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CFP- Special issue on Robots and Smart Environments
by Amir Aly March 6, 2018

March 6, 2018

*Cognitive Systems Research (CSR) Journal* CALL FOR PAPERS **Apologies for cross posting ** We are happy to call for papers for the journal special issue: "*Social Cognitive Systems in Smart Environments: Approaches for Learning, Reasoning, and Adaptation*" *Webpage: **https://www.journals.elsevier.com/cognitive-systems-research/call-for-papers/special-issue-social-cognitive-systems-in-smart-environment <https://www.journals.elsevier.com/cognitive-systems-research/call-for-paper…> * <http://cognitive-mirroring.org/en/events/hai2017_workshop/> *I. Aim and Scope * A “smart” environment incorporates intelligent systems (e.g., smart home, smart factory, smart city, smart car etc.) employing heterogeneous devices, such as: sensors, actuators, cameras, networks, and screens. Within such a smart environment, autonomous agents can take on an important mediating role between human users and the environment. This is particularly true if high-level cognitive functions and computational intelligence are employed to handle the uncertainty of the complex environment so as to allow agents to act appropriately within different contexts of interaction. Using robotic systems in smart environments opens the door to several socio-cognitive applications, such as: reducing cognitive load for individuals interacting with a smart environment, assisting the elderly and people with cognitive disabilities in mobility and daily tasks (which requires robots to learn the multimodal characteristics of human behavior and to spatially perceive the environment containing other smart objects to decide the best way to employ/manipulate them in order to successfully perform tasks), and developing a cloud-connected robot system to incrementally share knowledge between robots in different smart environments about the behavioral characteristics of human users in order to interact with them adaptively. To meet the requirements of these target applications, robots need to be able to learn how to use the capabilities of their smart environments to better address the needs of the human users. Industrial applications of such technologies include factories of the future and the digital eco-system within an autonomous car. This special issue aims to shed light on cutting edge lines of interdisciplinary research in cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and robotics covering basic research and applications. Recent advances and possible future research avenues on smart robots and environments would be discussed in detail in this journal special issue. *II. Potential Topics* Topics relevant to this special issue include, but are not limited to: - Cyber-physical systems in smart environments - Multimodal human robot interaction - Cognitive modeling of human behavior - Cognitive architectures and strategies for intelligent interaction with the environment - AI and machine learning approaches applied to human-robot-environment interaction - Internet of things - Ambient assisted living - Infotainment in smart vehicles - Natural user interface design - Cloud robotics - Ubiquitous computing *III. Submission* Submissions to the special issue must include original research that has not been published nor submitted to other journals. Authors should prepare their manuscript according to the "Guide for Authors" available at the journal homepage: http://www.journals.elsevier.c om/cognitive-systems-research/. Papers should be submitted through the EVISE system: https://www.evise.com/evise/jrnl/cogsys. Authors should select "*VSI:Smart Environments"* as the article type during the submission process. *IV. Timline (Submission portal will be open on March 1, 2018)* - Deadline for paper submission: April 30, 2018 - First notification for authors: July 31, 2018 - Deadline for revised papers submission: September 30, 2018 - Final notification for authors: November 30, 2018 - Deadline for submission of camera-ready manuscripts: January 15, 2019 *V. Guest editors* Dr. Amir Aly, Ritsumeikan University, Japan (amir.aly(a)em.ci.ritsumei.ac.jp) Dr. Shashank Pathak,Visteon Corporation, Germany ( shashank.pathak(a)visteon.com) Dr. Sean Andrist, Microsoft Research, USA (sandrist(a)microsoft.com) Prof. Armando Tacchella, University of Genoa, Italy ( armando.tacchella(a)unige.it) ------ *Amir Aly, Ph.D.* Senior Researcher Emergent Systems Laboratory College of Information Science and Engineering Ritsumeikan University 1-1-1 Noji Higashi, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577 Japan

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NeuroBridges 2018 announcement
by Ahmed El Hady March 6, 2018

March 6, 2018

*/NeuroBridges 2018 Summer school , Cluny, France/* */( October 2nd - October 12th, 2017 )/* I would like to bring to your attention the *NeuroBridges 2018 Computational Neuroscience School*. <http://decision-making-lab.com/NeuroBridges/neurobridges2018.html> NeuroBridges <https://www.facebook.com/NeuroBridges/>is a one-of-a-kind series of scientific meetings in brain research, which brings together Mediterranean and Middle Eastern scientists, in order to promote international scientific cooperation in system and computational neuroscience. A major goal of this school is to serve as a bridge between experimental and theoretical neuroscientists, addressing system-level questions. The organizers of NeuroBridges also believe that these scientific collaborations can lead to personal relations, which eventually may help alleviate the political distress in the Middle East. Following the success of NeuroBridges 2017 <http://decision-making-lab.com/NeuroBridges/neurobridges2017.html> school, NeuroBridges 2018 <http://decision-making-lab.com/NeuroBridges/neurobridges2018.html> will be a nine day summer school <http://decision-making-lab.com/NeuroBridges/neurobridges2018.html>, which will take place in Cluny, France. The school is organized by Ahmed El Hady (Princeton), David Hansel (CNRS) and Yonatan Loewenstein (Hebrew University). It will be comprised of lectures delivered by a group of leading neuroscientists, experimentalists as well as theoreticians, which will address the fundamental questions in contemporary neuroscience. In addition to the lectures, the students will work in groups on small research projects. The school is intended for graduate students and postdocs, primarily from the Middle East and the Mediterranean region, either working in their home countries or abroad. We will consider applicants with some background in applied mathematics, computer science, electrical engineering or physics, interested in theoretical brain and cognitive sciences. We will also consider those with biological or medical background given that they show proof of basic mathematical knowledge. The school will take place between October 2 and October 12, 2018 in Le Centre de Conférences Internationales de Cluny (CCIC). Cluny is a small medieval town in Burgundy, France, located about 400km southeast of Paris (accessible by fast train, TGV). The deadline for application is *May 31st, 2018 *and the following is the website including the link for the online application: http://decision-making-lab.com/NeuroBridges/neurobridges2018.html For more information, please contact neurobridges2018(a)gmail.com <mailto:neurobridges2018@gmail.com>.

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4th FUNCTIONAL ARCHITECTURE OF MEMORY (FAM) CONFERENCE
by Laura Montero March 5, 2018

March 5, 2018

*Dates May 23rd, 2018 to May 25th, 2018 * *Place LEIBNIZ INSTITUT FOR NEUROBIOLOGY, Magdeburg, Germany * About the Event The Fourth international conference on the FUNCTIONAL ARCHITECTURE OF MEMORY May 23th to 25th 2018 (Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg - Germany) is organized by Prof. Dr. M. Sauvage. The FAM conference aims at bringing new insights on today's major controversies in recognition memory by bridging human and animal memory function. Twenty of the world-leading experts on the medial temporal lobe and memory function will discuss findings obtained using behavioral, imaging, electrophysiological, mutagenesis and computational techniques. The conference will start by a 5min blitz session that attendants are welcome to contribute to, and a “speakers/students-only brainstorming session” takes place each day. The number of participants is limited to 100 (first-come first-served basis) and registration can be made at https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/philosophy/famconference/# FAM conference Speakers: Jozsef Csicsvari (IST, Austria) Emrah Düzel (DZNE, Germany) Paul Frankland (Sickkids Toronto, Canada) James Knierim (Johns Hopkins Univ., USA) Pierre Lavenex (Lauzanne univ., Switzerland) Stefan Leutgeb (UC San Diego, USA) Thomas McHugh (RIKEN, Japan) Shane OMara (Trinity College, Ireland) Charan Ranganath (UC Davis, USA) Magdalena Sauvage (LIN, Germany) Steven Siegelbaum (Columbia U, USA) Wendy Suzuki (New York University, USA) Clea Warburton (Bristol University, UK) Thomas Wolbers (DZNE, Germany) Menno Witter (Kavli Institute, Norway) Motoharu Yoshida (DZNE, Germany) Contact Laura Montero Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology Functional Architecture of Memory Dpt Brenneckestrasse, 6 39118 Magdeburg Germany Phone: +49-391-6263-94531 Email: <http://www.fens.org/News-Activities/Calendar/Meetings/2018/05/4th-FUNCTIONA…> 4thfamconference(a)gmail.com Website: https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/philosophy/famconference/#

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Computational & Cognitive Neuroscience (CCN) Summer School -- DEADLINE EXTENSION TO MARCH 14
by Murray, John March 5, 2018

March 5, 2018

*** APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MARCH 14, 2018. *** We are pleased to announce the 8th Computational and Cognitive Neuroscience (CCN) Summer School which will take place June 26 — July 19, 2018, at Cold Spring Harbor Asia (CSHA) in Suzhou, China. Please distribute this announcement to your department and colleagues. The CCN summer school is a unique international summer school focusing on systems neuroscience and cognition from a computational and theoretical perspective. Lectures from leading international faculty in experimental, computational and theoretical neuroscience are tightly coupled with computational tutorials in a series of modules. Each module covers a core area, integrating experimental, theoretical and computational perspectives. The course aims to train talented and highly motivated graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from around the world. Applicants with quantitative (including Physics, Mathematics, Engineering and Computer Science) or experimental backgrounds are welcome. The summer school also has the mission of training and integrating students from diverse academic, cultural and geographic backgrounds. The practical training includes learning Python-based approaches to programming, data analysis and modeling. Students work through tutorials designed with the faculty and then design, plan and complete a series of open-ended projects for each module. Course information is available on the CCN official website: http://www.ccnss.org/ Applications are being accepted now through the CSHA website: https://www.csh-asia.org/2018meetings/S-COSYNE.html The application deadline is March 14th, 2018. Course Directors: Xiao-Jing Wang (New York University) Zach Mainen (Champalimaud Neuroscience Program) Si Wu (Beijing Normal University) John D. Murray (Yale University) Eric DeWitt (Champalimaud Neuroscience Program) CCN 2018 Lecturers: Eric DeWitt (Champalimaud Research) Shaul Druckmann (Stanford) Jeff Erlich (NYU Shanghai) Birte Forstmann (U Amsterdam) David Foster (UC Berkeley) Julijana Gjorgjieva (MPI Brain Research) Michael Hausser (UCL) Alex Huth (UT Austin) Chris Honey (Johns Hopkins) Sukbin Lim (NYU Shanghai) Zach Mainen (Champalimaud Research) John Murray (Yale) Peggy Series (U Edinburgh) Maurice Smith (Harvard) Xiao-Jing Wang (NYU) Si Wu (Beijing Normal) Byron Yu (Carnegie Mellon) + more! Best regards, CCN SS Directors: Xiao-Jing Wang, Zach Mainen, Si Wu, John Murray, Eric DeWitt John D. Murray ----------------------------------------------- Assistant Professor Department of Psychiatry Yale University School of Medicine murraylab.yale.edu<http://murraylab.yale.edu/> -----------------------------------------------

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CNS*2018 Abstract DEADLINE EXTENSION to March 12
by Sharon Crook March 2, 2018

March 2, 2018

As always, apologies for multiple posts. CNS*2018 Call for Abstracts DEADLINE EXTENSION Organization for Computational Neurosciences (OCNS) 27th Annual Meeting Seattle, USA July 13-18 Local Organizers: Christof Koch, Adrienne Fairhall, Eric Shea-Brown The main meeting begins the evening of Friday July 13 and runs through Monday July 16. It will be preceded by a day of tutorials (Friday July 13) and followed by two days of workshops (Tuesday July 17 and Wednesday July 18). Invited Keynote Speakers: Eve Marder, Brandeis University Nancy Kopell, Boston University Daniel Wolpert, University of Cambridge Rajesh Rao, University of Washington The abstract submission deadline has been extended to MARCH 12, 2018 at 11pm Pacific Time. This will be the final deadline for abstract submission. Note that one of the authors must register as sponsoring author for the main meeting before abstract submission is possible. In case the abstract is not accepted for presentation, the registration fee will be refunded. Abstract Submission: http://www.cnsorg.org/cns-2018-abstract-submission Registration: https://ocns.memberclicks.net/index.php?option=com_mc&view=mc&mcid=form_243… For up-to-date conference information, please visit: http://www.cnsorg.org/cns-2018 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OCNS is the international member-based society for computational neuroscientists. Become a member to be eligible for travel awards and more. Visit our website for more information: http://www.cnsorg.org

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[publication and call for dialog] IEEE CIS Newsletter on Cognitive and Developmental Systems
by Pierre-Yves Oudeyer March 2, 2018

