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Postdoc Position at the University of Goettingen in Computational Neuroscience / Retinal Neurophysiology

by Gollisch, Tim

Three postdoc positions are available in the lab of Tim Gollisch at the University Medical Center Goettingen, Germany. Information about the lab can be found at http://www.retina.uni-goettingen.de/. The positions are funded by the ERC Consolidator Grant "CODE4Vision", which will start in June 2017 and run for five years. The project revolves around analyzing the functional connectivity in the neural network of the retina by means of electrophysiological recordings from mouse retina, application of machine learning for data analysis, computational modeling of retinal signal processing, and development of closed-loop physiology experiments. The goals include the development of computational models that capture how the retina encodes natural visual stimuli. Furthermore, we will apply these models to explore optogenetic vision restoration therapies, which we will test with originally blind, optogenetically treated mice. The three postdocs to be hired will focus on different aspects of the CODE4Vision project, such as 1) computational and machine learning-based analysis of large-scale multielectrode array recordings from the retina (up to several thousand electrodes), classification of cell types, statistical inference to extract the layout of presynaptic inputs, and development of computational models; 2) development of closed-loop physiology experiments to extract relevant response characteristics of recorded ganglion cells during the experiment and optimize stimulus presentation "on the fly" to obtain detailed computational models; 3) direct assessment of functional connectivity in the retina by dual recordings (multielectrode arrays plus intracellular electrodes) and comparing responses to current injection and visual stimulation. What will be expected of the applicants? - PhD in neuroscience, computer science, biology, physics, math, engineering or something equivalent - Track record (e.g. publications) showing the candidate's ability to pursue high-quality research - Strong motivation to perform neuroscience research and to integrate experimental and computational approaches - Experience with either electrophysiological methods or computational analyses and computer programming - Ability to integrate into a team - Ability to think independently and advance the project by developing and pursuing own ideas for experiments and analyses - Good command of English (which is the working language in the lab) The positions are for 2 years initially with possibility for renewal. Potential starting dates are from June 2017 onwards, and applications will be considered until the positions are filled. Please send your application to Tim Gollisch (tim.gollisch(a)med.uni-goettingen.de<mailto:tim.gollisch@med.uni-goettingen.de>), including a CV as well as names and contact details for at least two references. Also make sure to include a statement of why this project interests you and how you think you could contribute, based on your scientific background. The University Medical Center Goettingen is an equal opportunities employer, and women are especially encouraged to apply. Applicants with disabilities and equal qualifications will be given preferential treatment. -- Prof. Dr. Tim Gollisch University Medical Center Goettingen, Dept. of Ophthalmology Waldweg 33, 37073 Goettingen Tel. +49 (0)551 39-13542 tim.gollisch(a)med.uni-goettingen.de<mailto:tim.gollisch@med.uni-goettingen.de> www.retina.uni-goettingen.de<http://www.retina.uni-goettingen.de>

March 22, 2017

Call for participation in the Frontiers Research Topic "Machine Learning in Imaging Neurodevelopment and Neurodegeneration"

by Budhachandra Khundrakpam

Hi, We would like to invite you to consider contributing an article to the Frontiers research topic “Machine Learning in Imaging Neurodevelopment and Neurodegeneration”. Here is the link http://journal.frontiersin.org/researchtopic/5986/ machine-learning-in-imaging-neurodevelopment-and-neurodegeneration This research topic intends to help advance the scientific research within the field of machine learning in neuroimaging so as to realize the potential of machine learning to translate neuroimaging data into tools that can directly aid clinicians in diagnosis and therapy for neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders, such as autism, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease, amongst others. For such purposes, this Research Topic welcomes original research and review articles that highlight major trends and challenges in the field and aim to identify new cutting-edge machine learning approaches and their applications in imaging neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration. Potential topics of interests include, but are not limited to: • Machine learning analyses using large-scale neuroimaging data • Computer-aided diagnosis/prognosis for neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders • Analytical tools and software for computer-aided diagnosis/prognosis • Multimodal fusion for outcome prediction, diagnosis/prognosis, image analysis • Computer-aided lesion detection for neurodegeneration • Machine learning analyses combining neuroimaging and genetics You can submit your work on our Special Issue to one of the journals - Frontiers in Neuroscience, Frontiers In Neurology, Frontiers in Psychiatry, Frontiers in Pediatrics, Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience or Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. Cheers, Budha -- Budhachandra Khundrakpam Research Associate McConnell Brain Imaging Centre Montreal Neurological Institute McGill University Montreal, Canada - H3A 2B4 Phone # 5143986174

