- Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

Article on data sharing/analysis of multielectrode array

by Stephen Eglen

I'd like to highlight the following article from our group that I hope will be of use to the community. Code and data are available via the project site: http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/sje30/waverepo Best wishes, Stephen ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Eglen SJ, Weeks M, Jessop M, Simonotto J, Jackson T, Sernagor E (2014) A data repository and analysis framework for spontaneous neural activity recordings in developing retina. Gigascience 3:3. Paper: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/2047-217X-3-3 Background During early development, neural circuits fire spontaneously, generating activity episodes with complex spatiotemporal patterns. Recordings of spontaneous activity have been made in many parts of the nervous system over the last 25 years, reporting developmental changes in activity patterns and the effects of various genetic perturbations. Results We present a curated repository of multielectrode array recordings of spontaneous activity in developing mouse and ferret retina. The data have been annotated with minimal metadata and converted into HDF5. This paper describes the structure of the data, along with examples of reproducible research using these data files. We also demonstrate how these data can be analysed in the CARMEN workflow system. This article is written as a literate programming document; all programs and data described here are freely available. Conclusions 1. We hope this repository will lead to novel analysis of spontaneous activity recorded in different laboratories. 2. We encourage published data to be added to the repository. 3. This repository serves as an example of how multielectrode array recordings can be stored for long-term reuse. Keywords: Retinal waves; Spontaneous activity; Electrophysiology; HDF5; Multielectrode arrays

April 3, 2014

DENDRITES 2014, July 1-4, Crete: LAST CALL & LOWER REGISTRATION

by Yiota Poirazi

Apologies for cross-posting! Please distribute to interested parties. many thanks! Yiota Poirazi ------------------------------------------------------- DENDRITES 2014 4^th NAMASEN Training Workshop Heraklion, Crete, Greece. July 1-4, 2014 http://dendrites2014.gr/ info(a)dendrites2014.gr <mailto:info@dendrites2014.gr> * * * * * FINAL DEADLINE EXTENSION* * * * * Abstract submission for poster and oral presentation has been extended to *April 14th, 2014. This is the final submission date.* * * * * * *REGISTRATION WAIVERS FOR STUDENTS/POSTDOCS** * * * * Several registration waivers are still available!! Waivers are provided by IBRO PERC funding for Symposia, Workshops & Meetings. Students and postdocs presenting an abstract are eligible. To request a waiver, please send an email to info(a)dendrites2014.org <mailto:info@dendrites2014.org>including information about your submitted abstract. Travel funds might also become available and will be announced on the web site. * * * * **LOWER REGISTRATION FEES if registering by April 30th, 2014** * * * * We are happy to announce that, given the availability of new sponsorships, we can provide lower registration fees (-40 Euro) for attendants registering by April 30th, 2014. People who registered already will get reimbursed. * * * * * EMBO KEYNOTE LECTURE* * * * * We are happy to announce that Prof. Tonegawa's lecture will be supported by EMBO, as the "EMBO Keynote Lecture". This award, given to EMBO members presenting in major international scientific meeting, highlights the international standing of DENDRITES 2014. ---------------------------------------- Dendrites 2014 aims to bring together scientists from around the world to present their research on dendrites, ranging from the molecular to the anatomical and biophysical levels. The Workshop will take place in the beautiful island of Crete, just after the AREADNE meeting (areadne.org) which takes place in the nearby island of Santorini. Note that Santorini is just a 2 hour boat ride from Crete. One could combine two meetings in a single trip to Greece! FORMAT AND SPEAKERS The meeting consists of the Main Event (July 1-3) and the Soft Skills Day (July 4). Invited speakers for the Main Event include: * Susumu Tonegawa (Nobel Laureate), * Angus Silver, * Tiago Branco, * Alcino J. Silva, * Michael Häusser, * Julietta U. Frey, * Stefan Remy, and * Kristen Harris. For the Soft Skills Day, Kerri Smith, Nature podcast editor, is going to present on communication and dissemination of scientific results. Alcino J. Silva (UCLA) will present his recent work on developing tools for integrating and planning research in Neuroscience. There will be a hands on session on tools used to model neural cells/networks and a talk about the advantages of publishing under the Creative Commons License. CALL FOR ABSTRACTS Submission of abstracts for poster and oral presentations are due by *14 April 2014*. We welcome both experimental and theoretical contributions addressing novel findings related to dendrites. For details, please see http://dendrites2014.gr/call/. Electronic abstract submission is hosted on the Frontiers platform, where extended abstracts will be published as an online, open access special issue (in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, Impact factor 4.5). One of the authors has to register for the main event as a presenting author. In case an abstract is not accepted for presentation, the registration fee will be refunded. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Please see the conference web site (http://dendrites2014.gr/) subscribe to our twitter (https://twitter.com/dendrites2014) or RSS feeds (http://dendrites2014.gr/rss_feed/news.xml) or send an email to info(a)dendrites2014.org <mailto:info@dendrites2014.org>. -- Panayiota Poirazi, Ph.D. Research Director Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) Foundation of Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH) Vassilika Vouton, P.O.Box 1385 GR 711 10 Heraklion, Crete, GREECE Tel: +30 2810 391139 Fax: +30 2810 391101 Εmail:poirazi@imbb.forth.gr http://www.dendrites.gr

