- Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

study abroad programs in Budapest
by Érdi Péter Jan. 14, 2016

Jan. 14, 2016

Dear All: BSCS-US announces its two programs in Budapest for 2016. 1. Our regular program: BSCS - BUDAPEST SEMESTER IN COGNITIVE SCIENCE PHILOSOPHY TO NEUROSCIENCE will be held in the Fall of 2016, see http://www.bscs-us.org/ . 2. We opened also a new program now in its second year: ***************************************** Systems Neuroscience: a study abroad summer program Program start/end dates June 12th- Aug 5th, 2016 The BSCS Systems Neuroscience Program takes place at and academically supervised by the Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Semmelweis University Medical School, Budapest **************************************** For details, see: http://sysneuro-semester.org/ Inquiry: Péter Érdi (SysNeuro Director; BSCS Co-Director) perdi(a)kzoo.edu bscs(a)bscs-us.org, jhegedus(a)kzoo.edu

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Call for Workshops and Tutorials at Alife
by Izquierdo, Eduardo J. Jan. 13, 2016

Jan. 13, 2016

CALL FOR WORKSHOPS AND TUTORIALS The ALife XV Organizing Committee invites proposals for Tutorials and Workshops to be held in conjunction with the Fifteenth International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems (ALife XV), which will be held in Cancun, Mexico on July 4th-8th, 2016. http://xva.life<http://xva.life/> If accepted, ALife will provide the onsite logistics (seminar rooms, projectors, coffee breaks, and lunches) and links from the main conference website. All other organizational issues – including separate review process and proceedings publication, if any – are taken care of by the workshop chairs. Therefore, any workshop-specific requests from participants should be exclusively addressed to them, not to the ALife committee. The internal organization of the satellite workshops and tutorials (website, paper submission, invited talks, proceedings, all deadlines except registration) is entirely left up to their respective organizers. Participation in workshops and tutorials requires conference registration. IMPORTANT DATES Submission of Workshop/Tutorial Proposals is open now. We will receive applications until January 15th, 2016. The notification of acceptance will be given within two weeks of receiving the proposal. Workshop/Tutorial Information and/or submission proposal: workshops(a)xva.life<mailto:workshops@xva.life> WORKSHOP PROPOSALS The ALife XV workshops are intended to be forums to present and discuss new approaches, visions, or critical reflections within a research area. They provide an excellent opportunity to meet people with similar interests, to be exposed to cutting-edge research and to exchange ideas in an informal setting. The organizers of an accepted workshop are responsible for its coordination and its publicity (e.g., for sending out call for papers/abstracts), for collecting and reviewing the papers/abstracts, and for maintaining a webpage providing a list of accepted talks. The workshops are typically half day long. The format can be decided by the organizers who are encouraged to plan interactive sessions. TUTORIAL PROCESS ALife XV tutorials will be presented by domain experts to cover current topics relevant to artificial life researchers and practitioners. Each tutorial will be 3 hours long, then we encourage to include into the tutorial also demos and interactive activities. Accepted tutorial’s slide sets will be published on ALife XV website. SUBMISSION PROCESS Each tutorial/workshop proposal should include: 1) title of the workshop/tutorial 2) name(s) and affiliation(s) of the organizer(s)/inspector(s), with relative contact details 3) a short CV of the organizer(s)/instructor(s) 4) a brief description (half-page) of the workshop/tutorial topics Only for workshops: 5) potential target participants and audience 6) roughly approximated number of participants 7) rough estimate of the number of talks All proposals must be sent to: workshops(a)xva.life<mailto:workshops@xva.life> Looking forward to your submissions. Best wishes, Eduardo J. Izquierdo, ALife XV Workshop Chair Assistant Professor, Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University

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Postdoc positions in Systems Neuroscience at McGill University (Adrien Peyrache)
by Adrien Peyrache Jan. 13, 2016

Jan. 13, 2016

Dear colleagues, We are looking for talented and enthusiastic postdoc candidates to join our team at McGill University (Montreal Neurological Institute). The lab focuses on the neuronal dynamics underlying spatial navigation, sleep and learning and uses cutting-edge techniques combining high density electrophysiological recordings and optogenetics in behaving animals. Starting date: summer 2016. The successful candidate should have either a strong background in neurophysiology or computational neuroscience. Candidates should send a resume, a brief statement of research interests and the names of two references to Dr. Adrien Peyrache ( adrien.peyrache(a)gmail.com) The candidates must hold a PhD for less than 3 years. Applications will be accepted until the positions are filled. McGill University is committed to equity in employment and diversity. It welcomes applications from Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, persons of minority sexual orientation or gender identity, visible minorities, women, and others who may contribute to diversification.

