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[reminder] Birmingham-Leiden Summer School in Computational Social Cognition 2025

by Lei Zhang

(sorry for cross-posting) We are delighted to welcome applications for the second edition of the *Birmingham-Leiden Summer School in Computational Social Cognition (CSC) <https://www.compsoccog.com/>*. The summer school is hosted at the University of Birmingham (UK), in collaboration with Leiden University (NL), and will take place from 2nd-5th September 2025. Apply by 18th April 2025 (see information below)! Attending the Birmingham-Leiden CSC Summer School will equip a diverse cohort of early career researchers (trainees through to junior faculty members) with the ability to understand, program, and interpret the output of a range of computational models of social cognition (e.g., reinforcement learning models, evidence accumulation models, Bayesian inference models) and their potential interaction with other modalities of measurements (e.g., fMRI, EEG, eye-tracking). Attendees will receive various types of training (keynote lectures, workshops, tutorials, etc) and work on a group project, both aimed at understanding modelling as well as the theoretical and practical inferences that can be drawn from computational models under social contexts. Keynote speakers: - Matthew Rushworth, University of Oxford (UK) - Diana Tamir, Princeton University, (USA) - David Amodio, University of Amsterdam, (NL) The full list of instructors is available at *https://compsoccog.com/instructors-and-speakers. <https://compsoccog.com/instructors-and-speakers>* For this year’s training program and organising committee, see *https://www.compsoccog.com/about <https://www.compsoccog.com/about>*. To apply, please complete *this form covering your motivation and experience <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfcAccPZFTKLSfvKhwUwH3UQ-6FrpmiPbP…>*, including a short CV. The deadline is 18th April 2025. Outcomes will be communicated in early May, with registration for successful applicants then open until mid-June. This year, the CSC Summer School received financial support from the *William K. & Katherine W. Estes Fund in association with the Association of Psychological Science <https://www.psychologicalscience.org/members/awards-and-honors/estes-fund>* We hope to see you this summer in Birmingham! Jo (2025 co-lead), Lei (2025 co-lead), & Anna, on behalf of the CSC 2025 organising committee --- Dr. Lei Zhang w: lei-zhang.net t: @lei_zhang_lz <https://twitter.com/lei_zhang_lz>

April 8, 2025

NeuroBridges 2025: deadline to apply is approaching

by David Hansel

*NeuroBridges 2025* *A Mediterranean, Middle Eastern Summer School in Neuroscience* *Deadline to apply: April 15th, 2025* *NeuroBridges 2025* is a summer school which will take place between *September 7 and September 18, 2025* in Le Centre de Conferences Internationales de Cluny, France (CCIC) <https://84454458.streaklinks.com/CYSff59uLj27U__lKAXml_qR/https%3A%2F%2Fcol…> . The school will provide an overview of theoretical and experimental frameworks used to study a variety of *decision making* processes. It will cover different model systems from rodents to humans and a plethora of decision making mechanisms. Another objective of Neurobridges is to bring together *Mediterranean and Middle Eastern scientists*, in order to promote scientific cooperation between young researchers from these countries. The organizers of NeuroBridges are convinced that such scientific collaborations can lead to personal relations, which eventually may alleviate the political distress in the Middle East. The school is intended for graduate students and postdocs, primarily, but not only, from the Middle East and the Mediterranean region, either working in their home countries or abroad. Applicants should have some background in related fields in neuroscience or cognitive psychology. *All costs of registration and accommodation will be covered by the organizers. A limited number of travel grants will also be available*. *NeuroBridges 2025 Faculty:* - Alaa Ahmed (U. Colorado) Rava Azeredo da Silveira (IOB) Ahmed El Hady (Max Planck Institute) David Hansel (CNRS) Mehdi Khamassi (CNRS) Carole Levenes (CNRS) Yonatan Loewenstein (Hebrew U.) Zach Mainen (Champalimaud), TBC Israel Nelken (Hebrew U.) Drazen Prelec (MIT) Reza Shadmehr (John Hopkins U.) - *NeuroBridges *is co-organized by Ahmed El Hady (Max Planck Institute), David Hansel (CNRS, Paris), Yonatan Loewenstein (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel) and Carole Levenes (CNRS, Paris). For more information and application, visit our website: https://neurobridges.net/upcoming *Contact us:* neurobridges2025(a)gmail.com <neurobridges2023(a)gmail.com> - ᐧ