April 3, 2014

models of structural plasticity

by Ooijen, A. van

Dear colleagues, We would like to draw your attention to a series of recent papers dedicated to models of structural plasticity. Developing as well as mature brains are much less hard-wired than traditionally thought. Formation of new connections and breaking of existing connections (structural plasticity) by dendritic spine and axonal bouton turnover, as well as re-routing of axonal branches, can cause a dramatic rewiring of brain connectivity, which so far has largely been disregarded in neuronal network models. The following papers describe novel models of structural plasticity: Homeostatic structural plasticity increases the efficiency of small-world networks Markus Butz, Ines D. Steenbuck and Arjen van Ooyen Front. Synaptic Neurosci., 01 April 2014. DOI: 10.3389/fnsyn.2014.00007 (Open access) http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnsyn.2014.00007/abstract A simple rule for dendritic spine and axonal bouton formation can account for cortical reorganization after focal retinal lesions Markus Butz and Arjen van Ooyen PloS Computational Biology, 10 October 2013. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003259 (Open access) http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pcbi.100… Further reading: Van Ooyen, A. (2011). Using theoretical models to analyse neural development. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 12: 311-326. Butz, M., Worgotter, F., and Van Ooyen, A. (2009). Activity-dependent structural plasticity. Brain Research Reviews 60: 287-305. Kind regards, Markus Butz Arjen van Ooyen

April 3, 2014

Bernstein Workshop "Characterizing Natural Scenes": Call for Abstracts/Contributed Talks

