- Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

Workshop on Bio-inspired active AI at CNS*2022 - call for contributed talks

by Thomas Nowotny

Dear all, we will run a workshop on Bio-inspired active AI on Wed. 20 July 2022 at CNS*2022 in Melbourne. The details of the workshop topic are below and a preliminary list of invited talks is at http://users.sussex.ac.uk/~tn41/CNS2022_workshop/ We have time for some contributed talks and invite submissions of short titles/ abstracts. Please send your submission to me (t.nowotny(a)sussex.ac.uk) by Thursday, 30th June 2022. There is one workshop fee waiver available for an early career researcher if they are accepted for a contributed talk. Thanks & kind regards, Thomas --- CNS*2022 Workshop on Bio-inspired active AI<http://users.sussex.ac.uk/~tn41/CNS2022_workshop/> Recent advances in AI and notably in deep learning, have proven incredibly successful in creating solutions to specific complex problems (e.g. beating the best human players at Go, and driving cars through cities). But as we learn more about these approaches, their limitations are becoming more apparent in terms of high energy consumption, fragility, and lack of transferability between tasks. These limitations are particularly apparent when contrasted with naturally evolved intelligence. While no animals can play Go or drive cars, they are incredibly good at doing what they have evolved to do. For instance, ants learn how to forage effectively despite their tiny brains and minimal exploration of their world. We argue this difference comes about because natural intelligence is a property of closed-loop brain-body-environment interactions. Evolved innate behaviours in concert with specialised sensors and neural circuits extract and encode task-relevant information with maximal efficiency, aided by mechanisms of selective attention that focus learning on task-relevant features. In this workshop, we will explore how we can learn from mini-brains, and computational models to better understand intelligence and pave the pathway to building better AI. -- Prof. Thomas Nowotny Head of AI Research Group CCNR, Sussex Neuroscience Phone: +44-1273-678593 Engineering and Informatics, Fax: +44-1273-877873 University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QJ sussex.ac.uk/informatics/tnowotny<http://sussex.ac.uk/informatics/tnowotny> <../../owa/redir.aspx?C=9e11bb0e527242938402b42d9b5498ea&URL=http%3a%2f%2fsussex.ac.uk%2finformatics%2ftnowotny> I support the University of Sussex Community Pledge, as I continue to help those around me during the pandemic. Small acts of collaboration, kindness and integrity can make a big difference. www.sussex.ac.uk/community-pledge<http://www.sussex.ac.uk/community-pledge>

June 7, 2022

Information theory workshop at CNS*2022 -- call for contributed talks

by Joseph Lizier

Dear all, We are pleased to announce that the Workshop on Methods of Information Theory in Computational Neuroscience<https://bit.ly/cns2022itw> will be held once again at the 31st Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2022<https://www.cnsorg.org/cns-2022-quick> conference), in Melbourne, Australia. The workshop will be held during sessions over the final two days of the main conference, July 19 and 20, 2022. Our confirmed speakers so far include the following: * Tomás̆ Bárta, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic * Demian Battaglia, Aix-Marseille University * Demi Gao, The University of Melbourne * Tatiana Kameneva, Swinburne University, Melbourne * Leonardo Novelli, Monash University, Melbourne * Naotsugu Tsuchiya, Monash University, Melbourne * Masanori Shimono, Kyoto University * ... more TBA! We would like to call for further contributions<https://bit.ly/cns2022itwcall> of talks. If you are interested in contributing a talk, please send a title and abstract to Joseph Lizier (joseph.lizier(a)sydney.edu.au<mailto:joseph.lizier@sydney.edu.au>). Earlier submissions and those from female/minority speakers will be prioritised. Please pay attention to the registration for CNS*2022 (early bird deadlines and fees) as workshop registration at least is required for attendance, and see our website https://bit.ly/cns2022itw for more details. We hope you will join us there! Organising Committee: Joseph Lizier (chair) Abdullah Makkeh Justin Dauwels Michael Wibral