March 2, 2018

Dear colleagues, we are happy to announce the release of the latest issue of the IEEE CIS Newsletter on Cognitive and Developmental Systems (open access). This is a biannual newsletter addressing the sciences of developmental and cognitive processes in natural and artificial organisms, from humans to robots, at the crossroads of cognitive science, developmental psychology, artificial intelligence, machine learning and neuroscience. It is available at: http://goo.gl/pA7WrH Featuring dialog: === "One developmental architecture to rule them all?" == Dialog initiated by Matthias Rolf, Lorijn Zaadnoordijk and Johan Kwisthout with responses from: Niels Taatgen, John Spencer, Gary Jones, Gerard Wolff, Clément Moulin-Frier and Paul Verschure == Topic: Humans have a unique capability to achieve and learn a wide diversity of skills of all kinds, from low-level sensorimotor skills to very abstract linguistic or mathematical skills. Is it possible to develop theories of how general cognitive architectures can display such a general flexibility for skill learning? This dialog adresses this question, and discusses whether and how it would be useful both epistemologically and in practice to aim towards the development of a “standard integrated cognitive architecture”, akin to “standard models” in physics, or whether focusing on simple and partial models should be a better approach. In particular, this question is discussed in the context of understanding development in infants, and of building developmental architectures, thus addressing the issue of architectures that not only learn, but that are adaptive themselves. Call for new dialog: === "Curiosity as Driver of Extreme Specialization in Humans" == Dialog initiated by Celeste Kidd == This dialog asks the question of why and how humans can be driven to extremely specialize. In particular, it proposes the hypothesis that curiosity may play a fundamental role in this process, and highlights many important open questions about how this could happen, and what are the actual mechanisms of curiosity-driven exploration and learning. Those of you interested in reacting to this dialog initiation are welcome to submit a response by May 30th, 2018. The length of each response must be between 600 and 800 words including references (contact pierre-yves.oudeyer(a)inria.fr) Let us remind you that all issues of the newsletter are all open-access and available at: https://goo.gl/ZjjZNz I wish you a stimulating reading! Best regards, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, Editor of the IEEE CIS Newsletter on Cognitive and Developmental Systems Research director, Inria Head of Flowers project-team Inria and Ensta ParisTech, France http://www.pyoudeyer.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/pyoudeyer and Fabien Benureau Assistant Editor Inria Mnemosyne team http://fabien.benureau.com

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Stanford University Job Opportunities: Postdoctoral Fellowship
by Christina Atkinson March 1, 2018

March 1, 2018

Stanford University’s Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences is seeking to hire a full time post-doctoral fellow for their Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory. This lab is headed by Dr. Vinod Menon who has broad multidisciplinary expertise that spans several scientific disciplines and has published extensively on various aspects of human cognition and brain function. Explore our lab website for more information: http://med.stanford.edu/scsnl.html. POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP IN COMPUTATIONAL MODELING OF BRAIN NETWORKS Currently Available: The Stanford Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Laboratory invites applications for a postdoctoral fellowship in computational modeling of human brain imaging data using deep neural networks. The successful candidate will be involved in a multidisciplinary project that seeks to develop novel computational frameworks for robust identification of neurobiological signatures of psychiatric and neurological disorders combining deep learning and convolution networks and dynamic brain circuit analyses with task and resting-state fMRI. Clinical disorders currently under investigation include autism, ADHD, anxiety and mood disorders, learning disabilities, schizophrenia, and Parkinson’s disease. We seek talented and highly-motivated individuals with a strong background in at least one of these areas: deep learning algorithms and optimization (theory and practical implementations); computational modeling, statistical inference, and machine learning, especially as applied to fMRI and MRI data. The candidate will have access to multiple large datasets and state-of-the-art computational resources, including HPCs and GPGPUs. Please email a CV, statement of research interests and relevant background, and have three letters of reference sent to Drs. Vinod Menon and Aarthi Padmanabhan at scsnl.stanford+postdoc(a)gmail.com<mailto:scsnl.stanford@gmail.com> <mailto:scsnl.stanford@gmail.com>

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7th International Summer School of Neuroengineering "Massimo Grattarola"
by Paolo Massobrio March 1, 2018

March 1, 2018

Call for applicants of the 7th International Summer School of Neuroengineering "Massimo Grattarola" Neurotechnologies and Computational Methods to Interact with the Brain The 7th International Summer School of Neuroengineering "Massimo Grattarola" aims to introduce computational and technological methods to researchers of different backgrounds (life sciences, physics, engineering) to interact with the brain. The first two days will deal with brain dynamics giving particular emphasis to the role of the connectivity and computational models of the brain at different level of abstraction, as well as hardware and software platforms to simulate such dynamics. During the 3rd day, the recent advancements for increasing the quality of the recordings and for delivering efficient stimulating protocols will be discussed. Finally, the last day will provide examples of neuroengineering paradigms for designing new neuroprostheses to interact with the brain and their clinical applications to increase the quality of life. A practical experimental session using high-density EEG set-up and multi-electrode arrays for in vitro/in vivo applications is foreseen. Dates: 18th-22nd June 2018 Location: Genova (Italy) Registration: Registrations will open during the first week of March. Participation is limited to 60 attendees (students, post-docs, .). Website: www.neuroengineering.eu <http://www.neuroengineering.eu> Poster session: Students attending the school will have the opportunity to present their results in a two-days poster session. Confirmed speakers: Miguel Nicolelis (Duke University), Shimon Marom (Technion Israel Institute of Technology), Matias Palva (Univ. Helsinki), Andreas Hierlemann (ETH), Tim Harris (Janelia Research Campus), Lucilla de Arcangelis (Univ. of Campania), Annalisa Bonfiglio (Univ. Cagliari), Sylvie Renaud (Bordeaux INP), Valentina Pasquale (Italian Institute of Technology), Michele Giugliano (Univ. Antwerp), Michele Migliore (CNR), Silvia Casarotto (Univ. Milano), Michela Chiappalone (Italian Institute of Technology), Stanisa Raspopovic (ETH). Best regards Paolo Massobrio _________________________________________________ Paolo Massobrio, PhD Assistant Professor of Bioengineering Neuroengineering and Bio-Nano Technology - NBT - Lab Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and System Engineering - DIBRIS University of Genova Via Opera Pia 13, 16145, GENOVA, ITALY Phone: +39-010-3532761 Fax: +39-010-3532764 URL: <http://www.dibris.unige.it/> www.dibris.unige.it; <http://www.nbt.unige.it> www.nbt.unige.it E-mail: <mailto:paolo.massobrio@unige.it> paolo.massobrio(a)unige.it

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Post-doctoral position in Computational Neuroscience, Moreno-Bote Lab, Barcelona, Spain
by Ruben Moreno Bote March 1, 2018

March 1, 2018

Post-doctoral position Computational Neuroscience, Moreno-Bote Lab University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain We are looking for strong post-doctoral candidates interested in joining the group of Theoretical Neuroscience of Rubén Moreno-Bote lab. We are looking for excellent post-doctoral candidates with Physics, Mathematics or Machine Learning background, ideally with knowledge of Neuroscience or Computational Neuroscience, and interested in theory and applications. The publication record of the candidate should be very strong in his/her respective discipline. The candidate will develop state of the art mathematical techniques to understand neuronal dynamics and will have access to multielectrode recording neural data. He/she could also be involved in the design of electrophysiology experiments through our collaborators. The candidate will benefit from the stimulating environment of Barcelona area in Theoretical and Systems Neuroscience and will have the opportunity of enjoying a lively city. Our lab (http://www.upf.edu/pdi/ruben-moreno-bote) forms part of a larger network of neuroscience labs in Barcelona (http://www.barcelonaneuroscience.com) Financial support is provided by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Spanish MINECO. APPLICATION: A full CV in pdf format, a 1 page project in pdf format, and names and email addresses of 2 referees should be sent to the following address: ruben.moreno(a)upf.edu Informal inquiries are welcome. DEADLINE: up to the position is filled STARTING DATE: any time between September 2018 and January 2019 -- Rubén Moreno Bote Serra Húnter & ICREA Academia Professor Center for Brain and Cognition & Dept. of Information and Communications Technologies University Pompeu Fabra Campus Ciutadella, Building 24, office 331 Ramon Trias Fargas, 24-27 08005 Barcelona, Spain http://www.upf.edu/pdi/ruben-moreno-bote

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Summer course: CAMP@Bangalore 2018 Announcement email
by U.S.Bhalla March 1, 2018

March 1, 2018

Subject:Course announcement: CAMP@Bangalore 2018 We would like to announce CAMP@Bangalore 2018 from 1-16 July 2018. Please see the course website at http://camp.ncbs.res.in/. CAMP @ Bangalore (Computational Approaches to Memory and Plasticity at NCBS, Bangalore) is a 16-day summer school on the theory and simulation of learning, memory and plasticity in the brain. The flavour of this year's CAMP is "Sequences in the brain". The course consists of 3 modules covering sub-cellular electrical models, micro-circuits and network models, detailed models with electrical and chemical components, and systems level models, all with an emphasis on learning, memory and plasticity. All modules will have their own hands-on projects. Students worldwide are encouraged to apply. Accommodation and food will be free for the selected students. There is no registration fee. Students are advised to obtain independent travel grants. Confirmed instructors include: Arvind Kumar (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm) Charan Ranganath (University of California, Davis) Collins Assisi (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune) Dean Buonomano (University of California, Los Angeles) Moshe Abeles (Bar Ilan University, Israel) Rishikesh Narayanan (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) Robert Guetig (Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, Germany) Sachin Deshmukh (Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru) Suhita Nadkarni (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune) Upinder Bhalla (National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore) Course Organizers: Arvind Kumar (KTH Stockholm) Rishikesh Narayanan (IISc, Bangalore) Upinder Bhalla (NCBS, Bangalore)

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Postdoc to study hippocampal information processing in Canavier lab
by Canavier, Carmen C. Feb. 28, 2018

Feb. 28, 2018

A Postdoctoral Researcher position is available in the computational neuroscience lab of Carmen Canavier in the School of Medicine, Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. The position is to study cholinergic contributions to hippocampal information processing in close collaboration with electrophysiologist Sonia Gasparini. The successful candidate will construct a morphologically and biophysically realistic model of a hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neuron to explain the observed frequency selectivity of different dendritic regions for slow versus fast gamma band inputs. Some network modeling will also be required for the project. If interested, please apply, preferably by March 31st 2018 at https://www.lsuhsc.edu/Administration/hrm/CareerOpportunities/Home/Detail/1… The primary duties will involve linear and non-linear analyses, writing code, calibrating single neuron models, and generating predictions that lead to additional experiments. Candidates must have a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science or a related field of study. The ideal candidate would have experience with the simulation package NEURON and some knowledge of the hippocampus. Familiarity with nonlinear dynamics, signal processing, and coding in C and or python in a Linux environment is also desirable. If you have questions, please email Dr. Canavier at ccanav(a)lsuhsc.edu. LSUHSC is an Equal Opportunity Employer for females, minorities, individuals with disabilities and protected veterans.

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Postdoc, Deep Microscopy, Berlin
by Judkewitz, Benjamin Feb. 27, 2018

Feb. 27, 2018

Postdoc position available at the Judkewitz Lab! Join our team of neuroscientists, engineers, biologists and physicists in Berlin. Your mission: develop deep brain microscopy techniques and boldly focus where no one has shaped wavefronts before. http://jlab.berlin/jobs

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4-year fully-funded Ph.D. Position in Computational Neuroscience at the Donders Institute
by Bernhard Englitz Feb. 27, 2018

Feb. 27, 2018

Dear List, please distribute the following position announcement to finishing M.Sc. students with strong skills in (computational) neuroscience interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in Neuroscience. Thanks & best wishes, Bernhard Bernhard Englitz, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Neurophysiology Donders Centre for Neuroscience Faculty of Science, Radboud Universiteit Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Project : As a PhD Candidate you will work on a project entitled ‘Neural Mechanisms of Processing and Recognizing Complex, Statistical Sounds’. This project is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and will be conducted at Radboud University in Nijmegen. The main research question is how the brain represents and processes acoustic stimuli which are only defined on a statistical level. These stimuli have a high behavioural relevance, since many natural stimuli have this character. The PhD project will involve a combination of neural population recordings from multiple areas of the auditory and parietal cortex of behaving mice, and their subsequent data analysis. Individual cells will be identified using specific genetically modified mouse lines and matched optogenetic tools. The main outcome of the research will be an expansion of our knowledge of auditory processing, which may have far-reaching implications for the processing of sounds in hearing aids and smart phones. Scientific Environment : The Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour consists of three research centres, the Centre for Cognition, the Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging and the Centre for Neuroscience. It focuses on state-of-the-art cognitive neuroscience in a multidisciplinary approach, and offers excellent lab and neuroimaging facilities. The position will be hosted at the Neurophysiology department, which provides a high-quality neuroscience environment with facilities for chronic and non-chronic multi-channel recordings, imaging and computational modelling. The department’s research questions address issues in fundamental and applied research, and enable the interaction of theory and experimental work in a single location. The Donders Institute is an equal opportunity employer, committed to building a culturally diverse intellectual community, and as such encourages applications from women and minorities. Radboud University offers a parental leave scheme and day care on campus. Qualifications : MSc degree in (computational) neuroscience, engineering or biology; experience with animal physiology, programming and data analysis; a proactive attitude, good communication skills, and the ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary team. Application Link : http://www.ru.nl/english/working-at/jobopportunities/details/details-vacatu… <http://www.ru.nl/english/working-at/jobopportunities/details/details-vacatu…> Closing Date of Call : 30.3.2018 Planned Starting Date : 1.9.2018

