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POSTDOCTORAL POSITIONS IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE AT BROWN UNIVERSITY
by Wilson Truccolo March 4, 2015

March 4, 2015

POSTDOCTORAL POSITIONS IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE AT BROWN UNIVERSITY: Applications for NIH-funded post-doctoral positions are invited for the Laboratory of Dr. Wilson Truccolo in the Department of Neuroscience at Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. The positions are for the development of data-driven stochastic and biophysical models of multiscale neural dynamics in human epilepsy. Data consist of simultaneous intracortical microelectrode array recordings of ensembles of single neurons and local field potentials, as well as ECoGs, during seizure and non-seizure states in individuals with intractable epilepsy. The project involves a collaboration between the labs of Dr. Truccolo and Dr. Sydney Cash (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston). The ideal candidate will have a strong background in computational/theoretical neuroscience and modeling of stochastic neural dynamics. Related recent publications can be found on the Truccolo lab website ( http://www.truccololab.com/ <http://dl.dropbox.com/u/983891/Truccolo_home.htm>). Inquiries should be addressed to Dr. Truccolo (wilson_truccolo(a)brown.edu) Applications including a CV, statement of research interests, and the names and full contact details of three referees should be sent to wilson_truccolo(a)brown.edu. -- Wilson Truccolo, Ph.D. Pablo J. Salame '88 Goldman Sachs Assistant Professor of Computational Neuroscience Institute for Brain Science & Department of Neuroscience, Brown University Lab website: http://www.truccololab.com/

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Post-doc at UPenn with Johannes Burge
by Johannes Burge March 4, 2015

March 4, 2015

Postdoctoral position: Perception and neural computation with natural stimuli A postdoctoral position is available to study natural scene statistics, computational neuroscience, and behavioral measurements of performance in the laboratory of Johannes Burge at the University of Pennsylvania. In the lab, we use mathematics, computation, and psychophysics to investigate how vision works in natural conditions. We are broadly interested in how normative models of fundamental perceptual tasks and sub-tasks provide insight into behavioral performance and underlying neural mechanisms. Projects will focus on the processing of motion, stereo-disparity, motion-in-depth, defocus blur, and color in images of natural scenes. I am looking for applicants with strong experience in computational modeling, probability theory, numerical optimization, and psychophysical experimentation. The ideal applicant will also have a general interest in natural images, depth perception, and rigorous experimental work. Programming experience in Matlab, C/C++, OpenGL, and Psychtoolbox is strongly desired, as is an inclination to tinker with high-end display equipment. The successful applicant will have the opportunity to work with: i) a recently collected state-of-the-art, stereo-image database with occlusion-free co-registered laser range data, ii) a high-performance computing cluster, iii) a Vpixx ProPixx stereo-projector (1920x1080 resolution at 480Hz; 240Hz per eye). UPenn has a vibrant community of research groups on the leading edge of perception and systems neuroscience research. Additionally, our lab is affiliated with the newly formed Computational Neuroscience Initiative (CNI, http://cni.upenn.edu) so possibilities for collaboration are strong. Philadelphia is a multi-cultural, diverse, affordable city. Applicants should submit a CV, a 1-page research statement, two sample papers (published or in preparation), and the names, email addresses, and phone numbers of three people qualified to recommend you and your work. The position is for one year with a strong possibility of renewal for a second and third year. To apply or ask questions please contact Johannes Burge at the University of Pennsylvania. I will be attending the upcoming COSYNE conference in Salt Lake City, UT from March 5-7. Please contact me, if you would like to set up a meeting. ======================== Johannes Burge, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Psychology Neuroscience Graduate Group University of Pennsylvania http://burgelab.psych.upenn.edu jburge(a)sas.upenn.edu (215) 573 6528

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ECMLPKDD 2015 : Call for Demos
by ECMLPKDD 2015 March 4, 2015

