- Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

SCGB Global Postdoc/Student Meeting: Tuesday, April 27th by C. Ann Duan

by Laura Long

The Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain (SCGB) hosts postdoc/student meetings to bring together trainees interested in neural coding and dynamics to discuss ideas and data. In addition to regional meetings in New York, Boston, and the Bay Area, SCGB holds a Global virtual series to connect systems and computational neuroscientists across the world. We would love to see you at this month's Global meeting! Please see event details and Zoom link below. SCGB Global Postdoc/Student Meeting: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/scgb-global-postdocstudent-meeting-tickets-146… Tuesday, April 27th, 9am Eastern Time https://simonsfoundation.zoom.us/j/93633603374?pwd=LytrcVp6MWlPY1dkb2UvbUJW… Passcode: 989252 C. Ann Duan SCGB Postdoctoral Fellow, Chinese Academy of Sciences Incoming Group Leader, Sainsbury Wellcome Centre *Cortical and collicular contributions to decision making in rats and mice* A central goal of behavioral neuroscience is to expose general principles of neural computation that give rise to cognition. Until recently, cognitive functions were thought to mainly rely on cortical areas such as the frontal cortex, while “old” subcortical areas, such as the midbrain superior colliculus (SC), have mostly been associated with sensorimotor processing. Based on these earlier work, we expected the SC to be passively inhibited while animals avoided unwanted reflexive actions. We were surprised to find that the SC played an active and pivotal role in suppressing context-inappropriate behaviors. Since then, my research has focused on understanding how the SC, in coordination with cortex, implements flexible decision making. My talk will cover work in two different decision-making tasks: flexible sensorimotor routing in freely-moving rats and motor planning in head-fixed mice. Using electrophysiology, optogenetics, pathway-specific two-photon calcium imaging, and computational modeling, we found that the SC is particularly important during the memory period in both tasks, when the context information or motor planning signals need to be maintained in the brain in the absence of sensory input and motor output. The participation of SC seems to increase as cognitive demand increases in both behaviors. Together, our experimental and computational work reveal the SC as a key node in the distributed cortico-subcortical network underlying flexible behaviors, and make surprising predictions for how decision making is implemented in brain circuits. *Please note that this meeting is open to all neuroscience postdocs and PhD students, regardless of location or SCGB affiliation (sorry, no PIs). *After Q&A with the speaker, we will open breakout rooms for anyone interested in staying to chat, network, or further discuss the talk. In addition to these breakouts, SCGB Scientific Staff will be available for "office hours" to chat and answer questions about SCGB programs and support. Registration on EventBrite is encouraged but not required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/scgb-global-postdocstudent-meeting-tickets-146… Please contact Laura Long at llong(a)simonsfoundation.org with any questions.

April 22, 2021

Postdoc / Research Fellow positions - Prague, Czech Republic - Institute of Computer Science CAS

by pokornam

POSTDOC / RESEARCH FELLOW POSITION IN BRAIN SIGNAL PROCESSING: VISUAL INFORMATION FLOWS is available to join the Complex Networks and Brain Dynamics group [1] for the project: "Timing of the spatial scene processing in the dorsal and ventral visual stream of the human brain" funded by the Czech Science Foundation. More information and application at: HTTPS://WWW.CS.CAS.CZ/JOB-OFFER/IEEG-POSTDOC-POSITIONS-HLINKA2/EN ___ POSTDOC /RESEARCH FELLOW POSITION IN COMPLEX NETWORK ANALYSIS: CRITICAL EVENTS DETECTION is available to join the Complex Networks and Brain Dynamics group [1] for the project: “MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX SYSTEMS FOR SAFETY OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURES“ as part of the National Center of Competence - Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence funded by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, and related projects. More information and application at: HTTPS://WWW.CS.CAS.CZ/JOB-OFFER/NCK-POSTDOC-POSITIONS-HLINKA1/EN Institute of Computer Science Czech Academy of Sciences Pod Vodarenskou vezi 2 Prague 8, 182 07, Czech Republic Links: ------ [1] http://cobra.cs.cas.cz/