June 7, 2022

Abstract submission deadline for “TEX2022: Bringing together Predictive Processes and Statistical Learning”

by Yamil Vidal

Dear all, The abstract submission deadline for “TEX2022: Bringing together Predictive Processes and Statistical Learning” is this Friday (10th of June)!! We welcome the submission of abstracts presenting work in the fields of Predictive Processes and Statistical Learning. Work at the interception of these two fields will be particularly appreciated. We are glad to introduce the members of our Scientific Committee, who will evaluate the submitted abstracts: - Alejandro Blenkmann (Front Neurolab - RITMO, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo) - Louisa Bogaerts (Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University) - Fabienne Chetail (Lab Cognition Langage et Développement (LCLD), CRCN, Université Libre de Bruxelles) - Abhishek Banerjee (Adaptive Decisions Lab, Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University - https://www.adaptive-decisions.com/) - Emma Holmes (Department of Speech Hearing and Phonetic Sciences, UCL. Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL) - Dezső Németh (Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - https://www.memoteam.org/) The results of the evaluation procedure will be announced on the 27th of June. All presentations will be done in person. Presenters of accepted abstracts will be required to register to the event no later than 10th of July. As the event is limited to 100 attendees, we recommend registering early in order to secure a spot. You can find more information at the event’s website: https://indico.sissa.it/e/TEX2022 If you are active on Twitter, please consider retweeting the event’s announcement: https://twitter.com/CrepaldiLab/status/1512412553942601740 We look forward to welcoming you to Trieste this summer! With best regards, Yamil Vidal and Davide Crepaldi Dr. Yamil Vidal Predictive Brain Lab Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging - Donders Institute Nijmegen the Netherlands

June 6, 2022

Reminder: Call for abstracts Bernstein Conference

by Bernstein Communication

**Apologies for cross-posting** Dear colleagues, this is a gentle reminder to submit your abstract to be considered as contributed talk for the Bernstein Conference before June 15 here: https://bit.ly/BC_submission Each year the Bernstein Network invites the international computational neuroscience community to the annual Bernstein Conference for intensive scientific exchange. It has established itself as one of the most renown conferences worldwide in this field, attracting students, postdocs and PIs from around the world to meet and discuss new scientific discoveries. In 2022, the Bernstein Conference will take place as in-person meeting again in Berlin. Talks of the Main Conference are going to be livestreamed, given speakers consent. Find more information at https://bernstein-network.de/bernstein-conference/ ____ IMPORTANT DATES * Bernstein Conference: September 13 - 16, 2022 * Deadline for submission of abstracts to be considered for Contributed Talks: June 15, 2022 * Deadline for abstract submission: July 18, 2022 ____ ABSTRACTS We invite the computational neuroscience community to submit their abstracts: Submitted abstracts can either be considered as contributed talks or posters. All accepted abstracts will be published online and will be citable via Digital Object Identifiers (DOI). Further information can be found here: https://bit.ly/BC_submission ____ INVITED SPEAKERS Keynote Sonja Hofer (University College London, UK) Invited Talks Bing Brunton (University of Washington, USA) Christine Constantinople (New York University, USA) Carina Curto (Pennsylvania State University, USA) Liset M de la Prida (Instituto Cajal, Spain) Juan Alvaro Gallego (Imperial College London, UK) Mehrdad Jazayeri (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA) Gaby Maimon (The Rockefeller University, New York, USA) Andrew Saxe (University College London, UK) Henning Sprekeler (Technische Universität Berlin, Germany) Carsen Stringer (Janelia Research Campus, USA) ____ CONFERENCE COMMITTEE Raoul-Martin Memmesheimer (Conference Chair) Christian Machens (Program Chair) Tatjana Tchumatchenko (Program Vice Chair) Moritz Helias (Workshop Chair) Anna Levina (Workshop Vice Chair) & Megan Carey, Brent Doiron, Tatiana Engel, Ann Hermundstad, Christian Leibold, Timothy O'Leary, Srdjan Ostojic, Cristina Savin, Mark van Rossum, Friedemann Zenke. ____ For any further questions, please contact: bernstein.conference(a)fz-juelich.de ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Volker Rieke Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr. Astrid Lambrecht, Prof. Dr. Frauke Melchior ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Neugierige sind herzlich willkommen am Sonntag, den 21. August 2022, von 10:00 bis 17:00 Uhr. Mehr unter: https://www.tagderneugier.de

June 6, 2022

ISRC Computational Neuroscience, Neurotechnology and Neuro-inspired AI Autumn School