March 4, 2015

http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org For ECML PKDD 2015 in Porto, Portugal, we solicit submissions for demos. Submissions must describe working systems and be based on state-of-the-art machine learning and data mining technology. These systems may be innovative prototype implementations or mature systems that use machine learning techniques and knowledge discovery processes in a real setting. Systems that use basic statistics are not acceptable. Commercial software is not acceptable. The accepted papers for demos will be included in the conference proceedings, to be published by Springer Verlag in the "Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence" (LNAI) Series. The demos will be presented in a special demonstration session. At least one of the demo submitters must register for the conference, and perform the demo on site. Submission Guidelines All aspects of the submission and notification process will be handled online via the CMT conference management toolkit accessible from the conference web. Please choose the right track during the submission. Instructions concerning the submission, camera-ready formatting and copyright transfer for conference papers also hold for demo papers, unless otherwise specified. A demonstration submission must be up to 4 pages long. It must provide adequate information on the systems components and the way the system is operated, including e.g. screenshots. Submitters should keep in mind that the description of a demo has inherently different content than a research paper submitted to the main conference. A successful demonstration paper provides satisfactory answers the following questions: - What are the innovative aspects or in what way/area does it represent the state of the art? - Who are the target users and why is the system interesting/useful for them? - If there are similar/related pieces of software, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the presented one? The formatting guidelines of Springer Verlag for the LNAI series apply, and the author instructions and style files under http://www.springer.de/comp/lncs/authors.html must be used. For inquiries concerning submissions please contact the Demo Track Chairs; contact data below. Important Dates - Demo submission deadline: 30 April 2015 - Notification of acceptance: 1 June 2015 - Camera-ready paper due: 15 June 2015 (aligned to the deadline of the main conference) Contacts For further information please contact the Demo Track Chairs: - Francesco Bonchi - Jaime Cardoso, INESC TEC and Univ. Porto - Myra Spiliopoulou, Univ. Magdeburg, http://www.kmd.ovgu.de/Team/Academic+Staff/Myra+Spiliopoulou.html Hope to see you all soon in Porto, Portugal!!! The publicity chairs of the ECMLPKDD 2015, Carlos Abreu Ferreira Ricardo Campos --- Este e-mail foi verificado em termos de vírus pelo software antivírus Avast. http://www.avast.com

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Last Mile: SEMAPRO 2015 || July 19 - 24, 2015 - Nice, France
by Cristina Pascual March 4, 2015

