- Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

Two open faculty positions; U Colorado Medical School

by Zylberberg, Joel L

Dear Colleagues, The Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Colorado Medical School is looking for two new faculty members in neuroscience and / or physiology, including computational neuroscience. The advert is attached. Please consider applying and / or forward this advert to colleagues who might be interested. Thanks for your consideration. Sincerely, __ Joel Zylberberg, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Physiology and Biophysics University of Colorado School of Medicine www.jzlab.org<http://www.jzlab.org> CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar, Learning in Machines and Brains program ~the neuroscience is theoretical, but the fun is real

Oct. 12, 2017

Postdoctoral fellowship in the neuroscience of decision-making

by Paul Cisek

Postdoctoral fellow in the neuroscience of decision-making Department of neuroscience, laboratory of Paul Cisek Applications are invited for a postdoctoral fellowship in cognitive neuroscience, in the laboratory of Paul Cisek at the University of Montréal. Our research group studies the neural mechanisms of decision-making in humans and non-human primates using computational models of the nervous system as well as behavioral experiments, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and multi-electrode recording, and we have several ongoing collaborations involving fMRI, MEG and intracranial EEG. See www.cisek.org/pavel <http://www.cisek.org/pavel> for information on current projects and a list of sample publications. The successful applicant will lead a research project investigating real-time dynamic decision-making through simultaneous multi-electrode recordings in the basal ganglia and the prefrontal, premotor and motor cortex of non-human primates. A Ph.D. in neuroscience or related field is required, and prior experience in neurophysiology and/or computational modeling of neural systems is highly desirable. Depending on the applicant's qualifications and interests, they will help to design and conduct behavioral and neurophysiological experiments, analyze data, develop theoretical models of neural mechanisms, prepare manuscripts for publication, and participate in international conferences. For further information, please contact Dr. Paul Cisek (paul.cisek(a)umontreal.ca <mailto:paul.cisek@umontreal.ca> ). Applicants are asked to send a cover letter, curriculum vita, copies of academic transcripts, an optional statement of research interests, and the names and contact information of 2 or 3 references, to: Dr. Paul Cisek Department of neuroscience, University of Montréal C.P. 6128 Succursale Centre-ville Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, CANADA Phone: 514-343-6111 x4355 Web: www.cisek.org/pavel <http://www.cisek.org/pavel> email: paul.cisek(a)umontreal.ca <mailto:paul.cisek@umontreal.ca> Applications will be accepted until the position is filled, but preference will be given to applications received by November 30, 2017. Interviews will be possible at the Society for Neuroscience meeting (Washington DC, November 11-15, 2017)

Oct. 11, 2017

Postdoc positions available at University of Pittsburgh

by Runyan, Caroline A.

Postdoctoral positions are available in the Runyan lab in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh and the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition. Our research involves dissecting inhibitory and neuromodulatory circuits across the cortical hierarchy. Our goal is to understand how changes in behavioral context and brain state shift local information processing and the transmission of information between cortical networks. We use two-photon imaging of population activity and optogenetics in head-fixed mice performing perceptual decision-making tasks. See Runyan et al., Nature, 2017 and carolinerunyan.org<http://carolinerunyan.org> for more information about our work. We are seeking individuals with experience in two-photon imaging, large-scale electrophysiology, optogenetics, and/or computational modeling. As we build our laboratory and our own approach to understanding the brain, the ideal candidates should have strongly driven scientific curiosity and problem-solving skills, as well as excellent interpersonal skills. This position offers the opportunity to participate in building a new research program, and to work in the highly collaborative, collegial environment at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. See cnbc.cmu.edu and cnup.neurobio.pitt.edu for more details. Interested candidates should send a CV, statement of research interests, and contact information for at least two references to runyan(a)pitt.edu. Caroline Runyan Assistant Professor Department of Neuroscience University of Pittsburgh Office: Langley A453, 412-383-4336 runyan(a)pitt.edu

Oct. 11, 2017

Postdoctoral position at the University of Rochester

by Tatiana Pasternak

Postdoctoral position in cognitive neuroscience Postdoctoral position to study cortical circuitry underlying memory-guided visual decisions is available immediately in the laboratory of Dr. Tatiana Pasternak in the Department of Neuroscience and Center for Visual Science. The focus of the research program is on the activity of large populations of simultaneously recorded neurons across cortical network to identify on a trial-by-trial basis neural codes and network dynamics that underlie memory and comparison processes during perceptual decisions. The analysis will emphasize inter-neuronal and inter-areal interactions and synchrony as well as population decoding algorithms. Experimental approaches include array recording of spiking and LFP activity from prefrontal and extrastriate visual cortical regions of non-human primates during memory-guided sensory comparison tasks. Other approaches include reversible inactivation and microstimulation of identified cortical sites. An important component of the work is a collaboration with computational neuroscientists and developing models aimed at mechanisms underlying maintenance and utilization of visual information in decision-making. Preference will be given to candidates with strong quantitative background with experience in the analysis of physiological data and extracellular recordings. Applicants with strong background in related disciplines of systems neuroscience and/or computer science & engineering are welcome to apply. Experience with MATLAB/PYTHON programming and proficient knowledge of the English language are required. The University of Rochester offers a stimulating research environment and excellent opportunities for interactions and training in cognitive neuroscience and visual science. Interested applicants should send CV and names/contact information of three references to Dr. Pasternak. Please include a cover letter detailing your current research activities, expertise and the reasons for your interest in this position. **************************************** Tatiana Pasternak, Ph.D. Professor Departments of Neuroscience, Brain & Cognitive Science, Biomedical Engineering, and Center for Visual Science University of Rochester 585 275-8668 (office)

