sharing of data with the international research community. You will work closely with neuroscientists, electrical and mechanical engineers to design large-scale data collection, analysis and interactive visualization systems for next generation brain data. You will have advanced experience with systems programming languages and substantial experience in Python, NumPy or MATLAB. Substantial experience and knowledge of software development best practice including testing, documentation and version control is essential. With a competitive salary and benefits, this post is full time and funded until 31 October 2025 in the first instance. For further details download the information for candidates (https://www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/sites/default/files/2021-07/Job%20Des…) To apply visit UCL's vacancy listings and search for the advert using reference number 1877608. Click on "Apply Now" at the bottom of the advert to enter the online recruitment portal. The deadline for applications is Sunday 22 August 2021.

Aug. 9, 2021

Open PhD Position in Computational Neurosience in Juelich, Germany - Generic metadata management for reproducible high-performance-computing simulation workflows

by Martina Reske

The Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine - Computational and Systems Neuroscience (INM-6) at Research Center Juelich is also part of the Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6, Theoretical Neuroscience) and hosts the Coordination Site (BCOS) of the national Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience. Among other projects, the INM-6/IAS-6 participates in the EU flagship “Human Brain Project” (HBP, https://humanbrainproject.eu) The institute creates mathematical models of the dynamics and function of neural circuits. This includes model-driven analysis of brain activity and structure, and simulation of biologically realistic models using high-performance computing (HPC) technology. A main challenge in this research field is the acquisition and organization of the metadata accompanying these simulations. This challenge will be addressed in an interdisciplinary project in Neuroscience and Environmental Research funded by the Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration (HMC, https://helmholtz-metadaten.de) The recently started project “Generic metadata management for reproducible high-performance-computing simulation workflows” aims at developing a generic, cross-domain metadata management framework to foster reproducibility of HPC based simulation science, and to provide workflows and tools for an efficient organization, exploration and visualization of simulation data. A central goal of this project is to unify existing approaches, while at the same time developing concepts and tools that are applicable to diverse research fields and can cope with the modularity and flexibility demands of rapidly progressing science. This project is a collaboration between the Research Centre Jülich and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig. We at INM-6 are searching for a PhD candidate contributing to the development of a metadata management framework for generic HPC-based simulation science and in particular its application to the research field Computational Neuroscience. We are offering a PhD Position - Generic metadata management for reproducible high-performance-computing simulation workflows Your Job: The successful candidate will contribute to the project by designing, implementing, and evaluating a metadata management framework for a Computational Neuroscience use case. This includes: * Review of existing approaches and tools * Requirement specification * Conceptual design blueprint of implementation * Proof-of-concept application to Computational Neuroscience * Development of neuronal network models addressing Neuroscience questions * Simulations of neuronal networks using HPC infrastructure * Presentation and publication of the results * Close interaction with team members and collaborators from INM-6, the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ * Exchange and networking within national (NFDI) and international (RDA, EOSC) initiatives and within the funding incubator platform HMC Your Profile: * Completed study (Diploma/Master) in Physics, Computer Science, Computational Neuroscience or a related field * Solid programming skills preferably in Python and/or C++; experience with Python libraries (e.g., NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib, and pandas) is beneficial * Experience with software development (e.g., version control with Git) and data organization (e.g., data bases with SQL and MySQL) is preferable * Knowledge of relevant metadata standards and semantic techniques are beneficial * Experience with modeling, simulation, and analysis of complex systems * Keen interest in cognitive and systems neuroscience * Interest in interdisciplinary projects * Interest in collaborative work and good communication skills * Good command of English Our Offer: We work on the very latest issues that impact our society and are offering you the chance to actively help in shaping the change! We offer ideal conditions for you to complete your doctoral degree: * A highly motivated working group as well as an international and interdisciplinary working environment at one of Europe’s largest research establishments * Outstanding scientific and technical infrastructure * Opportunity to participate in (international) conferences and project meetings * Continuous scientific mentoring by your scientific advisor * Flexible working hours and 30 days of annual leave * Further development of your personal strengths, e.g. through an extensive range of training courses; a structured program of continuing education and networking opportunities specifically for doctoral researchers via JuDocS, the Jülich Center for Doctoral Researchers and Supervisors: https://www.fz-juelich.de/judocs * Targeted services for international employees, e.g. through our International Advisory Service The position is initially for a fixed term of 3 Jahre years. Pay in line with 65 % of pay group 13 of the Collective Agreement for the Public Service (TVöD-Bund) and additionally 60 % of a monthly salary as special payment („Christmas bonus“). Further information on doctoral degrees at Forschungszentrum Jülich including our other locations is available at: www.fz-juelich.de/gp/Careers_Docs<http://www.fz-juelich.de/gp/Careers_Docs> Forschungszentrum Jülich promotes equal opportunities and diversity in its employment relations. We also welcome applications from disabled persons. Please apply via our online recruiting system<https://www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/Careers/application/_node.html?cms_hre_…> until Sept 15th, 2021. Reference number: 2021D-107 Martina Reske -- Dr. Martina Reske Scientific Coordinator Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) Computational and Systems Neuroscience & Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) Theoretical Neuroscience Jülich Research Centre and JARA Jülich, Germany Work +49.2461.611916 Work Cell +49.151.26156918 Fax +49.2461.619460 www.csn.fz-juelich.de<http://www.csn.fz-juelich.de> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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), Dr. Astrid Lambrecht, Prof. Dr. Frauke Melchior ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aug. 6, 2021