March 4, 2015

INVITATION: ================= The submission deadline is March 18, 2015. Please consider to contribute to and/or forward to the appropriate groups the following opportunity to submit and publish original scientific results to SEMAPRO 2015. Authors of selected papers will be invited to submit extended article versions to one of the IARIA Journals: http://www.iariajournals.org ================= ============== SEMAPRO 2015 | Call for Papers =============== CALL FOR PAPERS, TUTORIALS, PANELS SEMAPRO 2015, The Ninth International Conference on Advances in Semantic Processing July 19 - 24, 2015 - Nice, France General page: http://www.iaria.org/conferences2015/SEMAPRO15.html Call for Papers: http://www.iaria.org/conferences2015/CfPSEMAPRO15.html Submission page: http://www.iaria.org/conferences2015/SubmitSEMAPRO15.html Contributions: - regular papers [in the proceedings, digital library] - short papers (work in progress) [in the proceedings, digital library] - ideas: two pages [in the proceedings, digital library] - extended abstracts: two pages [in the proceedings, digital library] - posters: two pages [in the proceedings, digital library] - posters: slide only [slide-deck posted at www.iaria.org] - presentations: slide only [slide-deck posted at www.iaria.org] - demos: two pages [posted at www.iaria.org] - doctoral forum submissions: [in the proceedings, digital library] Proposals for: - mini-symposia: see http://www.iaria.org/symposium.html - workshops: see http://www.iaria.org/workshop.html - tutorials: [slide-deck posed on www.iaria.org] - panels: [slide-deck posed on www.iaria.org] Submission deadline: March 18, 2015 Sponsored by IARIA, www.iaria.org Extended versions of selected papers will be published in IARIA Journals: http://www.iariajournals.org Print proceedings will be available via Curran Associates, Inc.: http://www.proceedings.com/9769.html Articles will be archived in the free access ThinkMind Digital Library: http://www.thinkmind.org The topics suggested by the conference can be discussed in term of concepts, state of the art, research, standards, implementations, running experiments, applications, and industrial case studies. Authors are invited to submit complete unpublished papers, which are not under review in any other conference or journal in the following, but not limited to, topic areas. All tracks are open to both research and industry contributions, in terms of Regular papers, Posters, Work in progress, Technical/marketing/business presentations, Demos, Tutorials, and Panels. Before submission, please check and comply with the editorial rules: http://www.iaria.org/editorialrules.html SEMAPRO 2015 Topics (topics and submission details: see CfP on the site) Basics on semantics Fundamental of semantics processing; Semantic-based techniques for feature selection; Semantic-based pruning; Semantic interoperability; Semantics uncertainty; Semantics pre-processing and post-processing; Semantics harmonization; Constraint-based semantics processing; Embedded semantics into the discovery process; Semantics in spatial and spatio-temporal models Ontology fundamentals for semantic processing Ontology learning; Ontology for semantic interoperability; Ontologies and data pre-processing; Ontology-based evaluation and semantic patterns; Global core ontologies; Progressive ontologies; Bridging semantics through ontologies; Ontology mapping and ontology visualization; Ontology in information systems; Ontology-based semantic mediation; Ontology design and maintenance for conceptual model integration; Reverse engineering of ontologies from conceptual model; Ontologies for explanation generation Semantic technologies Basics of Ontology and Semantic Web; Semantic storing, computing, representation, communications; Semantic-driven system design; Syntactic and semantic processing models; Hardware and software support for semantic processing; Microprocessors for semantic processing; Multi-model semantic systems; Semantic annotation of multimedia supports; Semantic multimedia information retrieval; Natural language semantic processing; Context-based semantic processing; Content-based semantic processing; Scalability to the Web level; Performance in semantic processing; Information security in semantic processing; Explaining semantic processing and its results Models and ontology-based design of protocols, architectures and services Fundamentals in theory; Modeling methodologies; Models and Ontology-driven Technologies (for the communications system design); Models and ontology relationships; Multi-models coherence. Models and ontology-based communications services and protocols; Semantics of services and service modeling; Protocol models and semantics; Application and quality of experience semantics; Services and protocols semantics; Models and ontology-based cross-layer services and architectures design; Models and ontology-based software frameworks; Composition of Services and Composability rules; Cross-layering services models, components and implementations Semantic Deep Web Ontology plug-in search; Information extraction from the Deep Web /e-commerce sites/; Semantic Deep Web annotation and indexing; Deep Web-based ontology; Semantic Deep Web crawlers; Semantic browsing and visualization; Semantic Deep Web data fusion; Semiautomatic ontology generation; Metrics for quality of ontology; Similarity measures for ontology alignment; Measurements for quality of search; Tools for semantic Deep Web; Experience extraction from the Web Semantic reasoning Reasoning methods; Reasoning for the Web; Ontology expressiveness; Ontology alignment, mapping and merging; Expressing formal semantics; Languages (RDF, RDF Schema, OWL, etc); Robustness of reasoning on the Web; Patterns on semantic reasoning; Querying and searching; Scalable and tolerant reasoning; Dynamic reasoning for the Semantic Web; Ontologies and problem-solving methods; Computational learning theory; Approximate reasoning/computing; Strategies for abstraction and compression of information; Cognitive semantic reasoning; Attention semantic scoping; Recency-based self-optimizing memory; Cost-benefit trade-off reasoning models; Negotiation in obtaining near-optimal reasoning results under bounded resources; Case-based reasoning Semantic content searching Methodologies for innovative information retrieval technologies; Combinatorial search; Massive search-spaces with heuristics (e.g., based on Monte Carlo simulations); Searching using metadata, semantics, and ontology; Advanced searching in digital libraries; Advanced use of RDF and OWL; Expressiveness of the content ontologies; Inherent inconsistency and incompleteness of data on the Web; Scalability of semantic processing; Specialized search engines (Hakia, Matrixware and seekda) Hypertext and hypermedia semantic Hypertext techniques and semantic applications; Hypertext and ontologies; Hypertext semantic models; Spatial semantic hypertext; Self-organized hypertext; Semantic adaptive hypertext; Web and hypertext link analysis; Hypertexts and semantic Web; Hypertext semantic applications Semantic voice-video-speech (VVS) searching Engines and methods for VVS advanced searching; Patterns in VVS searching; Contextual VVS searching; Rapid VVS searching; Accuracy in VVS searching; Noise in VVS searching; Performance in VVS searching; Metrics for VVS searching; Text and VVS searching; Applications of VVS Semantic multimedia Efficient storage of structured data that scale to a very large size; Automatic generation of multimedia presentations; Advanced process for multimedia information mining; Semantic metadata extraction; Annotation tools and methods for content semantics; Media ontology generation/learning/reasoning; Semantic multimedia streaming; Semantics enabled multimedia applications /annotation/browsing/storage/retrieval/visualization Semantic social media Community detection and evolution in social media; Recommendation and ranking systems; Search in social media; Event detection, trend identification and tracking in social media; Influence, trust and reputation in social media; Opinion/sentiment analysis, polarity identification; Feed distillation and ranking blogs; Mining microblogging and real time data; Folksonomy, tag semantics, clustering and usage; Advertising models for the social web; Indexing social media content, index freshness; Visualizing social network data; Spam detection, social network spam and profile spam Semantics for sentiment/opinion analysis Architectures for generic sentiment analysis systems; Sentiment analysis techniques on social media; Document-level analysis; Sentence-level analysis; Aspect-based analysis; Comparative-sentiment analysis; Sentiment lexicon acquisition; Optimizing sentiment analysis algorithms; Applications of sentiment analysis Semantic networking Semantic-based QoS (Quality of Service) control and scheduling; Semantic QoE (Quality of Experience) evaluation; Semantic-based Internet data streaming and delivery; Semantics enabled networking and middleware; Semantic routing; Semantic interfaces Domain-oriented semantic applications Semantics for managing pharmaceutical data; Semantic processing for biomedical knowledge; Speech, text and picture recognition; Semantic email workflow and content; Semantic blogs and wikis; Semantic email addressing; Semantic web and digital libraries; Semantic processing in e-Health; Semantic-driven tutoring systems Economics and governance of semantics technologies Organizational views; Legal; Business; Regulations; Assessment; Standards; Harmonization; Cross-nation mediation Semantic applications/platforms/tools Market for semantic technologies; Applications, services and systems based on semantic processing; User friendly semantic system integration tools; Ontology-based data transformation and data migration tools; Ontology mapping tools and languages; Ontology-enabled interoperability in e-science, life sciences, e-business, culture; Commercial cost models for semantic applications; Semantic solutions for business intelligence; Semantic processing platforms ; Supporting ontology platforms/tools (Prot�g�, etc); Semantic query languages (SPARQL, etc); Ontology-enabled search engines; Semantic Web search engines; Interoperability of data, systems, and organizations; Experiments and lessons learned; Standard activities ---------------------- Committee: http://www.iaria.org/conferences2015/ComSEMAPRO15.html ================================================