April 8, 2025

Research assistant post: neural computations of foraging decisions. University of Nottingham (UK)

by Mark Humphries

The Humphries’ lab<https://www.humphries-lab.org> at the University of Nottingham is seeking a research assistant to join a project on the neural computations of foraging decisions, in collaboration with the groups of Matthew Apps (Birmingham) and Nathan Lepora (Bristol). Whether choosing to leave one shop for another, switching TV programs, or seeking berries to eat, humans and other animals make endless stay-or-leave decisions, but how we make them is not well understood. The goal of this project is to find out if there is a common decision algorithm for leaving across species and what that algorithm is. You will create predictions for how foragers should vary in their stay-of-leave decisions for different types of decision algorithm, and test them using data from humans and rodents tackling foraging tasks. You will have some experience in computational modelling of behaviour, such as decision-making models or reinforcement learning, and good programming skills. The post is for 12 months, and would suit predoctoral candidates seeking research experience. Unsure if you're a good fit for the post? Got any questions? Then contact Mark for a chat: mark.humphries(a)nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:.humphries@nottingham.ac.uk>. For full details of the role and how to apply https://jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=SCI128025 Closing date: May 5th 2025 This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender and delete the email and attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham. Email communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored where permitted by law.

April 8, 2025

Brains and Machines Podcast

by Bains, Sunny

Brains and Machines is a monthly podcast about neuromorphic engineering and bio-inspired technology, published in conjunction with EE Times Current. Each episode is featured around an interview, with the latest one being Terry Sejnowski from the Salk Institute. Previous guests (we’re on episode 26) include Mitra Hartmann from Northwestern, Carver Mead of Caltech, and roboticist Rodney Brooks. You can listen to the podcast at EE Times Current<https://www.eetimes.com/category/podcasts/eetimes-current/> (interspersed with other podcasts), through Brains and Machines<https://brainsandmachines.net>, and you can also subscribe (with a one episode delay) by clicking the links at the top right of that site (we’re available through most of the usual channels). We hope you get the chance to listen in!

April 7, 2025

Grenoble Neurotech School 2025 (Aussois, May 11-16, 2025) – Deadline April 14

by Blaise Yvert

Dear colleagues, We would like to remind you that this is the last week to register for the second edition of the Neurotech School 2025, taking place from May 11 to 16 at the Centre Paul Langevin in Aussois, France (https://www.caes.cnrs.fr/sejours/centre-paul-langevin-3-2/) You can register via the following link : https://neurotech2025.sciencesconf.org/ The deadline to register is April 14, and as last year, the number of available seats is limited. We look forward to your participation and to welcoming you in Aussois! Best regards, Blaise Yvert for the organizing committee.

April 7, 2025

This week: Global Summit on Open Problems for AI. Central Tokyo, Japan, 9-11th April 2025