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Postdoctoral Position in Systems Neurophysiology of Social Bonding in Rodents
by Liu, Robert C Feb. 27, 2018

Feb. 27, 2018

Postdoctoral Position in Systems Neurophysiology of Social Bonding in Rodents Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Department of Biology Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia The laboratories of Robert Liu, Gordon Berman and Larry Young at Emory University are accepting applications for a postdoctoral scientist working in a collaborative team to study pro-social interactions in rodents. The research combines recent advances in computational ethology (Berman et al, Interface, 2014) with in vivo electrophysiology and optogenetics in socially interacting prairie voles (Amadei, Johnson et al, Nature, 2017), a premier rodent model for the formation of social bonds (Lim et al, Nature, 2004). The research aims to use behavioral and neurophysiological activity to build predictive models of social dynamics leading to a pair bond, and investigate the role that oxytocin plays in mediating these activities. PhD required. We are looking for a candidate who approaches neuroscience with a systems or circuit perspective and is interested in the neuroscience of social behavior. Training in any of the following areas would be viewed favorably: in vivo electrophysiology, optogenetics, computational data analysis, sensorimotor integration, reward and reinforcement. Emory University and the Yerkes National Primate Research Center have a rich, collaborative neuroscience community (http://biomed.emory.edu/PROGRAM_SITES/NS/) especially in the areas of translational social neuroscience (http://ctsn.emory.edu/) and computational neuroscience (http://compneurosci.college.emory.edu/) Research at Emory in the neurobiology of social behavior extends across many labs from the molecular level through the organismal level in animal models and humans, with a particular interest in the functions of oxytocin (http://www.oxytocin.emory.edu/) Ongoing efforts include both elucidating normal processes and ameliorating deficits found in human conditions, like autism spectrum disorder. To inquire or apply, please email robert.liu(a)emory.edu<mailto:robert.liu@emory.edu>. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue at least through March 31, or until the position is filled. Applications should include a CV, the names and full contact information of 3 references, and at least one representative publication. Emory University is an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer. Women, minorities, people with disabilities and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. References: Amadei EA*, Johnson ZV*, Kwon YJ, Shpiner AC, Saravanan V, Mays W, Ryan S, Walum H, Rainnie D, Young LJ, Liu RC (2017). Dynamic corticostriatal activity biases social bonding in monogamous female prairie voles, Nature, 546(7657):297-301. doi:10.1038/nature22381<http://www.nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature22381> Berman GJ, Choi DM, Bialek W, Shaevitz JW (2014). Mapping the stereotyped behaviour of freely moving fruit flies. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 11(99):20140672. doi:10.1098/rsif.2014.0672<http://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2014.0672> Lim, MM, Wang Z, Olazábal DE, Ren X, Terwilliger EF, Young LJ (2004). Enhanced partner preference in promiscuous species by manipulating the expression of a single gene. Nature, 429(6993):754-757. doi:10.1038/nature02539<http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1038/nature02539> Robert C. Liu, PhD Associate Professor Department of Biology Emory University O. W. Rollins Research Center Rm 2131 1510 Clifton Rd NE Atlanta, GA 30322 USA Phone: +1 404-727-5274 Email: robert.liu(a)emory.edu<mailto:robert.liu@emory.edu> Lab Website<http://www.biology.emory.edu/research/Liu/html/index.php> ________________________________ This e-mail message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message (including any attachments) is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender by reply e-mail message and destroy all copies of the original message (including attachments).

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Postdoctoral fellowships at the Gatsby Unit
by Maneesh Sahani Feb. 27, 2018

Feb. 27, 2018

The Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit invites applications for one or more postdoctoral training fellowships in theoretical neuroscience and related areas. Neuroscience research in the unit focuses on the interpretation of neural data, population coding, perceptual processing, neural dynamics, neuromodulation, and learning. We have strong connections with experimental neuroscience and cognitive science groups at UCL (particularly in the Sainsbury-Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour with which the Unit shares a new purpose-built home) and at institutions around the world. The Unit also has significant interests across a range of areas in machine learning, and is perhaps unique in the way these fields are brought together. The fellowships are suitable for candidates with a doctoral degree and previous experience in relevant theoretical neuroscience or machine learning research. We are especially keen to recruit fellows with expertise in the modelling of perception or population-scale neural data. Full details of the fellowships, and information on how to apply, are available at http://www.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk/vacancies/TN%20Fellows/TN-2018.html The closing date for applications is 23rd Mar 2018. If you have questions unanswered by the website, please contact me by email or in person at Cosyne. -- Maneesh Sahani, Ph.D. Professor of Theoretical Neuroscience and Machine Learning, Director, Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit UCL, 25 Howland Street, London W1T 4JG

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Post-doc in Neurophysiology of Attention at UCLA
by Bisley, James Feb. 27, 2018

Feb. 27, 2018

Apologies for cross-posting We invite applications for a fully funded post-doc position studying the neurophysiology of attention. The work will include recording from &/or the reversible inactivation of cortical areas MT, LIP and FEF while animals perform a visual search task utilizing moving dot patterns. For more information about the sort of work done in the lab, check out our publications at http://www.bri.ucla.edu/people/james-w-bisley-phd. Applicants should have a strong background in systems neurophysiology, behavioral training or computational neuroscience and be comfortable working independently on all aspects of the project. Previous experience with NHP recording and data analysis is desirable. Candidates should hold a PhD in neuroscience, psychology or a related discipline. The position is initially for 12 months with the possibility of renewal. Compensation will be commensurate with relevant experience. Candidates should send a CV, a brief statement of research experience and interests, expected date of availability, and the contact information for two references to James Bisley (jbisley(a)mednet.ucla.edu<mailto:jbisley@mednet.ucla.edu>). Cheers, James ________________________________ UCLA HEALTH SCIENCES IMPORTANT WARNING: This email (and any attachments) is only intended for the use of the person or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. You, the recipient, are obligated to maintain it in a safe, secure and confidential manner. Unauthorized redisclosure or failure to maintain confidentiality may subject you to federal and state penalties. If you are not the intended recipient, please immediately notify us by return email, and delete this message from your computer.

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Computational Postdoc - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory - Long Island, New York
by Engel, Tatiana Feb. 27, 2018

Feb. 27, 2018

The Engel and Churchland labs in the Department of Neuroscience at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory invite applications from highly motivated candidates for a postdoctoral position working on a collaborative project between the two labs. The position is entirely computational and truly interdisciplinary with equal (50/50) effort in the Churchland (experimental) and Engel (computational) labs. The project’s goal is to unravel functional roles of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the decision-making microcircuit through computational analyses of large-scale neural activity recordings and biophysical circuit modeling. In particular, we will develop and deploy novel machine learning frameworks for discovering collective network dynamics from large-scale activity recordings in mice with genetically identified excitatory and inhibitory neurons. These data analyses will provide hard constraints for biophysical models of the decision-making microcircuit, which will be then inferred using deep learning methods. We are looking for theoretical/computational scientists to work at the exciting interface of systems neuroscience, machine learning, and biophysics, embedded within the computational and experimental labs. The postdoctoral scientist is expected to exhibit resourcefulness and independence, developing computational models of large-scale neural activity recordings with the goal to elucidate excitatory/inhibitory neural circuits underlying decision making. Interested candidates should e-mail their application to Tatiana Engel (engel(a)cshl.edu<mailto:engel@cshl.edu>) and Anne Churchland (churchland(a)cshl.edu<mailto:churchland@cshl.edu>) as a single pdf file with subject: Postdoc Application. The application file should include: (1) CV with the publication list, (2) a brief description of research interests, (3) contact information for three references. In addition, the candidates should upload their application online at http://cshl.peopleadmin.com/postings/13170 Position requirements: - PhD in neuroscience, physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering or related quantitative discipline - Expertise in scientific programming, e.g., Python, Matlab, C/C++, CUDA - Expertise in statistics, data analyses, and/or machine learning - Experience with deep learning methods is a plus - Experience with database software is a plus - Track record of publications in scientific journals - Effective communication skills, both written and oral - Dedication and passion for solving hard scientific problems -- Tatiana Engel, PhD Assistant Professor Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY (+1) 408 409 3647

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2 year postdoc : Graph Signal Processing at IMT Atlantique
by Nicolas Farrugia Feb. 27, 2018

Feb. 27, 2018

IMT Atlantique has an opening for a fully-funded two-year postdoctoral fellowship open immediately and starting no later than June 2018, to work on Graph Signal Processing and potential applications to Neuroimaging. The host team is Br.A.In. (Brain-inspired Artificial Intelligence http://www.brain.bzh) and is in the Brest Campus. The call for the position can be downloaded here : http://recherche.telecom-bretagne.eu/brain/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/postd… Scientific context Several application domains rely on multivariate spatiotemporal signals such as transportation networks, energy network, social networks or neural networks. Under the natural assumption that the signal properties are related to the topology of the graph where they are supported, graph signal processing (GSP) offers algorithms that fruitfully leverage this relational structure, and can make inferences about these relationships when they are only partially observed. Developing GSP tools specifically intended to advance modeling and analytics of multivariate signals is a new, fertile area of investigation. In particular, the positionning of the Br.A.In. project regarding GSP is targetted towards the following issues: (1) finding optimal graph representations and adapting machine learning approaches accordingly, (2) generalizing GSP approaches to dynamic graphs in order to fully capture the spatiotemporal complexity of multivariate signals, and finally (3) developing new approaches to enhance the understanding and interpretability of machine learning and deep learning methods using metrics derived from GSP. We are seeking a candidate that will contribute to our research effort on GSP by proposing innovative theoretical approaches, or extensions to existing approaches, related to at least one of the aforementioned issues. Our main target application is the analysis, decoding and interpretability of Neuroimaging data (Electroencephalography EEG or functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging fMRI), but candidates with interest or background in other application domains are encouraged to apply as well. Details and requirements The present postdoctoral fellowship is funded by the Sustainable Attractivity Strategy of the Brittany Region, with the goal of attracting high profile junior researchers from all over the world, offering exceptional conditions for long-term academic development. IMT Atlantique is a public technological university focusing on the training of engineers at the MSc. level and junior researchers at the PhD level. Being a technological university, IMT Atlantique benefits from a advantageous status compared to french public universities. As such, we offer very competitive salary packages, with postdoc wages corresponing to a junior assistant professor level. Successful candidates will also benefits from 49 annual paid holidays, as well as access to multiple benefits from the institutions' union (such as campus activities or sea sports). In addition, living costs in the Brest bay area are exceptionally low, with a high quality of life, and the Brest campus of IMT Atlantique is ideally located at the sea front. The position is open immediately and must start no later than June 2018, for a duration of 24 months. The postdoc fellowship is accompanied with overheads for travel expenses covering (a) the participation to international conferences, (b) article processing charges for open-access publications and (c) acquisition of a computation server dedicated to the postdoc project. The postdoc fellowship will be fully devoted to his research projects, and may optionally (but will not be required to) contribute to teaching activities in machine learning, computer science, signal processing or electronical engineering. Candidates must have defended a Ph.D. related to machine learning or computer science, or signal/image processing. Candidates with a PhD in neuroimaging with solid programming skills and a strong interest for machine learning are also welcome to apply. An additional requirement pertains to the attractivity strategy related to the regional funding; in order to attract international applications, candidates must have spent a minimum 12 months outside France after June 2014. Please send your CV, contacts for two references, as well as a cover letter to nicolas.farrugia(a)imt-atlantique.fr . Nicolas Farrugia Associate professor IMT Atlantique - Department of electronics +33 (0) 2 29 00 16 53

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Postdoc in computational neuroscience at University of Sheffield
by Hannes Saal Feb. 27, 2018

Feb. 27, 2018

Postdoc in computational neuroscience at the University of Sheffield Closing date: 26th March 2018 We are looking to recruit a Research Associate to work on the Wellcome Trust funded project Modelling synaptic and intrinsic plasticity in primate somatosensory cortex. In short, the project will investigate somatosensory plasticity in human cortex and specifically the effect of different learning rules on somatosensory representations. To this end, you will develop a computational framework that will simulate the effects of different plasticity rules on sensory cortical representations and make predictions that can be empirically tested using existing fMRI paradigms. The project involves close collaboration with partners at UCL and Oxford, who will gather empirical data using a state-of-the-art neuroimaging setup. This post is suitable for a candidate with a background in computational neuroscience, or a closely related discipline. The ideal candidate will have experience with the analysis and simulation of large-scale spiking neuron models, mathematical models of plasticity, and/or self-organizing systems. A significant part of the project will involve collaborating with our partner helping to guide empirical data collection. As such, a background in neuroscience is highly desirable, with knowledge of tactile processing, cortical plasticity, and/or neuroimaging especially preferred. For more info, please see http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BHY156/research-associate/ or contact Dr Hannes Saal (h.saal(a)sheffield.ac.uk) -- Dr Hannes P Saal Lecturer in Cognitive Science and Computational Modelling Active Touch Laboratory (co-director) Department of Psychology & Sheffield Robotics University of Sheffield Pam Liversidge Building F.05 Sheffield S1 3JD United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)114 222 6504 Web: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/psychology/staff/academic/hannes_saal

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REMINDER: Abstract Submission for CNS*2018 closes March 5, 2018
by Sharon Crook Feb. 26, 2018

Feb. 26, 2018

Registration and abstract submission are open for CNS*2018 in Seattle, USA, July 13-18. The deadline for abstract submission is March 5, 2018. The main meeting begins on the evening of Friday July 13 and runs through Monday July 16. It will be preceded by a day of tutorials (Friday July 13) and followed by two days of workshops (Tuesday July 17 and Wednesday July 18). Invited Keynote Speakers: Eve Marder, Brandeis University Nancy Kopell, Boston University Daniel Wolpert, University of Cambridge Rajesh Rao, University of Washington Note that one of the authors must register as sponsoring author for the main meeting before abstract submission is possible. In case the abstract is not accepted for presentation, the registration fee will be refunded. Abstract Submission: http://www.cnsorg.org/cns-2018-abstract-submission Registration: https://ocns.memberclicks.net/index.php?option=com_mc&view=mc&mcid=form_243… For up-to-date conference information, please visit: http://www.cnsorg.org/cns-2018 ---------------------------------------- OCNS is the international member-based society for computational neuroscientists. Become a member to be eligible for travel awards and more. Visit our website for more information: http://www.cnsorg.org.