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Final Program of the Columbia Workshop on Brain Circuits, Memory and Computation
by Aurel A. Lazar March 4, 2015

March 4, 2015

Columbia Workshop on Brain Circuits, Memory and Computation BCMC 2015 Monday and Tuesday, March 16-17, 2015 Center for Neural Engineering and Computation Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 Monday, March 16, 09:00 AM - 05:45 PM 09:00 AM - 09:45 AM Yoshi Aso (HHMI Janelia), Mushroom Body Output Neurons Encode Valence and Guide Memory-based Action Selection 09:45 AM - 10:30 AM Barbara Webb (University of Edinburgh), A Computational Model of the Insect Mushroom Body Applied to Ant Navigation 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM Co↵ee Break 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Wolfgang Maass (Graz University of Technology), A New Perspective of Synaptic Plasticity and Network Rewiring 11:45 AM - 12:30 PM Charles Randy Gallistel (Rutgers University), The Memory Coding Problem 12:30 PM - 02:00 PM Lunch Break 02:00 PM - 02:45 PM Charles D. Gilbert (Rockefeller University), The Dynamic Brain 02:45 PM - 03:30 PM Stefan Mihalas (Allen Institute for Brain Science), Computational Properties of Cortical Columns 03:30 PM - 04:00 PM Afternoon Break 04:00 PM - 04:45 PM Gary F. Marcus (New York University), The Atoms of Neural Computation 04:45 PM - 05:45 PM Panel Discussion: What Would a Good Theory of the Brain Actually Look Like? Tuesday, March 17, 09:00 AM - 05:45 PM 09:00 AM - 09:45 AM Vivek Jayaraman (HHMI Janelia), A Donut that Means the World to the Fly 09:45 AM - 10:30 AM Daniel Coca (University of Sheffield), Fly Photoreceptors Detect Phase Congruency 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM Co↵ee Break 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Damon A. Clark (Yale University), Tuning Neural Nonlinearities for Naturalistic Visual Motion Estimation 11:45 AM - 12:30 PM Aurel A. Lazar (Columbia University), Neurokernel: Building an in Silico Fruit Fly Brain 12:30 PM - 02:00 PM Lunch Break 02:00 PM - 02:45 PM Anthony Leonardo (HHMI Janelia), Neural Circuits Underlying Internal Models in Predictive Motor Control 02:45 PM - 03:30 PM Fabrizio Gabbiani (Baylor College of Medicine), Biophysics and Neural Computations Underlying Visually-Guided Collision Avoidance Behaviors 03:30 PM - 04:00 PM Afternoon Break 04:00 PM - 04:45 PM Dmitri ”Mitya” B. Chklovskii (Simons Foundation), A Biological Neuron as an Online Matrix Factorization Device 04:45 PM - 05:45 PM Panel Discussion: A Neuroscience Esperanto: Building a Better Bridge Between Modeling and Experimental Neurobiology Registration is free but all participants have to register at: https://bcmc15.eventbrite.com/ Workshop Website: http://www.bionet.ee.columbia.edu/workshops/bcmc/2015 Aurel http://www.bionet.ee.columbia.edu