by Battleday, Ruairidh

今週：AI の未解決問題に関するグローバルサミット。Sakura Deeptech、渋谷サクラステージ、東京、日本、2025 年 4 月 9 〜 11 日。This week: Global Summit on Open Problems for AI. Sakura Deeptech, Shibuya Sakura Stage, Tokyo, Japan, 9-11th April 2025. What are the next set of challenges for AI algorithms? What are the big possibilities in entrepreneurship and business application? AI アルゴリズムの次の課題は何でしょうか?起業家精神とビジネス応用における大きな可能性は何ですか? The Algorithmic Innovation and Entrepreneurship Global Summit on Open Problems for AI <http://www.algopreneurship.ai/>. is this week in Sakura Deeptech, Shibuya Sakura Stage, Tokyo, Japan, 9-11th April 2025. Join world-leading AI researchers, policy makers, and entrepreneurs in this global Summit over three days of keynote talks, panels, and breakout sessions. 基調講演、パネル、分科会セッションで構成される 3 日間にわたるグローバルサミットに、世界をリードする AI 研究者、政策立案者、起業家が参加します。日本語でライブ文字起こし Day 1 - Algorithms アルゴリズム We ask what the fundamental challenges for developing AI algorithms are, as well as promising avenues for overcoming them. AI アルゴリズムの開発における根本的な課題は何か、またそれを克服するための有望な道筋は何かを尋ねます。 We’ll be hearing from: Dr Shane Gu (Google DeepMind), Prof. Taro Toyoizumi (Riken CBS), Prof. Masanori Koyama (University of Tokyo), Dr Kai Arulkumaran (Araya Inc.), Dr Emityaz Khan (Riken AIP), Professor Masanori Koyama (University of Tokyo), Prof. Yunzhe Liu (Beijing Normal University), Dr Jad Tarifi (Integral AI), Kiran Mysore (University of Tokyo UTEC), Dr Jiaxian Guo (Google DeepMind), Dr James Whittington (Stanford & Oxford University & Zyphra), Dr Lucy Lai (Harvard University), Dr Yusuke Iwasawa (University of Tokyo), Dr Sam Passaglia (Cohere) Panel on “Is Scale all we need?” 「スケールだけが必要なのでしょうか？」 Panel on “What is the next big breakthrough in AI?” 「AI における次の大きな進歩は何でしょうか?」 Day 2 - Ethics 倫理と社会 We ask what the fundamental ethical challenges and opportunities are for AI. AIにとって根本的な倫理的課題と機会は何かと問う。 Keynotes: Prof. Yuko Harayam (Tohoku University; GPAI), Prof. Arisa Ema (University of Tokyo & RIKEN CAIP), Prof. Toshie Takahashi (Waseda University), Dr Colin Rowat (Rakuten, Cambridge), Dr Joe Ledsam (Google Health), Kenny Song (Citadel AI), Kevin Loi-Heng (Avalon AI), Chris Lengerich (Context Fund), Evan Burkosky (Kimaru AI), Tiffany Kayo (Coral Capital) Panel: Micro Ethics - What Can Individual Researchers Do for Ethical AI? 倫理的な AI のために個々の研究者は何ができるでしょうか? Chair: Nicolay Hagen (NTNU) Panel: Meso Ethics - What Can Organizations Do for Ethical AI? 組織は倫理的な AI のために何ができるでしょうか? Chair: Prof. Skyler Wang (McGill) Panel: Macro Ethics - If AI is the answer, what is the question? AIと社会 Chair: Dr Ruairidh McLennan Battleday (Harvard & MIT) Day 3 - Applications and entrepreneurship 社会実装 We ask what the fundamental challenges and opportunities are in applications for social good and entrepreneurship. 私たちは、社会貢献と起業家精神への応用における根本的な課題と機会は何かを問います。 Keynotes: Prof. Yukie Nagai (University of Tokyo), Dr Hiroaki Kitano (Adjunct Professor, OIST), Sho Ito (Deputy Director of Innovation, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan), Ilya Kulyatin (Tokyo AI; TAI), Robert Lange (Sakana AI), Dr Daisuke Okanohara (Preferred Networks), Dr Conglong Li (Google Deepmind), Takahiro Matsumoto (Cisco / Robust Intelligence), Dr Jungo Kasai (Kotoba Tech), Dr Nick McGreivy (Princeton University), Dr Andrew Fyfe (Neutone), Elizabeth Oda (Braid AI), Dr Tiago Ramalho (Recursive), Francis Hamilton (Tektome Inc), Dr Qi Chen (Paragraph), Kosuke Arima (Stockmark), Dr Yoshitaka Ushiku (NexaScience) Dr Joshua Tan (Metagov) Run in partnership with the Matsuo-Iwasawa Lab, the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI at NICT), and Tokyo AI (TAI). 松尾・岩澤研究室、人工知能に関するグローバルパートナーシップ、東京 AI と提携して運営されます。 This should be an exciting and productive event, and we expect an audience of 200 of Japan’s best AI researchers and entrepreneurs at student, early-stage, and full career levels. これは刺激的で生産的なイベントになるはずであり、学生、初期段階、フルキャリアレベルの日本最高の AI 研究者や起業家 200 名が参加すると予想しています。 Student tickets: $20 for all three days ¥3000 学生3日間入場 General tickets: $20 per day ¥3000 1日一般入場 Reserve your place now! <http://www.algopreneurship.ai/> 席を予約してください <http://www.algopreneurship.ai/> Ruairidh <https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruairidh-battleday-648a2b65/>, <https://www.jcrwhittington.com/>Lucy <https://lucylai.com/>, and James <https://www.jcrwhittington.com/> Thinking About Thinking <https://www.thinkingaboutthinking.org/> -- Dr Ruairidh McLennan Battleday BMBCh (Oxon) PhD President Thinking About Thinking (www.thinkingaboutthinking.org) Postdoctoral Research Fellow Center for Brain Science, Harvard University Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines, MIT