Oct. 10, 2017

PhD positions at the Max Planck Research School for Neural Circuits, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

by Jochen Triesch

8th Call for applications: International Max Planck Research School for Neural Circuits, Frankfurt am Main, Germany The International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Neural Circuits was established in 2011 and offers up to ten fully-paid positions every year for talented students holding a relevant Master´s or Bachelor´s as their highest degree to perform research resulting in a PhD. The program is taught in English. The common focus of the the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Neural Circuits will be the understanding of neural circuits (from the simple to the large and complex), at all scales required to achieve this understanding. This ambitious objective will require analyses at the molecular, cellular, multi-cellular, network and behavioral levels, with the full understanding that macroscopic phenomena (spatial patterns, dynamics) can be scale-dependent, and that reductionism is not always sufficient as a method. Research areas are perception, connectomics, theoretical neuroscience, synaptic plasticity, brain dynamics, neural circuits, behavior and systems neuroscience. In the IMPRS for Neural Circuits we offer a multidisciplinary program to excellent doctoral students with backgrounds in neuroscience, mathematics, physics, computer science, (bio) chemistry, biology and medicine as well as research experience in the participating institutions of the Frankfurt Neuroscience community. Students will participate in a tailor-made educational program including research rotations and neuroscience courses but also in trainings in transferable skills as well as retreats, conferences and summer schools and lecture series. We welcome excellent students to apply to the program. Till December 1, 2017, it will be possible to apply for a position starting in the Fall of 2018. You can apply via our electronic registration system. After the deadline, the Faculty members will select around 25 students to participate in the interview symposium in Frankfurt, taking place in February 5-7, 2018. Shortly after the symposium, the students will receive a letter with an offer or rejection. More information, including Frequently Asked Questions, can be found on our website www.imprs.brain.mpg.de. -- Prof. Dr. Jochen Triesch Johanna Quandt Research Professor Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies http://fias.uni-frankfurt.de/~triesch/ Tel: +49 (0)69 798-47531 Fax: +49 (0)69 798-47611

Oct. 10, 2017

2 postdoc positions in Geometric Methods for Deep and Reinforcement Learning at RIST

by Luigi Malagò

=========================================================== *Subject*: 2 postdoc positions in Machine Learning (1 year, renewable up to 3 years) *Institution*: RIST - Romanian Institute of Science and Technology, Cluj-Napoca *Keywords*: Deep Learning, Reinforcement Learning, Stochastic Optimization, Optimization over Manifolds, Information Geometry, Riemannian Geometry *Application deadline*: 20 October 2017 (applicants are encouraged to apply earlier) *Salary*: around 2190 euro net *Official announcement*: http://rist.ro/en/details/news/postdoc- positions-in-deep-learning-and-machine-learning.html =========================================================== Dear colleagues, the Romanian Institute of Science and Technology (RIST) has an opening for 2 postdoc positions, in the context of the DeepRiemann project “Riemannian Optimization Methods for Deep Learning”, funded by European structural funds through the Competitiveness Operational Program (POC 2014-2020). The appointments will be for 1 year, with possible extensions up to 3 years. The DeepRiemann project aims at the design and analysis of novel training algorithms for Neural Networks in Deep Learning, by applying notions of Riemannian optimization and differential geometry. The task of the training a Neural Network is studied by employing tools from Optimization over Manifolds and Information Geometry, by casting the learning process to an optimization problem defined over a statistical manifold, i.e., a set of probability distributions. The project is highly interdisciplinary, with competences spanning from Machine Learning to Optimization, Deep Learning, Statistics, and Differential Geometry. The objectives of the project are multiple and include both theoretical and applied research, together with industrial activities oriented to transfer knowledge, from the institute to a startup or spin-off of the research group. The positions will be part of the new Machine Learning and Optimization group http://luigimalago.it/group.html, which performs research at the intersection of Machine Learning, Stochastic Optimization, Deep Learning, and Optimization over Manifolds, from the unifying perspective of Information Geometry. The group is one of two newly-formed groups in Machine Learning at RIST, where about 20 new postdoctoral research associates and research software developers will be hired by 2018. The official job announcement can be seen here: http://rist.ro/en/details/news/postdoc-positions-in- deep-learning-and-machine-learning.html Informal inquiries can be sent to Dr. Luigi Malagò <malago(a)rist.ro>, principal investigator of the DeepRiemann project. Application deadline: 20 October 2017 (applicants are encouraged to apply earlier) best regards, Luigi Malagò

Oct. 9, 2017

Doctoral studies in Computational/Theoretical Neuroscience at NYU

by Eero Simoncelli

New York University is home to a thriving interdisciplinary community of researchers using computational and theoretical approaches in neuroscience. We are interested in PhD candidates with strong quantitative training (e.g., physics, mathematics, engineering) coupled with a clear interest in brain sciences. A list of relevant faculty, sorted by their primary departmental affiliation, is provided below. Doctoral programs are flexible, allowing students to pursue research across departmental boundaries. Nevertheless, admissions are handled separately by each department, and students interested in pursuing graduate studies should submit an application to the program that best fits their goals and interests. Neural Science (CNS) (deadline: 1 December) [http://www.cns.nyu.edu/doctoral/] * AndrÃ© A. Fenton - Molecular, neural, behavioral, and computationalaspects of memory. * Paul W. Glimcher - Decision-making in humans and animals. Neuroeconomics. * Roozbeh Kiani - Vision and decision-making. * Wei Ji Ma (also in Psychology) - Perception, working memory, and decision-making. * Tony Movshon - Vision and visual development. * Bijan Pesaran - Neuronal dynamics and decision-making. * Alex Reyes - Functional interactions of neurons in a network. * John Rinzel (also in Mathematics) - Biophysical mechanisms and theory of neural computation. * Cristina Savin (also in CDS) - Computational models of memory, machine learning. * Robert Shapley - Visual physiology and perception. * Eero Simoncelli - Computational vision and audition, image processing. * Xiao-Jing Wang - Computational neuroscience, decision-making and working memory, neural circuits. Neuroscience and Physiology program, School of Medicine (deadline: 1 December) [http://neuroscience.med.nyu.edu/training-programs/graduate-program-neurosci…] * Gyorgy Buzsaki - Rhythms in neural networks. * Dmitri Chklovskii (also in the Simons Foundation) - Neural computation and connectomics. * Dmitry Rinberg - Sensory information processing in the behaving animal. * Mario Svirsky - Auditory neural prostheses; experimental/computational studies of speech production/perception. Psychology, Cognition & Perception program (deadline: 1 December) [http://www.psych.nyu.edu/programs/cp/] * Todd Gureckis - Memory, learning, and decision processes. * David Heeger (also in CNS) - fMRI, computational neuroscience, vision, attention. * Brenden Lake (also in CDS) - Computational modeling of cognition. * Michael Landy - Computational approaches to vision. * Laurence Maloney - Mathematical approaches to psychology and neuroscience. * Gary Marcus - Origins of the human mind. * Denis Pelli - Visual object recognition. * Jonathan Winawer - Visual perception and memory. Center for Data Science (CDS) (deadline: 18 December) [https://cds.nyu.edu/academics/phd-in-data-science/] * Joan Bruna (also in Computer Science) - Machine learning, signal/image processing. * Kyungyun Cho (also in Computer Science) - Machine learning, natural language processing. * Carlos Fernandez-Granda (also in Mathematics) - Optimization methods for medical imaging, neuroscience, computer vision. Mathematics (deadline: 18 December) [http://math.nyu.edu/degree/phd/] * David Cai - Nonlinear stochastic behavior in physical and biological systems. * Aaditya Rangan - Computational neurobiology, numerical analysis. * Michael Shelley - Modeling and large-scale computation, computational visual neuroscience. * Daniel Tranchina - Information processing in the retina. * Lai-Sang Young - Dynamical systems, statistical physics, computational modeling and theoretical neuroscience. Physics (deadline: 18 December) [http://physics.as.nyu.edu/page/graduate] * Marc Gershow - Perception, decision-making, and learning in neural circuits. Computer Science (deadline: 12 December) [http://www.cs.nyu.edu/home/phd/] * Davi Geiger - Computational vision and learning. * Yann LeCun - Machine learning, hierarchical visual processing, robotics. Economics (deadline: 18 December) [http://as.nyu.edu/econ/degree-programs/phd.html] * Andrew Caplin - Economic theory, neurobiology of decision. * Andrew Schotter - Experimental economics, game theory, neurobiology of decision.