April 22, 2021

12 PhD fellowships in Neuroscience at Unipd

by Samir Suweis

The Padova Neuroscience Center (http://pnc.unipd.it/ <http://pnc.unipd.it/>) is delighted to announce its second call for at least 12 fully funded PhD fellowships in Neuroscience at the University of Padova. The multidisciplinary PhD program includes research lines and methods from Multimodal Imaging, Molecular-Cellular-System, Cognitive-Affective-Behavioral, Translational-Clinical and Computational Neuroscience. The time-frame for the application is 8th of April-12th of May 2021 (at 1 pm). The details for the application are published at http://pnc.unipd.it/admission/ <http://pnc.unipd.it/admission/>. Interested candidates can also contact us (pnc.generalinfo(a)gmail.com <mailto:pnc.generalinfo@gmail.com>) for further information. Please forward this message to collaborators and students. Thanks **** Padova University <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6ksrtGO-aI> is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Europe - established in 1222. The University of Padova invests significantly in research activities and projects. Padova, is a small and beautiful town, shaped around the University <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHz98-ERwTs&t=243s>. Low living costs, great food, and you can bike everywhere! Samir Suweis, Ph.D. - - - - - - - - Assistant Professor, LIPh Lab - www.liphlab.com <http://www.liphlab.com/>, Physics & Astronomy Dept. Padova Neuroscience Center University of Padova Tel: +39 049 827 71 74 @SamirSuweis https://suweis.github.io/ <https://suweis.github.io/> Why don't you join the next generation publishing experiment with "Peer Community In" - publish and read at no cost and inject more money into research! Check us out @ https://peercommunityin.org <https://peercommunityin.org/> https://youtu.be/4PZhpnc8wwo <https://youtu.be/4PZhpnc8wwo> @PeerCommunityIn

April 22, 2021

FENS Regional Meeting 2021 - August 25-27 - ONLINE

by Michał Zaręba

*On behalf of my colleagues, I would like to invite you to participate in this year's FENS Regional Meeting (FRM), which takes place online on August 25-27, 2021. Abstracts can be submitted until May 10.* The FRM 2021 <https://fensfrm2021.pl/en> is organized jointly by the Polish Neuroscience Society (PNS) and the Lithuanian Neuroscience Association (LNA) under the auspices and with support from the Federation of the European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), and also with support from the International Brain Research Organization Pan-Europe Regional Committee (IBRO PERC). The FRM 2021 original city venue was Krakow, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Organizing Committee decided to hold the event on-line to ensure all attendees may meet safely. The conference will present the latest developments in neuroscience research and host panel discussions on topics ranging from directions for future development to diversity issues in the academia. The presidential and keynotes lecture of the meeting will be given by: - *Wolfram Schultz *(University of Cambridge, United Kingdom) - *Fiona Doetsch *(University of Basel, Switzerland) - *Virginijus Šikšnys* (Vilnius University, Lithuania) - *Naomi Anne Fineberg* (University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom) - *Jürgen Knoblich* (Institute of Molecular Biotechnology OAW, Vienna, Austria) - *Riita Hari* (Aalto University, Helsinki, Finnland) - *Arturas Petronis *(Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada) - *Amita Sehgal *(University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA) - *Gábor Nyiri *(Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary) More information regarding the conference can be found on the website. <https://fensfrm2021.pl/en>

April 21, 2021

postdoc on psychophysics and modelling of perceptual inference (CRM, Barcelona)

by Alexandre Hyafil

A postdoc position is available under the supervision of Alexandre Hyafil in the group of Computational Neuroscience at the *Center for Research in Mathematics (CRM),* Barcelona, Spain ( http://www.crm.cat/research-group/5/computational-neuroscience/ <http://www.crm.cat/en/Research/ResearchGroups/Neuroscience/Pages/default.as…>). The project will combine modelling and psychophysics (possibly neuroimaging) to study the computational mechanisms underlying human perception. The candidate will benefit from the stimulating environment of Barcelona area in Theoretical and Systems Neuroscience and will have the opportunity of enjoying a lively city (should the pandemics permit). Our lab forms part of a larger interacting network of neuroscience labs in Barcelona ( http://www.barccsyn.org) Candidates should have a PhD in computational neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience or a related field. Prior experience with psychophysics, neuroimaging, machine learning and/or computational modelling will be valued. Financial support is provided by the Spanish Ministry of Science. Initial appointment: two years. *APPLICATION:* Send a curriculum and motivation letter with a list of two contacts for recommendation letter to alexandre.hyafil(a)gmail.com. Informal enquiries are welcome. *DEADLINE:* until the position is filled