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2016 QBio, abstract submission Jan 22
by Jesus Cortes Jan. 13, 2016

Jan. 13, 2016

Dear all We are organizing the 2016 Quantitative Biomedicine Workshop One-page abstract (free-format) submission finalizes on Jan 22. Confirmed speakers are: Rafael MOLINA SORIANO (University of Granada) Cesar CABALLERO (BCBL) Iñigo GABILONDO (BioCruces) Banafshe LARIJANI (CSIC-UPV/EHU) Markus DAHLEM (Institut für Theoretische Physik-Technische Universität Berlin) Paolo BONIFAZI (BioCruces) Eugenio IGLESIAS (BCBL) Mauro D’AMATO (BioCruces) Dante CHIALVO (CONICET) Denis DOORLY (Imperial College London) Alessandro VENEZIANI (Emory) Daniela CALVETTI (Case Western University) For further information visit http://www.bcamath.org/en/workshops/qbio2016 Best Greetings Luca Gerardo-Giorda (BCAM), Sebastiano Stramaglia (University of Bari) and Jesus M Cortes (Biocruces Health Research Institute)

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CFP: Special Issue "Wireless Sensor Networks for Measuring the Impact of Human Activities over Different Environments" in (IJDSN)
by Sandra Sendra Jan. 13, 2016

Jan. 13, 2016

=================================================== International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks (IJDSN) Special Issue "Wireless Sensor Networks for Measuring the Impact of Human Activities over Different Environments" http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijdsn/si/567042/cfp/ Deadline for manuscript submissions: January 29, 2016 ---------------------------------------------------- === SPECIAL ISSUE - CALL FOR PAPERS === Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are nowadays used in a wide variety of applications, such as military surveillance, scientific exploration, structural monitoring, and environmental monitoring applications, among others. These sorts of networks are complex systems whose correct operation mainly depends on the integration of physical sensors, computation processes, and communication between devices. Advances in smart device and sensor networks will drive innovation in important sectors such as energy efficiency, city/building design, healthcare, agriculture, transportation, and manufacturing. Moreover, human actions motivated by achieving various purposes cause side effects on our environment. While the intended effects are usually positive, at least for those who promote action, side effects can be positive but very often are negative. Some most basic actions of how we do our day-to-day routines are the following: the way people move around the city, how people get rid of your waste, excessive cultivation or exploitation of natural resources, misuse of electrical appliances, or celebrating holidays with music and pyrotechnics, among others, which can have a significant impact on our environment, whether natural, social environments, or on our heritage. For these reasons and taking into account the advantages that WSNs offer, this special issue aims to focus on new proposals and developments of WSNs for monitoring and evaluating the impact of human activity on the environments that surround us. Authors are invited to submit their original and unpublished research contributions to this special issue in relevant areas of WSNs, proposing new design concepts, architectures, and applications versus resource constraints and energy conservation. Potential topics include, but are not limited to: - WSN issues and technologies for monitoring the effects of human behaviors on the environment - Design of energy-efficient WSNs, hardware, software, and systems for monitoring sensitive environments - Real-world case studies of WSNs where the effects of human behaviors are analyzed - WSNs data management - Prototyping of experimental WSNs and its test bench - Evaluation of WSNs in sensitive scenarios - WSNs for emergency response in natural/man-made disasters - New proposals of WSNs architectures - Efficient communication for WSNs architectures - WSN for sustainable human behaviors - Sustainable WSN for environmental sustainability Authors can submit their manuscripts via the Manuscript Tracking System at: http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/ijdsn/miha/ === IMPORTANT DATES === Manuscript Due: Friday, 29 January 2016 First Round of Reviews: Friday, 22 April 2016 Publication Date: Friday, 17 June 2016 === SPECIAL ISSUE EDITORS === Lead Guest Editor Prof. Dr. Jaime Lloret Mauri (jlloret(a)dcom.upv.es) Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain Guest Editors Dr. Sandra Sendra (sansenco(a)posgrado.upv.es) Integrated Management Coastal Research Institute, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain Dr. Danda B. Rawat (db.rawat(a)ieee.org) Georgia Southern University, Georgia, USA Dr. Kayhan Z. Ghafoor (kayhan(a)ieee.org) Salahaddin University, College of Engineering, Kirkuk Road Erbil, Kurdistan Region-Iraq ===================================================