Oct. 9, 2017

Workshop announcement: The Probabilistic Brain, March 2018

by Ulrik Beierholm

Dear Colleagues We are very pleased to invite you to an exciting 2-day workshop on *probabilistic approaches to learning, perception, and action* in the historic city of Durham in the North-East of England: see the workshop website <https://sites.google.com/view/tpbw2018/>. The workshop will take place on *March 23rd-24th 2018*, and registration is *open now*. Speakers: Vikranth Rao Bejjanki, Hamilton College ● Nick Chater, University of Warwick ● József Fiser, Central European University ● Aldo Faisal, Imperial College London ● Samuel Gershman, Harvard University ● Janneke Jehee, Donders Institute ● Rebecca Lawson, UCL / Cambridge ● Laurence T Maloney, NYU ● Pascal Mamassian, Ecole Normale Supérieure ● Christopher Summerfield, University of Oxford ● Jane Wang, Google DeepMind The workshop is supported by the Experimental Psychology Society and Durham University. For full info on the workshop format and topics, our location and travel, and Registration, please see the workshop website <https://sites.google.com/view/tpbw2018/>. Hope to see you there, The organisers, Marko Nardini ● Ulrik Beierholm ● Maria Olkkonen (Durham University) ● Tessa Dekker (UCL) ● Laurence T Maloney (NYU)

Oct. 9, 2017

[jobs] Assistant and Associate Professor positions in Bio- and Neural Robotics in Odense

by Poramate Manoonpong

The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, University of Southern Denmark, invites applications for Assistant or Associate Professor with research focus in Neural Robotics, Bio-inspired or Biorobotics, available from January 2018 and based in Odense. The positions are based in the Embodied Systems for Robotics and Learning (ESRL) unit and will complement the unit's existing research activities: - biorobotics; - neural models of control for embodied robots; - bio-inspired / neural learning mechanisms; - cross-modal and multi-modal sensory interpretation; - development of bio-inspired and embodied robotic hardware; - bio-inspired collective behaviour in robot groups; - embedded electronics design and research; - development and use of robotic educational tools; - morphological computation and the role of embodiment. Duties comprise research and teaching, student project supervision and acquisition of external funding. If you have a Ph.D. in a computing, mathematical, computational neuroscience or robotics-related discipline and a research track record including strong interdisciplinary work in one or more of the topics above, send us an application: for more detail and application form see [1]. The closing date is the 27th of October, 2017. For more information about these positions, please contact Professor John Hallam <john(a)mmmi.sdu.dk<mailto:john@mmmi.sdu.dk>>. [1] https://ssl1.peoplexs.com/Peoplexs22/CandidatesPortalNoLogin/Vacancy.cfm?Po…

Oct. 8, 2017

M-GATE: 15 PhD positions available in leading labs across Europe on the physiology and circuits of memory [WITH FIXED LINK; APOLOGIES]

by Francesco Battaglia

M-GATE is a network of 8 leading European institutions funded by a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action of the European Commission, for 15 PhD students Healthy brain physiology, as well as diseases of memory circuits such as epilepsy and Alzheimer will be studied. Detailed circuit analysis approaches in animals will be combined with work on human subjects and theoretical approaches. New experimental and analytical technologies will be developed and deployed, also in collaboration with industrial partners. Positions are available with the following PIs: - Dr. Francesco Battaglia (network coordinator)/Dr. Lisa Genzel Donders Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands; - Dr. Clifford Kentros; NTNU, Trondheim, Norway - Dr. Hugo Spiers; University College London - Dr. Christophe Bernard Université d’Aix/Marseille, France - Dr. Pim Drinkenburg; Janssen Pharmaceutica BV, Beerse, Belgium - Dr. Alessandro Treves; SISSA International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy - Dr. Nachum Ulanovsky; Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel - Dr. Misha Tsodyks; Weizmann Institute, Rehovot Israel - Dr. Rosa Cossart; Institut de neurobiologie de la Mediterranée, Marseille France We will offer to the students a training program including events at all participating institutions, including theoretical courses, experimental methodologies and transferable skills. The details of the network and all projects are available at our website http://www.mgate.eu <http://www.mgate.eu/> requirements and application procedures vary by PhD project, as described in the website. Please contact the project PIs (addresses available on the website) for questions on the project. General inquiries may be directed to the network coordinators at info(a)mgate.eu <mailto:info@mgate.eu>. In general, we will give full consideration to applications received by Nov., 30 2017.