April 21, 2021

Postdoctoral associate positions in Decision Neuroscience and/or Computational Psychiatry (Virginia Tech)

by Pearl Chiu

Dear All, We are seeking talented postdocs at Virginia Tech! Please see the description below for more information. Apologies for cross-posting; please feel free to distribute broadly. Thanks for considering, Pearl --- Postdoctoral Associate Positions in Decision Neuroscience and/or Computational Psychiatry Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion Roanoke, Virginia Multiple openings are available immediately in the labs of Dr. Pearl Chiu and Dr. Brooks King-Casas at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion (http://research.vtc.vt.edu/) Projects in the labs use a variety of human neuroscience methods (fMRI, electrochemistry, MEG) to examine motivated behavior and social influences on decision-making with additional methods adapted from behavioral & computational neuroscience, experimental economics, computational psychiatry, and psychology. Ongoing projects focus on processes in individuals with and without psychopathology. Qualified candidates with basic science backgrounds are welcome, and training in applied science will be provided; a subset of projects also involve multi-dimensional biomarker development. For interested candidates, the labs provide plentiful opportunities to examine how neurobehavioral anomalies may be quantified and rehabilitated in depression, substance dependence, post-traumatic stress, personality disorders, and at-risk adolescents. The labs are located in the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion in Roanoke, VA, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. The FBRI provides full access to outstanding infrastructure, including three research-dedicated Siemens 3T scanners and a high-throughput computing cluster. The successful candidate will play a lead role in highly collaborative multidisciplinary scientific efforts. Minimum requirements for the position include: 1) a PhD in computational or cognitive neuroscience, engineering, psychology, experimental economics, or a related field; 2) facility with computational neuroscience, signal processing, Bayesian inference, or machine learning; and 3) demonstrated potential for excellence. Please forward a statement of interest and CV. Three letters of recommendation will be required of candidates under final consideration. Consideration of applications will begin immediately and will end when the positions are filled. Salary is competitive and will be commensurate with experience and qualifications. Virginia Tech Carilion is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer and is committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Send inquiries and materials to: Pearl Chiu, PhD and Brooks King-Casas, PhD chiup(a)vtc.vt.edu and bkcasas(a)vtc.vt.edu -- Pearl Chiu, PhD Associate Professor Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech VTC School of Medicine Salem VA Medical Center 2 Riverside Circle, R1110 Roanoke VA 24016 +1 540-526-2019 chiup(a)vtc.vt.edu