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call for participation Frontiers Research Topic "Burst coding: from cell to cognition”
by Zeldenrust, Fleur Jan. 12, 2016

Jan. 12, 2016

Dear colleagues, This is a call for participation in a Frontiers Research Topic titled "Burst coding: from cell to cognition” (for a description, see below). We, the editors, would highly value your participation. If you would like to contribute, please follow the following link: http://journal.frontiersin.org/researchtopic/4374/burst-coding-from-cell-to… Abstract deadline: 1 February 2016 Manuscript deadline: 30 June 2016 Please note that reviews at Frontiers allow and encourage a discussion between the authors and the reviewers. As editors we would like to further encourage you to use this opportunity, while guaranteeing from our side that a constructive discussion with the reviewers will have a positive influence on the evaluation of your work. Let us know if you have any questions about the Research Topic. We look forward to hearing from you soon. With kind regards, Fleur Zeldenrust Bernhard Englitz Wytse J. Wadman Guest Associate Editors, Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience BURST CODING: FROM CELL TO COGNITION Bursting is a firing mode of neurons in which they respond to and input with a group of high frequency action potentials, followed by a period of relative silence. These bursts can be generated intrinsically in neurons themselves, or they can be the result of network activity. Many different systems show a burst-firing mode next to a tonic-firing mode. Despite the ubiquity of bursting, the question of the functional properties of bursts remains unknown: why do some systems rely on bursts for their information transmission and what do bursts code for? We encourage authors to contribute their expertise, both from experimental and from computational backgrounds, on this question on the fundamental properties of burst coding. Papers should address one or more of the following issues: 1. Burst generation. How can different systems generate bursts? This includes both the single neuron level (active dendritic calcium, sodium dynamics, ‘ping-pong’ mechanisms) and the network level (synchronization, inhibition). 2. Differences between systems. In what brain areas of what animals do bursts occur (region CA3 of the rodent hippocampus, mammalian thalamus, weakly electric fish, insect auditory receptors), and what are the similarities/differences in the properties of these systems? 3. Detection and analysis of bursts. The detection of bursts is mostly done using inter-spike interval distributions or return maps; these give a typical inter-spike interval. Often, inter-spike intervals and spike amplitudes change over the course of a burst, making the last spikes in a burst hard to detect. This makes the analysis of burst challenging. Moreover, many traditional tools for the analysis of spike trains cannot be used to analyse spike trains that include bursts without some form of correction for it (reverse correlation techniques, Spike Coincidence Factor). 4. Information processing (burst coding). What are the functional information processing effects of bursts? These include decoding (resonance coding or inter-spike interval coding, burst duration coding), encoding (what stimulus features trigger bursts?), and other coding properties (reliability at unreliable synapses, feature detection for bursts versus stimulus estimation for single spikes, ‘wake-up call’ function of bursts). 5. Relation between bursts and pathology. The burst-firing mode of the thalamus has been associated with sleep and anaesthesia, and therefore with pathological conditions, before evidence showed that bursts also occur in awake states. Bursting in the subthalamic nucleus and globus pallidus is associated with Parkinson’s disease; high-frequency cortical oscillations are thought to be a hallmark of epilepsy, but their origins have been disputed. Are there more relations between the burst-firing mode and pathological conditions? 6. Relation between bursts and behaviour. Bursts of complex spike cells play an important functional role in hippocampal place cells. In the oculomotor system bursts play an important role in generating saccades. In weakly electric fish, bursts are a response to ‘communication-like’ stimuli, but not to ‘prey-like’ stimuli. Thalamic bursts have a much stronger effect on their cortical targets than single spikes. These results suggest that bursts can have a different signalling function then single spikes, often associated with different behaviour. ABOUT FRONTIERS RESEARCH TOPICS Founded by scientists in 2007, Frontiers is a community-rooted open-access publisher, driving innovations in peer review, article-level metrics and research networking. The "Frontiers in" journal series hosts 54 journals covering more than 350 academic specialties, with a network of over 200,000 leading researchers worldwide. Frontiers is a registered member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (http://www.oaspa.org/member/Frontiers) and was recognized by the ALPSP Award for Innovation in Publishing in 2014. The idea behind a Frontiers Research Topic is to create a comprehensive collection of peer-reviewed articles that address a specific theme of research, as well as a forum for discussion and debate. Contributions can be articles describing original research, methods, hypothesis & theory, opinions, and more. Please see the relevant journal for a full list of accepted article types. Frontiers will also compile an e-book, as soon as all contributing articles are published, that can be used as educational material, be sent to foundations that fund your research, to journalists and press agencies, or to your professional network. E-books are free to read and download. Once published, your articles will be free to access for all readers, indexed in relevant repositories, and as an author in Frontiers, you retain the copyright to your own papers and figures. FRONTIERS PUBLISHING FEES Manuscripts accepted for publication are subject to publishing fees, which vary depending on the article type. All Research Topic manuscripts receive a discount on publishing fees; please see here for a full fee table, and further relevant FAQs: http://www.frontiersin.org/about/PublishingFees. http://www.frontiersin.org/Mail/IbarMail.aspx?op=4&msgid=10350094&msg=In

