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UCL NeuroAI Annual Meeting on Monday, July 11, 1-5 pm BST

by Harsha Gurnani

The third *UCL NeuroAI Annual Meeting* will be held in *hybrid forma*t on *Monday, July 11, 2022*. The annual half-day UCL NeuroAI <https://www.ucl.ac.uk/research/domains/neuroscience/ucl-neuroai>event features speakers working across the spectrum of machine learning to neuroscience and aims to foster further collaboration and discussion. Join us from *1-5 pm BST* for an exciting set of talks and discussion on goals and prospects for NeuroAI. *Registration is free but needed for access to final details: * https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ucl-neuroai-annual-meeting-tickets-341731838127 -------------------------------- *Event programme:* 1.00pm – Welcome *1.05pm – 2.35pm – Session one* *Kim Stachenfeld (DeepMind) *"Predictions and Relations for Biological and Artificial Reasoning" *Peter Latham (UCL)* Title: TBC *Blake Richards (McGill University)* "Contrastive introspection to rapidly identify contingencies in the environment" *2.35pm - 2.55pm – Comfort break* *2.55pm – 3.55pm – Session two* *Raia Hadsell (DeepMind)* "Embodied AGI and The Future of Robotics" *Panel discussion* *3.55pm - 4.00pm *– Closing remarks -------------------------------- For in-person attendees, the location is Jeremy Bentham Room, Wilkins Building, UCL. Please find links to map and accessibility information on the Eventbrite page <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ucl-neuroai-annual-meeting-tickets-341731838127> . We look forward to seeing you - in person or online! *Co-organizers:* Caswell Barry, Will De Cothi, Asaph Zylbertal, Padraig Gleeson, Harsha Gurnani (University College London), Sebastian Lee (Sainsbury Wellcome Centre and Imperial College London)

July 5, 2022

[CFP, Deadline Approaching] MDPI Molecules (IF: 4.927) - Special Issue "Practical Aspects of Molecular Communications"

by Murat Kuşcu

(Apologies if you receive multiple copies of this CFP) MDPI Molecules (IF: 4.927, ISSN: 1420-3049) Special Issue on Practical Aspects of Molecular Communications https://www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules/special_issues/molecular_communicati… --------------------------- CALL FOR PAPERS The Internet of Bio-Nano Things (IoBNT) is an emerging technology that aims to extend our connectivity to nanoscale and biological environments with collaborative nanonetworks of artificial nanomachines and biological entities integrated into the Internet infrastructure. To enable the IoBNT and its groundbreaking applications, such as continuous intrabody health monitoring, it is imperative to devise low-complexity nanoscale communication techniques suitable for the envisioned nanomachines of simple architectures. The most promising communication technology for realizing the IoBNT is Molecular Communications (MC), as it ubiquitously manifests itself in many complex biological systems in the Universe, and thus, stands as one of the most common communication modalities, optimized from many aspects as a result of billions of years of evolutionary advancement. Making use of this naturally existing technology requires understanding its foundations through our existing modeling and analysis tools. This quest, which started almost 15 years ago, has received increasing attention from ICT researchers, which have been overly inspired by conventional electromagnetic communication technologies in their approach to this radically different paradigm. These theoretical approaches, however, have not always come with sufficient physical relevance. Currently, this emerging field has come to a critical turning point, as many researchers have started to report on initial MC experiments following different approaches and using different materials, while consistently pointing out a discrepancy between the obtained experimental results and the past theoretical work. This reveals the need to rethink the previous efforts and come up with new interdisciplinary strategies, thus building practical MC techniques and developing feasible MC system components, experimental testbeds, and prototypes in order to close the gap between theory and practice, and expedite the transfer of this emerging technology to the market. Among the challenges stated above, this Special Issue is particularly focused on the practical aspects of MC. Therefore, we are calling for technical papers that report on new research with the potential to move this field forward towards its practical applications, as well as surveys/tutorials focusing on the practical challenges of MC research. Hence, its scope encompasses a wide range of interdisciplinary research topics, with some examples listed as follows: ** The physical design, modeling, and implementation of MC system components (e.g., transmitter, receiver, channel); ** The design and implementation of MC testbeds; ** Practical and low-complexity MC methods (e.g., modulation, detection, channel estimation, synchronization, coding methods); ** The testing and validation of MC transceiver/channel models and MC methods; ** Applications of microfluidics, biosensors, and nanomaterials for MC system design; ** Bio-cyber interfaces between MC networks and conventional macroscale networks; ** Synthetic biology-based MC transceiver architectures; ** Optimization of ligand-receptor interactions for MC; ** Biocompatibility and co-existence challenges; ** Energy harvesting and power transfer techniques for MC networks; ** The design and demonstration of MC applications (e.g., those in healthcare, agriculture, biocomputing). --------------------------- Deadline for manuscript submissions: *31** July 2022* --------------------------- Guest Editors Murat Kuscu, Koc University, Turkey (mkuscu(a)ku.edu.tr) Sasitharan Balasubramaniam, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA ( sasi(a)unl.edu) Kerstin Lenk, Graz University of Technology, Austria (kerstin.lenk(a)tugraz.at ) Ergin Dinc, University of Cambridge, UK (ed502(a)cam.ac.uk) Michael Barros, University of Essex, UK (m.barros(a)essex.ac.uk) Bige D. Unluturk, Michigan State University, USA (unluturk(a)msu.edu) --------------------------- Paper submission Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website. Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI. Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2300 CHF (Swiss Francs). --------------------------- Additional information: Please visit the MDPI Molecules Special Issue webpage at: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules/special_issues/molecular_communicati… Inquiries can be addressed to Mr. Gavin Fu at: gavin.fu(a)mdpi.com <gavin.fu(a)mdpi.com>, molecules(a)mdpi.com