April 20, 2021

Call for Participation - The Chef's Hat Cup @ IJCAI2021

by Pablo Vinicius Alves De Barros

Call For Participation - The Chef's Hat Cup @ IJCAI2021 I. Aim and Scope Most of the current Reinforcement-Learning solutions, although having real-world-inspired scenarios, focus on a direct space-action-reward mapping between the agent's actions and the environment’s state. That translates to agents that can adapt to dynamic scenarios, but, when applied to competitive and/or cooperative cases, fail to assess and deal with the impact of their opponents. In most cases, when these agents choose an action, they do not take into consideration how other agents can affect the state of the scenario. In competitive scenarios, the agents have to learn decisions that a) maximize their chances of winning the game, and b) minimize their adversaries' goals, while in cooperative scenarios b) is inverted. Besides dealing with complex scenarios, such solutions would have to deal with the dynamics between the agents themselves. In this regard, social reinforcement learning is still behind the mainstream applications and demonstrations of the last years. We introduce here the Chef's Hat Cup, a competition that aims at the development of the most challenging artificial players! The competition is separated into two tracks: a competitive and a cooperative scenario. In the first track, the participants will use the already available simulation environment to develop the most effective agents to play the Chef’s Hat card game and be the winner. In the second track, they will have to develop an agent that can increase the chances of a dummy agent winning the game. More information: https://www.whisperproject.eu/chefshat#competition II. Deadlines Starting Date: April 20, 2021 Final submission: June 15, 2021 Winners Announcement: July 06, 2021 III. Team Registration Teams of up to five persons are invited to participate in the competition. You can register by sending the following information: Team name Participant Names and affiliation to this email: pablo.alvesdebarros(a)iit.it IV. Organizers Pablo Barros, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Italy Leandro Honorato, University of Pernambuco, Brazil Marco Matarese, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Italy Alessandra Sciutti, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Italy ---------------------------------------- Dr. Pablo Barros Postdoctoral Researcher - CONTACT Unit Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia – Center for Human Technologies Via Enrico Melen 83, Building B 16152 Genova, Italy email: pablo.alvesdebarros(a)iit.it website: https://www.pablobarros.net<http://www.pablobarros.net><https://www.p> twitter: @PBarros_br

April 20, 2021

2 postdoc positions in new SPIKEFERENCE project at AI department Donders Institute

by Justus H?botter

The AI department at the Donders Institute has two postdoc positions available for the new SPIKEFERENCE project. The application deadline is 9 May 2021. The SPIKEFERENCE project, co-funded by the Human Brain Project (HBP), aims to control industrial robots with neuroscience-inspired algorithms providing adaptation and conditional hierarchical problem-solving. You will work in close collaboration with the supervisors (Pablo Lanillos, Serge Thill and Marcel van Gerven), other postdocs and a PhD student. You will join an exciting and vibrant young team of experts in ML, AI and neuromorphic computing, and profit from the newly created ELLIS unit in Nijmegen and the HBP community. Postdoc 1. Deep Learning profile - https://solliciteren.ru.nl/cgi-bin/share/og_pxs.pl?target=LI&recid=1148428 This postdoctoral researcher position is framed in a new promising line of research within neuroscience-inspired artificial intelligence linked to adaptation and improvisation. Starting from our current deep active inference models, you will develop novel algorithms for robot perception and action by combining ideas from state representation learning, variational inference and functional models of the brain. Postdoc 2. SpikingNN robot control profile - https://solliciteren.ru.nl/cgi-bin/share/og_pxs.pl?target=LI&recid=1148452 This postdoctoral researcher position will develop SNN models for robot control, inspired by our current deep active inference algorithms and SNN controllers, assess and validate them against current predictive coding SNNs models, and demonstrate the networks on the Neurorobotics platform, from a simple proof of concept in basic environments to initial control of a UR5e. Do you want to shape the future of robot AI? Join Us. Soon the SPIKEFERENCE website will be available with more info. The project will have two amazing external advisors: Karl Friston and Chris Eliasmith Link to the recently awarded project: https://www.ru.nl/donders/news/news/@1309322/ai-scientists-join-human-brain… Pablo Lanillos, Serge Thill, Marcel van Gerven. Dr. Pablo Lanillos www.therobotdecision.com<http://www.therobotdecision.com> Assistant professor in Cognitive Artificial Intelligence | AI Robotics Lab ELLIS Nijmegen Unit Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, the Netherlands p.lanillos @ donders.ru.nl

April 20, 2021

Announcing Neuromatch Academy courses for 2021!