March 22, 2017

Postdoctoral Position in Computational Neuroscience In Paris

by Juergen Reingruber

Job Offer: A postdoctoral position in computational neuroscience is available to analyze and model the spiking response of olfactory receptor neurons to odorant stimuli. The project is in collaboration with the experimental research group of Philippe Lucas at INRA Versailles (http://ieesparis.ufr918.upmc.fr/spip.php?article244&lang=en) and Jürgen Reingruber at Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris (http://www.biologie.ens.fr/~reingrub/index.html) Duration: 2 years. After this period, successful candidates are given a promising opportunity to apply for a permanent INRA position. Location: Shared between INRA Center in Versailles and Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. Project description: Binding of odorants to their cognate receptors on olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) initiates a signal transduction cascade that leads to the opening of both cationic and anionic ion channels in the dendritic membrane. The subsequent transduction current entails a sequence of action potentials in the soma. The overall goal of the project is to analyze electrophysiological recordings of action potentials obtained in the lab of Philippe Lucas (from moths and Drosophila), and, using a molecular model for the transduction current developed by Jürgen Reingruber, to derive a Hodgkin-Huxley type of model that explains how the stimulus dependent transduction current is transformed into a sequence of action potential firings. Ultimately, this will unravel how an ORN encodes the intensitive and temporal properties of odorant stimuli into sequences of action potentials transmitted to subsequent neuronal layers. Application and starting date: INRA provides basic funding for the project. However, to ensure a high quality, INRA additionally requires that candidates successfully apply for an AgreenSkills+ incoming fellowship (https://www.agreenskills.eu) an international postdoctoral fellowship program co-funded by the European Union and coordinated by INRA. During the past years the application success rate was around 36%. With the fellowship the postdoc will be endowed with exceptional financial conditions including monthly gross salaries ranging from 3,500 to 4,800 €. In addition, successful candidates are given a promising chance to apply for a permanent INRA position after the postdoc. The next call for AgreenSkills+ submissions is 28 April 2017. Subsequent starting date is flexible. Candidate Profile: We are looking for a highly motivated post-doc with interest in sensory transduction and computational neuroscience. Applicants should have solid foundations in physics, applied mathematics and computer simulations. A background in neuroscience would be welcome. Furthermore, the candidate should be interested in working in an interdisciplinary environment, analyzing electrophysiological data and interacting with experimentalists. Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal skills are desired. Speaking French is not mandatory. Interested candidates should send a cover letter summarizing their expertise and research interests, a CV with publications and 2 recommendation letters to Philippe Lucas (philippe.lucas(a)inra.fr) and Jürgen Reingruber (reingrub(a)ens.fr) -- Jürgen Reingruber, PhD Institute of Biology (IBENS) École Normale Supérieure 46 rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France Tel: +33 (0)1 4432 3662 Fax: +33 (0)1 4432 8887

