- Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

call for papers: PRNI 2016 submission now open

by Jo Etzel

******* please accept our apologies for cross-posting ******* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS: SUBMISSION NOW OPEN PRNI 2016 6th International Workshop on Pattern Recognition in Neuroimaging 22-24 June 2016 Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), Trento, Italy www.prni.org - @PRNI2016 - www.facebook.com/PRNI2016/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Paper submission opens: 18 February 2016 Paper submission deadline: 18 March 2016, 11:59 pm PST Acceptance notification: 22 April 2016 Camera-ready paper deadline: 7 May 2016 Oral and poster sessions: 22-24 June 2016 Pattern recognition techniques have become an important tool for neuroimaging data analysis. These techniques are helping to elucidate normal and abnormal brain function, cognition and perception, anatomical and functional brain architecture, biomarkers for diagnosis and personalized medicine, and as a scientific tool to decipher neural mechanisms underlying human cognition. The International Workshop on Pattern Recognition in Neuroimaging (PRNI) aims to: (1) foster dialogue between developers and users of cutting-edge analysis techniques in order to find matches between analysis techniques and neuroscientific questions; (2) showcase recent methodological advances in pattern recognition algorithms for neuroimaging analysis; and (3) identify challenging neuroscientific questions in need of new analysis approaches. PRNI welcomes submissions on topics including, but not limited to: * Learning from neuroimaging data - Algorithms for brain-state decoding or encoding - Optimization and regularization - Bayesian analysis of neuroimaging data - Causal inference and time delay techniques - Network and connectivity models (the connectome) - Dynamic and time-varying models - Dynamical systems and simulations - Empirical mode decomposition, multiscale decompositions - Combination of different data modalities - Efficient algorithms for large-scale data analysis * Interpretability of models and results - High-dimensional data visualization - Multivariate and multiple hypothesis testing - Summarization and presentation of inference results * Applications - Disease diagnosis and prognosis - Real-time decoding of brain states - Analysis of resting-state and task-based data - MEG, EEG, structural MRI, fMRI, diffusion MRI, ECoG, NIRS Authors should prepare full papers with a maximum length of 4 pages (two column IEEE style) for double-blind review. Manuscript submission is now open, and ends 18 March 2016. Accepted manuscripts will be assigned either to an oral or poster sessions; all accepted manuscripts will be included in the workshop proceedings.

Feb. 19, 2016

Cajal Course in Computational Neuroscience 2016

by Máté Lengyel

CAJAL COURSE IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE 7-27 August 2016, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal + pre-school 2-5 August 2016 http://www.cccn.pt Applications deadline: 28 March 2016 DIRECTORS * Gilles Laurent (Max Plank Institute for Brain Research, Germany) * Máté Lengyel (University of Cambridge, UK) * Christian Machens (Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Portugal) This three-weeks school teaches the central ideas, methods, and practice of modern computational neuroscience through a combination of lectures and hands-on project work. Each morning will be devoted to lectures given by distinguished international faculty on topics across the breadth of experimental and computational neuroscience. During the rest of the day, students will work on research projects in teams of 2-3 people under the close supervision of expert tutors and faculty. Research projects will be proposed by faculty before the course, and will include the modeling of neurons, neural systems, behavior, the analysis of state-of-the-art neural data (behavioral data, multi-electrode recordings, calcium imaging data, connectomics data, etc.), and the development of theories to explain experimental observations. The course is designed for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from a variety of disciplines, including neuroscience, physics, electrical engineering, computer science, mathematics and psychology. Students are expected to have a keen interest and basic background in neurobiology, a solid foundation in mathematics, as well as some computer experience. An optional four-day pre-school in mathematics and programming is available to students who want to catch up on or fine-tune their math and programming skills. Essential details: * Course size: 24 students maximum * Fee (which covers tuition, lodging, and meals): 2500 EUR (+ 300 EUR for optional pre-school) * Scholarships and travel stipends are available. * Application deadline: 28 March 2015 * Notification of results: April 2015 Information and application http://www.cccn.pt Contact address: Tânia Li Chen <tania.chen(a)neuro.fchampalimaud.org> FACULTY * Alberto Bernacchia (Cambridge University, UK) * Matthias Bethge (Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Germany) * Dmitri (Mitya) Chklovskii (Simons Center for Data Analysis, USA) * Claudia Clopath (Imperial College London, UK) * Peter Dayan (Gatsby Computational Neuroscience, UCL, UK) * Sophie Denève (Institut d'Etudes de la Cognition (IEC), France) * Alain Destexhe (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France) * David Fitzpatrick (Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, USA) * Michael Hausser (Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, UCL, UK) * Moritz Helmstaedter (Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Germany) * Guillaume Hennequin (Cambridge University, UK) * Karel Ježek (Charles University, Czech Republic) * Matthias Kaschube (Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, Germany) * Gilles Laurent (MPI Brain Research, Germany) * Peter Latham (Gatsby Computational Neuroscience, UCL, UK) * Simon Laughlin (University of Cambridge, UK) * Máté Lengyel (University of Cambridge, UK) * Zhaoping Li (University College London, UK) * Jennifer Linden (Ear Institute, UCL, UK) * Christian Machens (Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Portugal) * Jakob Macke (Center of Advanced European Studies and Research, Germany) * Tom Mrsic-Flogel (University of Basel, Switzerland) * Yael Niv (Princeton Neuroscience Institute, USA) * Maneesh Sahani (Gatsby Computational Neuroscience, UCL, UK) * Andreas Tolias (Baylor College of Medicine, USA) * Alessandro Treves (International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Italy) * Daniel Wolpert (Cambridge University, UK)