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First Announcement: International Conference on System Level approaches to Neural Engineering
by Alessandro Barardi March 3, 2015

March 3, 2015

--------------------------------------- FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT --------------------------------------- International Conference on System Level approaches to Neural Engineering Dates: September 21st – 23rd , 2015 Venue: Barcelona Biomedical Research Park <http://www.prbb.org/>, Barcelona, Spain Website: http://www.neural-engineering.eu/BarcelonaConference2015/index.html The aim of this interdisciplinary conference is to bring together theoretical and experimental neuroscientists and roboticists to discuss the state of the art in the field of Neural Engineering. This three day long event is part of a series of training events organized by the Marie Curie Initial Training Network NETT (Neural Engineering Transformative Technologies). It will also give young researchers an opportunity to present their work. Theme panels are: * Neural Dynamics - mathematical description of neuronal activity * Brain-on-Chip - engineering of neuronal circuits in-vitro with emphasis on microfluidics * Neural Learning and Control - motion planning, controlling and learning neuro-inspired techniques for robotics * Neural Coding - investigation of neuronal strategies for encoding information * Optical Neurotechnology - imaging and engineering techniques that allow recording of neuronal activity --------------------------------------- CONFIRMED SPEAKERS --------------------------------------- Andre Bastos - The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, MIT, Boston, MA, USA Romain Brette - Institut de la Vision, Paris, France Sophie Deneve - Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, LNC, Paris, France Dario Farina - Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Göttingen, Germany Albert Folch - Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA Amanda Foust - Imperial College London, London, UK Sami Haddadin - Institute of Automatic Control, Hannover, Germany Kenneth Harris - Institute of Neurology and the Department of Physiology, Pharmacology, and Neuroscience, UCL, London, UK Fritjof Helmchen - Brain Research Institute, Zürich, Switzerland Thibault Honegger - Laboratoire des Technologies de la Microelectronique, CNRS-CEA, Grenoble, France Eugene Izhikevich - Brain Corporation, San Diego, CA, USA Viktor Jirsa - Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, Marseille, France David Liley - Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia Benjamin Lindner - Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany Nikos Logothetis - Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany Yoonkey Nam - Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea Adam Packer - University College London, London, UK Stefano Panzeri - Neural Computation Lab, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto, Italy Eftychios Pnevmatikakis - Columbia University, New York, NY, USA Alexandre Pouget - CMU, Geneva, Switzerland Jan Schnupp - Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics, Oxford, UK Gregor Schöner - Institut für Neuroinformatik Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany Reza Shadmehr - John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA Patrick van der Smagt - BRML labs, TUM, Germany John Terry - College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, UK International Conference on System Level Approaches to Neural Engineering conference is organised by the Fellows of the Neural Engineering Transformative Technologies <http://www.neural-engineering.eu/> (NETT) consortium. On their behalf we cordially invite you to participate in this meeting that will take place in Barcelona, Spain, on September 21st – 23rd , 2015. The NETT consortium is a Marie Curie Initial Training Network involving neuroscience research laboratories from the UK, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal and industrial partners. The network is coordinated by Professor Stephen Coombes from the University of Nottingham, UK. --------------------------------------- REGISTRATION --------------------------------------- Registration can be done on our registration form <https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-conference-on-system-level-app…> . Registration opens: 1st March 2015 Registration deadline: 30th May 2015 Conference fee will be 200 euros plus 50 euros for an optional conference dinner. Details about the payment will be posted on the conference website. --- Call for posters --- Posters will be selected from half-page abstracts, which should be submitted by email to nett.barcelona.2015(a)gmail.com. Please specify in the object to which theme panel you are submitting your abstract. Abstract Submission opens: 1st of March 2015 Abstract Submission closes: 30th May 2015 Abstract Acceptance Notification: 30th June 2015 Best regards, On behalf of the NETT Fellows, Alessandro Barardi, PhD student. Neural Engineering Transformative Technologies <http://www.neural-engineering.eu/> Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Barcelona, Spain.