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Post-doctoral position in machine learning for computational psychiatry at the University of Munich (LMU)
by Moritz Grosse-Wentrup Feb. 26, 2018

Feb. 26, 2018

We are seeking a highly creative and motivated post-doctoral researcher to work at the intersection of machine learning and computational psychiatry. The position will be based in the group of Moritz Grosse-Wentrup in the Department of Statistics [1]. The successful candidate will closely interact with the group of Nikolaos Koutsouleris in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy [2]. To apply, you should have a strong passion for developing and employing machine learning methods that make a difference in patients' lives. Also, you should have (or be about to obtain) a Ph.D. in Computer Science, Statistics, Information Engineering, Psychology/Psychiatry (with a strong analytical background), or a related field. You should have an excellent track record in machine learning or data science, which is backed up by publications in major journals or papers at top conferences. Prior experience in psychology or psychiatry would be advantageous but is not a strict requirement. You need to be fluent in written and spoken German. Your job duties include . performing independent research at the intersection of machine learning and computational psychiatry, . teaching courses and seminars to students in statistics and computer science, . and contributing to an interdisciplinary grant proposal on machine learning for computational psychiatry. Salary is according to TV-L E13 (100%) [3]. Part-Time employment is possible. The initial appointment will be for one year, with a potential extension contingent on funding. The starting date is flexible. Screening of applications will commence on March 18, but we will consider applications until the position is filled. The University of Munich is one of Europe's premier academic and research institutions [4]. The recently established elite graduate program in Data Science [5] bundles research in data science across various institutes and attracts excellent students from all over the world. Besides, Munich is a beautiful metropolis with high recreational value. Your application should include a cover letter (~one page), a CV, and contact information of at least two referees. Please submit your application documents (as one PDF file) to mgw(a)stat.uni-muenchen.de. We particularly welcome applications by female candidates. Disabled applicants will receive preference over equally qualified non-disabled applicants. If you have any questions before submitting your application, please contact Prof. Dr. Moritz Grosse-Wentrup Department of Statistics Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Ludwigstr. 33, 80539 München, Germany Phone: +49-89-2180-3847 mgw(a)stat.uni-muenchen.de Links: [1] http://www.datascience.statistik.uni-muenchen.de [2] http://www.klinikum.uni-muenchen.de/Klinik-und-Poliklinik-fuer-Psychiatrie-… [3] http://oeffentlicher-dienst.info/tv-l/west/ [4] https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/lmu-munich [5] http://www.m-datascience.mathematik-informatik-statistik.uni-muenchen.de

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PhD student/postdoc in Sensory and Behavioral Neuroscience
by Gjorgjieva, Julijana Feb. 25, 2018

Feb. 25, 2018

The labs of Julijana Gjorgjieva (Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt, Germany) and Ilona Grunwald Kadow at the TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Germany invite applications for a fully-funded position (Postdoc or PhD student). We are looking for highly-motivated individuals with a strong quantitative background (in mathematics, physics, engineering, computer science, or related fields), experience in programming and data analysis, and a desire to develop cutting-edge experimental techniques. Previous background in neuroscience, imaging or behavioral analysis is a plus! Julijana will be at Cosyne (March 1-7) so please get in touch to discuss details. The project will examine the neural basis of need and effort-based decision-making in a collaboration between the Gjorgjieva lab, which develops theoretical models of neural circuit processing, and the Grunwald Kadow lab, which studies neural circuits underlying sensory processing and decision making in animal models. The project aims to uncover circuit principles and behavioral readouts of motivation, persistence, and value perception as a function of internal state or experience (e.g. hunger). In particular, the Grunwald Kadow lab is collecting rich data sets of behavioral trajectories of single Drosophila flies as well as functional imaging data (i.e. multiphoton and light-sheet) of neuronal populations (e.g. modulatory neurons). The project will aim to develop advanced analysis techniques that extract key statistical features of the behavioral trajectories and imaging data, and build mathematical models that reproduce the data and make new predictions to be further tested experimentally. By combining behaviour, genetics and imaging, we will also develop neural circuit models that involve several brain areas, including sensory brain areas and higher cognitive regions of the fly brain (i.e. mushroom body). References: S. Sayin J. Gjorgjieva, I. C. Grunwald Kadow (2018). A neural circuit arbitrates between perseverance and reward in hungry Drosophila. BioRxiv doi.org/10.1101/259119<http://doi.org/10.1101/259119> J. Gjorgjieva, G. Drion and E. Marder (2016). Computational implications of biophysical diversity and multiple timescales in neurons and synapses for circuit performance. Curr Opin Neurobiol 37:44-52. Lewis L, Siju KP, Aso Y, Friedrich AB, Bulteel AJB, Rubin GM, Grunwald Kadow IC (2015). A higher brain circuit for immediate integration of conflicting sensory information in Drosophila. Current Biology PMID: 26299514, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.07.015 Application: The position will be based at the Technical University of Munich, with frequent visits to the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, two of the most exciting and international cities in Germany. Recommended application deadline: March 20, 2018. Applicants will be considered until the position is filled. For further information please visit: http://www.cns.wzw.tum.de and http://www.neuro.wzw.tum.de or email gjorgjieva(a)brain.mpg.de and ilona.grunwald(a)tum.de. To apply, please email the following to: neuro(a)wzw.tum.de (ref. GGK application) 1. A curriculum vitae 2. A letter of motivation explaining your scientific interests, your strengths when working on a problem, why us etc. 3. Contact details for 2 referees 4. A written sample of scientific research, e.g. a manuscript, thesis, or code etc. ----------------------------------------- Julijana Gjorgjieva, PhD Research Group Leader Max Planck Institute for Brain Research Max-von-Laue-Str. 4, Frankfurt Assistant Professor of Computational Neuroscience Technical University of Munich, WZW Freising office: +49 69 850033 3600 http://cns.wzw.tum.de

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Postdoctoral Neuroimaging Fellowship
by Stacie Warren Feb. 24, 2018

Feb. 24, 2018

Dear Colleagues, The Clinical Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Program directed by Stacie L. Warren, PhD, and Tilman Schulte, PhD, at Palo Alto University is seeking a neuroimaging postdoctoral scholar. This is an exciting opportunity to work on a range of cognitive and affective studies that focus on executive function, emotion regulation, stress responsivity, reward processing, and aging on neural circuitry. Populations of interest include healthy adults, adults with or at risk for developing psychopathology, and neurological disorders. The postdoctoral fellow’s primary responsibility is to analyze neuroimaging data (resting-state and task-based fMRI) and to develop and apply novel data analysis techniques. Additionally, Drs. Warren and Schulte are committed to fostering the postdoctoral scholar’s research independence through first-authored manuscript writing and grant preparation. The start date of the position is as soon as possible, but no later than August 1, 2018. JOB DESCRIPTION Essential Functions - Analyzing neuroimaging data - Developing and implementing statistical/mathematical modeling (e.g., machine learning algorithms) to characterize high-dimensional datasets - Improving software/scripts that implement algorithms for data quality control, preprocessing, analysis, and management - Manuscript development Qualifications - PhD in psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, computational neuroscience, bioinformatics, or a related field by the time of appointment - Strong background in quantitative analysis - Proficiency with at least one neuroimaging analysis software package (e.g., FSL, SPM, Freesurfer, AFNI, etc.) - Proficiency in programming (e.g., Matlab, Python, C/C++, java) and/or shell scripting - Proficiency with Linux OS and file system - Experience with any of the following: signal and image processing, machine learning, statistical/mathematical modeling - Excellent analytical, interpersonal, organizational, and spoken/written English communication skills are expected - A two-year commitment is required This is a full-time position with a competitive salary and benefits. *To apply, send your CV (including 3 academic references), and a cover letter stating your interests and qualifications to **swarren(a)paloaltou.edu* <swarren(a)paloaltou.edu>*.* Review of applications will begin immediately. -- Stacie L. Warren, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program Palo Alto University 1791 Arastradero Rd. Palo Alto, CA 94304 email: swarren(a)paloaltou.edu <staciewarren3(a)gmail.com>

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Sense 2 Synapse conference 2018, May 12th, The Rockefeller University, New York City, Registration open
by Christoph Kirst Feb. 24, 2018

Feb. 24, 2018

Dear Neuroscientists, We would like to invite you to join us for this year's*Sense 2 Synapse* which will be held on*Saturday, May 12th, 2018* in the Carson Family Auditorium at *The Rockefeller University, New York City.* The conference is an annual event for scientists working on the biology of sensory transduction, subsequent neural processing and perception. The conference will be free this year but you will be asked to confirm your participation a week before the event. We have a outstanding list of key-note speakers: *Maria Neimark Geffen* (University of Pennsylvania) *Alipasha Vaziri* (The Rockefeller University) *Nathaniel Sawtell *(Columbia University) *Eve Marder* (Brandeis University) We will complement the program by 8 talks from graduate students and postdocs selected from abstract submissions and a poster session. More information can be found on our website: http://sense2synapse.com and you can register here: https://sites.google.com/view/sense2synapse2018/registration_1?authuser=0 Join us for a great day of science, discussions and nice food! The organizing team, Christoph Kirst Florian Berger Ben Urban Kanaka Rajan Jeremie Barral -- Christoph Kirst Fellow for Physics and Biology Center for Theoretical Studies and Kavli Physics Fellow Kavli Neural Systems Institute The Rockefeller University 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065 USA +1 212 327 8835 :: ckirst(a)rockefeller.edu

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PhD Position in Computational Neuroscience, Ruben Moreno-Bote, Barcelona, Spain
by Ruben Moreno Bote Feb. 22, 2018

Feb. 22, 2018

PhD Position in Computational Neuroscience, Ruben Moreno-Bote Lab Center for Brain and Cognition, University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain 1 fully funded PhD position is available in the group of Theoretical and Cognitive Neuroscience of Ruben Moreno-Bote in the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. We are looking for excellent candidates with Physics, Mathematics or Machine Learning background, ideally with knowledge of Neuroscience or Computational Neuroscience, and interested in theory and applications. We will also consider candidates with Psychology background with strong mathematical skills and interested in modeling. The candidate will develop state of the art mathematical techniques and models to understand neuronal dynamics and coding and will have access to multielectrode recording neural data. He/she could also be involved in the design of monkey and human behavioral experiments and the development of models of visual perception, decision making and working memory. The candidate will benefit from the stimulating environment of Barcelona area in Theoretical and Systems Neuroscience and will have the opportunity of enjoying a lively city. Our lab (https://www.upf.edu/web/ruben-moreno-bote) forms part of a larger network of neuroscience labs in Barcelona (http://www.barcelonaneuroscience.com) Financial support is provided by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Spanish MINECO. APPLICATION: A full CV in pdf format and an extract of grades for degree and master studies should be sent to the following address: ruben.moreno(a)upf.edu DEADLINE: until the position is filled STARTING DATE: any time between September 2018 and January 2019 -- Rubén Moreno Bote Serra Húnter & ICREA Academia Professor Center for Brain and Cognition & Dept. of Information and Communications Technologies University Pompeu Fabra Campus Ciutadella, Building 24, office 331 Ramon Trias Fargas, 24-27 08005 Barcelona, Spain http://www.upf.edu/pdi/ruben-moreno-bote