Oct. 6, 2017

Two Post-doctoral positions available in Rome

by Aldo Genovesio

Two ERC funded Post-doctoral positions in Primate Neurophysiology are available in the laboratory of Aldo Genovesio at the Medical School of the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Both positions are of one year renewable for at least other two years. We are looking for candidates with a PhD in the field of neuroscience, statistics, biomedical engineering, computer science, or related fields with a background in training animals, recording and analysis of neuronal data or in computational neuroscience. Experience with data analysis, programming (C/C++ and Matlab), and a quantitative approach are important. One position is for a candidate with previous experience in training animals, recording and analysis of neuronal data. The other position is for a candidate with a background in computational neuroscience or computer science. He is expected to analyze the activity of large sets of single cells of simultaneously recorded neurons and local fields and to develop computational models of the data. The ERC project investigates using multi-site electrode arrays the neural activity underlying prediction, categorization, and monitoring of self and others goals actions in the prefrontal cortex during social interaction with a focus on the Frontal Pole cortex, a prefrontal area only recently investigated at the single cell level in our past studies. Inquiries should be addressed to genovesiolab(a)gmail.com. All interested candidates should send a CV, a brief description of research interests for a preliminary evaluation and names and contact of 2 references to genovesiolab(a)gmail.com. The start date is flexible. The salary will be determined based on the experience. Prof. Aldo Genovesio Department of Physiology and Pharmacology Sapienza University of Roma Piazzale Aldo Moro 5; 00185 Roma E-mail: aldo.genovesio(a)uniroma1.it

Oct. 6, 2017

AoN Brainhack Warsaw 2017 - call for participants - early bird registration till 15.10

by Daniel Borek

*AoN Brainhack Warsaw 2017* *November 17-19, 2017* *University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland* *— The early bird registration extended to 15th October2017 — * On the weekend of *17-19th November 2017*, the first edition of AoN Brainhack Warsaw will take place. During this three-day event dedicated to students and PhD students, we will work in teams on* neuroscience-related projects*. The aim of the event is to meet new, enthusiastic researchers, make new friendships in academia, learn, share the knowledge on data mining and brain research, but also promote open science in the spirit of the whole Brainhack community ( <https://gigascience.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13742-016-0121-x>Craddock et al., 2016) <https://gigascience.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13742-016-0121-x>. Attendees of various backgrounds are welcome to join! Below you could see list of projects which will be realised during our three day event: 1. Functional connectivity research: can we find a common ground? <https://brainhackwarsaw.github.io/#connectivity> 2. Detecting trypophobia triggers <https://brainhackwarsaw.github.io/#connectivity%23trypophobia> 3. Development of video game for studying joint action dynamics <https://brainhackwarsaw.github.io/#connectivity%23game> 4. Training a human-like movie evaluation system based on the semantic features of the storylines <https://brainhackwarsaw.github.io/#connectivity%23movies> 5. Hypothesis-driven white matter tractography from T1-weighted MRI images <https://brainhackwarsaw.github.io/#connectivity%23whitematter> 6. One channel EEG sleep staging with open source and open hardware NeuroOn sleep mask <https://brainhackwarsaw.github.io/#connectivity%23neuroon> 7. Building a brain-ageing biomarker using machine learning <https://brainhackwarsaw.github.io/#connectivity%23ageingbiomarker> 8. Building and using the “FlyPi”: the 3D-printed Neurobiology Lab <https://brainhackwarsaw.github.io/#connectivity%23flypi> *‘Early bird’* registration for project participants,* closes on 15th October 2017*. The applications will be reviewed and the notification of acceptance will be sent to the applicants until 20th October2017. We welcome everyone at the AoN Brainhack Warsaw 2017 event. We would like to prepare the equipment and the clusters properly before the event, therefore we are asking the participants to register in advance and choose the projects of their preference. We will do our best to make sure that everyone can take part in the project they like, and that the projects are well prepared for the participants. In any case, we welcome everyone to come, watch the event and help us at the first Brainhack in the history of AoN conference! A registration fee of 25EUR (or 100PLN) will be requested upon acceptance. The registration fee will be spent on the catering during the event. To register please visit our page and learn more about the Brainhack Warsaw! https://brainhackwarsaw.github.io/ <https://brainhackwarsaw.github.io/> We looking forward to see you in Warsaw! *The AoN Brainhack Warsaw 2017 team*

Oct. 6, 2017

M-GATE: 15 PhD positions available in leading labs across Europe on the physiology and circuits of memory

by Francesco Battaglia

M-GATE is a network of 8 leading European institutions funded by a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action of the European Commission. We offer to 15 promising young researchers the opportunity to get a world-class doctoral training and do cutting edge research on memory circuits. Healthy brain physiology, as well as diseases of memory circuits such as epilepsy and Alzheimer will be studied. Detailed circuit analysis approaches in animals will be combined with work on human subjects and theoretical approaches. New experimental and analytical technologies will be developed and deployed, also in collaboration with industrial partners. Positions are available with the following PIs: - Dr. Francesco Battaglia (network coordinator) Donders Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands; - Dr. Rosa Cossart; Institut de neurobiologie de la Mediterranée, Marseille France - Dr. Hugo Spiers; University College London - Dr. Christophe Bernard Université d’Aix/Marseille, France - Dr. Pim Drinkenburg; Janssen Pharmaceutica BV, Beerse, Belgium - Dr. Clifford Kentros; NTNU, Trondheim, Norway - Dr. Alessandro Treves; SISSA International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy - Dr. Nachum Ulanovsky; Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel - Dr. Misha Tsodyks; Weizmann Institute, Rehovot Israel We will offer to the students a training program including events at all participating institutions, including theoretical courses, experimental methodologies and transferable skills. The details of the network and all projects are available at our website http://www.mgate.eu <http://www.maget.eu/>. Job requirements and application procedures vary by PhD project, as described in the website. Please contact the project PIs (addresses available on the website) for questions on the project. General inquiries may be directed to the network coordinators at info(a)mgate.eu <mailto:info@mgate.eu>. In general, we will give full consideration to applications received by Nov., 30 2017.

Oct. 6, 2017

Open position: Expert in machine learning and high-performance computing

by Daniel Zysman

The Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences seeks an expert in machine learning and high-performance computing to collaborate on cutting edge research on neuroscience, perception, cognition, and artificial intelligence. The department is a world leader in computational approaches to brain science, and is home to state-of-the-art computing resources as well as the Center for Brains, Minds and Machines, a multi-institutional NSF Science and Technology Center dedicated to the study of intelligence. Salary will be competitive with industry. To apply: https://careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/client_mit/external/jobDetails.do… <https://careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/client_mit/external/jobDetails.do…> For more information about our department: https://bcs.mit.edu/ <https://bcs.mit.edu/> Job Description: PROGRAMMER/SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER/COMPUTATIONAL AND MACHINE LEARNING SPECIALIST, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, to help tackle challenging problems in high-performance computing methods and systems, machine learning, management of large datasets, and artificial intelligence. Responsibilities include helping researchers translate computational algorithms into efficiently functioning (especially parallelized and GPU optimized) code; assisting with installation and implementation of third-party tools; staying up-to-date with cutting-edge computational techniques; providing guidance for storage and management of large data sets; developing and maintaining online courses for computing resources, running in-person tutorials on specific software packages/tools, and helping transition users to new computing tools; providing educational support and training to users of the departmental computing cluster; and monitoring cluster usage and resolving problems. Job Requirements: Bachelor’s degree (advanced degree preferred) in a scientific field or computer science; at least four years’ experience in scientific high-performance (cluster) computing; familiarity with Slurm and Lustre; broad computational background with knowledge of Unix, HPC algorithms, GPU computing, programming models, debuggers, and performance tools; software development experience, especially Python and MATLAB, but also R, Lua, JavaScript, etc.; knowledge of high-level APIs for HPC computing; expertise installing and maintaining third-party software in an HPC environment and with container technology, especially in the context of computational reproducibility; familiarity with mathematical algorithms for high-performance computing, use or design of HPC profiling or optimization tools, and deep neural networks; ability to work effectively with scientists and engineers; initiative, tact, and judgment in developing solutions for users; excellent interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively, orally, in writing, and via live presentations; demonstrated ability to assume leadership roles, grasp complex problems, and develop solutions; and extensive background in high-performance computing. MIT is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, ancestry, or national or ethnic origin.