Feb. 18, 2016

Postdoc in Computational Neuroscience, Cambridge

by Máté Lengyel

We are seeking a highly creative and motivated postdoctoral fellow to work jointly in the Lengyel and Wolpert groups in the Computational and Biological Learning Lab, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge. Our groups study learning, perception and motor control using theory-driven approaches. The jointly led project will combine human psychophysical experiments and advanced theoretical methods to analyse and model the data. Areas of interest include decision making, active learning, cognitive representations, reinforcement learning. The successful candidate will have - a strong quantitative background - demonstrable interest in theoretical neuroscience as well as carrying out human psychophysical experiments - obtained (or be close to the completion of) a PhD or equivalent in computational neuroscience, physics, mathematics, computer science, machine learning or a related field Preference will be given to candidates with - previous experience in computational and / or behavioural neuroscience - sufficient programming skills to run numerical simulations (eg. in C, Python, or MatLab) - expertise with advanced data analysis and Bayesian techniques Salary: £28,982 - £37,768 pa. The funds for this post are available for two years in the first instance. For informal queries, please contact Máté Lengyel <m.lengyel(a)eng.cam.ac.uk> or Daniel Wolpert <wolpert(a)eng.cam.ac.uk>. Máté Lengyel will also be attending the COSYNE 2016 meeting in Salt Lake City between 25 Feb - 1 Mar where he will be happy to discuss details with potential applicants. -- Mate Lengyel, PhD Computational and Biological Learning Lab Cambridge University Engineering Department Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK tel: +44 (0)1223 748 532, fax: +44 (0)1223 765 587 email: m.lengyel(a)eng.cam.ac.uk web: www.eng.cam.ac.uk/~m.lengyel

Feb. 18, 2016

NEURAL COMPUTATION - March 1, 2016

by Terry Sejnowski

Neural Computation - Volume 28, Number 3 - March 1, 2016 Available online for download now: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/neco/28/3 ----- Article Orthogonal Connectivity Factorization: Interpretable Decomposition of Variability in Correlation Matrices Aapo Hyvarinen, Jun-ichiro Hirayama, Vesa Kiviniemi, and Motoaki Kawanabe Note A Block Successive Lower-Bound Maximization Algorithm for the Maximum Pseudolikelihood Estimation of Fully Visible Boltzmann Machines Hien D Nguyen, Ian A Wood Letters Microdomain [Ca2+] Fluctuations Alter Temporal Dynamics in Models of Ca2+-dependent Signaling Cascades and Synaptic Vesicle Release Seth H Weinberg Kernelized Elastic Net Regularization: Generalization Bounds and Sparse Recovery Yunlong Feng, Shao-Gao Lv, Hanyuan Hang, and Johan A.K. Suykens An Online Policy Gradient Algorithm for Markov Decision Processes With Continuous States and Actions Yao Ma, Tingting Zhao, Kohei Hatano, and Masashi Sugiyama The Development of an Information Criterion for Change-Point Analysis Colin H LaMont, Paul A. Wiggins ------------ ON-LINE -- http://www.mitpressjournals.org/neuralcomp SUBSCRIPTIONS - 2016 - VOLUME 28 - 12 ISSUES Student/Retired $78 Individual $138 Institution $1,108 MIT Press Journals, One Rogers Street, Cambridge, MA 02142-1209 Tel: (617) 253-2889 FAX: (617) 577-1545 journals-cs(a)mit.edu ------------