by Wong-Lin, Kongfatt

The Organising Committee from Ulster University's Intelligent Systems Research Centre (ISRC) at Magee Campus in Derry~Londonderry is very pleased to announce that the international Computational Neuroscience, Neurotechnology and Neuro-inspired AI (ISRC-CN3) Autumn School will be held again this year. Supported by the International Brain Research Organisation (IBRO) and other sponsors, this year's Autumn School will run from 24th October to 28th October, inclusively. The topics covered in the ISRC-CN3 Autumn School include: * mathematical foundations in neuroscience * computational modelling of neural-glial systems, neuromodulators and cognition * neural data science * neurotechnology * neuromorphic computing and self-repaired intelligent machines * spiking neural networks and applications * cognitive robotics * ethics in neurotechnology and AI * entrepreneurship in neurotechnology and AI This ISRC-CN3 Autumn School is unique not only in the range and types of topics covered but it will also be delivered in an integrated way, from pedagogical to advanced levels. Registration is made highly affordable, and bursaries may be available. Academic researchers at the ISRC and invited external speakers will contribute to the delivery of this 5-day School, which will consist of lectures and labs. Attendees will have the opportunity to present and share their research work on the final day, and awards will be given to the top presenters. For more information, please visit the websites at: * https://www.ulster.ac.uk/faculties/computing-engineering-and-the-built-envi… * https://www.ulster.ac.uk/faculties/computing-engineering-and-the-built-envi… Application for the Autumn School is now opened and will close on 1st September. For further information, queries, or sponsorship, please contact Dr. KongFatt Wong-Lin (k.wong-lin(a)ulster.ac.uk<mailto:k.wong-lin@ulster.ac.uk>). 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

June 6, 2022

WWNeuRise online seminars June-July 2022

by William Podlaski

WorldWideNeuRise will host several online talks throughout June-July 2022 on various topics in systems neuroscience from the following early career researchers (titles TBA): Wednesday, 8 June, 5pm CET Vladyslava Pechuk (Oren Lab, Weizmann Institute) Cathy Chen (Grissom Lab, University of Minnesota) Wednesday, 29 June, 5pm CET Meritxell Sáez (Briscoe Lab, Francis Crick Institute; IQS Barcelona) Esther Klingler (Jabaudon Lab, University of Geneva) Wednesday, 6 July, 5pm CET Ipshita Zutshi (Buzsaki Lab, New York University) Xenia Grande (Duzel Lab, University of Magdeburg) For more information, please visit our website (https://neurise.github.io/) find us on WorldWideNeuro (https://www.world-wide.org/Neuro/WWNeuRise/) or follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/WWNeuRise) We are always searching for PhD students and postdocs to give talks in our upcoming seminars on any topic in systems neuroscience. On our website ( https://neurise.github.io/) you can find an application form to directly apply, as well as a recommendation form, where you can suggest individuals from your lab, institute, or otherwise who you think might have an interesting story to tell! We are looking forward to seeing you at our upcoming seminars! The organising committee, Alon Baram (Behrens Lab, University of Oxford) Ellen Boven (Apps Lab, University of Bristol) Christina Buetfering (Häusser Lab, University College London) Wesley Clawson (Levin Lab, Tufts University) Lucie Descamps (Kentros Lab, Norwegian University of Science and Technology) Gily Ginosar (Ulanovsky Lab, Weizmann Institute) Loreen Hertäg (Clopath Lab, Imperial College London) Joram Keijser (Sprekeler Lab, TU Berlin) Bill Podlaski (Machens Lab, Champalimaud Research)

June 5, 2022

[JOBS] 1 Post-Doc open Positions on AI-ML to understand and contrast social media threats for teenagers

by Dimitri Ognibene

[JOBS] 1 Post-Doc open Positions on AI-ML to understand and contrast social media threats for teenagers ######### Apologize for cross posting ######### Dear colleagues, University Milano-Bicocca is offering 1 postdoctoral position on machine learning and AI applied to understand and contrast social media threats for teenagers. The successful participant will be involved in the multidisciplinary project COURAGE funded by Volkswagen Foundation. The position is research starting in September 2022 Please contact us for expression of interest and preliminary information: dimitri.ognibene(a)unimib.it (PI) 1 Researcher Position Application Opens: Middle June (tbd) Application Closes: late June (tbd) Interview: 5th July h14 (CET) Starts: September 2022 Duration: 1.5 years (18 months) Salary: €2600 pm Work permit: valid permit to work in Italy from September 2022 is a strong asset Topics: Social media, NLP, machine learning, cognitive models, opinion dynamics, computer vision, reinforcement learning, graph neural network, recommender systems, network analysis Project: COURAGE https://www.upf.edu/web/courage Informal description of the job: Do social media harm teenagers and our society? Can we make them safer? Let's understand how to reshape social media algorithms together with this competitive research positions in #machinelearnig, #artificialintelliegence and #socialmedia modelling based in Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca on the project COURAGE #couragecompanion #AIforSocialGood We will use the state of the art in graph neural networks, reinforcement learning, nlp, cv, and machine learning in general to improve our understanding of social media dynamics, and help our society by supporting and teaching young people tackle hate speech and fake news in social media. Many opportunities for interdisciplinary and international research -- Dimitri Ognibene, PhD Associate Professor at Università Milano-Bicocca Honorary Lecturer of Computer science and Artificial Intelligence at University of Essex http://sites.google.com/site/dimitriognibenehomepage/ *Skype:* dimitri.ognibene