March 21, 2017

[job] Call for postdoc application in Intrinsically Motivated Deep Reinforcement Learning, at Flowers Lab, Inria (Bordeaux, France)

by Pierre-Yves Oudeyer

[We apologize if you receive multiple copies of this message] Call for postdoc application in Intrinsically Motivated Deep Reinforcement Learning, at Flowers Lab, Inria (Bordeaux, France) Deadline: 30th march Eligibility: candidates should have obtained their PhD diploma after 1st september 2015 https://flowers.inria.fr We are searching outstanding candidates for a postdoc (16 months) who will be working on algorithms for lifelong Deep Learning for robotics, and in particular: - unsupervised or self-supervised deep learning - generative networks such as GANs and/or variational auto-encoders - deep reinforcement learning for robotic control - Intrinsic motivation and curiosity - multi-task reinforcement learning, auxiliary tasks Selected candidates will have the opportunity to work with one of the robotics platforms of the Flowers lab, including several Poppy Humanoid robots and starting from the experimental setup that was runner up for the NIPS 2016 demonstration award, and showing intrinsically motivated multi-task reinforcement learning in real-time on real robots, with interaction with humans (http://goo.gl/03FW4k) or the Baxter humanoid robot (http://goo.gl/nSS7Yp) Candidates should already have shown very strong experience and achievements, shown by publications in top-tier AI/machine learning conferences and journals (e.g. NIPS, ICML, ICLR) in either: - deep learning (both theory and practical implementations) - Reinforcement learning for policy learning of parameterized skills in robotics How to apply =========== CVs and letters of motivation should be sent to Pierre-Yves Oudeyer (pierre-yves.oudeyer(a)inria.fr) before 30th march. The successful candidate would begin to work in september 2017. Deadline: 30th march Eligibility: candidates should have obtained their PhD diploma after 1st september 2015 Pierre-Yves Oudeyer Research director, Inria Head of Flowers Lab Inria and Ensta ParisTech http://www.pyoudeyer.com https://flowers.inria.fr More info: The Flowers Lab: developmental robotics and lifelong multitask machine learning =================================================================== The Flowers Lab, headed by Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, gathers a team of ~20 members and has been one of the pioneers of developmental robotics and lifelong machine learning and artificial intelligence in the last decade, in particular through developping models of intrinsically motivated learning of repertoires of skills that have both contributed to advance understanding of human curiosity and development, and to advance incremental online multitask machine learning techniques in difficult high-dimensional robotic spaces. This work in the Flowers lab is conducted in the context of large international projects (e.g. ERC grant, European projects 3rdHand and DREAM, HFSP project Neurocuriosity), with interdisicplinary collaborations with other labs in neuroscience, psychology, machine learning and robotics. The successful candidates would be directly involved in these international collaborations. The Flowers lab has recently spin-off the Pollen Robotics startup company, and is involved in multiple collaborations with industrials through Inria's strong support towards impacting both science and industry. Inria and EnstaParistech =================== The lab is within Inria, which is a prestigious, and also the largest, public European research insitution focused on computer science, mathematics and their applications. Inria's teams and researchers (> 2800 employees) have received prestigious awards, coordinate many international projects, and have created strong innovations now used in many parts of industry. Inria research center in Bordeaux gathers around 300 researchers. The Flowers Lab is also associated to EnstaParisTech, which is a prestigious French engineering school (university). Bordeaux ======== The Flowers lab in Bordeaux is located in a great building on the border of one of the world most famous vineyard, and 10mn by tram from Bordeaux town center (and 2 hours from Paris through high-speed trains): https://www.inria.fr/en/centre/bordeaux Bordeaux has been recently rated by Lonely Planet as the world's best city to visit: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/best-cities-in-the-worl…

