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Two PhD positions

by Phil Garner

Dear Colleagues, The Idiap Research Institute in partnership with the Department of Mathematics at Mahidol University seek two PhD students to work on Bayesian Optimisation and training techniques for spiking neural networks. Funded by the Swiss NSF, one student will be based in Martigny in the Swiss alps, the other in Bangkok in Thailand. Exchanges between the two are planned. In addition to promising better understanding of biological processes, spiking nets have persuasive low-power implications. However, they present difficulties associated with their many hyperparameters, binary nature and non-differentiability of the emitted spikes. At Idiap, the project will build on our recent work that has shown that spiking networks are plausible solutions for speech processing tasks. The Bayesian approach will be twofold: In a first thread we will attempt to show that prior information can compensate for discontinuities in the error landscape arising from the binary nature. In a second thread, we will use Bayesian Optimisation techniques to handle the increased number of hyperparameters associated with spiking neurons. At Mahidol, the team will be responsible for designing frameworks for LPNet and neural networks to address the vehicle routing problem (VRP). The project will explore the effectiveness of these approaches in solving VRP and identify their limitations. The ultimate aim is to enhance VRP solutions through our spiking neural network (SNN) framework. The ideal student should have a master's (or equivalent) degree in engineering, computer science, physics, or mathematics. They should have a good background in mathematics, statistics, and programming (C/C++, Python, scripting languages). Candidates should have a deep understanding of ANNs and, ideally, familiarity with SNNs. For more information and to apply, for Idiap: https://careers.werecruit.io/en/idiap/offers/phd---bayesian-methods-for-spi… for Mahidol: https://mathematics.sc.mahidol.ac.th/scholarship-for-phd-in-mathematics-swi… The SNSF SPIRIT program is especially concerned with gender and identity inclusivity; we will emphasize this through the hiring process. In this sense, we particularly encourage applications from female candidates. Sincerely, -- Phil Garner http://www.idiap.ch/~pgarner

Oct. 30, 2024

PhD opportunity: computational neuroscience of decision-making and addiction

by mailinglists.4svr4＠simplelogin.com

I am seeking candidates for a potential PhD project at the University of Surrey, investigating how dopamine shapes memory formation and decision-making in healthy and addictive behaviours. Essential Requirements * Strong academic background * Programming skills (or strong willingness to learn) * Advanced statistical knowledge (or strong willingness to learn) * Interest in computational neuroscience and addiction research Funding Information Through the South East Doctoral Training Arc (SEDarc), funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), successful candidates can receive: * Full funding for UK or International students * Living stipend at UKRI rates * Access to advanced research training Previous students from our School have successfully secured these competitive studentships. However, funding is not guaranteed and depends on both the candidate's academic excellence and the strength of the research proposal. If you are interested, please send your CV to c.feherdasilva(a)surrey.ac.uk . I will be happy to discuss the project idea and guide you through the application process. Best regards, Carolina Feher da Silva Lecturer in Psychology University of Surrey Note: This opportunity is open to both UK and International students. The University of Surrey is located in Guildford, 40 minutes from central London.

Oct. 29, 2024

Queers in STEM social London

by Niedernhuber,Maria

Dear all Representatives of LGBT university staff networks in London, as well as the organisation Pride in STEM, are organising a social for queer academics, focusing on STEM. Anyone is welcome. Since our social originated at a cognitive and computational neuroscience conference, queer neuroscientists are very well represented, and we hope that this will be a great opportunity to network for queer people in cognitive and computational neuroscience. This is the sign-up link: <https://www.outsavvy.com/event/23202/queers-in-stem-pub-social> https://www.outsavvy.com/event/23202/queers-in-stem-pub-social. If anyone here is interested in co-organising, please shoot me an email, and feel free to forward the sign-up link to anyone you know who might be interested. We are especially still looking for a contact person at the University of Greenwich and at Royal Holloway University of London, which are not represented in the organising team at the moment, to advertise the social in their local LGBT staff network. Feel free to email me to chat about the initiative, and how to get involved! Have a lovely week! Maria (they/them) --- Maria Niedernhuber Postdoctoral researcher in Cognitive Neuroscience Consciousness and Cognition Lab, University of Cambridge Sleep and Cognition Lab, QMUL