June 4, 2022

Postdoc position in computational systems neuroscience, Voigts Lab, Janelia

by Jakob Voigts

The Voigts Lab at HHMI Janelia Research Campus is recruiting postdocs. We'll work on how neocortex builds and uses models of the world to give animals complex cognitive abilities. The lab will specifically attempt to go beyond repeated stimulus-response associations, instead using complex, naturalistic spatial behaviors in rodents to study flexible cognition. We'll be able to throw significant technology at the problem of combining sufficient measurements with complex naturalistic behavior, but more importantly we'll have to overcome the challenge of modeling, analyzing, and ultimately learning from data when there are few or no trials to average over. We will use experimental approaches, such as designing new tasks where mice make decisions based on incomplete knowledge of their environment, as well as developing new computational techniques to study circuit mechanisms in the context of unconstrained behaviours. We're part of the new Mechanistic Cognitive Neuroscience research area at Janelia, where there are unique resources for this type of work. We'll work closely with experimental, theoretical, methods, and machine learning researchers in and outside of Janelia to make this research program possible, collaborative, and fun. To apply, please send a cover letter, brief statement of research interests, and CV to voigtsj(a)janelia.hhmi.org Lab website: https://www.voigtslab.org

June 1, 2022

The KiloNeurons ERC project: post-doctoral position in theoretical neuroscience

by Yoram Burak

The Burak Lab at the Hebrew University is seeking to hire a postdoctoral research fellow in theoretical neuroscience. The postdoctoral fellow will take part in the ERC funded KiloNeurons project, led by Edvard Moser (Kavli Institute for Theoretical Neuroscience, NTNU) and Yoram Burak (Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences and the Racah Institute of Physics). The project aims to identify how thousands of neurons in the mammalian cortex interact with each other to achieve computational and cognitive functions. The KiloNeurons project offers opportunities to work on diverse theoretical and computational questions. These involve approaches ranging from pure theoretical modelling to analysis and interpretation of large-scale neural data. Theoretical tools include methods from nonlinear dynamics, machine learning, statistical physics, and information theory. A generous budget is available for travel between Israel and Norway to facilitate close interaction with members of the Moser lab, for travel and participation in scientific meetings, and for purchase of computing equipment. We are looking for candidates with excellent demonstrated abilities in theoretical research, strong intellectual curiosity and drive, a keen interest in computational neuroscience, and an interest in relating theory to experimental data. Candidates must have an excellent research record in theoretical neuroscience, theoretical physics, mathematics, computer science, or a related field. Experience with research related to machine learning, statistical physics, nonlinear dynamics, information theory, or large-scale data analysis, as well as prior familiarity with research in computational neuroscience are advantageous. To apply: please send the following information to kiloneurons-positions(a)elsc.huji.ac.il in a single PDF file: 1. Curriculum vitae 2. List of publications 3. Brief statement of research interests 4. The names and contact details of three references Deadline: For full consideration, applications should be received by June 30, 2022. ___ Yoram Burak Associate Professor Racah Institute of Physics, and Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Goodman Brain Sciences Bldg 2102, Safra Campus, Jerusalem 91904, Israel p: +972-2-6584523 web: https://www.buraklab.me/

June 1, 2022

CNS*2022 satellite tutorials: free online sessions: June 27--July 1

by Ankur Sinha

Dear all, Apologies for the cross posts. https://ocns.github.io/SoftwareWG/pages/software-wg-satellite-tutorials-at-… The INCF/OCNS Software working group is organising 5 days of free online satellite tutorials ahead of the CNS*2022 conference. These tutorials will run from June 27--July 1 and feature sessions on: - Arbor - Brian2 - Introduction to containers - EBRAINS - GeNN - Keras/TensorFlow - LFPy - MOOSE - Neo + Elephant - NEST - NetPyNE - NeuroLib - NeuroML - NEURON - OSBv2 - RateML More information on the schedule and (free) registration will be published in the next week or so. Please do mark your calendars and spread to word to your colleagues, students, and anyone else who these may interest. For more information on the INCF/OCNS Software working group and how you can join our community, please visit our website: https://ocns.github.io/SoftwareWG/ -- Thanks, Regards, Ankur Sinha (He / Him / His) | https://ankursinha.in Research Fellow at the Silver Lab, University College London | http://silverlab.org/ Free/Open source community volunteer at the NeuroFedora project | https://neuro.fedoraproject.org Time zone: Europe/London

May 31, 2022