Feb. 18, 2016

Call for papers on Biological Applications of Information Theory, a special issue in honor of Claude Shannon's centennial

by Dimitrov, Alexander

In honor of Claude Shannon’s centennial: We are pleased to announce a Special issue of the IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications on Biological Applications of Information Theory Submission deadline April 30, 2016 Claude Shannon, born April 30, 1916, pioneered the mathematical theory of communication in his 1948 paper in the Bell System Technical Journal. Information theory has since provided the foundation for the digital revolution in communications technology. In addition, it has provided a powerful framework for investigating the fundamental limitations of naturally occurring communications, particularly in biological systems. Early applications included consideration of redundancy reduction in sensory pathways (Attneave 1954, Barlow 1961), ionizing radiation and mutagenesis (Yockey 1958), efficiency of metabolic processes (Johnson and Knudsen 1965), and analysis of reliable computation in the presence of noise (Cowan and Winograd 1963). Modern developments have accelerated in recent years as a result of advances in MEMS/NEMS and systems biology, the emergence of synthetic bacteria and lab/process-on-a-chip techniques, and collection of large data sets in both electrophysiology and cell biology. It is now possible to design chemical “circuits”, custom organisms, micro/nanoscale swarms of devices, and a host of other new systems at small length scales, and across multiple scales (e.g., micro to macro). This success opens up a new frontier for interdisciplinary communications techniques using chemistry, biology, and other principles that have not been considered in the communications literature, as well as creating new ways of understanding the principles underlying communication in biological systems at many scales. The special issue will celebrate Shannon’s centennial by highlighting success stories and current progress in biological and bio-inspired information theory. In particular, we hereby solicit both invited and submitted papers in three interrelated areas: 1. Information theory and cellular/molecular biology/biochemistry (including information theory and intercellular communication); 2. Information theory and neuroscience; and 3. Information-theoretic analysis of biologically inspired communication systems (including nanonetworking and design of biologically implemented information processing networks). Contributions from researchers beyond the IEEE’s typical audience are encouraged. Submission Instructions Submissions will be collected via Manuscript Central, http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tmbmc/ . In your cover letter, state: “This paper is a submission for the Shannon Centennial special issue". For further information, please contact the corresponding guest editor, Prof. Peter Thomas (pjthomas__at__case.edu) Special Issue Guest Editors Prof. Alexander G. Dimitrov Department of Mathematics and Statistics Department of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience Washington State University, Vancouver, Washington, USA Prof. Faramarz Fekri Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Prof. Aurel Lazar Department of Electrical Engineering Columbia University, New York, New York, USA Prof. Stefan M. Moser Signal and Information Processing Lab (ISI) ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering National Chiao Tung University (NCTU), Hsinchu, Taiwan Prof. Peter J. Thomas* Department of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department of Biology Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA *corresponding guest editor -- Alexander Dimitrov Department of Mathematics and Statistics Washington State University 14204 NE Salmon Creek Ave Vancouver WA 98686 alex.dimitrov(a)wsu.edu http://directory.vancouver.wsu.edu/people/alexander-dimitrov

Feb. 18, 2016

Call for applications: SMART START - a joint training progamm in Computational Neuroscience for young researchers