Oct. 5, 2017

Lecturer (Assistant Prof.) in Computational Neuroscience at Univ. of Leicester

by Quian Quiroga, Rodrigo (Prof.)

We are currently recruiting a lecturer in computational neuroscience at the Centre for Systems Neuroscience (CSN) within the Department Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour (NPB), at the University of Leicester. The successful candidate will have an international research profile, and will advance an interdisciplinary program in synergy with CSN (for details see: www.le.ac.uk/csn) Particular areas of interest are advanced analysis and modeling of neurophysiological data, mechanisms of behavior, population activity and principles of neural coding. For details see: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BEI917/lecturer-in-computational-neuroscience/ Cheers, Rodrigo Rodrigo Quian Quiroga Centre for Systems Neuroscience University of Leicester www.le.ac.uk/csn

Oct. 5, 2017

COSYNE 2018: Call for workshop proposals and Meeting announcement

by Tomas Hromadka

==================================================== Computational and Systems Neuroscience 2018 (Cosyne) MAIN MEETING 01 - 04 March 2018 Denver, Colorado WORKSHOPS 05 - 06 March 2018 Breckenridge, Colorado www.cosyne.org ==================================================== IMPORTANT DATES NEW Workshop pre-proposal deadline: 14 October 2017 NEW Workshop proposal deadline: 10 November 2017 Abstract submission opens: 10 October 2017 Abstract submission deadline: 20 November 2017 ---------------------------------------------------- MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT ---------------------------------------------------- The annual Cosyne meeting provides an inclusive forum for the exchange of empirical and theoretical approaches to problems in systems neuroscience, in order to understand how neural systems function. The MAIN MEETING is single-track. A set of invited talks is selected by the Executive Committee, and additional talks and posters are selected by the Program Committee, based on submitted abstracts. The WORKSHOPS feature in-depth discussion of current topics of interest, in a small group setting. For details on workshop proposals please see below or visit Cosyne.org -> Workshops. Cosyne topics include but are not limited to: neural coding, natural scene statistics, dendritic computation, neural basis of persistent activity, nonlinear receptive field mapping, representations of time and sequence, reward systems, decision-making, synaptic plasticity, map formation and plasticity, population coding, attention, and computation with spiking networks. This year we would like to foster increased participation from experimental groups as well as computational ones. Please circulate widely and encourage your students and postdocs to apply. COSYNE SPEAKERS Tim Behrens (Oxford) Josh Berke (UCSF) Tiago Branco (UCL) Jessica Cardin (Yale) Claudia Clopath (Imperial) Marlene Cohen (Pittsburgh) Iain Couzin (Max-Planck) Carina Curto (Penn State) Ann Graybiel (MIT) Vivek Jayaraman (Janelia) Mate Lengyel (Cambridge) Joni Wallis (Berkeley) Byron Yu (CMU) When preparing an abstract, authors should be aware that not all abstracts can be accepted for the meeting, due to space constraints. Abstracts will be selected based on the clarity with which they convey the substance, significance, and originality of the work to be presented. ORGANIZING COMMITTEE General Chairs: Ilana Witten (Princeton) and Eric Shea-Brown (U Washington) Program Chairs: Linda Wilbrecht (Berkeley) and Brent Doiron (U Pittsburgh) Workshop Chairs: Laura Busse (LMU) and Ralf Haefner (U Rochester) Undergraduate Travel Chairs: Angela Langdon (Princeton) and Robert Wilson (U Arizona) Publicity Chair: Il Memming Park (Stony Brook) EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Stephanie Palmer (U Chicago) Zachary Mainen (Champalimaud) Alexandre Pouget (U Geneva) Anthony Zador (CSHL) CONTACT meeting [at] cosyne.org ----------------------------------------------- CALL FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS ----------------------------------------------- PRE-PROPOSALS In an effort to coordinate submissions, the organizers are encouraged to submit a pre-proposal by *14 October 2017.* Pre-proposals will be shared among submitters. Pre-proposals are not mandatory but workshops with a pre-proposal will have priority. The organizers may submit the full proposal by its deadline. A series of workshops will be held after the main Cosyne meeting (www.cosyne.org) The goal is to provide an informal forum for the discussion of important research questions and challenges. Controversial issues, open problems, comparisons of competing approaches, and alternative viewpoints are encouraged. The overarching goal of all workshops should be the integration of empirical and theoretical approaches, in an environment that fosters collegial discussion and debate. Preference will be given to proposals that differ substantially in content, scope, and/or approach from workshops of recent years (examples available at Cosyne.org -> Workshops). Relevant topics include, but are not limited to: sensory processing; motor planning and control; functional neural circuits; motivation, reward and decision making; learning and memory; adaptation and plasticity; neural coding; neural circuitry and network models; and methods in computational or systems neuroscience. In order to foster discussion within Workshops and reduce overlap between workshops, organizers should inform invited speakers that a single person should not speak in more than one of the Workshops taking place on the same day. WORKSHOP DETAILS - There will be 4-8 workshops/day, running in parallel. - Each workshop is expected to draw between 15 and 80 people. - The workshops will be split into morning (8.00-11.00 AM) and afternoon (4.30-7.30 PM) sessions. - Workshops will be held at Breckenridge, CO, a ski resort located 100 miles (approximately two hours) from the Denver International Airport. Buses from the main conference will be provided. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Deadline for pre-proposals: 14 October 2017 Deadline for proposals: 10 November 2017 Format: plain text only, please no attachments, email to workshops [at] cosyne.org (Laura Busse, Ralf Haefner) PRE-PROPOSALS should include: - Name(s) and email address(es) of the organizers (no more than 2 organizers per session, please). A primary contact should be designated. - A title. - A brief description of 1) what the workshop will address and accomplish, 2) why the topic is of interest, 3) who is the targeted group of participants. - Names of potential invitees, with indication of confirmed speakers. Preference will be given to workshops with the most confirmed speakers. - Proposed workshop length (1 or 2 days). Most workshops will be limited to a single day. If you think your workshop needs 2 days, please explain why. - A brief resume of the workshop organizer along with a short list of workshop-relevant publications (about half a page total). FULL PROPOSALS should include the list of confirmed speakers in addition to components required for a pre-proposal. Workshop organizer responsibilities include coordinating workshop participation and content, scheduling all speakers and submitting a final schedule for the workshop program, and moderating the discussion. Organizers can be speakers but need not speak depending on scheduling constraints. SUGGESTIONS Experience has shown that the best discussions during a workshop are those that arise spontaneously. A good way to foster these is to have short talks and long question periods (e.g. 30+15 minutes), and have plenty of breaks. We recommend fewer than 10 talks. WORKSHOP COSTS Detailed registration costs, etc, will be available at www.cosyne.org. Please note: Cosyne does NOT provide travel funding for workshop speakers. All workshop speakers are expected to pay for workshop registration fees. Participants are encouraged to register early, in order to qualify for discounted registration rates. One complementary (free) organizer registration is provided per workshop. For workshops with 2 organizers, the free registration can be given to one of the organizers or split evenly between them. COSYNE WORKSHOP QUESTIONS workshops [at] cosyne.org COSYNE MAILING LISTS Please consider adding yourself to Cosyne mailing lists (groups) to receive email updates with various Cosyne-related information and join in helpful discussions. See Cosyne.org -> Mailing lists for details.