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Application Deadline Approaching: School on Neurotechniques 2016, Padova, Italy
by Mufti Mahmud Jan. 12, 2016

Jan. 12, 2016

Dear All, Sorry for the cross posting. I am glad to communicate that the NeuroChip Laboratory of University of Padova, Italy is organizing a School on Neurotechniques with special emphasis on "Tools for Investigating the Function of Neural Circuits". The school will be held from February 15 – 19, 2016 and the deadline for application is January 20, 2016. The following topics will be covered in the school: 1. Multi-electrode and multi-transistor arrays 2. Implantable brain probes for acute and chronic recording 3. Transcranic magnetic stimulation 4. Mixed electrophysiology, genetics and behavior approaches 5. Closed-loop electrophysiology and neuromorphic systems 6. Genetically encoded fluorecent probes 7. Signal Analysis 8. Calcium imaging 9. Neuron cultures techniques 10. In vivo electrophysiology Thank you for your attention. Best regards, Mufti Mahmud, PhD Call for participation School on Neurotechniques 2016: The toolbox for investigating the function of neural circuits 15-19 February 2016 NeuroChip Lab, University of Padova, Italy Website: http://www.vassanellilab.eu/school-neurotechniques/ OBJECTIVE Investigating information processing and identifying operational rules of brain neural circuits relies on the capability to selectively record and stimulate multiple neurons within a network. The toolbox of available techniques conceived to meet this need is rapidly expanding. The CSN School on Neurotechniques 2015 will offer an overview on advanced electrical- and light-based recording methods of neuronal excitability, focusing on those that are most relevant for the investigation of neural networks ‘in vitro’ and ‘in vivo’ and for application in neuroprosthetics. Techniques derived from information theory for the analysis of neuronal population signals will be presented and practical demonstrations of experimental recording sessions provided. The school targets doctoral students, post-doctoral researchers, scientists working in the related fields. Since the school's topics are interdisciplinary covering neurobiology, neuronal biophysics, microscopy, and electronics, preliminary knowledge in these fields is highly recommended. SPEAKERS Luca Berdondini Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, IT Stefano Ferraina University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, IT Michele Giugliano University of Antwerp, BE Giacomo Indiveri INI, Zurich , CH Jonathan Mapelli University of Modena, IT Marcello Massimini University of Milan , IT Nurmikko Arto Brown University, Providence, USA Tullio Pozzan CNR Rome, IT Themis Prodromakis University of Southampton, UK Roland Thewes University of Berlin, DE Paul Verschure ICREA at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, ES Guenther Zeck NMI at the University of Tuebingen, Reutlingen, DE Ralf Zeitler Venneos, Stuttgart, DE Davide Zoccolan SISSA, Trieste, IT REGISTRATION To apply, please register at ( http://www.vassanellilab.eu/school-neurotechniques/school-neurotechniques-2…) on or before January 20, 2016. If you have any further questions, please contact silviamaria.lattanzio(a)unipd.it or stefano.vassanelli(a)unipd.it The registration is FREE, however, the number of places are limited. The registration is sponsored by the European Commission, Project CSNII csnetwork.eu (GA No 601167, FP7, FET Proactive, Neuro-Bio-Inspired Systems). Travel and accommodation costs are not funded. LOCATION The school will be hosted by the NeuroChip Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Via f. Marzolo 3, 35131 - Padova, Italy. The location is very close the city centre and is easily reachable from the railway or bus station of Padova. WHEN February 15-19, 2016. Target audience (N = ~25 active full-time): PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, scientists, members of associated EC CSNII consortia. -- Mufti Mahmud, PhD Postdoctoral Research Fellow NeuroChip Lab <http://www.vassanellilab.eu/> - Dept. of Biomedical Sciences <http://www.biomed.unipd.it/?L=1> University of Padova Via f. Marzolo 3 35131 - Padova, Italy Lab: +39 049 827 5308 Fax: +39 049 827 5301 https://sites.google.com/site/muftimahmud/