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Seeking Grad students --Fall 2018
by Stephen Jose Hanson Feb. 22, 2018

Feb. 22, 2018

Seeking Cognitive and/or Computational Neuroscience Graduate Students Accepting applications Fall 2018. Rutgers University. We are seeking graduate students interested in the study of cognitive processes (e.g, memory, attention, language, category learning, Neural Networks) using neuroimaging techniques and computational modeling (Deep Learning). Our lab is focused on understanding the dynamics underlying brain response during rest (resting state) and during the performance of cognitive tasks. Within this overall framework, we have conducted research with both neurotypical and clinical populations (e.g., addiction, ASD, GAD), and have conducted studies focused on memory, language processing, preference decisions, face processing, and event perception. Our lab was jointly involved in the development of MVPA as well as IMaGES and other brain connectivity methods (lab has been continuously funded by NSF, McDonnell Foundation and NIH). Dr. SJ Hanson (Psychology, RUBIC) and Dr. C Hanson (CMBN, RUBIC) directs the lab and participates in both the Psychology graduate program and the Behavioral Neuroscience program. Dr. SJ Hanson is also Director of the Rutgers University Brain Imaging Center (RUBIC http://rubic.rutgers.edu) RUBIC houses a Siemens 3T Trio MR scanner to collect MR data and a variety of resources are available to complete any MR neuroimaging study. The lab also has a compute cluster with dual P100 GPUs as well as access to larger clusters available on various campuses. The campus is well serviced by train, subway, and bus service and is surrounded by a diversity of shops and restaurants. Manhattan is a twenty minute train ride from the Newark Penn Station and offers world class cultural and entertainment opportunities. For further inquiry or arrange a visit to our lab and RUBIC please send email to jose(a)rubic.rutgers.edu

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Workshop: Dynamics of learning and computations in neuronal circuits, June 27-29, 2018, Göttingen
by farzad Feb. 22, 2018

Feb. 22, 2018

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funded postdoc positions: mechanisms of perception
by Haider, Bilal Feb. 22, 2018

Feb. 22, 2018

Postdoctoral position: Synaptic mechanisms controlling perception The Haider Lab<haider.gatech.edu> in the Dept. of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Georgia Tech & Emory University seeks a highly motivated and skilled postdoctoral fellow for a 3-year funded project examining synaptic and network mechanisms supporting sensory perception. The project offers significant opportunity to learn cutting-edge research techniques in vivo, including neural population recording with high-density silicon electrodes, optogenetic circuit manipulation, and whole-cell patch-clamp recording in mice performing visual behaviors. The ideal candidate has expertise in electrophysiology in vitro or in vivo, and quantitative skill in data acquisition and analysis (preferably with MATLAB). Candidates should have excellent written and verbal communication skills, an inquisitive mindset, and enthusiasm to work in a multi-disciplinary team. The position is funded for up to 3 years, pending satisfactory performance upon annual review. We are enthusiastic to form a diverse, international research group. All candidates will be mentored to obtain independent funding as part of their career development. There is a strong, multidisciplinary concentration of labs focusing on Neuroscience @ GT<http://neuro.gatech.edu/> and at Emory<http://biomed.emory.edu/PROGRAM_SITES/NS/>. Atlanta is vibrant, green, and one of the most affordable and livable major cities of the US. Applications should include a CV, a brief statement of research goals, expected date of availability, and names and contact information of three references. Please email these materials to bilal.haider(a)bme.gatech.edu<mailto:bilal.haider@bme.gatech.edu>. The position is available starting March 2018. The Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering<https://www.bme.gatech.edu/> at Georgia Tech and Emory University is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity. The Department is a unique enterprise, spanning two of the top Engineering and Medical institutes in the country. This environment offers unparalleled facilities and resources for the pursuit of understanding neural circuits and their relationship to behavior and neurological dysfunction. Further information and recent lab publications can be found at haider.gatech.edu<file:///C:/Users/bilal/Dropbox/Docs/GTech%20Docs/haider.gatech.edu> Thank you Bilal Haider, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering Georgia Tech & Emory University 313 Ferst Drive, Suite 3104 Atlanta, GA 30332 tel: +1 404 385 4935 fax: +1 404 385 5044 site: haider.gatech.edu<http://haider.gatech.edu/> twitter: @haiderlab<https://twitter.com/haiderlab>

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MODVIS 2018 - call for papers
by Yalda Mohsenzadeh Feb. 21, 2018

Feb. 21, 2018

We are pleased to announce that Eero Simoncelli (NYU, HHMI) will be keynote speaker at the 7th annual VSS satellite workshop on Computational and Mathematical Models in Vision (MODVIS). MODVIS 2018 will be held May 16-18, at the Tradewinds Resort in St. Pete Beach, Florida (USA), immediately preceding the annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society. Submissions consist of single-page extended abstracts that may contain figures and equations, which will be published on the Purdue e-Pubs system. Abstract submission will open on January 8th, 2017, and close on March 4th. For complete details, please visit the MODVIS web site at https://www.conf.purdue.edu/modvis/. on behalf of the MODVIS organizing committee: Yalda Mohsenzadeh (MIT) Jeff Mulligan (NASA Ames Research Center) Zygmunt Pizlo (UC Irvine) Anne Sereno (Purdue University) Qasim Zaidi (SUNY College of Optometry) Michael Rudd (University of Washington)

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Valentino Braitenberg Award for Computational Neuroscience - Call for Nominations
by Alexandra Stein Feb. 21, 2018

Feb. 21, 2018

Dear Colleagues, The Bernstein Association for Computational Neuroscience invites nominations for the Valentino Braitenberg Award for Computational Neuroscience. The Bernstein Association for Computational Neuroscience presents the award biennially to a scientist in recognition of outstanding research that contributes to the understanding of the functioning of the brain. The major criterion for the award is the impact or potential impact of the recipient's research on the field of brain science. In the spirit of Valentino Braitenberg's own research, special emphasis is given to theoretical studies elucidating the functional implications of brain structures and their neuronal network dynamics. The awardee receives €5.000 prize money, donated by the Autonome Provinz Bozen Südtirol, as well as an invitation to the Bernstein Conference 2018 (including registration fee, travel- and accommodation expenses). The award will be presented together with a Golden Neuron pin in a special award ceremony at the Bernstein Conference, followed by a lecture of the Braitenberg Awardee. Nominations may be submitted by scientists working in the field of computational neuroscience and should include the following documents: - One-page laudation, in which the scientific work of the candidate is honored with regard to the award criteria - CV and list of publications Deadline for nominations is April 30, 2018 by email to a.stein(a)fz-juelich.de<mailto:a.stein@fz-juelich.de> Please note that self-nominations are not permitted. The call for nominations can be found under the following URL: www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/braitenberg_award<http://www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/braitenberg_award> For inquiries please contact a.stein(a)fz-juelich.de<mailto:a.stein@fz-juelich.de>. Best regards, Alexandra Stein -- Dr. Alexandra Stein Head of Bernstein Coordination Site Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience | Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS) Branch Office of the Forschungszentrum Jülich at the University of Freiburg Hansastr. 9A | 79104 Freiburg, Germany phone: (+49) 0761 203 9583 mobile: (+49) 0151 67114645 mail: a.stein(a)fz-juelich.de<mailto:a.stein@fz-juelich.de> web: www.bernstein-network.de<http://www.bernstein-network.de> Twitter: NNCN_Germany YouTube: Bernstein TV Facebook: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany LinkedIn: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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CFP- ACM-THRI Special Issue on Representation Learning for Human and Robot Cognition
by Amir Aly Feb. 21, 2018

Feb. 21, 2018

*ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction (T-HRI) * CALL FOR PAPERS **Apologies for cross posting ** We are happy to call for papers for the journal special issue: *"Representation Learning for Human and Robot Cognition"* *Webpage: **https://thri.acm.org/CFP-RLHRC.cfm <https://thri.acm.org/CFP-RLHRC.cfm> * <http://cognitive-mirroring.org/en/events/hai2017_workshop/> *I. Aim and Scope *Intelligent robots are rapidly moving to the center of human environment; they collaborate with human users in different applications that require high-level cognitive functions so as to allow them to understand and learn from human behavior within different Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) contexts. To this end, a stubborn challenge that attracts much attention in artificial intelligence is representation learning, which refers to learning representations of data so as to efficiently extract relevant features for probabilistic, nonprobabilistic, or connectionist classifiers. This active area of research spans different fields and applications including speech recognition, object recognition, emotion recognition, natural language processing, language emergence and development, in addition to mirroring different human cognitive processes through appropriate computational modeling. Learning constitutes a basic operation in the human cognitive system and developmental process, where perceptual information enhances the ability of the sensory system to respond to external stimuli through interaction with the environment. This learning process depends on the optimality of features (representations of data), which allows humans to make sense of everything they feel, hear, touch, and see in the environment. Using intelligent robots could open the door to shed light on the underlying mechanisms of representation learning and its associated cognitive processes so as to take a closer step towards making robots able to better collaborate with human users in space. This special issue aims to shed light on cutting edge lines of interdisciplinary research in artificial intelligence, cognitive science, neuroscience, cognitive robotics, and human-robot interaction, focusing on representation learning with the objective of creating natural and intelligent interaction between humans and robots. Recent advances and future research lines in representation learning will be discussed in detail in this journal special issue. *II. Potential Topics* Topics relevant to this special issue include, but are not limited to: - Language learning, embodiment, and social intelligence - Human symbol system and symbol emergence in robotics - Computational modeling for high-level human cognitive functions - Predictive learning from sensorimotor information - Multimodal interaction and concept formulation - Language and action development - Learning, reasoning, and adaptation in collaborative human-robot tasks - Affordance learning - Cross-situational learning - Learning by demonstration and imitation - Language and grammar induction in robots *III. Submission* ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, open-access journal using an online submission and manuscript tracking system. To submit your paper, please: - Go to https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/thri and login or follow the "Create an account" link to register. - After logging in, click the "Author" tab. - Follow the instructions to "Start New Submission". - Choose the submission category “*SI: Representation Learning for Human and Robot Cognition*”. *IV. Timline* - Deadline for paper submission: July 1, 2018 - First notification for authors: September 15, 2018 - Deadline for revised papers submission: November 15, 2018 - Final notification for authors: January 15, 2019 - Deadline for submission of camera-ready manuscripts: March 1, 2019 - Expected publication date: May 2019 *V. Guest editors* Takato Horii, The University of Electro-Communications, Japan ( takato(a)uec.ac.jp) Dr. Amir Aly, Ritsumeikan University, Japan (amir.aly(a)em.ci.ritsumei.ac.jp) Dr. Yukie Nagai, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Japan (yukie(a)nict.go.jp) Prof. Takayuki Nagai, The University of Electro-Communications, Japan ( nagai(a)ee.uet.at.jp) --------- *Amir Aly, Ph.D.* Senior Researcher Emergent Systems Laboratory College of Information Science and Engineering Ritsumeikan University 1-1-1 Noji Higashi, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577 Japan

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PhD Opening - TEMPORAL NETWORKS: FROM NETWORK THEORY TO BRAIN SCIENCE AND NEUROLOGY
by Demian Battaglia Feb. 20, 2018

Feb. 20, 2018

We are seeking for excellent and motivated candidates for a PhD project based at Aix-Marseille University (AMU, southern France) focusing on: TEMPORAL NETWORKS: FROM NETWORK THEORY TO BRAIN SCIENCE AND NEUROLOGY The student will be jointly directed by Alain Barrat (AMU, Center for Theoretical Physics) and Demian Battaglia (AMU, Institute for Systems Neuroscience). The project, with a strong interdisciplinary component, aims at developing new techniques for the extraction and analysis of time-dependent networks of functional connectivity, based on time-series of neural activity, and, in particular, of human intracranial recordings during resting state, task conditions and stimulation. Mean-field whole brain models may also be used to explore the link between Functional Connectivity Dynamics and the underlying collective thalamocortical dynamics. Any application must be formally submitted on a devoted Web Portal: https://doc2amu.univ-amu.fr/en/temporal-networks-from-network-theory-to-bra… DEADLINE: April 9th, 2018 at 23:59 (Paris Time) The selection will occur through a TWO-STEPS EVALUATION, involving a first pre-selection (2 May 2018) and then a competitive oral examination of the retained applicants (31 May - 1 June 2018). ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: - You must be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of your research career (career breaks excluded) - You must be at the time of recruitment, in possession/or finalizing the master degree or equivalent - You must be available to engage in the programme at the starting date (October 1st, 2018) - At the time of recruitment, not to have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in France for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the reference date (October 1st, 2018) The fellowship of the successful PhD candidate will be co-funded by the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND action within the H2020 Research and Innovation programme of the European Union. Within this programme, the PhD fellows will sign a three-year work contract with numerous advantages: - PhD fellowships above that of a standard French PhD contract (approximately 1625€/month net) - A 500€ travel allowance per year for the fellows to travel between Marseille and their place of origin. - Approx 10’000 € financial support for international research training, conferences and research costs - Tailored training and personalised mentoring within the excellence graduate schools of Aix-Marseille University (NEUROSCHOOL in Neuroscience and CENTURI in Physics of complex living systems) Doctoral fellows will also benefit from support in the administrative procedures, reserved rooms in university housing, several activities to promote integration in the local student life and cultural activities, French language courses covered by the fellowship, etc. For any inquiry feel free to contact us: Demian Battaglia (demian.battaglia(a)univ-amu.fr) Alain Barrat (alain.barrat(a)cpt.univ-mrs.fr)