Oct. 29, 2024

[Newsletter] rTAIM Seminar #13 | Ethical Agent or Mere Tool?: A Cautioning Argument for “Moral” Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare | 30 October 2024, 15h00, Online

by steven gouveia

rTAIM (Rebuilding Trust in AI Medicine) Monthly Seminars Seminar #13 Ethical Agent or Mere Tool?: A Cautioning Argument for “Moral” Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Jordan Joseph Wadden (Unity Health Toronto - Canada) Following the 12th rTAIM Online Seminar (by Francesco Prinzi, University of Palermo), we are happy to announce the first seminar of this academic year 2024/2025, the 13th rTAIM Online Seminar, with the participation of Jordan Joseph Wadden (Unity Health Toronto, Canada), on the 30th October 2024, 15h00-16h30 Lisbon Time Zone, via Zoom. ONLINE | Link Zoom<https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/95294324802?pwd=Lt2o4boR0iHYWFtXvu6KdrD…> ID: 952 9432 4802 | Password: 506705 #Seminar 13: To talk of moral machines presupposes that researchers understand enough about how humans come to their own conceptions of the good. Moral epistemology and moral psychology have struggled to describe these facts and processes, and we still don’t have a generalizable conception. However, there appears to be an assumption that ethics can nonetheless be instilled directly into artificial intelligence. This is of special concern in healthcare because algorithms and systems are being designed to recommend treatments and pathways for patients. But finding the right treatment for a patient requires more than just an analysis of the medical facts. Healthcare teams must also weigh preferences, goals, psycho-social needs, religious and spiritual beliefs, quality of life, and so on. Each of these elements has a unique, and often individualized, moral element. This paper presents an argument that healthcare artificial intelligence ought to be viewed as a mere tool, rather than as a (quasi-)moral agent which could act alone in the clinical encounter. I argue that some researchers have become distracted by the AI and robot rights discussions, making them think it’s possible to code ethics into a system when humans still don’t understand how we come to believe our own moral beliefs. Short Bio: Jordan Joseph Wadden, MA, PhD, HEC-C, is a clinical ethicist at Unity Health Toronto in Canada. He is an assistant professor (status only) in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on the ethical implementation of artificial intelligence and machine learning in healthcare. He was the winner of the 2024 Ethics of AI Award at the 3rd International Conference on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. rTAIM Seminars: https://ifilosofia.up.pt/activities/rtaim-seminars https://trustaimedicine.weebly.com/rtaim-seminars.html Organisation: Steven S. Gouveia (MLAG/IF) Mind, Language and Action Group (MLAG) Instituto de Filosofia da Universidade do Porto – UIDB/00502/2020 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) ____________________________________________ Instituto de Filosofia (UI&D 502) Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto Via Panorâmica s/n 4150-564 Porto Tel. 22 607 71 80 E-mail: ifilosofia(a)letras.up.pt<mailto:ifilosofia@letras.up.pt> http://ifilosofia.up.pt/

Oct. 28, 2024

NIH-funded Post-doctoral fellowship - spatial navigation, gait, mobility, EEG, MRI, virtual reality - in biomedical engineering at the University of Florida

by Steve Weisberg

A postdoctoral researcher position studying electrocortical activity during human navigation is available in the laboratory of Dr. Daniel Ferris ( https://faculty.eng.ufl.edu/human-neuromechanics-laboratory) This position is for an initial one-year appointment, and has the potential to be renewed for three additional years based on performance and funding availability. https://explore.jobs.ufl.edu/cw/en-us/job/533572/postdoc Join a team studying age- and ADRD-related changes in gait and navigation, including Rachael Seidler, Dan Ferris, and Steve Weisberg. -- --------------------------------------------- *Steven M. Weisberg, PhD * Pronouns: he/him/his Assistant Professor of Psychology University of Florida Director: SCANN Lab <http://scannlab.psych.ufl.edu>