July 4, 2022

SMILES workshop call for abstracts

by Xavier Hinaut

The SMILES (Sensorimotor Interaction, Language and Embodiment of Symbols) Workshop will take place both on site and virtually at the ICDL 2022 (International Conference on Developmental Learning). * Call for abstracts : - Deadline: July 18th - Abstracts call: from 1/2 page to 2 pages (onsite and virtual participation are possible) - Abstract format: same as ICDL conference https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html - Submissions: smiles.conf(a)gmail.com + indicate if you will be onsite or online - Workshop dates: September 12, 2022 - Venue onsite: Queen Mary University of London, UK. - Venue online: via Zoom and Discord group. Accepted abstract will be asked to make a short video or poster for the workshop. * Workshop 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, - Symbol grounding and symbol emergence, - Emergent communication in multi-agent systems, - Chunking of perceptuo-motor gestures (gestures in a general sense: motor, vocal, ...), - Compositional representations for communication and action sequence, - Hierarchical representations of temporal information, - Language processing and language acquisition in brains and machines, - Models of animal communication, - Understanding composition and temporal processing in neural network models, and - Enaction, active perception, perception-action loop. * More info - contact: smiles.conf(a)gmail.com - organizers: Xavier Hinaut, Clément Moulin-Frier, Silvia Pagliarini, Joni Zhong, Michael Spranger, Tadahiro Taniguchi, Anne Warlaumont. - invited speakers (coming soon) - workshop website (updated regularly): https://sites.google.com/view/smiles-workshop/ - ICDL conference website: https://icdl2022.qmul.ac.uk/ Xavier Hinaut Inria Research Scientist www.xavierhinaut.com <http://www.xavierhinaut.com/> -- +33 5 33 51 48 01 Mnemosyne team, Inria, Bordeaux, France -- https://team.inria.fr/mnemosyne <https://team.inria.fr/mnemosyne> & LaBRI, Bordeaux University -- https://www4.labri.fr/en/formal-methods-and-models <https://www4.labri.fr/en/formal-methods-and-models> & IMN (Neurodegeneratives Diseases Institute) -- http://www.imn-bordeaux.org/en <http://www.imn-bordeaux.org/en> --- Our new release of Reservoir Computing library: https://github.com/reservoirpy/reservoirpy <https://github.com/reservoirpy/reservoirpy>