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Information Theory Tutorial
by James V Stone Feb. 20, 2018

Feb. 20, 2018

For those interested in a gentle introduction to information theory, please see: Information Theory: A Tutorial Introduction by James V Stone Abstract Shannon's mathematical theory of communication defines fundamental limits on how much information can be transmitted between the different components of any man-made or biological system. This paper is an informal but rigorous introduction to the main ideas implicit in Shannon's theory. An annotated reading list is provided for further reading. A pdf file of the article can be downloaded from the Cornell University Library archive: https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.05968 Comments and corrections welcome. regards, James V Stone -- Dr James V Stone Honorary Reader, Sheffield University, UK. http://jim-stone.staff.shef.ac.uk/BookBayes2012/books_by_jv_stone/index.html

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Carolina Neurostimulation Conference - May 21-23, 2018, Chapel Hill NC
by Sankar Alagapan Feb. 20, 2018

Feb. 20, 2018

Dear Colleagues, It is with great pleasure that we invite you to participate in the 1st Carolina Neurostimulation Conference (CNC) to be held *May 21-23, 2018 in Chapel Hill, NC, USA*. This is a premier conference for those working to advance our understanding of dynamics of the brain, body, and behavior, investigating the response to stimulation, and translating discoveries into clinical applications. Hosted by the Carolina Center for Neurostimulation <http://www.carolinaneurostimulation.org/>, CNC serves as a platform for networking for all researchers and specialists and exchanging ideas about the latest discoveries and innovations in brain stimulation and clinical treatments. We have a great lineup of speakers including keynotes from *Dr. Sarah Lisanby (NIH) *and* Dr. Kaspar Schindler (Inselspital)*. Central topics for discussion and presentations include TMS, tACS, tDCS, and methods such as modeling, imaging, analysis, and devices. * ------------------------------ * *Registration:* Please register at the link provided here <http://www.neurostimcarolina.org/registration.html> . The deadline for Registration is *May 1st 2018* Regular (Faculty, Postdocs, Industry Professionals) $165 Students (Graduate, Undergraduate) $95 UNC Members *(Registration required)* Free For a full program, and information regarding registration, travel, and accommodations please visit our conference website <http://www.neurostimcarolina.org/>. Like us on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/NeurostimCarolina/> for updates. * ------------------------------ * *Abstract Submission for Posters:* In addition to attending the plenary sessions, registrants are invited to participate in the conference’s poster session. Original contributions addressing theory, research, practice, and training/education issues, in any areas of neuromodulation and brain network dynamics are welcome. The deadline for abstract submission is *March 15th 2018.* Authors will be notified of acceptance in the first week of April. *Please follow the guidelines for the submission of your abstract.* · Max 500 words and 1 page including title, author(s), affiliation(s), and main body. · Structure: Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions (References and Funding) · File format: single PDF file converted from the provided template <http://www.neurostimcarolina.org/abstract.html> · Email us to submit your abstract (neurostimulation(a)unc.edu) * ------------------------------ * *Travel Awards for Trainees:* We have funds allocated for trainee travel awards. All trainees (undergraduate students, graduate students, post docs, research associates) who will be presenting posters at the conference are eligible for travel awards. To apply for a travel award please complete the form in this link <http://www.neurostimcarolina.org/abstract.html> and email us at neurostimulation(a)unc.edu along with your CV. Please note that you must attend the conference and present your poster to receive the travel award. The deadline for Travel Awards is *March 15th 2018* * ------------------------------ * *Transcranial Electrical Stimulation Workshop:* Trainees and conference attendees are encouraged to attend the preliminary neurostimulation workshop on May 21st, 2018. This one-day innovative hands-on transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) workshop will be taught by Dr. Flavio Frohlich. The workshop will focus on transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with an exciting overview of theory, research, and methods. Click here <http://www.neurostimcarolina.org/workshop.html> for registration information. When completing registration, please be sure to provide feedback regarding your current knowledge of TES as well as some questions or techniques you are interested in. We want this course to be as interactive as possible. Lunch and beverages will be provided. * ------------------------------ * *About the Carolina Center for Neurostimulation:* The Carolina Center for Neurostimulation <http://www.carolinaneurostimulation.org/> is part of the Department of Psychiatry at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is directed by Dr. Flavio Frohlich. Established in 2017, the Center seeks to revolutionize psychiatry and neurology by studying the dynamics of brain, body, and behavior, investigating the response to stimulation, and translating discoveries into clinical treatments.

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[Call for postdoc application] Automated discovery of physico-chemical structures with intrinsically motivated deep learning algorithms
by Pierre-Yves Oudeyer Feb. 20, 2018

Feb. 20, 2018

Call for postdoc application: Automated discovery of physico-chemical structures with intrinsically motivated deep learning algorithms Project Team Inria: Flowers, Inria Bordeaux, https://flowers.inria.fr Contact: Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, pierre-yves.oudeyer(a)inria.fr Deadline for applying: 19th april 2018 How to apply: send email to PY Oudeyer and post application to https://jobs.inria.fr/public/classic/fr/offres/2018-00413 Duration: 16 months Scientific context: Intrinsically motivated goal exploration algorithms enable machines to discover repertoires of action policies that produce a diversity of effects in complex environments. In robotics, these exploration algorithms have been shown to allow real world robots to acquire skills such as tool use in high-dimensional continuous state and action spaces (e.g. Baranes and Oudeyer, 2013; Forestier et al., 2017). An example is the Poppy/Explauto experiment with a humanoid robot learning to use tools in a few hours, which obtained the 2nd position in the demonstration competition at NIPS 2016 (See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOLAwD4ZTW0 , Forestier et al., 2016). In other domains such as chemistry and physics, they open the possibility to automate the discovery of novel chemical or physical structures produced by complex dynamical systems (e.g. Grizou, Points et al., 2017) However, they have so far assumed that self-generated goals are sampled in a specifically engineered feature space, limiting their autonomy. Recent work has shown how unsupervised deep learning approaches could be used to learn goal space representations (e.g. Péré et al., 2018), but they have focused on goals represented as static target configurations of the environment in robotics sensorimotor spaces. In this project, we will study how these new families of machine learning algorithms can be extended and used for automated discovery of behaviours of dynamical systems in physics/chemistry, through exploration of their parameter space, and when these behaviours are perceived through raw sensors (e.g. pixels of images). Web site of Flowers Lab: https://flowers.inria.fr Post-doctoral researcher work description The work will begin by a familiarization with algorithms for intrinsically motivated exploration with unsupervised learning of goal spaces developed in the team. Then, a few interesting numerical/simulation models of physical/chemical phenomena, associated to rich behavioral patterns (such as Turing-like reaction-diffusion models or oil droplet models), will be selected as a basis for developing and experimenting updates of existing exploration and learning algorithms. These algorithmic updates will focus in particular on the use of recurrent neural networks to learn goal spaces that can encode dynamical phenomena. Several algorithmic implementations will be compared, e.g. using several techniques for encoding times series as goal spaces, and compared using various information theoretic measures of the diversity of discovered behaviours in the target dynamical systems. It will be also possible to test these algorithmic updates in more traditional (simulated) sensorimotor learning problems, using standard benchmarks of the literature (e.g. Open Gym environments or Minecraft/Malmo). Experiments will possibly extend the DeepExplauto open-source library developed in the team, as well as standard Deep Learning libraries for the algorithms. Required knowledge and background: Candidates should have a strong expertise in at least one of these areas: - Experience with Deep Learning algorithms (theory and practical implementations) - Stochastic optimization, black-box optimization - Intrinsically motivated exploration algorithms Knowledge and competence in physics/chemical modelling would be welcome. Other requirements: - strong skills in mathematics, statistical inference, machine learning - Advanced programming skills in script languages like python - Motivation to work in an interdisciplinary project References : Baranes, A., & Oudeyer, P. Y. (2013). Active learning of inverse models with intrinsically motivated goal exploration in robots. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 61(1), 49-73. Forestier, S., Mollard, Y., Caselli, D., & Oudeyer, P. Y. (2016). Autonomous exploration, active learning and human guidance with open-source Poppy humanoid robot platform and Explauto library. In The Thirtieth Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS 2016). Grizou, J., Point, L. and the Cronin lab (2017) Tutorial on “Developmental robotics in a chemistry lab », https://croningp.github.io/tutorial_icdl_epirob_2017/. Péré, A., Forestier, S., Oudeyer, P-Y. (2018) Unsupervised learning of goal spaces for intrinsically motivated goal exploration, in proceedings of ICLR 2018. Points, L. J., Taylor, J. W., Grizou, J., Donkers, K., & Cronin, L. (2018). Artificial intelligence exploration of unstable protocells leads to predictable properties and discovery of collective behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201711089. LeCun, Y., Bengio, Y., & Hinton, G. (2015). Deep learning. Nature, 521(7553), 436-444. Keywords: deep learning; intrinsically motivated exploration; unsupervised learning; automated discovery; complex systems; dynamical systems Pierre-Yves Oudeyer Research director, Flowers lab Inria and Ensta ParisTech, France http://www.pyoudeyer.com

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Hand, Brain, and Technology
by Sliman Bensmaia Feb. 20, 2018

Feb. 20, 2018

Call for abstracts Hand, Brain, and Technology August 26-31, 2018 Monte Verita, Switzerland Submission deadline: April 15, 2018 The hand is our primary means to interact with objects and endows us with effortless versatility in these interactions. In the second Hand, Brain, and Technology conference, we focus on the sensory aspect of hand function and its neural basis. We also feature efforts to restore somatosensation in a variety of clinical contexts, including amputation, spinal cord injury, and stroke. Attendance is limited to 100 participants. If you are interested in presenting a short talk or poster, please visit http://www.relab.ethz.ch/hbt2018/abstract-submission.html for instructions. For more information, including the list of speakers, please visit http://www.relab.ethz.ch/hbt2018. … -- Sliman Bensmaia Associate Professor Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy University of Chicago 773.834.5203

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Fruit Fly Brain Hackathon 2018
by Yiyin Zhou Feb. 19, 2018

Feb. 19, 2018

Fruit Fly Brain Hackathon 2018 FFBH 2018 <http://fruitflybrain.org/hackathons>March 14, 2018Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 We are pleased to announce the 3rd Fruit Fly Brain Hackathon (FFBH 2018). This hackathon will be focused on open neurophysiology data (electrophysiology, imaging, etc.) of, but not limited to, the fruit fly brain. The hackathon will be focused on the following topics: 1. Promoting *Neurodata Without Board* (NWB) as a standard format for storing and sharing neurophysiology data in general, and extend it to standardize the storage and distribution of fruit fly brain electrophysiology and calcium imaging data, 2. *Queryable* neurophysiology data: organizing neurophysiology data and metadata in a database to make them easily queryable, and developing comprehensive querying tools accordingly, 3. Incorporating queried neurophysiology data into computational study. The goals are to: 1. create a common language for sharing open neurophysiology data, 2. speed up pattern search in the data that can often be tedious and inefficient to do manually, 3. drive the creation of computational models and the validation of them using open data. The hackathon is aimed at three main groups of participants: neurobiologists, modelers and software engineers. We welcome researchers working on the fruit fly brain as well as those working on other model organisms to participate and broaden the discussion in the hackathon. The Fruit Fly Brain Hackathon 2018 is organized in conjunction with the Columbia Workshop on Brain Circuit, Memory and Computation on March 15-16, 2018. Participants of the hackathon are welcome to attend the workshop. Registration is free but all participants have to register <https://ffbh2018.eventbrite.com/> (*https://ffbh2018.eventbrite.com/ <https://ffbh2018.eventbrite.com/>*). Organizers: Adam Tomkins, Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, University of Sheffield Nikul Ukani, Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University Chung-Heng Yeh, Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University Yiyin Zhou, Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University More information can be found on the hackathon website: http://fruitflybrain.org/hackathons ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------ Best Regards, Yiyin Zhou, on behalf of the organizers -- Yiyin Zhou Postdoctoral Research Scientist Bionet Group: www.bionet.ee.columbia.edu Department of Electrical Engineering Columbia University

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10th International Neuroscience Conference - Neuronus 2018 (Krakow, Poland)
by Maciej Kosiło Feb. 19, 2018