by Jian Liu

Bernstein workshop: Characterizing Natural Scenes: Retinal Coding and Statistical Theory Call for Abstracts/Contributed Talks You are invited to participate in the pre-conference Bernstein workshop "Characterizing Natural Scenes: Retinal Coding and Statistical Theory", taking place in in Göttingen, Germany, on September 2-3, 2014. Please find the preliminary schedule on workshop URL: https://sites.google.com/site/jiankliu/Meetings/2014bccn_workshop The workshop chairs will select a couple of abstracts for short oral presentation at the workshop. All the abstracts will be presented as posters during the Bernstein conference on September 3-4. However, the workshop could hold a separate poster session based on the number and quality of abstracts that we receive. To participate in the workshop please submit the abstract (the extended version is preferred) as a PDF attachment via email to Jian Liu ( jian.liu(a)med.uni-goettingen.de) or Arno Onken (arno.onken(a)iit.it) The deadline for submission is August 1. REGISTRATION: Please refer to the Bernstein Conference 2014 for registration and venue information. http://www.bernstein-conference.de/ WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION: How does the retina process natural visual inputs? What role do the many types of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) play in this? Experiments with specific artificial stimuli have suggested that individual types of RGCs may have specific functional roles in visual processing, yet it is not clear how these simplified functional investigations relate to the processing of natural images and movies. An important ingredient for future analysis will be a better understanding of the complex statistical properties of natural scenes, as revealed by theoreticians. The relationship between natural visual statistics and retinal coding provides a promising direction for improving our understanding of the visual system. But we still lack a systematic framework for understanding the underlying mechanisms of how relevant features of natural scenes are encoded by the retina. In this workshop, we expect mutual benefits for both natural scene statistics and retinal coding. We will bring together experimentalists and theoreticians in order to highlight recent progress, encourage exchange of insights, and stimulate new ideas for future work with the following core questions: 1) How can we develop useful descriptions of the statistics of natural scenes that are relevant for retinal coding? 2) How can we characterize the functional roles of different RGC types in processing natural scenes? 3) Which coding strategies are present at the level of RGC populations? 4) How can we unify the acquired knowledge of natural scenes and neural data to develop better tools for analysis? CONFIRMED SPEAKERS: * Vijay Balasubramanian (University of Pennsylvania) * Philipp Berens (BCCN, Tübingen) * Thomas Euler (University of Tübingen) * Felix Franke (ETH Zurich) * Olivier Marre (Vision Institute, Paris) * Aman Saleem (University College London) * Maneesh Sahani (University College London) * Rava A. da Silveira (ENS, Paris) We are looking forward to seeing you in Göttingen. Workshop organizers: Jian Liu (University Medical Center Göttingen and BCCN Göttingen) Arno Onken (Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Rovereto) ************************************************************************** Jian K. Liu, Ph.D. Mathematics Department of Ophthalmology University Medical Center Goettingen Waldweg 33, 37073 Goettingen Phone: +49 (0)551 39-91248 Fax: +49 (0)551 39-13541 email: jian.liu(a)med.uni-goettingen.de Webpage: https://sites.google.com/site/jiankliu **************************************************************************

April 2, 2014

Fully funded Postdoc position in Computational Neuroscience

by Thomas Kreuz

Fully funded Postdoc position (Experienced Researcher) in Computational Neuroscience New approaches for the analysis of neuronal spike trains (ER3) within the Marie Curie Initial Training Network - ‘Neural Engineering Transformative Technologies’ (NETT) at the Institute of Complex Systems (ISC), CNR, Florence, Italy. Gross Salary per annum: 64,701 € (Living Allowance) plus 9,290 - 13,272 € (Mobility Allowance) depending on circumstances Required title: PhD in Physics, Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or Computational Neuroscience Applications: Please first send an informal enquiry to Dr. Thomas Kreuz (thomas.kreuz(a)cnr.it) and/or Dr. Alessandro Torcini (alessandro.torcini(a)cnr.it) Once you are preselected (you will receive a reply within a few days), a full application has to be submitted according to the rules stated here [http://neuro.fi.isc.cnr.it/index.php?page=how-to-apply] Closing date for the position: May 15, 2014 Applications are invited for the above post to work with Dr. Thomas Kreuz [http://www.fi.isc.cnr.it/users/thomas.kreuz/] and Dr. Alessandro Torcini [http://www.fi.isc.cnr.it/users/alessandro.torcini/] in the Computational Neuroscience group [http://neuro.fi.isc.cnr.it/] at ISC, Florence. This world leading group combines theoretical investigations (e.g., on non-trivial collective phenomena in neuronal populations) with practical applications (such as spike train analysis). The group is one of the main participants in the Center for the Study of Complex Dynamics (CSDC) created with the purpose of coordinating interdisciplinary training and research activities. CSDC researchers include physicists, control engineers, mathematicians, biologists and psychologists. This full-time post will begin on the 1st of September 2014 (at the latest) and will be offered on a fixed-term contract for a period of 24 months. The fellowship will include a six-month stay (probably at the end) with NETT partner Prof. Bert Kappen [http://www.snn.ru.nl/~bertk/] at the Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands. The Florence part of the project will mainly consist of two parts: Development of new approaches for (multivariate) data analysis and analysis of electrophysiological data (in particular neuronal spike trains). During the six-month stay in the Netherlands the project will investigate the applicability of methods derived from latent state models, sequential Monte Carlo sampling, and path integral control to analyze neural time-series data, such as spike trains. The candidate should have a strong background in at least one of the following fields: computational neuroscience, data analysis, and nonlinear dynamics as well as solid experience in scientific programming (Matlab). Candidates must be in the first 5 years of their research careers and already be in possession of a doctoral degree in physics, engineering, applied mathematics, or computational neuroscience. Preference will be given to a candidate with experience in (non-linear) data analysis. As part of our commitment to promoting diversity we encourage applications from women. To comply with the Marie Curie Actions rule for mobility applicants must not have resided, worked or studied in Italy for more than 12 months in the 3 years prior to May 2014. Thomas Kreuz Institute for complex systems, CNR Via Madonna del Piano 10 50119 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy) Tel: +39-349-0748506 Email: thomas.kreuz(a)cnr.it Webpage: http://www.fi.isc.cnr.it/users/thomas.kreuz/