Oct. 28, 2024

[comp-neuro] job advertisement | 1 fully funded PhD position (E13) | Application deadline: Nov.18, 2024

by Daniel Schmid

Vacancy for dissertation/PhD project *Learning Search and Decision Mechanisms in Medical Diagnosis* We are looking for a new PhD student for a fully funded interdisciplinary research project investigating the computational mechanisms underlying the perceptual processes in medical imaging. *Brief project description and goals* Medical experts routinely screen images for signs of abnormality indicative of a disease. Experimental evidence shows that these experts, based on their training, are able to make a diagnose above chance level even after screening images for only a few seconds. Such visual inspection utilizes global ensemble scene statistics, or “scene gist”, to provide contextual guidance information. The goal of the PhD project is to investigate how such global, contextual gist information can be computed and incorporated in machine vision approaches, such as deep neural networks for natural or medical image processing. In particular, a goal is to develop neural mechanisms that can be integrated into existing pre-trained CNNs to compute scene gist for rapid global decision-making and contextual guidance in medical images. Such mechanisms should explain how such global feature compositions are learned to increase the classification specificity and, at the same time, do not equip an observer with the ability to precisely localize such feature compositions indicative of the evidence. At the implementation level, computational units (neurons) in hierarchical CNN architectures will be extended by integrating local bottom-up feature extraction mechanisms with top-down modulatory contextual fields. We focus on these mechanisms to learn the integration of information streams in counter-stream networks by employing novel two-point information integration units inspired by recent findings from neuroscience. These investigations will contribute to develop novel CNN architectures by integrating feedforward and feedback data streams that operate at different spatio-temporal scales and feature types inspired by computational mechanisms in biological vision. The combined global and local information is expected to provide more detailed explanations on a mechanistic level how radiologists steer their attention and search capacities and learn to improve such skills. *Requirements* - MSc degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, Cognitive Systems/Science or equivalent relevant background - Experience in computational vision, neural networks, machine learning; with strong mathematical/physics foundation - Experience in developing biologically inspired models – or interested in learning how to develop such mechanisms and models - Experience in analysis of large data and evaluation of results - Strong coding skills - Personal skills: working in a team, but should be able to work independently, is strongly focused and enthusiastic about the project theme, is self-motivated and takes responsibility for reaching milestones - Experience and talent in scientific writing (with proficient written & oral English) *Contact & application* The project is part of the newly founded research training group “KEMAI” that focuses on integrating knowledge and learning based approaches for better medical AI (https://kemai.uni-ulm.de/ for more information). The offered PhD position is fully funded (E13 salary) and also benefits from an interdisciplinary setting, the ability to connect with peers from related projects and a clearly structured PhD program. Application materials are expected until November 18, 2024. They should contain a CV, statement of research interest and background in relation to the KEMAI training group and project theme C2. A cover letter should inform about the expected date of availability and name of two referees. Submit your application via the KEMAI website (preferred) or to Prof. Heiko Neumann (heiko.neumann(a)uni-ulm.de) or reach out for more information. Best regards, Daniel Schmid -- Daniel Schmid, M.Sc. Institute of Neural Information Processing Faculty of Engineering, Computer Science and Psychology Ulm University James-Frank-Ring D-89081 Ulm Germany e-mail: daniel-1.schmid(a)uni-ulm.de

Oct. 28, 2024

Justin Wood speaking on November 12 in Developing Minds global online lecture series