by Mareike Kardinal

*Call for applications* Ready for a *SMART*/START/ into Computational Neuroscience? We invite first and second-year Master students with a background in related fields to apply to our joint training program *SMART*/START/. The program aims at complementing previous studies with concepts, theories and techniques of Computational Neuroscience. *SMART*/START /consists of two programs. Both of them last one year each and take place at numerous locations of the Bernstein Network and further locations throughout Germany. *SMART*/START /1 provides financial support to then second-year Master students, allowing them to attend supplementary courses and training visits at participating institutions. Students will receive an experienced faculty mentor who will advise and guide them at this educational stage. *SMART*/START /2 provides fully funded positions for pre-PhD students. At the start of the program, these students will have already obtained their Master´s degree and are in the process of selecting a PhD project. *SMART*/START /2 allows them to elaborate their own PhD proposal as a collaborative project between two labs. This comprises exchange visits as well as voluntary attendance of lectures and courses offered by participating institutions. Both *SMART*/START/ programs will commence in the winter term 2016/17. _Deadline for application is Monday, Feb 29, 2016._ More information can be found on our website: www.smartstart-compneuro.de Best regards, Mareike Kardinal -- Dr. Mareike Kardinal Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience Press & Public Relations Officer, Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS) Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg Hansastr. 9A 79104 Freiburg, Germany phone: +49-761-203-9593 mareike.kardinal(a)bcos.uni-freiburg.de www.nncn.de Twitter: NNCN_Germany YouTube: Bernstein TV Facebook: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany LinkedIn: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany

Feb. 18, 2016

Mediterranean Neuroscience 2017 - Call for Symposia

by Demian Battaglia

Mediterranean Neuroscience 2017 - Call for Symposia ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The next Conference of the Mediterranean Neuroscience Society (MNS, http://www.mnsociety.net/) will be held in Malta in June 9-12th 2017. The MNS has been created to support and help strengthen all initiatives that bring together neuroscientists from European, Mediterranean and MENA region countries. It is a member society of IBRO (http://ibro.info) belonging to both European and African chapters of the international organization. The MNS works towards three main objectives: 1) Strengthen exchanges between mediterranean neuroscientists 2) Promote education in the neurosciences and increase public awareness of progress made (organizing e.g. Euro-mediterranean master programs) 3) Sustain the Mediterranean Neuroscience Conference, as an open forum for neuroscience discussions and team-building across the North-South shores of the Mediterranean The last Mediterranean Conference of Neuroscience was organized in June 2015 in Sardinia (Italy). The call for symposia for the next MNS conference is now open Symposia dealing with all areas of neuroscience research, including computational and systems neuroscience or neuroimaging are invited. The symposium organizer should submit a proposal in the following format: - Title of the symposium - Name(s) and address(s) of the organizer(s) - General abstract of the symposium describing the aims of the symposium (no more than 500 words) - Name, address, e-mail, Country and title of the presentation of each speaker (no abstracts are requested at this stage) - Use Times New Roman in 12 point and 1.5 spacing, with the title underlined. A typical symposium gathers 4-5 speakers, each addressing the general topic from a different perspective. Total allocated time is 2 hours. The conference language will be English. The participation of scientists from MENA countries, whether as organizers of symposia or as speakers, is highly encouraged. The gender ratio within each proposal will also be taken into account to reach a decision. MNS has limited funding for conferences and does not reimburse speakers expenses. We will offer however a common location, logistic support, allowing a larger visibility for the proposed initiatives. The MNS and its partners will also provide a limited number of stipends for qualified young candidates. Deadline for submitting a proposal is May 15th, 2016. Proposal can be submitted at the website: http://www.mnsociety.net/call-for-symposia/ For informations you can contact: Demian Battaglia (demian.battaglia(a)univ-amu.fr) or Marc Landry (marc.landry(a)u-bordeaux.fr) ----> If you want a mediterranean FENS... propose your symposium and make this Mediterranean Neuroscience conference alive! PS: follow us on Twitter, https://twitter.com/MnSociety

Feb. 18, 2016

Valentino Braitenberg Award for Computational Neuroscience - Call for Nominations

by Kerstin Schwarzwaelder

Dear Colleagues, The Bernstein Association for Computational Neuroscience <http://www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-association> invites nominations for the *V**alentino Braitenberg Award for Computational Neuroscience.* The award is biannually presented by the Bernstein Association to a scientist in recognition of outstanding research that contributes to our understanding of the functioning of the brain. The major criterion for the award is the impact or potential impact of the recipient's research on the field of brain science. In the spirit of Valentino Braitenberg's research, special emphasis is given to theoretical studies elucidating the functional implications of brain structures and their neuronal network dynamics. The awardee receives a €5.000 prize donated by the Autonome Provinz Bozen Südtirol as well as complimentary participation (registration, travel, and hotel accomodation) in the Bernstein Conference 2016. Here, the prize is awarded together with a Golden Neuron pin badge in a special ceremony that includes the Valentino Braitenberg lecture given by the awardee. Nominations may be submitted by scientists working in the field of Computational Neuroscience and should include the following documents: - One-page laudation, in which the scientific work of the candidate is honored with regard to the award's criteria - CV and list of publications *Deadline for nominations is **April 30, 2016 *by e-mail to an.huber(a)fz-juelich.de The call for nominations can be found under the followingn URL: www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-association/valentino-braitenberg-award-for-comput… For inquiries please contact an.huber(a)fz-juelich.de Best regards, Andrea Huber Brösamle -- Dr. Kerstin Schwarzwälder Bernstein Coordination Site of the National Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg Hansastr. 9A 79104 Freiburg Germany phone: +49 761 203 9594 schwarzwaelder(a)bcos.uni-freiburg.de www.nncn.de