April 1, 2014

Postdoctoral Positions in Human Intracranial Physiology at the National Institutes of Health

by Zaghloul, Kareem (NIH/NINDS) [E]

Two full-time post-doctoral position focused on understanding the neural correlates of cognitive function and on the physiology of seizure onset and propagation are available in the Surgical Neurology Branch of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the NIH. The first position involves studies focused on designing and investigating behavioral tasks related to memory encoding, decision making, and attention, and on analyzing and manipulating human intracranial signals, including single-unit activity, local field potentials, and electro corticography (ECoG), captured from patients with medically refractory epilepsy and from patients receiving deep brain stimulation surgery. The goal of this project is to investigate the neural mechanisms that underlie cognitive behavior. The second position involves studies focused on analyzing ictal and inter-ictal activity across multiple modalities from patients with medically refractory epilepsy, including ECoG recordings and single-unit activity captured through implanted microwires. The goal of this project is to link these data with data captured using MEG, high-density scalp EEG, and functional MRI in order to gain insight into the seizure localization, onset, and spread. Post-doctoral fellows will join a laboratory aimed at understanding the neural mechanisms that underlie human cognitive function and abnormal seizure physiology and at developing novel and innovative techniques to decode and directly communicate with those circuits through electrical stimulation. We are seeking candidates that are highly creative, motivated, and independent with a Ph.D. in neuroscience, psychology, biomedical engineering, or a related field. Candidates must have a strong research background, with a record of relevant publications. Candidates will be encouraged and expected to participate in independent laboratory research, and will be expected to write scholarly manuscripts. Candidates must be able to lead and work well in a team. Candidates should have strong computational, quantitative, and/or engineering skills, with proficiency in developing custom code for data analysis preferred. Past medical research is not required, but candidates must be willing to perform experiments in a clinical setting. Candidates will interact with clinical staff, graduate students, research fellows, and must have excellent spoken and written English skills. Applicants should submit a brief statement of research activities and interests, a current CV, and names and contact information of at least three references. Salary will be commensurate with experience and accomplishments. To arrange a meeting with the PI and to send materials required for consideration for this appointment please contact Dr. Zaghloul at zaghloulka(a)mail.nih.gov.