by Mohamed Abdelhack

Dear colleagues, We are excited to announce that Neuromatch Academy (NMA) will offer two courses this year: NMA-Computational Neuroscience: July 5-23, 2021 Content: https://github.com/NeuromatchAcademy/course-content NMA-Deep Learning: Aug 2-20, 2021 Content: https://github.com/NeuromatchAcademy/course-content-dl Applications for interactive students and teaching assistants will be open April 15 to May 7th 2021. Faculty interested in being project mentors can use the same portal to apply. Application Portal: https://portal.neuromatchacademy.org/ What is Neuromatch Academy? Neuromatch Academy (NMA) launched last year as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our aimis to provide globally-accessible, high-quality, TA-supported training in computational techniques related to neuroscience. In 2020, NMA designed and ran a fully online 3-week Computational Neuroscience course for 1757 students with 191 teaching assistants (TAs) working in virtual inverted (or flipped) classrooms and on small group projects. Fourteen languages, active community management, and low cost allowed for an unprecedented level of inclusivity and universal accessibility. What’s in a course? Our courses are intensive 3-week programs involving hands-on tutorials developed by experts in the field. We have two tracks for students: interactive and observer. Accepted interactive students are placed into TA-led pods (groups) using the neuromatch algorithm, which matches students with common interests who are in the same timezone and their preferred language for instruction. Interactive students receive personalized support as they work through hands-on tutorials and collaborate on course projects. Officially registered observer track students have full access to the materials, access to NMA course communications (e.g., Discord), and can choose to be matched with other observer track students What does it cost? We charge full-time students/academics a region adjusted small fee for the Interactive track in order to pay for TAs (fee waivers are available to those who need it, no questions asked). Students without an academic affiliation (i.e., industry applicants) are charged the full unsubsidized cost of the school, but can also inquire about waivers. Observer track participants have access to all the content at no cost, but are not placed in TA-led pods. Please see the website (https://academy.neuromatch.io/) for additional information, pre-course resources and volunteer opportunities! Warm Regards, Neuromatch Academy team Follow [@neuromatch](https://twitter.com/neuromatch) on twitter for regular updates!

April 19, 2021

Announcing "Bernstein SmartSteps - Featuring Early Career Scientists"

by Anja Dorrn

The Bernstein SmartSteps<https://www.bernstein-network.de/en/the-network/bernstein-smartsteps/aboutB…> series provides a unique platform for selected Early Career Scientists of the Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience<https://www.bernstein-network.de/en> to present their research projects to the scientific community. Once a month, starting in April 2021, one PhD candidate and one Postdoc who are ready to take their next (smart) step for their scientific career will discuss their research in an online seminar. Join the Bernstein SmartSteps Series as an audience if you are interested in cutting-edge computational neuroscience and want to watch out for new talents in the field. The live talks will be held in Zoom. A recording will be published in a separate collection on the Bernstein Vimeo Channel. Please register here<https://bit.ly/3e43j5s>, if you would like to join for the live talks. A link to the event in Zoom will be sent shortly before via email. Spring Talks 2021<https://bit.ly/BeSmSt> Thursday, April 29, 4 pm CEST * Gily Ginosar (Ulanovsky lab) | Weizmann Institut, Rehovot, Israel Locally-ordered representation of 3D space in the entorhinal cortex * Friedrich Schuessler (Barak lab) | Technion, Haifa, Israel Recurrent network dynamics lead to interference in sequential learning Thursday, May 20, 4 pm CEST * Claire Meissner-Bernard (Friedrich lab) | Friedrich Miescher Institut, Basel, Schweiz Co-tuned, balanced excitation and inhibition in olfactory memory networks * Samuel Eckmann (Gjorgjieva lab) | Max Planck Institut für Hirnforschung, Frankfurt, Deutschland A theory for Hebbian learning in recurrent E-I networks Thursday, June 10, 4 pm CEST * Paul Pfeiffer (Schreiber lab) | Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Deutschland Capacitance clamp - artificial capacitance in biological neurons via dynamic clamp * Willem Wybo (Morrison lab) | Forschungszentrum Jülich, Deutschland Data-driven reduction of dendritic morphologies with preserved dendro-somatic responses -- Dr. Anja Dorrn Scientific Coordinator Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience | Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS) Branch Office of the Forschungszentrum Jülich at the University of Freiburg Hansastr. 9A | 79104 Freiburg, Germany phone: (+49) 0761 203 9589 web: www.bernstein-network.de<http://www.bernstein-network.de> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Volker Rieke Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Frauke Melchior ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

April 16, 2021