July 3, 2022

2022 SPARC FAIR Codeathon (prize pool of US$50,000)

by Elisabetta Iavarone

Dear colleagues, we are looking for exciting projects which use SPARC data <https://sparc.science/data?type=dataset> and/or SPARC tools and resources <https://sparc.science/data?type=sparcPartners&developedBySparc=true&skip=0> for the peripheral nervous system in novel ways, particularly in enhancing, demonstrating, or measuring the findability, accessibility, interoperability, or reusability (FAIR) of the data. *Total prize pool of US$50,000* -- including cash prizes and manuscript publication fees. Project selection has begun, but it’s not too late to suggest a novel topic for consideration. The Codeathon will take place virtually, on 6-8 August. You can find more information on the SPARC codeathon page <https://sparc.science/help/2022-sparc-fair-codeathon>. Codeathon projects should result in code, tools, datasets, or other outputs which are open and freely available. Some coding experience is beneficial, but not necessary, as part of the project involves writing exhaustive documentation of your code and the aim of your project. Examples of projects from earlier codeathons are available on GitHub <https://github.com/SPARC-FAIR-Codeathon>, and here <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OG3I0Oy1HivQNKOipNOZazFYCFVsSSn4Qe_EpSc…> you can find more ideas, such as: - Quantitative Analysis of Image Data - Visualizing experimental protocols - Create a short course on data science using Jupyter Notebook and the SPARC Portal <https://sparc.science/> - Embed o²S²PARC <https://docs.osparc.io/#/> modelling and simulation functionality within the SPARC Portal <https://sparc.science/> Participation in the codeathon is free and you only need access to your own computer and reliable internet connection to work with your team. We are looking forward to receiving your proposals. Best, Elisabetta (on behalf of the organizing committee)

July 1, 2022

Fully-funded PhD and PostDoc position (4 years) in Machine / Deep Learning in Translational Psychiatry, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany

by Kerstin Ritter

Dear all, we offer one PostDoc position (4 years, 100%) and one PhD position (4 years, 75%) at Charité - Universitätsmedizin (Berlin, Germany) in Machine / Deep Learning in Translational Psychiatry in a newly established Research Unit 5187 "Precision Psychotherapy" (headed by Prof. Ulrike Lüken). Please see the job advertisements below. Please forward to potential candidates. Thanks, and best wishes, Kerstin (Ritter) ______________________________________________________________ Explainable Machine Learning / Deep Learning in Clinical Neuroimaging and Translational Psychiatry 1) PostDoc position (starting date: autumn 2022, 4 years; 100 %) at Charité - Universitätsmedizin (Berlin, Germany) At Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, we are looking for a motivated and highly qualified PostDoc for methods development at the intersection of explainable machine learning / deep learning and clinical neuroimaging / translational psychiatry. The position will be located in the research groups of Prof. Kerstin Ritter and Prof. John-Dylan Haynes at Charité Berlin. The main task will be to predict response to cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy in retrospective data and a prospective cohort of patients with internalizing disorders including depression and anxiety from a complex, multimodal data set comprising tabular data as well as imaging data (e.g., clinical data, smartphone data, EEG, structural and functional MRI data). An additional task will be to contribute to the organization and maintenance of the prospective cohort. This study will be one of several projects in the newly established Research Unit 5187 "Precision Psychotherapy" (headed by Prof. Ulrike Lüken). Requirements for the Postdoc: - Excellent master and PhD degree in relevant field (e.g. computer science, mathematics, physics, psychology, computational neuroscience or related). - Excellent methodological skills (esp. machine learning, deep learning, explainable AI, medical image analysis) - Excellent programming skills in python - Excellent writing and communication skills (in English) - Strong interest in neuroscientific and psychiatric research 2) PhD position (starting date: autumn 2022, 4 years; 75 %) at Charité - Universitätsmedizin (Berlin, Germany) At Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, we are looking for a motivated and highly qualified PhD student for analyzing structural and functional MRI data in patients with internalizing disorders (e.g., depression and anxiety) using machine learning methods. An additional task will be the acquisition of fMRI data together with other PhD students in the newly established Research Unit 5187 "Precision Psychotherapy" (headed by Prof. Ulrike Lüken). The PhD student will be supervised by Prof. Kerstin Ritter, Prof. Ulrike Lüken and Prof. Norbert Kathmann. Requirements for the PhD student: - Excellent master in relevant field (e.g. computer science, mathematics, physics, psychology, computational neuroscience or related). - Very good methodological skills (esp. machine learning, deep learning, statistics, neuroimaging) - Very good programming skills in python - Excellent writing and communication skills (in English and German) - Strong interest in neuroscientific and psychiatric research Please send your application (motivation+CV+references) in one pdf-file (in English or German) asap to: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Kerstin Ritter Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Sauerbruchweg 4, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin E-Mail: kerstin.ritter(a)charite.de Webpage: https://psychiatrie-psychotherapie.charite.de/en/research/translation_and_n…