April 1, 2014

1 PhD +1 Postdoctoral position in Computational Neuroscience at CRM / IDIBAPS (Barcelona).

by JROCHAV＠clinic.ub.es

Dear Colleagues, We are looking for one PhD student and one Postdoctoral fellow to work in a joint project between the labs of Alex Roxin (Centre de Reserca Matemàtica, CRM) and the lab of Jaime de la Rocha (IDIBAPS). The projects require the development of network models to investigate spontaneous activity in cortical circuits and the relation between neuronal and behavioral variability. The funding comes from an agreement between La Caixa and the Catalan Government to sponsor a training programme on Collaborative Mathematics presented by the CRM. Several positions are available within the training program which offers other projects. Candidates would be chosen on based on academic merit. Funding for the PhD position lasts 39 months and for the postdoctoral position lasts 3 years. Start dates from Fall to Winter 2014-2015 are preferred. The deadline to apply is April 16, 2014. Information about how to apply and a description of the projects can be found here: http://www.crm.cat/SiteAssets/Lists/Crides/EditForm/Calls_Collaborative%20M… If you have any questions please contact Alex Roxin (aroxin(a)crm.cat<mailto:aroxin@crm.cat>) or Jaime de la Rocha (jrochav(a)clinic.ub.es<mailto:jrochav@clinic.ub.es>). Best Jaime Jaime de la Rocha Ramón y Cajal researcher at IDIABPS c. Roselló 149-153 Barcelona, 08036 Spain Tel. +34 932275400 (4307) http://neuro.fcrb.es/delaRochaLab

April 1, 2014

Call for Papers: LDAB@CIBB2014

by Andrea Bracciali

[We apologize if you have received multiple copies of this message] ==================================================== Call for papers Large-scale and HPC data analysis in bioinformatics: Intelligent methods for computational, systems and synthetic biology. 26-28 June 2014 University of Cambridge, UK http://www.cussb.unisr.it/cibb2014/ss.html#LSAHDAIB Special Session of CIBB 2014 (later deadline): Eleventh International Meeting on Computational Intelligence Methods for Bioinformatics and Biostatistics http://www.cussb.unisr.it/cibb2014/index.html *** Submission deadline: 5th May 2014 *** ==================================================== AIMS and SCOPE Biomedical research is currently facing the Big Data wave created by the huge amount of experiments performed every day in omics sciences. This new situation demands appropriate IT-infrastructures and scalable software to analyse data within an acceptable timespan. Massive parallel clusters, distributed technologies, on-Chip solutions such as GPGPU and Xeon Phi must be exploited with adequate algorithmic solutions to reach their full potential. The aim of this special session is to bring together researchers interested in cutting-edge methods to address the challenges posed by the huge amount of data produced in omics science. The idea is to present the latest advancements concerning High Performance Computing solutions required to treat multi-omics data and the related Big Data paradigms that are needed to manage the large-scale challenges of current computational biology. Examples of relevant areas of interest within this context include - but are not limited to - - Next-Generation Sequencing data analysis and interpretation, - Genomics patterns identification and mining, - Transcriptomics and Proteomics data integration, - Systems Biology models simulation and optimization, - Structural Biology and Molecular Dynamics, - Synthetic Biology circuits design and simulation. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES http://www.cussb.unisr.it/cibb2014/calls.html#submissions Papers should be submitted in PDF format on the Easy Chair conference system. Paper length should be at least 4 pages and should not exceed 6 pages. Papers are required to be structured according to the following five sections: • 1. Scientific background • 2. Material and methods • 3. Results • 4. Conclusion • 5. References (no more than 10) (Please refer to the latex template on the web page for more accurate instructions). Please note that only PDF versions of papers can be accepted, as the proceedings of CIBB will be produced starting from them. A correct submission requires selecting this special session in the submission system. PUBLICATION Each paper will be peer-reviewed and the resulting scores used to determine invitations for oral or poster presentations. Following the conference, an extended version of the presented contributions (12 page format) will be considered for publication in the Springer’s Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics (LNBI) series. Moreover, a selection of the best papers will be considered for pu blication in a special issue of BMC Bioinformatics dedicated to CIBB2014. IMPORTANT DATES Paper submission: 5th May 2014 Acceptance notification: 10th May 2014 Camera ready due: 30th May 2014 Conference: 26th - 28th June 2014 ORGANISERS Andrea Bracciali, University of Stirling, UK Ivan Merelli, CNR-ITB, Italy CONTACTS Andrea Bracciali, University of Stirling, UK Computing Science and Mathematics School of Natural Sciences Stirling University abb(a)cs.stir.ac.uk +44 (0)1786 467446 Ivan Merelli, CNR-ITB, Italy Institute for Biomedical Technologies Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche ivan.merelli(a)itb.cnr.it +39 02 26422600