Oct. 5, 2017

High performance computing workshop at SFN 2017

by Ted Carnevale

Seats are still available in the workshop Using the Neuroscience Gateway Portal (NSG) for Parallel Simulations Saturday, Nov. 11 from 9 AM to noon which we are presenting in downtown Washington, DC as a satellite to this year's SFN meeting. NSG eliminates most technical and adminstrative barriers to using high performance computing resources, and even gives away free CPU time on parallel supercomputers. Software currently installed on NSG includes BluePyOpt, Brian, CARLsim, Freesurfer, GENESIS, MATLAB, MOOSE, NEST, NEURON, PyNN, and the Virtual Personalized Multimodal Connectome Pipeline. At this workshop you will learn how to use this NSF-supported resource in your computationally-intensive modeling and data analysis projects. You will also hear presentations from several research teams about how they are using NSG in their own research. For a description of the workshop and its application form, see http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/nsg2017/nsg2017.html The registration deadline is Friday Oct. 28. --Ted

Oct. 4, 2017

Postdoctoral Position in Computational Approaches to Rodent Social Neurophysiology

by Liu, Robert C

Postdoctoral Position in Computational Approaches to Rodent Social Neurophysiology Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Department of Biology Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia The laboratories of Robert Liu, Gordon Berman and Larry Young at Emory University are accepting applications for a postdoctoral scientist working in a collaborative team to use quantitative behavioral and electrophysiological methods to study pro-social interactions in rodents. The research combines recent advances in computational ethology (Berman et al, Interface, 2014) with in vivo electrophysiology and optogenetics in socially interacting prairie voles (Amadei, Johnson et al, Nature, 2017), a premier rodent model for the formation of social bonds (Lim et al, Nature, 2004). Our NIH-funded project's goal is to use prior behavioral and neurophysiological activity to build predictive models of social dynamics leading to a pair bond. PhD required. We are looking for a candidate with a strong background in experimental, in vivo extracellular electrophysiology (ideally in rodents) and computational data analysis and scientific programming. Training in the neurobiology of social behavior, social information processing, sensorimotor integration, and/or the neural circuitry for reward and reinforcement would also be viewed favorably. Emory University and the Yerkes National Primate Research Center have a rich, collaborative neuroscience community (http://biomed.emory.edu/PROGRAM_SITES/NS/) especially in the areas of translational social neuroscience (http://ctsn.emory.edu/) and computational neuroscience (http://compneurosci.college.emory.edu/) Research at Emory in the neurobiology of social behavior extends across many labs from the molecular level through the organismal level in animal models and humans, with a particular interest in the functions of oxytocin (http://www.oxytocin.emory.edu/) Ongoing efforts include both elucidating normal processes and ameliorating deficits found in human conditions, like autism spectrum disorder. To inquire or apply, please email robert.liu(a)emory.edu<mailto:robert.liu@emory.edu>. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue at least through Oct. 31, or until the position is filled. Applications should include a CV, the names and full contact information of 3 references, and at least one representative publication. Emory University is an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer. Women, minorities, people with disabilities and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. References: Amadei EA*, Johnson ZV*, Kwon YJ, Shpiner AC, Saravanan V, Mays W, Ryan S, Walum H, Rainnie D, Young LJ, Liu RC (2017). Dynamic corticostriatal activity biases social bonding in monogamous female prairie voles, Nature, 546(7657):297-301. doi:10.1038/nature22381<http://www.nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature22381> Berman GJ, Choi DM, Bialek W, Shaevitz JW (2014). Mapping the stereotyped behaviour of freely moving fruit flies. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 11(99):20140672. doi:10.1098/rsif.2014.0672<http://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2014.0672> Lim, MM, Wang Z, Olazábal DE, Ren X, Terwilliger EF, Young LJ (2004). Enhanced partner preference in promiscuous species by manipulating the expression of a single gene. Nature, 429(6993):754-757. doi:10.1038/nature02539<http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1038/nature02539> Robert C. Liu, PhD Associate Professor Department of Biology Emory University O. W. Rollins Research Center Rm 2131 1510 Clifton Rd NE Atlanta, GA 30322 USA Phone: +1 404-727-5274 Email: robert.liu(a)emory.edu<mailto:robert.liu@emory.edu> Lab Website<http://www.biology.emory.edu/research/Liu/html/index.php> ________________________________ This e-mail message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message (including any attachments) is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender by reply e-mail message and destroy all copies of the original message (including attachments).