July 1, 2022

NEURON School on basic Computational Neuroscience 12-16 September 2022 ITALY

by Sergio Solinas

**Apologies for cross-posting** [All details about this school can be found online at The NEURON School < https://www.neuronschool.org/>] The organisers are excited to announce the third edition of The NEURON School on Computational Neuroscience. This *one-week* school will introduce the basic use of the simulation environment NEURON and related software to build brain models from experiments to their applications. - The school will provide basic notions on experimental methods to extract and process morphological and electrophysiological data targeting their use to build computational models of single neurons and neuronal networks. - The school will cover how these models can be constructed based on the principles of biological tissue electrophysiology. We welcome applications from full graduate, PhD students, and PostDocs in a variety of fields from biology, neurobiology and psychology, to physics, engineering, and mathematics, and industry professionals with a relevant background. Applicants are expected to have a good background in their discipline, an interest in neuroscience, and some knowledge (even basic) of computer programming. We will soon post updates and a flyer about the school organisation. *Format*: Morning tutorials will be complemented with Afternoon coding sessions and Evening discussions promoted by presentations of Senior Scientists. *Date and Location:* September 12th to September 16st, 2020 at the Pula Research Centre < https://www.sardegnaricerche.it/index.php?xsl=376&s=13&v=9&c=3874&nc=1> within the Science and Technology Park of Sardinia, Cagliari - Sardinia (ITALY). Application Deadline: 15 August 2022 *Applications*: Please visit https://www.neuronschool.org/ where you can find more information regarding costs, travel, and lodging. If you have any questions about the school or the application process, please contact smgsolinas(a)uniss.it or enrico(a)uniss.it We look forward to your registration and to welcoming you to the Pula Research Centre!

June 30, 2022

[JOBS] PhD @ Italian Institute of Technology, Ferrara

by Alessandro D'Ausilio

PHD PROGRAM in TRANSLATIONAL NEUROSCIENCES AND NEUROTECHNOLOGIES The Center for Translational Neurophysiology of Speech and Communication (CTNSC) @ Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), jointly with the University of Ferrara, are opening up to 8 PhD positions starting in November 1st, 2022. Research areas: - Improving performance and biocompatibility of electrode arrays for brain-computer interfaces - Organic neuroelectronics for multimodal recordings and stimulation of the brain in vivo - Hardware and software development for innovative exploration of brain signals - Machine learning applications to multimodal brain and speech signals - Investigation of sensorimotor functions in animal models - Cortical recordings in human patients during awake Neurosurgery - Human non-invasive neurophysiology of speech and sensorimotor communication by means of TMS, EEG, EMG and MoCap Who: physicists, computer scientists, biomedical/electrical engineers, biologists, biotechnologist, medical doctors and experimental psychologists eager to work in an international and multidisciplinary team. Where: The CTNSC (https://www.iit.it/it/ctnsc-unife <https://www.iit.it/it/ctnsc-unife>) is hosted by the University of Ferrara (UNIFE) in a prestigious historical building in the city center. Ferrara is a well connected renaissance city (30-min to Bologna, 40-min to Padua, 60-min to Venice; 2 nearby international airports), bustling with students (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/733 <https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/733>). General INFO: http://www.unife.it/studenti/dottorato/it/corsi/riforma/neuroscience <http://www.unife.it/studenti/dottorato/it/corsi/riforma/neuroscience> Application INFO: http://www.unife.it/studenti/dottorato/concorsi/selection <http://www.unife.it/studenti/dottorato/concorsi/selection> Application website: https://pica.cineca.it/unife/dottorati-38-ntn/ <https://pica.cineca.it/unife/dottorati-38-ntn/> DEADLINE: July 25rd, 2022