April 1, 2014

Deadline is April 2nd (but site will be open until April 4th): Call for Applications in 2014 Telluride Neuromorphic Cognition Engineering Workshop

by Ralph Etienne-Cummings

Telluride Neuromorphic Cognition Engineering Workshop 2014 Neuromorphic Cognition Engineering Workshop: The 20th Anniversary Edition Telluride, Colorado, June 29th - July 19th, 2014 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Deadline is April 2nd, 2014 NEUROMORPHIC COGNITION ENGINEERING WORKSHOP www.ine-web.org Sunday June 29th - Saturday July 19th, 2014, Telluride, Colorado We invite applications for a three-week summer workshop that will be held in Telluride, Colorado.Sunday June 29th - Saturday July 19th, 2014. The application deadline is Wednesday, April 2nd and application instructions are described at the bottom of this document. This is the 20th Anniversary of the Workshop, and ~25 years since the conception of the "Meadian" version of Neuromorphic Engineering. Hence, we plan a celebratory Workshop, where some of the originators and benefactors of the field will participate in discussions of the successes and challenges over the past 25 years and prognosticate the potential contributions for the next 25 years. The 2014 Workshop and Summer School on Neuromorphic Engineering is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Institute of Neuromorphic Engineering, Qualcomm Corporation, The EU-Collaborative Convergent Science Network (CNS-II), University of Maryland - College Park, Institute for Neuroinformatics - University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Georgia Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, Boston University, University of Western Sydney and the Salk Institute. Directors: Cornelia Fermuller, University of Maryland, College Park Ralph Etienne-Cummings, Johns Hopkins University Shih-Chii Liu, Institute of Neuroinformatics, UNI/ETH Zurich, Switzerland Timothy Horiuchi, University of Maryland, College Park Workshop Advisory Board: Andreas Andreou, Johns Hopkins University Andre van Schaik, University Western Sydney, Australia Avis Cohen, University of Maryland Barbara Shinn-Cunningham, Boston University Giacomo Indiveri, Institute of Neuroinformatics, Uni/Eth Zurich, Switzerland Jonathan Tapson, University Western Sydney, Australia Malcolm Slaney, Microsoft Research Jennifer Hasler, Georgia Institute of Technology Rodney Douglas, Institute of Neuroinformatics, Uni/Eth Zurich, Switzerland Shihab Shamma, University of Maryland Tobi Delbruck, Institute of Neuroinformatics, Uni/Eth Zurich, Switzerland Previous year workshop can be found at: ine-web.org/workshops/workshops-overview/index.htmland the workshop wiki is athttps://neuromorphs.net/ GOALS: Neuromorphic engineers design and fabricate artificial neural systems whose organizing principles are based on those of biological nervous systems. Over the past 18 years, this research community has focused on the understanding of low-level sensory processing and systems infrastructure; efforts are now expanding to apply this knowledge and infrastructure to addressing higher-level problems in perception, cognition, and learning. In this 3-week intensive workshop and through the Institute for Neuromorphic Engineering (INE), the mission is to promote interaction between senior and junior researchers; to educate new members of the community; to introduce new enabling fields and applications to the community; to promote on-going collaborative activities emerging from the Workshop, and to promote a self-sustaining research field. FORMAT: The three week summer workshop will include background lectures on systems and cognitive neuroscience (in particular sensory processing, learning and memory, motor systems and attention), practical tutorials on emerging hardware design, mobile robots, hands-on projects, and special interest groups. Participants are required to take part and possibly complete at least one of the projects proposed. They are furthermore encouraged to become involved in as many of the other activities proposed as interest and time allow. There will be two lectures in the morning that cover issues that are important to the community in general. Because of the diverse range of backgrounds among the participants, some of these lectures will be tutorials, rather than detailed reports of current research. These lectures will be given by invited speakers. Projects and interest groups meet in the late afternoons, and after dinner. In the early afternoon there will be tutorials on a wide spectrum of topics, including analog VLSI, mobile robotics, vision and auditory systems, central-pattern-generators, selective attention mechanisms, cognitive systems, etc. 2014 TOPIC AREAS: Human Auditory Cognition: Acoustic Priming, Imagination and Attention. Project Leaders: Shihab Shamma (UM-College Park), Malcolm Slaney (Microsoft), Edward Lalor (Trinity College, Dublin), Barbara Shinn-Cunningham (Boston U) Motion and Action Processing on Wearable Devices Project Leaders: Michael Pfeiffer (INI-UZH), Ryad Benosman (UPMC, Paris), Garrick Orchard (NUS, Singapore), and Cornelia Fermüller (UMCP) Planning with Dynamic Neural Fields: from Sensorimotor Dynamics to Large-Scale behavioral Search Project Leaders: Yulia Sandamirskaya (RUB, Bochum) and Erik Billing (U. Skovde) Neuromorphic Olympics Project Leaders: Jorg Conradt (TUM, Munich) and Terry Stewart (U. Waterloo) Embodied Neuromorphic Real-World Architectures of Perception, Cognition and Action Project Leaders: Andreas Andreou (JHU) and Paul Verschure (UPF, Barcelona) Terry Sejnowski (Salk Institute) - Computational Neuroscience (invitational mini-workshop) LOCATION AND ARRANGEMENTS: The summer school will take place in the small town of Telluride, 9000 feet high in southwest Colorado, about 6 hours drive away from Denver (350 miles). Great Lakes Aviation and America West Express airlines provide daily flights directly into Telluride. All facilities within the beautifully renovated public school building are fully accessible to participants with disabilities. Participants will be housed in ski condominiums, within walking distance of the school. Participants are expected to share condominiums. The workshop is intended to be very informal and hands-on. Participants are not required to have had previous experience in analog VLSI circuit design, computational or machine vision, systems level neurophysiology or modeling the brain at the systems level. However, we strongly encourage active researchers with relevant backgrounds from academia, industry and national laboratories to apply, in particular if they are prepared to work on specific projects, talk about their own work or bring demonstrations to Telluride (e.g. robots, chips, software). Wireless internet access will be provided. Technical staff present throughout the workshops will assist with software and hardware issues. We will have a network of PCs running LINUX and Microsoft Windows for the workshop projects. We encourage participants to bring along their personal laptop. No cars are required. Given the small size of the town, we recommend that you do not rent a car. Bring hiking boots, warm clothes, rain gear, and a backpack, since Telluride is surrounded by beautiful mountains. Unless otherwise arranged with one of the organizers, we expect participants to stay for the entire duration of this three week workshop. FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS: Notification of acceptances will be mailed out around the April 15th, 2014. The Workshop covers all your accommodations and facilities costs for the 3 weeks duration. You are responsible for your own travel to the Workshop, however, sponsored fellowships will be available as described below to further subsidize your cost. Registration Fees: For expenses not covered by federal funds, a Workshop registration fee is required. The fee is $1250 per participant for the 3-week Workshop. This is expected from all participants at the time of acceptance. Accommodations: The cost of a shared condominium, typically a bedroom in a shared condo for senior participants or a shared room for students, will be covered for all academic participants. Upgrades to a private rooms or condos will cost extra. Participants from National Laboratories and Industry are expected to pay for these condominiums. Fellowships: This year we will offer two Fellowships to subsidize your costs: Qualcomm Corporation Fellowship: Three non-corporate participants will have their accommodation and registration fees ($2750) directly covered by Qualcomm, and will be reimbursed for travel costs up to $500. Additional generous funding from Qualcomm will provide $5000 to help organize and stage the Workshop. EU-CSNII Fellowship (http://csnetwork.eu/) which is funded by the 7th Research Framework Program FP7-ICT-CSNII-601167: The top 8 EU applicants will be reimbursed for their registration fees ($1250), subsistence/travel subsidy (up to Euro 2000) and accommodations cost ($1500). The registration and accommodation costs will go directly to the INE (the INE will reimburse the participant's registration fees after receipt from CSNII), while the subsistence/travel reimbursement will be provided directly to the participants by the CSNII at the University of Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. HOW TO APPLY: Applicants should be at the level of graduate students or above (i.e. postdoctoral fellows, faculty, research and engineering staff and the equivalent positions in industry and national laboratories). We actively encourage women and minority candidates to apply. Anyone interested in proposing or discussing specific projects should contact the appropriate topic leaders directly. The application website is (after February 7th, 2014): ine-web.org/telluride-conference-2014/apply-info Application information needed: Contact email address. First name, Last name, Affiliation, valid e-mail address. Curriculum Vitae (a short version, please). One page summary of background and interests relevant to the workshop, including possible ideas for workshop projects. Please indicate which topic areas you would most likely join. Two letters of recommendation (uploaded directly by references). Applicants will be notified by e-mail. 7th February, 2014 - Applications accepted on website 2nd April, 2014 - Applications Due 15th April, 2014 - Notification of Acceptance -- Ralph Etienne-Cummings, PhD, FIEEE Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Computational Sensor Motor Systems Lab