Feb. 17, 2016

Openings for postdocs in Geneva

by Jolivet, Renaud

(Apologies for cross-posting) I am looking for postdocs to expand my lab and contribute to medical physics activities in our department. My lab is shared between the Département de Physique Nucléaire et Corpusculaire at the University of Geneva (http://dpnc.unige.ch/) and the Experimental Physics Department of CERN (http://home.cern/) with access to a brand new wet lab for experiments at Geneva University Hospitals (http://www.hug-ge.ch/) This is a unique opportunity to work at the interface between physics, biology and medicine with a focus in neuroscience, and to build a vast scientific network in a truly multidisciplinary and international environment. I am particularly interested by candidates with a profile in neuroscience (computational or experimental) to work on two distinct projects. The first (computational) project will build on recent papers investigating [i] the compartmentalisation of energy metabolism in the brain (http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004036; http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0415-11.2011; http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/neuro.14.004.2009) and [ii] how energetic constraints shape information processing in neural networks (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.10.063; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2012.08.019) The second project will build on yet unpublished data (paper in revision) and investigate the physiology and pathophysiology of microglia in vivo using multiphoton microscopy. Other research directions are possible and can be discussed. It is anticipated that the candidates will apply for their own funding, for instance a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship (or equivalent; see here http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h…) If eligible, candidates could also consider an Ambizione fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation as a path to independence (http://www.snf.ch/en/funding/careers/ambizione/Pages/default.aspx) If you are interested, please contact me at renaud.jolivet(a)unige.ch and send me a CV, list of publications, the names of three references and a brief description of your research interests. More information about life in Geneva can be found here https://www.lonelyplanet.com/switzerland/geneva and here http://www.ville-geneve.ch/welcome-geneva/. The University of Geneva ranks 33 for science worldwide (http://www.shanghairanking.com/FieldSCI2015.html) — Prof. Renaud Jolivet CERN, Experimental Physics Department & University of Geneva, Physics Section +41 22 767 24 70 (CERN) +41 22 379 62 75 (UNIGE) +41 79 830 21 29 (mobile) renaud.blaise.jolivet(a)cern.ch<mailto:renaud.blaise.jolivet@cern.ch> https://sites.google.com/site/renaudjolivet/

Feb. 17, 2016

Workshop on neuronal data analyses, June 1-10, 2016

by Artur Luczak

Campus Alberta Neuroscience is pleased to announce the third annual Introductory Workshop on Computational Methods in Neuroscience. This ten-day workshop is comprised of lectures and hands-on Matlab exercises to introduce students to neuronal data analysis methods. The workshop is aimed at graduate students with little prior experience in quantitative methods who want to learn more about Matlab and its application for data analyses. Most costs including registration fees, travel to Lethbridge, accommodation, and most meals will be covered for Alberta trainees. Individuals from outside of Alberta are encouraged to apply, but must cover their own costs. These costs are estimated to be around $1300 (excluding travel). Registration for the workshop is now open; complete applications must be received by March 11, 2016. The workshop will take place at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, June 1 - 10, 2016, and will be followed by an optional online component with more in depth topics. The course Director is Dr. Bruce McNaughton and course instructors include Drs David Euston, Aaron Gruber, Artur Luczak, Masami Tatsuno and Majid Mohajerani. Further information and application details are available at: http://www.albertaneuro.ca/content/computational For any questions please contact: albertaneuro(a)uleth.ca Cheers, Artur ------------------------------------------------ Artur Luczak, Ph.D., Assoc. Professor Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience Department of Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB, T1K 3M4, Canada tel.: (403) 394-3974; fax: (403) 329-2775 http://lethbridgebraindynamics.com/artur_luczak

Feb. 16, 2016