April 7, 2025

Call for applications: School on Analytical Connectionism (25 Aug- 5 Sep 2025)

by Lin, I-Chun

Topical focus: Bias in learning 25 August - 5 September 2025, London www.analytical-connectionism.net/school/2025<https://www.analytical-connectionism.net/school/2025/> Apply by 18 April 2025 We are delighted to announce the 3rd edition of the School on Analytical Connectionism. This 2-week course will focus on analytical tools, including methods from statistical physics and probability theory, for probing neural networks and higher-level cognition. This course is appropriate for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty in fields from psychology and neuroscience, to physics, computer science, and mathematics. The course will bring together neuroscience, psychology, and machine-learning communities, introducing participants to connectionist theories of higher-level cognition and psychology as well as analytical methods for neural-network analysis. Participants will work in teams, mentored by course lecturers and organisers, to develop novel research projects on topics related to analytical connectionism. Participants will present the research proposals in Week 1 and interim results at the end of the course. Confirmed Faculty: Rémi Monasson (CNRS/ENS) Tim Rogers (University of Wisconsin-Madison) Tali Sharot (UCL/MIT) Merav Ahissar (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) Xuechunzi Bai (University of Chicago) Marco Baity-Jesi (Eawag) Mathew Diamond (SISSA) Lasana Harris (UCL) Tiago Maia (University of Lisbon) Angela Radulescu (Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai) Levent Sagun (FAIR) Fanny Yang (ETHZ) Best, I-Chun on behalf of the School Organisers -- I-Chun Lin Scientific Programme Manager Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, UCL

April 7, 2025

Worldwide VVTNS series: Carl van Vreeswijk Memorial Lecture | Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at 11:00 am EDT| James DiCarlo, MIT

by David Hansel

[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 first *'Carl van Vreeswijk Memorial Lecture ' * James DiCarlo MIT on the topic of Do contemporary, machine-executable models of primate sensory systems unlock the ability to non-invasively, beneficially modulate high-level brain states? The lecture will be held on Zoom on April 9, 2025, at *11:00 am EDT * To receive the link: https://www.wwtns.online/register-page *Abstract: *Over the past decade, neuroscience, cognitive science and computer science (“AI”) converged to create specific, image-computable, deep neural network models intended to appropriately abstract, emulate and explain the mechanisms of primate ventral visual processing, up to its deepest neural level, the inferior temporal cortex (IT). Because these leading neuroscientific emulation models — aka “digital twins” — are fully observable and machine-executable, they offer predictive and potential application power that our field’s prior conceptual models did not. Our team’s ongoing work is aimed at asking if current digital twin models might support non-invasive, beneficial brain modulation. In this talk, I will describe a key result: we demonstrate that we can use a digital twin to design spatial patterns of light energy that, when “added” to the organism’s retinal input in the context of ongoing natural visual processing, results in precise modulation (i.e. rate bias) of the pattern of a population of IT neurons (where any intended modulation pattern is chosen ahead of time by the scientist). Because the IT visual neural populations are known to directly connect to and modulate downstream neural circuits (e.g. amygdala) that may underlie psychological affective states (e.g. mood and anxiety), this novel basic science may unlock a new, non-invasive application avenue of potential future human clinical benefit. This progress and new impact possibilities resulted from convergent brain science and AI engineering efforts in the domain of visual object intelligence. I will motivate this as just one example of what I believe will unlock in other domains of human intelligence as brain scientists and AI engineers collaborate to develop machine-executable models of the underlying mechanisms of those still-mysterious domains. *About VVTNS : Launched as the World Wide Theoretical Neuroscience Seminar (WWTNS) in November 2020 and renamed in homage to Carl van Vreeswijk in Memoriam (April 20, 2022), Speakers have the occasion to talk about theoretical aspects of their work which cannot be discussed in a setting where the majority of the audience consists of experimentalists. The seminars, **held on Wednesdays at 11 am ET,** are 45-50 min long followed by a discussion. The talks are recorded with authorization of the speaker and are available to everybody on our YouTube channel.* 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