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Workshop on Hearing and Speech Processing at the KITP in Santa Barbara, summer 2017
by Reichenbach, Johann D T Jan. 12, 2016

Jan. 12, 2016

Dear colleagues, I am writing to announce the multi-disciplinary workshop entitled "Physics of Hearing: From Neurobiology to Information Theory and Back”. Organized by Hervé Boulard, Maria Neimark Geffen, Jim Hudspeth as well as myself, and sponsored by the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP, http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu) this event will take place in Santa Barbara, California, for the eight weeks from Tuesday 30 May through Friday 21 July 2017 (note that this means 2017, not 2016!). The program's emphasis is on the development of a deeper theoretical understanding both of the biophysical constraints of the nervous system and of the mathematical structure of natural sounds, their modeling, and their processing. We plan to cover the following topics: Biophysics and active sensing in the inner ear, Neuronal mechanisms of dynamic auditory coding, Oral communication in nonhuman species, Learning in the auditory pathway and language development, Psychoacoustics and human auditory modeling, Mathematical structure of natural sounds, Mathematical structure of speech and speech-recognition technology, Compressed sensing and sparse recovery modeling, and Deep neural networks for speech recognition. The main goal of the program is to stimulate new research directions and collaborations between program participants. We expect this to yield significant progress both in the neurobiology of hearing as well as in speech-recognition technology. Our Scientific Advisors are Dolores Bozović (UCLA), Judit Gervain (Univ. Paris Decartes), Hynek Hermansky (John Hopkins Univ.), Josh McDermott (MIT), Cynthia F. Moss (John Hopkins Univ.), Mari Ostendorf (Univ. Washington), Shihab Shamma (Univ. Maryland), Malcolm Slaney (Google), and Ruedi Stoop (ETH Zurich). Other long-term participants include Richard Aslin (Univ. Rochester), Alain de Cheveigne (Univ. Paris Decartes), Stephen David (Oregon H&S Univ.), Philip Garner (IDIAP), Andrea Hasenstaub (UCSF), Dick Lyon (Google), Fanny Meunier (UCL), Paris Smaragdis (Univ. Illinois), Lynne Werner (Univ. Washington), and Sarah Woolley (Columbia Univ.). The program will run for eight weeks, with around 30 simultaneous participants, speakers, and students present at any time, and around 100 participants in total over the eight weeks of the workshop. The KITP provides shared offices and computing infrastructure for all program attendants such that participants can work efficiently during their stay. The KITP will also provide free accommodation in its newly constructed Residence on the edge of the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Institute will further provide support for living expenses. Funding for travel to and from Santa Barbara is available if these costs cannot be covered otherwise; and financial assistance for bringing family members can be provided. More information on available funding as well as on the program can be found online at http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/activities/dbdetails?acro=hearing17. My colleagues and I would be delighted if you would join us in this remarkable opportunity for a broad synthesis of multi-disciplinary research on hearing and speech processing. If you wish to participate, please set up an account and apply online on the above website. It will help us with our planning if you apply early, including your proposed length of stay and any financial requirements. Please note that participants need to stay for at least three weeks to qualify for support from the KITP. With best wishes, Tobias Reichenbach ------------------------------------------- Tobias Reichenbach Lecturer, Biophysics of Hearing Editor, Heliyon Department of Bioengineering Imperial College London South Kensington Campus SW7 2AZ London, UK http://www.bg.ic.ac.uk/research/reichenbach/

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research assistant position available
by Dominik Endres Jan. 12, 2016