Oct. 4, 2017

Quantification of the Function of Criticality: Call for Contributions

by Nergis Tomen

[Apologies if you received this message more than once] Dear Colleagues, We are calling for abstracts for contributions towards a publication on *The Functional Role of Critical Dynamics* *in Neural Systems*. The collection will be published by Springer and will be free of charge for the authors. The main aim of this collection will be to bring together research and ideas linking together criticality in the cortex, dynamical and emergent network states and the putative role such states may serve in the way of function and computational advantages. The intended format of the book is a collection of short and concise chapters focusing around this central theme, in order to allow for many different perspectives to be represented. If you would like take part in this publication, please send an extended abstract summarizing your planned contribution, following the guidelines below, to A. Janssen (*ajanssen**(a)neuro.uni-bremen.de* <ajanssen(a)neuro.uni-bremen.de>) who will be coordinating the communications by *October* *25th*. For details of the planned contents and structure of the full contributions, as well as our expected timeline, please see below. Full papers will be expected by the end of this year. Best wishes, Udo Ernst & Nergis Tomen & Michael Herrmann *Guidelines for your contribution * We are aiming for a publication that will give a broad overview of the state of research linking neuronal avalanches and self-organized criticality (SOC) to neural function and information processing (for the related concepts please see e.g. [Bak, Tang and Wiesenfeld, 1987] and [Beggs and Plenz, 2003]). Due to the computational advantages of simple systems operating close to a phase transition (e.g. [Langton, 1990]), there has been a growing interest in the neuroscience community in the recent years to tackle the question “Can critical dynamics be useful for the brain?”. And this was the central theme of the *Excellence Workshop "Dynamical network states, criticality and cortical function"* that took place on 25-28 March 2017 in Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Delmenhorst, Germany ( *http://www.h-w-k.de/index.php?id=2240* <http://www.h-w-k.de/index.php?id=2240>). In light of the positive feedback and interest we received from the community, we are now aiming to bring together different ideas and approaches related to critical dynamics and its potential functional role in cortical information processing, and we are looking forward to your contributions. We will have a two-stage submission process for the authors. The first stage is to submit an extended abstract that can be of any format, but should include a title and contact information of the authors and should begin with a very brief summary of the main message of the contribution. As a guideline it is suggested that the length of the extended abstract is 1 to 4 pages and that it contains 1 to 4 figures. Please submit your abstract to *ajanssen**(a)neuro.uni-bremen.de* <ajanssen(a)neuro.uni-bremen.de> by *October 25th*. Full papers will be requested before the end of this year. The final papers are expected to include an easy-to-follow introduction, one or more well-evidenced claims and a substantial discussion section. The full papers are limited in size to 15-20 pages each (each page about 450 words), including figures and references. There will be LaTeX and MS Word templates provided by Springer for the full contributions. Each contribution will be peer-reviewed by at least 2 colleagues before being published. Each author of a contribution is also expected to act as a reviewer for 2-3 other contributions. We plan to include reviewers from outside the field to provide 'critical' input. Realistically, we estimate that the review process will start in in winter 2017 and end in spring 2018. We expect the submissions to present original research by the authors.This can include new results or review of past research by the authors (for review papers, it is allowed to include research by other persons where suitable, as long as it does not constitute a major part of the contribution). We believe it is important for contributions to put forward a vision or perspective on criticality research. It is important to make connections to the functionality of the concepts described in your contribution (e.g. how do the properties observed in your model/experiments relate to information transfer/processing, behavioural performance, computation, communication and configuration, etc.). Where applicable, it is allowed and encouraged to talk about predictions and theories about how the contents of a contribution may relate to active computation in the cortex, what practical advantages and biological mechanisms they may be linked to as well as what direction future research should take to answer such questions. We encourage the authors to actively try to draw connections between their own research, research of other scientists in their field as well as outside of their field (e.g. discussing ties with experimental results in a theoretical contribution and vice versa). Thank you for considering these guidelines.

Oct. 4, 2017

Start-up EEG hardware and data analytics roles at start-up

by Brian Murphy

BrainWaveBank's mission is to transform how cognitive illness is diagnosed and treated so that people can live longer, healthier, more fulfilling lives. Our 16-channel EEG headset is designed for home-use, and is supported by a platform of tablet-based games and cloud-based analytics to track cognitive performance and health. We are now expanding, and hiring a number of software, hardware and scientific roles into our Dublin and Belfast offices. We are seeking exceptional candidates for these roles (see links below for full details): - Senior EEG Research Engineer, Dublin • Full-time - EEG Research Engineer, Dublin • Full-time - Machine Learning Engineer, Dublin • Full-time - Cognitive Neuroscientist, Dublin • Full-time - EEG Hardware Design Lead, Belfast • Full-time - Full Cloud Stack SW Engineer, Belfast • Full-time - Senior Mobile Developer (Android), Belfast • Full-time - Trial Manager, Belfast • Full-time View full details of the roles and apply through: https://www.indeedjobs.com/brainwavebank/_hl/en_GB Learn more about the team and mission: http://www.brainwavebank.com -- Dr. Brian Murphy Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer BrainWaveBank Ltd M: +44 7716 686654 M: +353 86 0666732 E: brian(a)brainwavebank.com Twitter: @brainwavebank www.brainwavebank.com The information contained in this email transmission is confidential and may be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution, publication, or copying of the information contained in this email is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify us by telephone at +44 028 9264 6600 or email info(a)brainwavebank.com and delete the email from your system. Thank you for your co-operation. BrainWaveBank Ltd is a limited company registered in Northern Ireland. Registered number: NI628481. Registered office: 32-36 Dublin Road, Belfast BT2 7HN.

Oct. 4, 2017

Postdoc/programmer position at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology

by Erik De Schutter

The Computational Neuroscience unit (https://groups.oist.jp/cnu) at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan has an opening for a postdoctoral researcher or technician in software development and computational modeling of stochastic neuronal reaction-diffusion processes. Initial duration is two years with an option to extend. The hired postdoctoral researcher or technician is expected to make valuable contributions to the STEPS project (http://steps.sourceforge.net) in two ways: 1) by researching molecular neuronal processes and designing novel techniques and routines for accurate computational modeling of such systems, and 2) contributing to realistic applications of the new techniques in biological modeling studies. In performing these tasks, the candidate is expected to contribute to publications that are either based on theory and computational techniques, or geared more towards answering real biological questions through computational modeling. As such the ideal candidate will have a scientific background but also possess good programming skills. There will be many opportunities to interact with other STEPS developers in our lab and also other researchers working on related cerebellar projects, and also to collaborate on STEPS development with the Blue Brain Project, EPFL, Geneva. 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 similar discipline or computer science. 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. 4, 2017