March 20, 2017

Call for participation in the Frontiers Research Topic “Neuromodulation of Circuits in Brain Health and Disease”

by Ramaswamy Srikanth

We would like to invite you to consider contributing an article to the Frontiers research topic “Neuromodulation of Circuits in Brain Health and Disease”. The research topic is hosted by: Srikanth Ramaswamy, Henry Markram, Mriganka Sur, Anita Disney, Menahem Segal, Michael E Hasselmo, Seung-Hee Lee, Alexander Thiele, and Amy F T Arnsten. The overarching goal of this research topic is to rekindle the field of neuromodulation by providing a state-of-the-art and unifying view of the mechanisms by which a diversity of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators such as acetylcholine (ACh), dopamine (DA), noradrenaline (NE), serotonin (5-HT) and histamine (HA) - the master switches - control genes, proteins, neurons and glia, dendrites, synapses, and emergent states in neural circuits across different brain regions in health and disease. Concretely, our hope is that this research topic will a) establish an up to date view of neuromodulatory control of brain states by ACh, DA, NE, 5-HT, and HA that is encyclopedic in breadth and depth, and b) establish future research directions. Additionally, we also plan to organize a conference to discuss the state-of-the-art and future of neuromodulation research. Contributing authors to this research topic will be invited to present at the conference. The conference will be held at the EPFL campus in Lausanne, Switzerland in September 2017 and further details will be sent out in due course. Frontiers research topics initially require the submission of an abstract of your work, which will be considered by the topic editors to determine if it falls within the goals of the research topic. Approved abstracts will then be invited to submit a complete manuscript. Depending on the article type, Frontiers has article processing charges (APCs). They range from free to 2490$ for original research articles or reviews (please see http://home.frontiersin.org/about/publishing-fees) If submitted to a Research Topic within the deadline there is a 15% reduction for some article types. Frontiers also has a waiver program so that APCs do not stand in the way of science. Key dates for this research topic are as follows: 1. Abstract submission deadline – 1st May 2017 2. Manuscript submission deadline – 1st July 2017 We very much hope to include your valuable work in this area within this research topic to help make it a key reference and a new resource for neuromodulation research. Yours in Neuroscience, Srikanth Ramaswamy Henry Markram Mriganka Sur Anita Disney Menahem Segal Michael Hasselmo Seung-Hee Lee Alexander Thiele Amy Arnsten

March 20, 2017

3 years funded Phd in New insights into ADHD through behavioural and modelling studies, Deadline 28th of April

by Eirini Mavritsaki

3 years funded PhD New insights into ADHD through behavioural and modelling studies Applications are invited for a 3-year PhD studentship within the Division of Psychology, Faculty of Business Law and Social Sciences, Birmingham City University. Applicants need to demonstrate ability and commitment, including excellent communications skills in written and spoken English. Project Synopsis: There are many limitations on the behaviour of complex neural systems, but one primary constraint is to filter incoming input in order that actions can be programmed to behaviourally relevant stimuli. A major challenge for current-day researchers is to understand how (and why) these limitations arise, especially in conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) where the attentional system is dysfunctional. The main aim of this project is to identify and understand the differences in visual attention between children diagnosed with ADHD and typically functioning children and the role of diet in this. This Ph.D. thesis aims to do this using a novel interdisciplinary approach, behavioural and computational modelling study. The PhD is in collaboration with Prof. John Clibbens and Dr Amy Cook. The successful applicant will join the Centre for Applied Psychological Research (CAP Research) within the Department of Psychology at Birmingham City University. This centre is part of a vibrant and rapidly expanding research community, which offers applicants with an excellent opportunity to develop their research career. The applicant will have the opportunity to have teaching experience, to participate to research seminars and to co-supervise undergraduate projects. For more information please contact Dr Eirini Mavritsaki (Eirini.mavritsaki(a)bcu.ac.uk<mailto:Eirini.mavritsaki@bcu.ac.uk>). For application and interview dates please see below, Deadline of Application 28th of April. Candidate Qualification and Specifications: Essential Ø The applicant should hold a good undergraduate honours degree (First or 2:1) in psychology or a related area to the topic. Ø A demonstrated understanding of research methods is essential (as evidenced by degree transcript grades for research methods and dissertation modules). Ø The applicant will be expected to undertake and pass Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. Ø The applicant should enjoy working with children. Ø Experience in C++ and/or Matlab. Desirable Ø A Masters’ degree in research methods, psychology or a computational modelling. Ø Work experience (voluntary or paid) in schools or experience working with children. Ø Access to a car and a valid driving licence. Ø Computational modelling experience. Application Process (Deadline of application 28th of April) You can find further details on studying for a PhD and details of how to apply on the following link http://www.bcu.ac.uk/social-sciences/courses/research-degrees Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions for the application and to express interest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eirini Mavritsaki, PhD, CPsychol Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology Director of Research in the School of Social Sciences Department of Psychology Faculty of Business Law and Social Sciences Birmingham City University The Curzon Building 4 Cardigan Street Birmingham B4 7BD eirini.mavritsaki(a)bcu.ac.uk<mailto:eirini.mavritsaki@bcu.ac.uk> 0121 331 6361 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 20, 2017