by Jochen Triesch

Dear colleagues, On November 12, the Developing Minds global online lecture series is proud to host Justin Wood from Indiana University Bloomington, USA, speaking on: "Radical empiricism: The origins of knowledge as a mini-evolution“ Tuesday, November 12, 2024 9:00 am EST (Eastern Standard Time, US) 14:00 UTC (Universal Coordinated Time) 15:00 CET (Central European Time) 23:00 JST (Japan Standard Time) The zoom link/credentials are: https://uni-frankfurt.zoom-x.de/j/62980753356?pwd=0J6BtOaAy20YyanXX1gpkB3Ta… Meeting-ID: 629 8075 3356 Kenncode: 904159 Abstract: What are the origins of knowledge? A common theoretical strategy is to isolate core primitives of the mind, such as systems for reasoning about objects, space, number, agents, and language. The problem with this strategy is it disconnects brain development from general fitting principles that underlie chemistry, evolution, culture, and artificial intelligence. I argue that development can be understood as a “mini-evolution,” in which core mental skills are the products of generic evolution-like fitting processes. In evolution, life started from scratch, and species emerged as DNA adapted to the world via blind fitting. Likewise, in development, knowledge starts from scratch, and mental skills emerge as individual brains adapt to the world via blind fitting. Historically, the main roadblock for testing fitting theories has been the lack of benchmarks and models for measuring whether fitting models learn like brains. To directly compare learning across brains and models, both must be trained with the same data and tested on the same tasks. We propose a solution—called “Newborn Embodied Turing Tests” (NETTs)—in which newborn animals and fitting models are reared in the same environments and tested with the same tasks. I’ll describe a series of NETTs showing that generic fitting models (transformers) develop many core mental skills, including orientation selectivity, visual binding, shape-based vision, invariant object recognition, imprinting, collective behavior, and social preferences. These skills develop spontaneously when generic fitting models fit to prenatal and postnatal experiences. There is no need to postulate mysterious core primitives to explain the rapid development of domain-specific knowledge. Rather, core knowledge can be the product of generic fitting machinery: a radical empiricist view of the origins of knowledge. This mini-evolution view unifies chemistry, evolution, development, culture, and artificial intelligence under a common fitting framework, with shared general principles. Short Bio: Justin Wood is an Associate Professor of Informatics at Indiana University Bloomington. He is affiliated with programs in Animal Behavior, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, and Psychological & Brain Sciences. He received his B.A. from University of Virginia and M.S. & Ph.D. from Harvard University. Dr. Wood has studied the psychological abilities of a range of populations, including human adults, children, infants, chimpanzees, wild monkeys, starlings, and newborn chicks. He works at the intersection of developmental psychology, neuroscience, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence to characterize the origins and computational foundations of intelligence. The talk will be recorded and made available for later viewing. For more information on the talk series and recordings of previous events, please visit: https://sites.google.com/view/developing-minds-series/home Best regards, Jochen Triesch -- Prof. Dr. Jochen Triesch Johanna Quandt Chair for Theoretical Life Sciences Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies and Goethe University Frankfurt http://fias.uni-frankfurt.de/~triesch/ Tel: +49 (0)69 798-47531 Fax: +49 (0)69 798-47611

Oct. 28, 2024

Re: Join Us for the Statistical Physics of Cognition Workshop – Institute of Physics, London

by Rajpal, Hardik

Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to announce that registrations are now open for the Statistical Physics of Cognition Workshop, taking place on the 25th and 26th of November 2024 at the Institute of Physics, King’s Cross, London. You can register for the event here: https://iop.eventsair.com/spc2024/register We would also like to remind everyone that the abstract submission deadline for the poster session is fast approaching on 31st October 2024. PhD students and early career researchers are particularly encouraged to submit abstracts for this exciting opportunity to share your work. Please submit your abstracts at the following link: https://iop.eventsair.com/spc2024/abstract-submission For further details about the workshop, you can explore the program here: https://iop.eventsair.com/spc2024/programme Additionally, we are thrilled to announce a public event featuring a fireside chat between Prof. John Krakauer and Prof. Karl Friston on the intriguing topic, "Can Reductionism Explain the Mind?" This discussion will take place on the evening of 25th November, followed by a drinks reception. We look forward to welcoming you to an interdisciplinary gathering that will bring together experts from neuroscience and physics to explore cognition in innovative ways. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out, and we hope to see you there! Sincerely, Hardik Rajpal Research Associate Organizing Committee, Statistical Physics of Cognition Workshop Imperial College London From: Rajpal, Hardik via Comp-neuro <comp-neuro(a)lists.cnsorg.org> Date: Monday, 7 October 2024 at 12:39 To: comp-neuro(a)lists.cnsorg.org <comp-neuro(a)lists.cnsorg.org> Subject: [Comp-neuro] Join Us for the Statistical Physics of Cognition Workshop – Institute of Physics, London This email from comp-neuro(a)lists.cnsorg.org originates from outside Imperial. Do not click on links and attachments unless you recognise the sender. If you trust the sender, add them to your safe senders list<https://spam.ic.ac.uk/SpamConsole/Senders.aspx> to disable email stamping for this address. Dear Colleagues, We are excited to announce that the Statistical Physics of Cognition workshop will take place on the 25th and 26th of November 2024 at the Institute of Physics, King's Cross, London. This workshop will explore the intersection of physics and neuroscience to better understand cognition, bringing together leading researchers from various disciplines, including statistical mechanics, network science, self-organized criticality, information theory, and more. The programme for the workshop is now live and can be viewed here: https://iop.eventsair.com/spc2024/programme. While registrations open next week, we invite those interested in attending to fill out an expression of interest form in advance: https://iop.eventsair.com/spc2024/registration We especially encourage PhD students and Early Career Researchers to participate by submitting abstracts for poster presentations. This is a great opportunity to present your research, receive feedback from leading experts, and engage in exciting discussions. * Abstract submission deadline: 31st October 2024 * Submit your abstract here: https://iop.eventsair.com/spc2024/abstract-submission We look forward to welcoming you to what promises to be a thought-provoking event at the frontier of cognitive science and physics. Please feel free to share this announcement with your colleagues, students, and networks. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. Best regards, Hardik Rajpal Research Associate Organizing Committee, Statistical Physics of Cognition Workshop Imperial College London