Jan. 12, 2016

A research assistant position (salary commensurate with 65% TV-H E13) for a highly motivated individual is available in the group of theoretical Neuroscience headed by Prof. Dr. Dominik Endres. The Group is located in the Department of Psychology at the Philipps-University of Marburg, Germany. The position is initially for one year, extensible given satisfactory performance. The position is intended to facilitate a scientific qualification, specifically a German doctorate (PhD equivalent). The position is embedded in the Collaborative Research Center SFB 135, http://www.forschungsallianz-gi-mr.de/projekte/sfb/wahrnehmung. Duties include active, self-motivated participation in the research and teaching activities of the group, in particular a) the development of quantifiable theoretical models about movement perception based on movement primitives, and b) the experimental testing of such models using the new virtual-reality facility of the department. Prerequisites are a Master's degree or German Diplom in one of the following areas: theoretical Neuroscience, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Cognitive Science or Psychology with a minor in one of the aforementioned fields. Programming experience in Python, C++ or similar are advantageous. Applications with experience in machine learning, computer graphics or behavioral experimentation will be preferred. Applicants' skills in these areas will be tested as a part of the recruitment procedure. The academic environment is a vibrant scientific community at the Research Alliance Giessen/Marburg comprising the IRTG 1901 International Research Training Group investigating The Brain in Action (http://www.irtg-brainact.de/) and a Collaborative Research Center (SFB 135, http://www.forschungsallianz-gi-mr.de/projekte/sfb/wahrnehmung) on the Cardinal Mechanisms of Perception, thus offering an excellent environment for cutting edge research on the intersections between different disciplines ranging from experimental psychology and human movement science to computational modeling, machine learning, psycholinguistics and the neurobiology of action. Applications should include a letter of motivation, curriculum vitae and Master's transcripts or similar records, and the addresses of 2 referees. The initial application should be sent by email to Prof. Dr. D. Endres (dominik.endres(a)uni-marburg.de) no later than Jan. 26th, 2016 (earlier applications preferred). Please do not sent originals by mail, because we will not be able to return them to you. We will not cover travel costs to/from Marburg for job interviews. The Philipps-University of Marburg is an equal opportunity employer. Relevant paper: Endres, D., Chiovetto, E. & Giese, M. A. (2013). Model selection for the extraction of movement primitives. Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience, 7(185) -- Prof. Dr. Dominik Endres AE Theoretische Neurowissenschaft Allgemeine und Biologische Psychologie FB Psychologie, Gutenbergstr 18, 35032 Marburg, Germany Tel. +49-(0)6421-28-23818

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[meetings] Living Machines V: Second Call for Papers, Satellite Events and Sponsors
by Nathan F Lepora Jan. 11, 2016