April 6, 2025

NeuroAI fellow - exciting opportunity

by Rui Ponte Costa

Dear all, As part of the ENCODE AI for Science program we are hiring a neuroAI fellow for a project that aims to bring together state-of-the-art deep RL systems with both systems and behavioural neuroscience. See more below: https://encode.pillar.vc/projects/behavioral-neuroscience Deadline: 30th April 2025 How to apply? Quick application here: https://encode.pillar.vc/apply we will then get in touch with you to discuss more. Note that the salary is substantially higher than usual for academia (> £100k). Best wishes, Rui Ponte Costa Group Leader, Neural and Machine Learning group<https://neuralml.github.io/> | Oxford Neurotheory Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics | Medical Sciences Division University of Oxford, UK

April 4, 2025

Job posts at the Cognitive Science Center at Jagiellonian University

by Marcin

*Postdoc and PhD student positions to study cognition in naturalistic settings* *Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland* *Job Description* The Brain and Cognition Lab at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, is excited to announce several upcoming job openings at different levels (postdoc and PhD) to work on the psychophysics and electrophysiology of cognition. These positions are funded by the National Science Center, Poland. We are seeking highly motivated candidates eager to investigate cognition using eye tracking, virtual reality (VR), electrophysiology, psychophysics, and advanced signal processing tools. Interested applicants should contact Marcin Leszczyński (marcin.leszczynski(a)uj.edu.pl) to discuss possibilities. *Lab Description* Successful candidates will join a dynamic research group at the Cognitive Science Center at Jagiellonian University, located in the heart of the beautiful city of Kraków. Our lab uses a variety of technologies, including scalp and intracranial electrophysiology, eye-tracking, VR, psychophysics, combined with advanced signal processing and machine learning, to study neural mechanisms of cognition in health and disease (see Google Scholar <https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=O-mtQkIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao>). We are interested in questions including neural mechanisms of perception, memory, mind wandering. Specifically, we aim to understanding why our minds wander and how sensory systems interact in naturally uncertain environments. We explore limits of attention capacity, and many more. To do so, we combine experiments in natural settings (e.g., VR or movie watching) with controlled laboratory experiments including psychophysics and advanced analytical tools like machine learning, signal processing, large language models and more. We offer a vibrant international research environment, with English as the working language. Our lab is located in the heart of the beautiful city of Kraków (ul. Ingardena), right next to a beautiful park (Park Jordana) and within walking distance of the Old Town square and several other tourist attractions. We encourage interested candidates to get in touch to discuss the opportunities available. The department provides excellent infrastructure, including supporting staff and state-of-the-art equipment for conducting experiments (e.g., behavioral laboratories, EEG, eye-tracking, and VR setups, fMRI, TMS). Additionally, motivated candidates will have the chance to participate in numerous collaborative and international projects with partners at Columbia University in New York City, Nathan Kline Institute and University Hospital in Bonn. *Requirements* - *Postdoc applicants* must hold, or expect to hold, a doctorate in Psychology, Neuroscience, Computer Science, or related disciplines. An ideal candidate will have experience designing, performing, analyzing, and disseminating psychophysics studies or experimental studies using eye tracking, VR, EEG, MEG, or LFPs. Motivated candidates with other relevant experience are also encouraged to apply. Ability to work independently and proficiency in English are essential (no need to speak Polish). - *PhD applicants* should have previous programming experience and a research interest in neuroscience, perception, attention, mind wandering, memory, eye movements, sensory-motor, or multi-sensory interactions. Previous experience in analyzing psychophysiological signals is an asset. Ability to work independently and proficiency in English are essential (no need to speak Polish). For further inquiries about the positions, please contact Marcin Leszczyński at marcin.leszczynski(a)uj.edu.pl. *Application Process* Interested candidates should send a 1) cover letter describing research interests and motivation to join our lab (max. 2 pages), 2) curriculum vitae, 3) two reference contacts to Marcin Leszczyński. The application will remain open until the positions are filled.

April 4, 2025