June 30, 2022

Workshop on State of the Art Methods for Brain Data Analysis

by Dimitris Pinotsis

State of the Art Methods for Brain Data Analysis- A workshop for computational, theoretical and cognitive neuroscientists taking place on July 6 at City— Universıty of London This hybrid workshop will discuss the state of the art methods in brain imaging and how they inform our understanding of the neural basis of behaviour and cognition. It will be of interest to computational and cognitive neuroscientists who are keen on brain imaging, computational psychiatry and network-level dynamics. Speakers: - John Ashburner, UCL - Aldo Faisal, Imperial - Gene Fridman, Johns Hopkins - Alan Jasanoff, MIT - Marcus Kaiser, Nottingham - Mark Woolrich, Oxford Hybrid format (f2f and online) July 6th, 2022 09:50 - 17:00 B200 Lecture Theatre, University Building, 2nd Floor, City, University of London Read more here: About | Brain Data Analysis (braindatanalysis.wixsite.com) Registration is free. To register, please fill in this form: . For any questions, please email braindatanalysis(a)gmail.com

June 28, 2022

2022 Western-Fields School in Networks and Neuroscience

by Lyle Muller

Applications are invited for a one-week school at the interface of mathematics and neuroscience. With similar scope as the 2021 joint seminar series<http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/activities/21-22/western-fields>, the Western-Fields Summer School in Networks and Neuroscience<https://uwo.ca/academy/themes/neural_networks/2022_western_fields_school.ht…> will bring together advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs for a week of training in methods for networks, dynamics, learning, and modeling biological neural networks. Lectures will cover graph theory, network dynamics, advanced algebra, and machine learning. Students will receive intensive training ranging from an introduction to advanced methods in these fields. This summer school will be held September 19-23 on the campus of Western University (London, Ontario), with a closing session at the Fields Institute (Toronto, Ontario). Applications should consist of CV and one-page statement of interest, submitted as a single PDF file to Lyle Muller (lmuller2(a)uwo.ca<mailto:lmuller2@uwo.ca>) and Ján Mináč (minac(a)uwo.ca<mailto:minac@uwo.ca>). Review of applications will begin on 6 July 2022. Our team is committed to fostering diversity in mathematics and neuroscience, and a goal of this summer school is to encourage diverse candidates with quantitative training to consider problems in this growing field. Any interested applicants can write to the teaching team with questions about the program. -- Lyle Muller http://mullerlab.ca<http://mullerlab.ca/>

June 27, 2022

2022 Western Academy for Advanced Research Postdoctoral Competition

by Lyle Muller

The Western Academy for Advanced Research<https://uwo.ca/academy/index.html> is launching a competition for highly motivated postdoctoral researchers<https://uwo.ca/academy/themes/neural_networks/2022_postdoctoral_competition…> at the interface of mathematical modeling and neuroscience. Successful candidates will join a new, research-intensive program at Western University. The Western Academy’s opening Theme will develop connections between mathematics and neuroscience, leveraging mathematical approaches to answer open questions in neuroscience. Motivated postdoctoral candidates are encouraged to submit application materials, including a CV, short research statement, and contact information for three academic references, to Lyle Muller (lmuller2(a)uwo.ca<mailto:lmuller2@uwo.ca>) and Ján Mináč (minac(a)uwo.ca<mailto:minac@uwo.ca>). Postdocs will receive competitive stipends and support for their academic careers. Review of applications will begin 15 July 2022. Both our group and the University are deeply committed to fostering diversity in the sciences. Applications from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged, and any interested applicants can write the PIs directly with questions about the research environment. -- Lyle Muller http://mullerlab.ca

June 27, 2022