April 1, 2014

Summer school in Computational Sensory-Motor Neuroscience (CoSMo 2014)

by Gunnar Blohm

*Fourth Annual Computational Sensory-Motor Neuroscience Summer School (CoSMo 2014)* University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA August 3-17, 2014 We would like to invite you to join us for the third annual Computational Sensory-Motor Neuroscience Summer School. The course is about experimental, computational and medical aspects of sensory-motor neuroscience with a focus on data/model sharing. Covered topics include Bayesian approaches, motor control, computational neuroimaging, sensory-motor transformations and prosthetics. An important focus is on doing research as opposed to just hearing about it. Each teaching module will take up two days with morning lecture sessions. Afternoon sessions involve hands-on Matlab programming, simulation and data-analysis. Newly acquired computational tools can also be applied in 2-week evening group research projects. The course is aimed at students and post-doctoral fellows from diverse backgrounds including Life Sciences, Psychology, Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics and Engineering. Basic knowledge in calculus, linear algebra and Matlab is expected. Enrollment will be limited to 40 trainees. *Application deadline: April 27, 2014* For more information and to apply, please go to http://www.compneurosci.com/CoSMo/ The school is co-organized by Drs Gunnar Blohm, Paul Schrater and Konrad Körding. It receives funding from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) via an NSERC-CREATE training grant on "Computational Approaches in Neuroscience – Action, Control & Transformations", and from the National Science Foundation (NSF, USA). -- ------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Gunnar BLOHM Assistant Professor in Computational Neuroscience Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Departments of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics, and Psychology, School of Computing, and Canadian Action and Perception Network (CAPnet) Queen’s University 18, Stuart Street Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 3N6 Tel: (613) 533-3385 Fax: (613) 533-6840 Email:Gunnar.Blohm@QueensU.ca Web:http://www.compneurosci.com/

March 31, 2014