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postdoctoral position at Rice University/Baylor College of Medicine
by Fabrizio Gabbiani March 3, 2015

March 3, 2015

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE/BIOPHYSICAL MODELING Computational and Applied Mathematics Rice University and Department of Neuroscience Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Texas ----- A postdoctoral position in computational neuroscience is available at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine, in the laboratories of Steven Cox (Rice University) and Fabrizio Gabbiani (Baylor College of Medicine). Our research focuses on understanding the biophysical mechanisms underlying the implementation of non-linear operations by neurons and neuronal circuits. The postdoctoral fellow will model the cellular and network mechanisms underlying collision avoidance behaviors using advanced mathematical techniques and computer simulations. Modeling will be supported by a large data set of experimental data gathered using electrophysiology, pharmacology, calcium imaging, high-speed video imaging and telemetry. We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a strong background in computational modeling of single neurons and neuronal circuits. Experience with Matlab and NEURON is required. The position is available for one year, with possibility of renewal for a second year, contingent of performance and funding availability. Salary will be commensurate with level of experience, based on an NIH scale. Applications will be accepted until May 15, 2015. Our labs are located at Rice University and in the adjacent Texas Medical Center, close to many of Houston's cultural and outdoor amenities. For further information about Rice University, the Texas Medical Center and Houston please visit http://www.explore.rice.edu/explore/General_Information.asp or https://www.bcm.edu/about-us/life-in-houston For further informal inquiries and to apply, please send CV, the names and full contact information of two to three references, as well as one to two representative publications to cox(a)rice.edu and gabbiani(a)bcm.edu. -- Fabrizio Gabbiani phone: (713) 798 1849 Department of Neuroscience fax: (713) 798 3946 Baylor College of Medicine email: gabbiani(a)bcm.edu One Baylor Plaza, web: glab.bcm.tmc.edu Houston, TX 77030 mail stop: BCM295

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IEEE SMC2015 Special Session: Cognitive Agents and Robotics for Human-Centric Systems: new models and challenges
by Alessandro Di Nuovo March 3, 2015

March 3, 2015

[Apologies for multiple postings of this announcement] =========================== CALL FOR PAPERS ============================ IEEE SMC2015 Special Session Cognitive Agents and Robotics for Human-Centric Systems: new models and challenges Introduction Cognitive Agents are inspired from the human cognitive capabilities to exhibit effective behavior through perception, action, deliberation, communication, and through either individual or social interaction with the environment. These computational agents have the ability to function effectively in circumstances not explicitly planned when the system was designed. This ability makes it especially suited to control complex systems, such as robotics, which are designed to provide services and proactively interact with people and other artificial agents in composite Human-Centric environments. The special session aims to attract new developments in the area of cognitive systems, such as novel engineering principles, models and applications of cybernetic systems capable to autonomously improve their capabilities when interacting with the environment in an open-ended process. As a follow-up, authors of accepted papers will be invited to submit an extended version to a special issue in the journal IEEE Transaction on Cognitive Systems and Development (new name of IEEE Trans. on Autonomous Mental Development.) Indicative Topics/Areas The special session welcomes all the contributions in the area of Artificial Cognitive Systems applied to human-centric environments, with particular interest (but not limited to) the following topics: - Bio-inspired, developmental and Cognitive Robotics - Ambient Assisted Living via Cognitive Agents - Computational models of human cognition and interaction - Engineering applications of Cognitive Systems - Artificial Agent cognitive development - Natural language understanding - Standard tools for the design of Cognitive Systems - Medical Systems and Diagnosis - Evolutionary Cognitive Robotics - Cognitive Systems for human wellbeing Important Dates March 31, 2015: Deadline for submission of full-length papers to special sessions. June 1, 2015: Acceptance/Rejection Notification. July 31, 2015: Final camera-ready papers due in electronic form. Submission Manuscripts for a Special Session should NOT be submitted in duplication to any other regular or special sessions and should be submitted to SMC 2015 main conference online submission system on SMC 2015 conference website. All submitted papers of Special Sessions have to undergo the same review process (three completed reviews per paper). The technical reviewers for each Special Session paper will be members of the SMC 2015 Program Committee and qualified peer-reviewers to be nominated by the Special Session organizers. Special Session organizers Alessandro Di Nuovo, Plymouth University (UK) & University of Enna Kore (Italy) alessandro.dinuovo(a)plymouth.ac.uk<mailto:alessandro.dinuovo@plymouth.ac.uk> Giovanni Acampora, Nottingham Trent University (UK) giovanni.acampora(a)ntu.ac.uk<mailto:giovanni.acampora@ntu.ac.uk> ________________________________ [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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INCF Short Course on Information Processing in Neural Systems
by Frank Jäkel March 3, 2015