Jan. 11, 2016

Second Call for Papers, Satellite Events and Sponsors Living Machines V: The 5th International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems 18th to 22nd July 2016 http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2016 To be hosted at the Dynamic Earth Edinburgh, Scotland In association with the Heriot Watt University and University of Edinburgh Accepted papers will be published in Springer Lecturer Notes in Artificial Intelligence Submission deadline March 11th, 2016 ___________________________________________________________ ABOUT LIVING MACHINES 2016 The development of future real-world technologies will depend strongly on our understanding and harnessing of the principles underlying living systems and the flow of communication signals between living and artificial systems. Biomimetics is the development of novel technologies through the distillation of principles from the study of biological systems. The investigation of biomimetic systems can serve two complementary goals. First, a suitably designed and configured biomimetic artefact can be used to test theories about the natural system of interest. Second, biomimetic technologies can provide useful, elegant and efficient solutions to unsolved challenges in science and engineering. Biohybrid systems are formed by combining at least one biological component—an existing living system—and at least one artificial, newly-engineered component. By passing information in one or both directions, such a system forms a new hybrid bio-artificial entity. The theme of the conference also encompasses biomimetic methods for manufacture, repair and recycling inspired by natural processes such as reproduction, digestion, morphogenesis and metamorphosis. The following are some examples of “Living Machines” as featured at past conferences: • Biomimetic robots and their component technologies (sensors, actuators, processors) that can intelligently interact with their environments. • Active biomimetic materials and structures that self-organize and self-repair. • Nature-inspired designs and manufacturing processes. • Biomimetic computers—neuromimetic emulations of the physiological basis for intelligent behaviour. • Biohybrid brain-machine interfaces and neural implants. • Artificial organs and body-parts including sensory organ-chip hybrids and intelligent prostheses. • Organism-level biohybrids such as robot-animal or robot-human systems. ACTIVITIES The main conference will take the form of a three-day single-track oral and poster presentation programme, 20th to 22nd July 2016, hosted at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, Scotland. The conference programme will include five plenary lectures from leading international researchers in biomimetic and biohybrid systems, and the demonstrations of state-of-the-art living machine technologies. Agreed speakers are: *Antonio Bicchi*, University of Pisa (robotics, haptics and control systems) *Frank Hirth*, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry (evolutionary neuroscience) *Yoshihiko Nakamura*, University of Tokyo (biomimetics in humanoids) *Thomas Speck*, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (plants and animals as concept generators for biomimetic materials and technologies) *Barbara Webb*, University of Edinburgh (perceptual systems; control of behaviour in insects and robots) The full conference will be preceded by up to two days of Satellite Events hosted by the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. SUBMITTING TO LIVING MACHINES 2016 We invite both full papers and extended abstracts in areas related to the conference themes. All contributions will be refereed and accepted papers will appear in the Living Machines 2016 proceedings which we expect to be published in the Springer-Verlag LNAI Series. Full papers (minimum 8 pages, up to 12 pages) are invited from researchers at any stage in their career and should present significant findings and advances in biomimetic or biohybid research. More preliminary work would be better suited for short papers submission (minimum 4 pages, with a maximum of ten references and no more than three self-citations). Full papers will be accepted for either oral presentation (single track) or poster presentation. Extended abstracts will be accepted for poster presentation only. Authors of the best full papers will be invited to submitted extended versions of their paper for publication in a special issue of the Taylor & Francis journal Connection Science. Satellite events Active researchers in biomimetic and biohybrid systems are invited to propose topics for 1-day or 2-day tutorials, symposia or workshops on related themes to be held 18-19th July at the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh. Events can be scheduled on either the 18th or the 19th or across both days. Attendance at satellite events will attract a small fee intended to cover the costs of the meeting. There is a lot of flexibility about the content, organisation, and budgeting for these events. Please contact us if you are interested in organising a satellite event! EXPECTED DEADLINES March 11th, 2016 Paper submission deadline April 29th, 2016 Notification of acceptance May 16th, 2016 Camera ready copy July 18-22 2016 Conference SPONSORSHIP Living Machines 2016 is part-sponsored by the Convergent Science Network (CSN) for Biomimetics and Neurotechnology. CSN is an EU FP7 Future Emerging Technologies Co-ordination Activity that also organises two highly successful workshop series: the Barcelona Summer School on Brain, Technology and Cognition (https://bcbt.upf.edu/bcbt15) and the Capocaccia Neuromorphic Cognitive Engineering Workshop ( https://capocaccia.ethz.ch/capo/wiki/2015) The 2016 Living Machines conference will also be hosted and co-sponsored by Heriot Watt University. Call for Sponsors. Other organisations wishing to sponsor the conference in any way and gain the corresponding benefits by promoting themselves and their products to through conference publications, the conference web-site, and conference publicity are encouraged to contact the conference organisers to discuss the terms of sponsorship and necessary arrangements. We offer a number of attractive and good-value packages to potential sponsors. ABOUT THE VENUE Living Machines 2016 will be hosted at Dynamic Earth ( http://www.dynamicearth.co.uk) a 5 star visitor attraction in the heart of Edinburgh’s historic old town, next door the Scottish Parliament and Holyrood Palace. Dynamic Earth is a visitor experience that invites you to take a journey through time to witness the story of planet Earth. Through a series of interactive exhibits, state of the art technology and even a 4D encounter you will feel the heat of a bubbling volcano, face the chill of polar ice, fly across the globe before crash landing in a tropical rainforest. Attendees at the conference will receive a discount voucher to visit the Dynamic Earth exhibit. Workshops will be held at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Informatics in George Square, a short walk from Edinburgh city centre. Organising Committee: Mark Desmulliez, Heriot Watt University (Co-chair) Tony Prescott, University of Sheffield (Co-chair) Nathan Lepora, University of Bristol (Programme Chair) Michael Mangar, University of Edinburgh (Satellite Events Chair) Anna Mura, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Communications) Paul Verschure, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (International Steering Committee)

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