Feb. 19, 2018

10th Biennial International Neuroscience Conference - Neuronus 2018 IBRO Neuroscience Forum 20- 24th April 2018 Auditorium Maximum of Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland The Organizing Committee of NEURONUS 2018 IBRO Neuroscience Forum cordially invites you to participate in the 10th edition of this international neuroscience conference. Neuronus IBRO Neuroscience Forum is one of the largest neuroscience conferences in Europe, creating a space for international networking between scientists of various academic levels. Previous editions drew in a total of over 2500 participants from over 80 different institutions and universities affiliated with 24 countries worldwide. *This year’s program consists of:* - *6 keynote speakers:* prof. Amir Amedi (Hebrew University, Izrael) prof. Ole Jensen (University of Birmingham, Great Britain) prof. Markus Ullsperger (University of Magdeburg, Germany) prof. Yves De Koninck (Laval University, Canada) prof. Thomas Kuner (University of Heidelberg, Germany) prof. Emma Robinson (University Of Bristol, Great Britain) - *Over 25 invited speakers and 15 oral sessions/symposia, spanning 4 categories:* Cognitive Neuroscience Biological Neuroscience Clinical Neuroscience/Neurology Medical Case Reports All information, including a list of invited speakers, is available on our website: *www.neuronusforum.pl <http://www.neuronusforum.pl/> * Abstract submission deadline: 21st February 2018 Passive registration deadline : 10th April 2018 We look forward to seeing you! Organizing Committee Neuronus 2018 IBRO Neuroscience Forum You can also follow us on social media! Facebook: www.facebook.com/NeuronusForum Twitter: www.twitter.com/neuronusforum <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> Wolny od wirusów. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

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Workshop "Stochastic Models in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology" Venice, 5-7 April 2018 - Second Announcement
by Samir Suweis Feb. 19, 2018

Feb. 19, 2018

Dear All, we invite you to the workshop “Stochastic Models in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology” that will be held in Venice, 5-7 April 2018, at the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti. Aim of the workshop is to bring together scientists with different background - people from biology, physics and mathematics - interested in stochastic models in ecology and evolutionary biology, to discuss issues and exchange methods and ideas. A partial list of topics includes: stochastic population dynamics, branching processes, robustness and adaptability of ecosystems, resilience and criticality of ecological systems, models and prediction of biodiversity, molecular evolution, and microbial community dynamics. Invited Speakers (in alphabetical order): J.-F. Arnoldi, E. Baake, J. Dalmau, J. Friedman, A. Lambert, M. Loreau, P. Metha, A. Sanchez, B. Trubenova, I. Mizrahi* (*tbc) The cost for workshop attendance will be 90 Euro, which includes coffee breaks and workshop material. We will also have contributed talks and posters sessions. The call of abstracts will close on March 2, 2018. For abstracts submission use the following EasyChair link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=smeeb2018 <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=smeeb2018> Information on accommodation and workshop programme are available the workshop website <http://www.pd.infn.it/~maritan/veniceworkshop/veniceworkshop.html> Please help us to promote this meeting by forwarding this email to anyone you know might be interested, and especially bring this announcement to the attention of your students or post-docs, who are those most likely not to be on our mailing lists. Apologies if you receive this message multiply. There are 2 free waiver for Ph.D. students and young post-docs offered by Entropy Journal. To apply for the fee waiver, send your abstract through the Easy Chair link in the Abstract submission section, and send an email with your CV to “liph.unipd(a)gmail.com". On the behalf of the workshop organizers, Amos Maritan & Samir Suweis LIPh lab University of Padova http://www.pd.infn.it/~maritan/index.html <http://www.pd.infn.it/~maritan/index.html> Samir Suweis, Ph.D. https://impactstory.org/u/SamirSuweis <https://impactstory.org/u/SamirSuweis> @SamirSuweis Research Scientist (RTDa) LIPh Lab, Physics Department, University of Padova Tel: +39 049 827 72 51 www.pd.infn.it/~maritan/people/Samir/samir.html

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Book Announcement: Elements of Neurogeometry.
by Jean Petitot Feb. 19, 2018

Feb. 19, 2018

Apologies for multiple postings. Dear Colleagues, The following book is now available: "Elements of Neurogeometry. Functional architectures of vision" (Springer). This book describes several mathematical models of the primary visual cortex, referring them to a vast ensemble of experimental data and putting forward an original geometrical model for its functional architectures Using concepts as wavelet analysis; contact, symplectic, and sub-Riemannian geometry, it provides a systematic interpretation of a number of important neurophysiological observations in a welldefined mathematical framework. More information (in particular the Table of contents) can be found on the following web pages: <http://www.springer.com/fr/book/9783319655895>http://www.springer.com/fr/book/9783319655895 <http://jeanpetitot.com/Petitot_Springer/9783319655895-t1(contents).pdf>http://jeanpetitot.com/Petitot_Springer/9783319655895-t1(contents).pdf With my best regards, Jean Petitot

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Postdoctoral position in human intracranial electrophysiology
by Shuo Wang Feb. 16, 2018

Feb. 16, 2018

[Apologies for multiple posting] We invite applicants with strong motivation in investigating the neural mechanisms of visual attention to apply for a postdoctoral position at the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI), West Virginia University. The applicant will work on intracranial single-unit recordings from human subjects, investigating questions related to visual saliency and social attention in autism. This will include experimental work with neurosurgical patients (electrophysiology and behavior), data processing and analysis, spike-train analysis, and experimental design. The applicant will have access to state-of-the art equipment, facilities and analytical methods and this research will be in a highly collaborative environment. The applicant will not only collaborate with investigators at the RNI, but also be part of an established team of investigators at both Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Dr. Ueli Rutishauser) and the California Institute of Technology (Dr. Ralph Adolphs), with ample opportunity to learn new techniques and methods. Candidates should have strong programming (Matlab or similar) skills. Expertise in machine learning is desired. Individuals with previous human intracranial EEG experience and/or macaque single neuron recordings that wish to expand into human single-unit recordings are encouraged to apply. For further information, please contact Dr. Shuo Wang at shuo.wang(a)mail.wvu.edu. Further information about the lab can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/shuowangsocialneuroscience/

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Post-Doctoral Fellow, EEG/MEG Processing & Rehab, University of Maryland, Baltimore
by Abarro, Janice Feb. 16, 2018

Feb. 16, 2018

The University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science, is pleased to announce the availability of post-doctoral research fellowships through the U.S. Administration for Community Living, National Institute of Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, University of Maryland Advanced Neuromotor Rehabilitation Research Training Program, in collaboration with Bioengineering Department, University of Maryland, College Park. The preferred applicant will have a recent doctoral degree, experience in working with EEG/EMG signal processing and rehabilitation robotics, with applications to neurorehabilitation of patients with neurological disorders. To apply, applicants should send a cover letter to include a statement of career goals, CV, and contact information for three references to: Janice Abarro, Research Coordinator jabarro(a)som.umaryland.edu Starting date: Immediate or negotiable. From: Abarro, Janice Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2018 2:37 PM To: 'comp-neuro(a)neuroinformatics.be' <comp-neuro(a)neuroinformatics.be> Subject: Post to list request Importance: High Hello, Please find the attached job posting to be listed. Please note the postings are attached as a word.doc and .pdf for you to choose the document that meets your needs for posting. We kindly thank you for offering this posting permission. Kind regards, Janice Janice Abarro Research Coordinator Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science jabarro(a)som.umaryland.edu<mailto:jabarro@som.umaryland.edu> [http://medschool.umaryland.edu/media/SOM/Offices-of-the-Dean/Public-Affairs…]

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Postdoc Position: Decision-making in dynamic environments (U Penn/U Houston/CU Boulder)
by Zachary Kilpatrick Feb. 16, 2018

Feb. 16, 2018

We are seeking a postdoctoral fellow to join an NIH/NSF funded interdisciplinary project that includes Joshua Gold (University of Pennsylvania), Krešo Josić (University of Houston), and Zack Kilpatrick (University of Colorado, Boulder). All three of us will be at the Cosyne meeting in Denver (March 1-4, 2018), so please contact us if you would like to find a time to discuss the position in person. Our aim is to understand how the brain accumulates evidence in dynamic environments. The project is guided by the overriding hypothesis that brain networks involved in decision-making computations incorporate learned expectations of the environment to implement adaptive decision-making. We seek a candidate who can work at the interface of experimental, computational, and theoretical neuroscience. As part of an interdisciplinary team, The candidate will develop models of neural circuits that approximate normative evidence accumulation in dynamic environments. The candidate will also help to validate these models, using behavioral data from humans and neural recordings from primates performing dynamic decision tasks. For further information please contact Krešimir Josić (josic(a)math.uh.edu <mailto:josic@math.uh.edu>) or Zack Kilpatrick (zpkilpat(a)colorado.edu <mailto:zpkilpat@colorado.edu>)

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Several permanent positions in robotics coming up in Plymouth/UK
by Thomas Wennekers Feb. 14, 2018

Feb. 14, 2018

[Apologies for cross-posting] Dear colleagues, The University of Plymouth is seeking to fill *multiple positions* for* Lecturer/Associate Professor in Robotics*. All positions are full-time and of a permanent nature. The School of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics offers a wide range of degree programmes related to Technology in the areas of Robotics, Electronics, Computer Science and Mathematics. The School provides a stimulating teaching and research environment with strong connections to business and industry and offers excellent employment prospects for our graduates. We have a well-established interdisciplinary research base which covers: Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems (CRNS); Security, Communications & Networks; Nanotechnology & Electronics Research and Development. We have vacancies for enthusiastic, innovative and dynamic individuals to join our vibrant School to support Robotics and Machine Learning, especially as applied to solving real-world problems by building systems that can operate in close proximity to people. Areas of interest include (but are not limited to) the development of Soft Robotics, Autonomous Mobile Platforms, Human-Robot Interaction, and Machine Vision Systems using Deep Learning. One current focus in Plymouth is the design and construction of Agricultural Robots for fruit and vegetable harvesting. Applications are invited from experienced academics and/or professional engineers, who can demonstrate a commitment and enthusiasm for innovation in higher education and to the development of the next generation of Professional Engineers. You must have undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in relevant disciplines (such as Engineering/Maths/Physics/Computer Science) together with an international profile and reputation for research excellence. As well as carrying out cutting edge research, you will supervise and contribute to training of Research Assistants (RAs) and PhD students, as well as contributing to teaching within the BEng/MEng/MSc in Robotics, as well as other courses within the School. The Electronics and Robotics subject groups are renowned for excellence in producing high quality practical engineers and you should be able to support hardware and software projects. Apply here: https://hrservices.plymouth.ac.uk/tlive_webrecruitment/wrd/run/ETREC107GF.o… Contact for informal discussion: Dr Ian Howard, ian.howard(a)plymouth.ac.uk Further information about the school and its courses is available at www.plymouth.ac.uk/compmath with details of our research centre available at www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/crns Closing date: *12midnight, 1st March 2018.* The University of Plymouth is committed to an inclusive culture and respecting diversity, and welcomes applications from all sections of the community and is a Stonewall diversity champion. The University holds a Bronze Athena SWAN Award which recognises commitment to advancing women's careers in STEMM academia. ----------------------------------------- ________________________________ [http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/images/email_footer.gif]<http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/worldclass> This email and any files with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the recipient to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient then copying, distribution or other use of the information contained is strictly prohibited and you should not rely on it. If you have received this email in error please let the sender know immediately and delete it from your system(s). Internet emails are not necessarily secure. While we take every care, Plymouth University accepts no responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan emails and their attachments. Plymouth University does not accept responsibility for any changes made after it was sent. Nothing in this email or its attachments constitutes an order for goods or services unless accompanied by an official order form.