March 3, 2015

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ INCF Short Course on Information Processing in Neural Systems -- From Single Neurons to Large-Scale Models of Cognition -- May 2-10, 2015 @ Institute of Cognitive Science, Osnabrück, Germany +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ One of the big challenges in neuroinformatics is bridging the gap between our biophysical understanding of single cells and of networks of neurons on the one side, and the cognitive functions that are characterized in terms of information processing on the other side. This INCF Short Course will provide lectures and hands-on tutorials ranging from dynamical systems theory to cognitive modeling. Target Audience: PhD candidates and post-docs with backgrounds in neuroinformatics, theoretical neuroscience, complex systems, machine learning, applied mathematics/statistics or cognitive modeling. Topics: Dynamical systems: attractors, bifurcations, etc. (Herbert Jaeger) Single neuron dynamics, networks, and computation (Nicolas Brunel) Mean-field theory, neurodynamics, and decision-making (Gustavo Deco) Reservoir computing in simple cognitive systems (Gordon Pipa) Learning of sensory representations in neural systems (Peter König) Distributed Adaptive Control (Paul Verschure) Neural networks, kernel methods, and categorization (Frank Jäkel) A tutorial on reservoir computing (Pipa & Jaeger) A tutorial on large-scale simulations in Nengo (Terry Stewart) A tutorial on information processing models with NEST (Marc-Oliver Gewaltig) The yearly, two-day OCCAM workshop (www.occam-os.de) is integrated into the INCF course and participants of the INCF course will also take part in the workshop. Applications will be accepted until March 7, 2015. The registration fee is 250 Euros. We can offer a limited number of travel stipends to support students. More information on the course and on application details can be found on the course webpage: http://www.incf.ni.uos.de/ _______________________________________________ Comp-neuro mailing list Comp-neuro(a)neuroinf.org http://www.neuroinf.org/mailman/listinfo/comp-neuro

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Osnabrück Computational Cognition Alliance Meeting (OCCAM 2015)
by Frank Jäkel March 3, 2015

March 3, 2015

Dear Colleague, we would like to invite you to register for the 5th +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Osnabrück Computational Cognition Alliance Meeting (OCCAM 2015) "From Simple Neurons to Large-Scale Models of Cognition" May 6-7, 2015. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ List of invited speakers: Nicolas Brunel Gustavo Deco Wolfgang Einhäuser Virginia Flanagin Sonja Grün Marc-Oliver Gewaltig Herbert Jaeger Gordon Pipa Paul Verschure Kai Vogeley The workshop will take place in Osnabrück, Germany, and will be hosted by the Institute of Cognitive Science (University of Osnabrück). Details can be found below and on the following webpage: http://www.occam-os.de The registration deadline is March 7, 2015 (first come first served). The registration fee is 100,- Euros. This year the OCCAM workshop is co-located with an INCF Short Course on the same topic (http://www.incf.ni.uos.de/) The OCCAM workshop series aims at understanding the principles of information processing in the brain with a particular focus on 3 major topics: 1. Neural coding and representation in hierarchical systems 2. Self-organization in dynamical systems 3. Mechanisms for probabilistic inference There will also be a poster session where conference participants will have the opportunity to present their work. The deadline for submitting an abstract for a poster presentation is also March 7. Best regards, Frank Jäkel, Peter König, Gordon Pipa (Organizing committee)

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