3 years funded PhD in oscillatory behaviour in Alzheimer’s disease to establish biomarkers, Deadline 28th of April

by Eirini Mavritsaki

3 years funding PhD Investigating oscillatory behaviour in Alzheimer’s disease to establish biomarkers: an EEG and computational programme of PhD study Applications are invited for a 3-year PhD studentship within the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Business Law and Social Sciences, Birmingham City University. Applicants need to demonstrate ability and commitment, including excellent communications skills in written and spoken English. Project Synopsis: This proposed PhD work follows high profile research by the University of Birmingham team (Prof. Kim Shapiro, Prof. Howard Bowman and Mr Ali Mazaheri). The project is collaborative work between Birmingham City University (Dr Eirini Mavritsak) and University of Birmingham (Prof. Kim Shapiro and Prof. Howard Bowman). The University of Birmingham team has access to ERP data of a semantic anomaly and word repetition task (Olichney et al, 2002). In the original analysis of the data by Olichney and colleagues, the N400 component was analysed, which is related to semantic manipulation. Olichney and colleagues found evidence of N400 abnormalities in mild cognitive impairment patients, which predicted later progression to Alzhemier’s. The University of Birmingham team have identified oscillatory changes that also predict progression to Alzheimer’s, opening up the possibility that an effective EEG-based early-stage biomarker of Alzheimer’s might be within reach. We plan to simulate this data and the changes observed in it using a computational model that is based on the sSoTS (Mavritsaki, Heinke, Humphreys and Deco, 2011) model. The successful applicant will join the Centre for Applied Psychological Research (CAPresearch) within the Department of Psychology at Birmingham City University. CAPresearch is part of a vibrant and rapidly expanding research community, which offers applicants with an excellent opportunity to develop their research career. The applicant has the opportunity to have teaching experience, to participate in research seminars and to co-supervise undergraduate projects. The successful candidate will also be expected to attend the weekly meetings of the University of Birmingham research team. For more information please contact Dr Eirini Mavritsaki (Eirini.mavritsaki(a)bcu.ac.uk<mailto:Eirini.mavritsaki@bcu.ac.uk>) or Prof. Howard Bowman (H.Bowman(a)bham.ac.uk<mailto:H.Bowman@bham.ac.uk> ). For application please see below, deadline of application 28th of April. Candidate Qualification and Specifications: Essential Ø The applicant should hold a good undergraduate honours degree (First or 2:1) in related area. Ø The applicant should have experience of computational models, evidenced by previous work or masters degree. Ø A demonstrated understanding of research methods is essential (as evidenced by degree transcript grades for research methods and dissertation modules). Ø Experience in C++ and Matlab. Desirable Ø A Masters’ degree in research methods, psychology or computational modelling Application Process (Deadline of application 28th of April) You can find further details on studying for a PhD and details of how to apply on the following link http://www.bcu.ac.uk/social-sciences/courses/research-degrees Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions for the application and to express interest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eirini Mavritsaki, PhD, CPsychol Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology Director of Research in the School of Social Sciences Department of Psychology Faculty of Business Law and Social Sciences Birmingham City University The Curzon Building 4 Cardigan Street Birmingham B4 7BD eirini.mavritsaki(a)bcu.ac.uk<mailto:eirini.mavritsaki@bcu.ac.uk> 0121 331 6361 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 20, 2017