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PhD / PostDoc position in the field of Learning Systems at Ulm University
by Daniel Braun Feb. 14, 2018

Feb. 14, 2018

In the *Institute of Neural Information Processing* of the Faculty of Engineering, Computer Science and Psychology of Ulm University there will be a *PhD / PostDoc position in the field of Learning Systems * to be filled as soon as possible in the newly established research group on “Learning Systems”. The group is interested in the mathematical foundations of intelligent behavior in cognitive systems, including both biological and artificial systems, in particular the information-processing principles underlying learning and decision-making. This requires a combined theoretical and experimental approach. In our theoretical line of work we use methods from machine learning, statistics, physics, information theory and decision theory to investigate the effects of limited resources on learning and decision-making (“bounded rationality”). In our experimental line of work we investigate sensorimotor behavior in humans by using virtual reality technology and robotic interfaces to study learning and decision-making quantitatively under controlled conditions. This interdisciplinary approach unites aspects from both basic and applied research. On a basic level we aim at a quantitative understanding of embodied intelligence, in particular the emergence of cognition from sensorimotor interactions by processes of abstraction and structure learning. On an applied level we are interested in both autonomous robotic systems and human-machine-interactions, as sensorimotor learning and decision-making in artificial systems constitute a cutting-edge technical challenge. The research group is supported by the ERC-project BRISC (Bounded Rationality in Sensorimotor Coordination) https://erc.europa.eu/projects-figures/erc-funded- projects/results?search_api_views_fulltext=BRISC funded by the excellence programme of the European Research Council, in which we aim at a novel information-theoretic understanding of sensorimotor interactions in psychological and technical systems. Ulm University with its more than 10,000 students is Baden-Württemberg’s youngest university. It offers attractive career prospects in a highly innovative research, teaching and work environment at the same time facilitating the reconciliation of work and family life. Embedded within the novel international “Cognitive Systems”-Master’s course, the research group “Learning Systems” is part of the university’s priority programme on human-machine-interaction. Beyond the university, there are plenty of opportunities to cooperate with international partners in Great Britain and the United States. The applicants should have a strong mathematical background, hold a Diploma or Master’s degree in natural science, mathematics, economics, psychology, computer science, engineering or similar and have a keen interest in artificial and natural intelligence. The positions are paid according to German tariff TV-L E13. Exceptional candidates with a Bachelor’s degree can also be considered, albeit with an individual pay scale regulation. The University of Ulm is an equal opportunity employer: Handicapped individuals are strongly encouraged to apply, and so are women in areas in which they are underrepresented. The positions will be filled as soon as possible. Candidates should send a CV, a brief statement of interest and a copy of their highest degree to Prof. Dr. Dr. Daniel Alexander Braun daniel.braun(a)uni-ulm.de -- Prof. Dr. Dr. Daniel Alexander Braun Institute of Neural Information Processing Faculty of Engineering, Computer Science and Psychology Ulm University James-Franck-Ring D-89081 Ulm Germany phone: +49 (0)731 50 - 24150 <%2B49%20%280%29731%2050%20-%2024158> fax: +49 (0)731 50 - 24156 email: daniel.braun(a)uni-ulm.de

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In memoriam Jean-Marie Cabelguen, January 30 2018.
by Auke Ijspeert Feb. 14, 2018

Feb. 14, 2018

[apologies in case of multiple copies] Dear Colleagues and Friends, It is with a great sadness that we heard that Professor Jean-Marie Cabelguen passed away on January 30, 2018 after battling cancer. He passed away peacefully surrounded by his family. As a researcher and lecturer in neurophysiology, he made profound contributions towards understanding the neural circuits underlying locomotion in vertebrate animals. A warm and passionate person, Jean-Marie was greatly appreciated by the scientific community to which he belonged. We created a website https://biorob2.epfl.ch/pages/cabelguen/ to allow his colleagues and friends to share some thoughts and memories about him. If you would like to do so, please write your messages (short or long, in any language) as an email to inmemoriam.jmc(a)epfl.ch <mailto:inmemoriam.jmc@epfl.ch>, and they will be posted here. Thank you. Best wishes, Auke Ijspeert, Vanessa Charrier, Dimitri Ryczko, Alessandro Crespi -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Prof Auke Jan Ijspeert Biorobotics Laboratory EPFL-STI-IBI-BIOROB, ME D1 1226, Station 9 EPFL, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne CH 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland Office: ME D1 1226 Tel: +41 21 693 2658 Fax: +41 21 693 3705 www:http://biorob.epfl.ch Email:Auke.Ijspeert@epfl.ch -----------------------------------------------------------------

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Funded PhD: Causality and complexity in human neural dynamics during natural vision
by Anil Seth Feb. 13, 2018

Feb. 13, 2018

A funded PhD position is available at the University of Sussex, UK, application deadline Feb 16 2018. Causality and complexity in human neural dynamics during natural vision A PhD studentship in the area of computational neuroscience is available at the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, within Prof Anil Seth's group based in the Department of Informatics. It is a collaborative project with the group of Prof. Rafael Malach at the Weizmann Institute in Israel, and Prof. Ashesh Mehta from the Feinstein Institute in New York. The position is co-funded by the University of Sussex and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). This project offers an exciting opportunity to apply leading-edge analytical methods to unique sources of data, in order to unravel the neural basis of conscious vision. The successful candidate will develop and apply dynamical complexity measures and functional connectivity analysis to detailed intracranial recordings obtained from humans during unconstrained real-world movement, with simultaneous video. A key advantage of this set-up is the availability of extensive high-resolution coverage of the entire (human) visual brain, acquired during ecologically valid visual behaviour. Other sources of data may also be analysed during the project. The overall goal is to work towards an explanatory bridge from network-level neural dynamics to large-scale theories of perception and consciousness (e.g., global workspace theory, predictive processing). More details, including how to apply, are here: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/phd/fees-and-scholarships/scholarships/view/8… (please note funding is sufficient to cover fees and living expenses for UK/EU students only). Additional details are here: https://www.findaphd.com/search/projectdetails.aspx?PJID=92986 --------------------------------------------- Anil K. Seth, D.Phil. University of Sussex, UK Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Co-Director, Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science Editor-in-Chief, Neuroscience of Consciousness www.anilseth.com<http://www.anilseth.com> @anilkseth

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[meetings] [LM2018] 2nd call for papers
by Vasiliki Vouloutsi Feb. 13, 2018

Feb. 13, 2018

Dear colleagues, Please find below the second call for participation to the 7th edition of Living Machines. Apologies for cross-posting but please share this announcement with your colleagues. Looking forward to seeing you in Paris! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ /Second Call for Papers, Satellite Events and Sponsors/ *Living Machines VII: The 7th International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems* *16 – 19 July 2018*** To be hosted at the Museum National D’Histoire Naturelle, Grand Amphitéâtre du Museum,and UPMC, Paris, France, EU Accepted papers will be published in Springer/Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence/ Submission deadline: March 12th, 2018 http://livingmachinesconference.eu/2018 <http://livingmachinesconference.eu/2018> _____________________________________________________________________________ ** *ABOUT LIVING MACHINES 2018* 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 interact with their physical and social environments. •Biomimetic computers and architectures —neuromimetic emulations of the physiological basis for complex adaptive behaviour. •Active biomimetic materials and structures that self-organize and self-repair. •Nature-based designs and manufacturing processes. •Biohybrid brain-machine interfaces and neuronal implants and neuroprosthetics. •Artificial organs and body-parts including sensory organ-chip hybrids and advanced prostheses and cyber-physical systems. •Organism-level biohybrids and symbiosis 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*, 17th to 19th July 2018,Museum National D’Histoire Naturelle,Grand Amphitéâtre du Museum,and UPMC,Paris, France, EU. 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. The full conference will be preceded by up to two days of*Satellite Events*hosted atÉcole Normale Supérieure, Paris. *SUBMITTING TO LIVING MACHINES 2018* 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 Proceedings, published in the*Springer-Verlag/Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence/.* 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 biohybrid research. More preliminary work is better suited for short paper 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 with a short podium preview. 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 full or half-day*tutorials, symposia*or*workshops*on related themes to be held on the 16^th July atthe École Normale Supérieure in Paris (http://www.ens.fr/en <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.ens.fr_en&d=DwMDaQ&…>). Attendance at satellite events will attract a small fee intended to cover the costs of the meeting. There is 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 12th, 2018 Paper submission deadline April 28th, 2018 Notification of acceptance May 15th, 2018 Camera-ready copy July 16th – 19th, 2018 Workshops and Conference ** *SPONSORSHIP* Organisations wishing to sponsor the conference in any way and gain the corresponding benefits by promoting themselves and their products through conference publications, conference events, and conference publicity areencouraged to contact the organisers to discuss the terms of sponsorship and necessary arrangements. We also offer a number of attractive options to potential sponsors. *VENUE* Consistent with the Living Machines’ tradition of choosing historical venues at the crossroads between life and human sciences, this year the conference will take place at theMuseum National D’Histoire Naturelle(http://www.mnhn.fr/fr <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.mnhn.fr_fr&d=DwMDaQ…>) a historical museum located in the heart of Paris that for almost 400 years has focused on nature and its relationship with humans. The museum is immersed in history, yet at the heart of current affairs, and is also working to be projected towards the future. Poster sessions will be organized at UPMC. ** *Organising Committee:* *Jose Halloy*,Université Paris Diderot(Local Organizing Chair) *Paul Verschure*, IBEC-BIST (Co-Chair) *Tony Prescott*, University of Sheffield (Steering Committee) *Vicky Vouloutsi,*IBEC-BIST, Barcelona (Programme Chair) *Michael Mangan*, University of Lincoln (Programme Co-Chair) *Nathan Lepora*, University of Bristol (Communications) *Anna Mura*, IBEC-BIST, Barcelona (Web and Communications) *Local**Organising Committee:* *Stéphane Doncieux*, Prof. UMPC, ISIR *Benoît Girard*, DR CNRS, UPMC, ISIR *Emmanuelle Pouydebat*, DR CNRS, Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle *Vincent Bels*, Prof. Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle -- Vicky Vouloutsi, PhD Postdoc Researcher at the laboratory for Synthetic Perceptive, Emotive and Cognitive Systems (SPECS <http://specs-lab.com/>) mail: vvouloutsi(a)ibecbarcelona.eu <mailto:vvouloutsi@ibecbarcelona.eu> LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/in/vicky-vouloutsi-28496133/> researchgate <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Vasiliki_Vouloutsi>

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2 Funded PhD Interdisciplinary Scholarships on Robotics and Brain Science
by Dimitri Ognibene Feb. 12, 2018

Feb. 12, 2018

The Faculty of Science and Health of the University of Essex is pleased to invite applications for 2 Funded PhD positions that will work on the following topics combining Psychology and Robotics (CSEE): 1)http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BHO005/phd-studentship-are-you-looking-at-me-transferring-social-skills-from-humans-to-robots <http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BHO005/phd-studentship-are-you-looking-at-me-tran…> (deadline 12th March 2018 <http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BHO005/phd-studentship-are-you-looking-at-me-tran…>.) 2)http://jobs.ac.uk/job/BHF222/phd-studentship-careobot-cognitive-robotic-companion-for-carehomes-and-hospitals/ <http://jobs.ac.uk/job/BHF222/phd-studentship-careobot-cognitive-robotic-com…> (deadline 23rd February 2018 <http://jobs.ac.uk/job/BHF222/phd-studentship-careobot-cognitive-robotic-com…>) The post holder will have the opportunity to a) develop new advanced methods for cognitive robots based on machine learning, signal processing and information theory, b) design and perform behavioural experiments with human subjects and c) analyze experimental data in collaboration with experimental neuroscience laboratories. This is part of the Faculty plan to strengthen its interdisciplinary research at the boundaries between Natural and Artificial Intelligence (BCI, ML, AI, Robotics, Psychology and Neuroscience). Other new PhD positions can be found here: https://www1.essex.ac.uk/csee/pg/studentships.aspx <https://www1.essex.ac.uk/csee/pg/studentships.aspx> Additional questions and queries about the studentship can be addressed by contacting the supervisors specified in the call. -- Dimitri Ognibene, PhD School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, UK http://sites.google.com/site/dimitriognibenehomepage/ <http://sites.google.com/site/dimitriognibenehomepage/> Skype: dimitri.ognibene

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postdoc opening in data analysis for depression DBS at Georgia Tech
by Christopher Rozell Feb. 11, 2018

Feb. 11, 2018

A postdoc position at the intersection of computational neuroscience, clinical neuropsychiatry and data analysis is available working jointly with the labs of Christopher Rozell and Robert Butera at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA). This BRAIN Initiative research project seeks to develop electrophysiological biomarkers to characterize disease progression and optimize deep brain stimulation (DBS) for treatment-resistant depression. This clinically-focused project (clinical lead is Dr. Helen Mayberg) is a collaboration with Emory University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai that is providing access to one-of-a-kind human electrophysiology data recorded by implanted DBS devices *during therapy* in an experimental trial. The role of our computational team is to develop analysis and modeling approaches to identify electrophysiological signatures that correlate with treatment response and optimize stimulation parameters. This is an opportunity to work on a challenging scientific problem with real impact on a sick patient population. Applicants should hold a PhD in a related discipline with a strong research record. Experience in advanced techniques for analyzing time-series data (e.g., signal processing and machine learning) is desirable, additional experience in computational neuroscience modeling and working with neurophysiology data is helpful . The labs are committed to the professional development of the members, making it valuable preparation for people who are interested in academic, industrial or entrepreneurial careers. The position has no mandatory teaching or administrative duties. Excellent (written and oral) communication skills in English are required. The ideal start date is May 2018. The position is initially for 12 months with the possibility of renewal. Compensation will be commensurate with relevant experience. Georgia Tech has competitive benefits (including comprehensive medical insurance) and is an equal opportunity employer. Georgia Tech's campus in the heart of midtown Atlanta, which is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas (and entrepreneurial communities) in the United States. Atlanta boasts a wide range of opportunities for recreation, culture, and easy access to domestic and international transportation. Candidates should send a CV, a statement of research experience and interests, expected date of availability, and the contact information for three references to christopher.thomas(a)ece.gatech.edu with the subject line "Neuro DBS postdoc". Application review will proceed until the position is filled and should be received by February 19, 2018 for full consideration.

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