Oct. 25, 2024

World wide VVTNS series: Fifth season opening lecture, Wednesday, October 30, 2024, at 11:00 am EDT

by David Hansel

*Important:* The seminar is at 11 am *EDT* Daylight saving time ends on Sunday, November 3, 2024 In Europe it ends on Sunday October 27, 2024 [image: VVTNS.png] https://www.wwtns.online <https://streaklinks.com/A9c7PbbpKY7PxB6PaAJWGD3-/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wwtns.on…> - on twitter: wwtns@TheoreticalWide You are cordially invited to the fifth season opening lecture of the online VVTNS series *Karel Svoboda* Allen Institute on the topic of *Illuminating synaptic learning* The lecture will be held on zoom on October 30, 2023, at *11:00 am EDT * To receive the zoom link: https://www.wwtns.online/register-page *Abstract: *How do synapses in the middle of the brain know how to adjust their weight to advance a behavioral goal (i.e. learning)? This is referred to as the synaptic ‘credit assignment problem’. A large variety of synaptic learning rules have been proposed, mainly in the context of artificial neural networks. The most powerful learning rules (e.g. back-propagation of error) are thought to be biologically implausible, whereas the widely studied biological learning rules (Hebbian) are insufficient for goal-directed learning. I will describe ongoing work focused on understanding synaptic learning rules in the cortex in a brain-computer interface task. ᐧ -- *Il n'y a ni obligation ni pression à traiter ou répondre à ce mail en dehors des heures de travail* "В каждой шутке есть доля шутки" 'Life is good ..' (Carl van Vreeswijk, 1962-2022) --------------------------------------- David Hansel Directeur de Recherche au CNRS Co-Group leader Cerebral Dynamics Plasticity and Learning lab., CNRS 45 rue des Saints Peres 75270 Paris Cedex 06 Tel (Cell): +33 607508403 - Fax (33).1.49.27.90.62 *CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVACY NOTICE:* *This message and the documents that might be attached, are addressed exclusively to their(s) recipient(s) and may contain privileged or confidential information. The access to this information by people other than those designated is not authorized. If you are not the indicated recipient, you are notified that the use, disclosure and / or copying without authorization is prohibited under current legislation. If you have received this message in error, please kindly inform the sender immediately and proceed to its destruction.* ᐧ

Oct. 25, 2024

Software developer at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology

by Erik De Schutter

The Computational Neuroscience unit (https://www.oist.jp/research/research-units/cnu) at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan has an opening for a postdoctoral researcher or technician to contribute to the software development of the nanoscale simulator of neuronal electrophysiology and molecular properties STEPS https://steps.sourceforge.net/STEPS/default.php. Initial duration is two years with an option to extend. The software developer will join the STEPS team and contribute to maintenance and further expansion of the software capacities. Recent versions of STEPS improved its parallel performance (http://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fninf.2022.883742/full) and added modeling of vesicles (https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-06276-5) The ideal candidate will have a scientific background but also possess good programming skills, but experienced software engineers can also apply. Competences: For the postdoctoral position a recent PhD is required in a relevant discipline such as neuroscience, molecular biology, biophysics, biochemistry, and for a technician a masters degree is required in a software/computer science related discipline. For either position, we require a talented programmer with experience in C++ and Python. In satisfying these criteria, it is expected that the candidate has some experience of modeling neuronal or other biological processes computationally, but this is not essential if the candidate has a strong enough interest in moving into the field. Fluent English conversation and writing skills are required. Benefits / Offer: A competitive salary and relocation package are offered. This an ideal position to gain experience in a prominent computational neuroscience lab. Contributions of technicians are honored by authorship on relevant publications. Please contact Prof. Erik De Schutter (erik(a)oist.jp) for inquiries.

Oct. 25, 2024