Research Associate in Functional Brain Mapping

by Wong-Lin, Kongfatt

Research Associate in Functional Brain Mapping Applications are invited for a Post-Doctoral Research Associate (PDRA) in functional brain mapping (FBM) to work on a project aimed at discovering neuromarkers that facilitate stratification of patients with Alzheimer´s disease. The position is currently for 2 years, with possibility for further extension subject to securing funder’s approval. Job Ref at http://www.ulster.ac.uk/jobs: 1632872 Salary: £26,844 to £39,347 Closing Date: 4th April 2017 Duties The successful candidate will use MEG data recorded during cognitive tasks, stimulations, and resting state protocols to explore functional connectivity and other appropriate measures for characterizing individuals with different stages of AD and detecting individuals at the risk of developing AD. S/he will also develop and evaluate methods for assessing treatment effects on individuals with AD in collaboration with industry. Northern Ireland Functional Brain Mapping (NIFBM) facility The NIFBM is located at the Intelligent Systems Research Centre (isrc.ulster.ac.uk<http://isrc.ulster.ac.uk>) of Ulster University, Magee campus, Derry~Londonderry. It is the only brain imaging facility anywhere in Ireland and only one of nine in whole of UK to use a state-of-the-art magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure brain activity. The facility attracts clinicians and researchers from across Northern Ireland as well as Republic of Ireland. It is equipped with the latest whole head 306 channels Elekta Neuromag MEG TRIUX system, which also includes a 128-channel EEG recording system. We offer several advanced techniques for brain stimulation and analysis that allow us to obtain better results and guarantee a high quality service for both research and clinical applications. The ISRC is a major research unit in the Faculty of Computing and Engineering and hosts around 80 researchers including academic staff, research associates and PhD students organized in four research teams: Neural Systems and Neuro-technology, Computational Neuroscience and Neural Engineering, Cognitive Robotics, and Ambient Intelligence and Virtual Worlds. Based at ISRC, the successful candidate will have an opportunity to interact with researchers from related ISRC teams as well as Biomedical Sciences Research Institute (5* research rating), and the recently developed Centre for Stratified Medicine at Ulster University. Eligibility Requirements An eligible candidate should have a degree in Computing Science, Electronic Engineering, Physics, or a closely related discipline, or a higher degree in the same or related subjects. Applicants with other relevant degrees e.g. medicine, neuroscience or biomedical sciences may also be considered, subject to demonstration of substantial neuroimaging expertise. A PhD degree in an area relevant to the post is also an essential requirement. It is also required that a candidate: * Has extensive hands-on MEG experience including protocol design, setting up experiments and stimulations, and data acquisition; * Has strong skills and expertise in MEG analysis using modern tools such as Fieldtrip, SPM, MNE, and/or Brainstorm; * Has research track record in cognitive neuroscience and/or Alzheimer’s disease supported by at least two high quality journal publications suitable for submission in to UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF); * Is a self-motivated individual, enjoys working in a team and interacting with researchers and study participants. Please apply on-line by visiting either our university web-site http://www.ulster.ac.uk/jobs or the advertisement appearing at: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AXT197/research-associate-in-functional-brain-map… For more information, please contact Prof. Girijesh Prasad, Principal Investigator & Director NIFBM. E-mail: g.prasad(a)ulster.ac.uk<mailto:g.prasad@ulster.ac.uk>, Phone: 028 71675645. This email and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for the use of the addressee and may contain information which is covered by legal, professional or other privilege. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager at postmaster(a)ulster.ac.uk and delete this email immediately. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Ulster University. The University's computer systems may be monitored and communications carried out on them may be recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes. Ulster University does not guarantee that this email or any attachments are free from viruses or 100% secure. Unless expressly stated in the body of a separate attachment, the text of email is not intended to form a binding contract. Correspondence to and from the University may be subject to requests for disclosure by 3rd parties under relevant legislation. The Ulster University was founded by Royal Charter in 1984 and is registered with company number RC000726 and VAT registered number GB672390524.The primary contact address for Ulster University in Northern Ireland is Cromore Road, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry BT52 1SA

March 20, 2017

Course announcement: CAMP@Bangalore 2017

by Sahil Moza

We would like to announce CAMP@Bangalore 2017 from 19 July 2017 to 3 August 2017. 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 course consists of four 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: Andrew Holmes (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland) Arvind Kumar (KTH, Stockholm) Avrama Kim Blackwell (George Mason University, Virginia) Joshua A. Gordon (National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland Rishikesh Narayanan (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) Sachin Deshmukh ( Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru) Suhita Nadkarni (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune) Sumantra Chattarji (NCBS, Bangalore) Upinder Bhalla (NCBS, Bangalore) Course Organizers: Upinder Bhalla (NCBS, Bangalore) Arvind Kumar (KTH Stockholm) Rishikesh Narayanan (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) -- Sahil Moza PhD student National Centre for Biological Sciences, TIFR, Bangalore, India

March 20, 2017

Postdoc positions in Neuromorphic computing in Singapore

by Yansong Chua

Multiple scientist and research engineer positions are available in Singapore, at the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), A*STAR, Singapore. This project is part of a large multidisciplinary grant in neuromorphic technologies involving multiple universities and research institutions in Singapore (NUS, NTU, IME, IHPC, I2R). The project is focused on building a new neuromorphic chip using RRAM that enables on-chip learning, together with a suite of learning algorithms that would then be deployed in applications in the advanced manufacturing domain. The total grant is for 4 years, with a budget of S$25,000,000. The primary scope of our research is to develop spike-based computing and learning algorithms for deep spiking neural networks on a neuromorphic chip. Specifically, we are interested in employing spikes in information processing and learning. To this end, successful candidates will conduct research in one or more of the following areas: - Neuronal coding. What coding and readout strategy underlie spike-based representation. How to encode external stimuli into spike based representations and how to readout information from spike activities. - Learning. How does neurons adapt their synaptic weights to perform a given task under cases of supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement signals. What are the underlying mechanisms for deep-structured network learning. - System integration and applications. How to integrate different computational principles into a system and apply it to solve different practical tasks. Two particular focus of research are: - Deep reinforcement learning on a neuromorphic platform for the control of robots deployed in the advanced manufacturing domain - Compressing and mapping of state-of-art deep learning networks onto a neuromorphic platform, for either inference (only) or both training and inference. Preference will be given to candidates who can document knowledge in machine learning, neural networks, information processing, system design or hardware implementation with VLSI and FPGA. Candidates must have a PhD (for scientists) or MS/BS (for engineers) in computer science, computational neuroscience or related fields. Strong programming and quantitative skills are highly desired. Candidates should be proficient in spoken and written English. The appointments will be for 3 years, and extended for another 1 year, after review. Salaries are commensurate with internationally-competitive salaries and benefits. The start date is flexible and applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the positions are filled. Other benefits include: - Funding for international conferences and training courses - Collaboration opportunities with an excellent network of international scientists Candidates please send your curriculum vitae, a statement of research interests and three references to Dr. Yansong Chua (chuays(a)i2r.a-star.edu.sg) or Dr. Qiang Yu (yuqiang(a)i2r.a-star.edu.sg) More information: - Institute for Infocomm Research: http://www.i2r.a-star.edu.sg/ - Working in Singapore: http://www.contactsingapore.sg/ professionals/why_singapore/

March 20, 2017