Postdoctoral position in computational neuroscience at UCSD

by Maxim Bazhenov

Applications are invited for post-doctoral research position in the laboratory of Dr. Maxim Bazhenov (http://www.bazhlab.ucsd.edu/) at the University of California, San Diego to study role of sleep in memory and learning. The ultimate goal of the project is to understand how the interaction among brain areas during sleep leads to consolidation of memory for recent learning and how sensory or electrical stimulation can enhance memory consolidation. This project involves close collaboration with several experimental laboratories. The successful candidate will be responsible for the design of the anatomically realistic brain network models based on experimental data. These models will be applied to understand network dynamics that are involved in the processes of memory consolidation, to design optimal stimulation approaches, to guide data analysis and to make predictions for future experimental studies. Qualified applicants are expected to have experience in computational/theoretical neuroscience and neural modeling. Programming experience with C/C++ is required. Knowledge of PYTHON and MATLAB is a significant plus. The University of California offers excellent benefits. Salary is based on research experience. Applicants should send a brief statement of research interests, a CV and the names of three references to Maxim Bazhenov at mbazhenov(a)ucsd.edu -- Maxim Bazhenov, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Medicine, Neurosciences Graduate Program, UCSD, School of Medicine http://www.bazhlab.ucsd.edu/

Oct. 3, 2017

PhD positions at the Univ. of Leicester (for UK/EU candidates only)

by Quian Quiroga, Rodrigo (Prof.)

Fully Funded PhD Studentships (for UK/EU candidates only) Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester, UK. www.le.ac.uk/csn The Centre for Systems Neuroscience at the University of Leicester, UK, offers up to 2, 3-Year Fully Funded (stipend plus fees) PhD positions for UK/EU candidates, to study single cell recordings in humans – performed in epileptic patients for curative surgery. The project will investigate concept cells (a.k.a. Jennifer Aniston neurons) – that means, neurons in the hippocampus and surrounding areas that selectively fire to specific concepts, like different pictures and the written or spoken name of a particular person (e.g. Quian Quiroga et al, Nature 2005; Quian Quiroga Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2012), which are involved in declarative memory functions. The successful candidate will contribute to performing recordings with patients in collaborating hospitals and the analysis of the data to investigate the role of these neurons in memory formation. Candidates should have very good quantitative skills (data processing, and programing in Matlab), a strong background in neuroscience and, ideally, good experience with neurophysiology recordings. They should be able to work both independently and as part of a research team within the Centre for System Neuroscience at Leicester and with our external collaborators. Informal enquiries are welcome and should be made to Valeria Zonato, Research Centre Manager, vz12(a)le.ac.uk or 0116 252 3249. Interested candidates should send their curriculum vitae and a brief description of their scientific interests to Valeria Zonato (vz12(a)le.ac.uk<mailto:vz12@le.ac.uk>). The closing date for the applications is Friday 6th October 2017.

Oct. 3, 2017

APA Technology, Mind, & Society Conference - Submissions due Oct 20

by Jeff Krichmar

Dear Colleagues, This upcoming APA conference on Technology, Mind, & Society may be of interest to many of you. Keynote speakers include Cynthia Breazeal (MIT, Jibo Inc.), Justine Cassell (CMU), Eric Horvitz (Microsoft Research Labs), and Alex "Sandy” Pentland (MIT). Paper submissions are due October 20th. See:http://pages.apa.org/tms/ Best regards, Jeff Krichmar Department of Cognitive Sciences 2328 Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92697-5100 jkrichma(a)uci.edu http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~jkrichma The American Psychological Association will hold an interdisciplinary conference on Technology, Mind, and Society in Washington, D.C., on April 5-7, 2018. Scientists, practitioners, policymakers, and students from around the world are invited to participate in the event. The conference will provide a venue for reporting and assessing current efforts to understand and shape the interactions of human beings and technology, for identifying priorities for future work, and for promoting exchange and collaboration among participants. The conference will feature four keynote speakers: Cynthia Breazeal (MIT), Justine Cassell (Carnegie Mellon), Eric Horvitz (Microsoft Research), and Sandy Pentland (MIT). APA invites you and your colleagues and students to submit papers, symposia, and posters for this conference, which will be organized around the following broad themes: • Basic research: How humans understand and use technology, impacts of technology on human experience and behavior, human-technology interactions as mutually adaptive systems, role of technology in advancing other areas of scientific research, and related topics. • Foundations of technology design: Development of technologies informed by psychological, behavioral, and social science research. • Applications: Development, use, and impact of specific technologies in domains such as aging, education, mental and physical health, recreation, and the workplace. • Broader implications: Ethical and policy questions concerning the opportunities and challenges arising from human-technology interactions. The deadline for submissions is October 20, 2017. The conference is open to researchers, professionals, and students in all relevant areas, including psychology and other behavioral and social sciences, neuroscience, computer science, engineering, design, health research, education research, city and regional planning, public policy, history of science and technology, and philosophy. The conference aims to address the full range of contemporary and emerging technologies. These include but are not limited to artificial intelligence, robotics, mobile devices, social media, virtual/augmented reality, gaming, geographic information systems, autonomous vehicles, and biomedical technologies (e.g., brain-machine interfaces, genetic engineering). APA is sponsoring the conference in cooperation with the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and the Association for Computing Machinery — Special Interest Group for Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI). We look forward to seeing you at the Technology, Mind, and Society Conference! For additional information, see the conference website (http://pages.apa.org/tms/) If you have any questions, please contact the APA Science Directorate (science(a)apa.org)

Oct. 2, 2017

Postdoc in computational neuroscience of consciousness

by Srivas Chennu

In the School of Computing at the University of Kent (UK), we are seeking to recruit a Research Associate to work on the computational neuroscience of consciousness. This post is part of the EPSRC project "A Computational Prototype for Electroencephalographic Brain Connectomics" awarded to Dr. Srivas Chennu. This exciting project sits at the interface of signal processing, machine learning and neuroscience. More information is available at the link below: https://www.cs.kent.ac.uk/people/staff/sc785/mohawk.html This role will involve: • Develop a computational prototype for electroencephalographic brain connectomics for discriminating states of awareness and use real datasets and develop simulations to test and validate the prototype. • Working with the PI, interact with collaborators at partner sites to explore deployment of the prototype at the bedside of patients with disorders of consciousness • Communicate and disseminate project outcomes in academic publications, scientific conferences, technical reports, web-based platforms and social media You will play a key role in this project, focusing on the development of the software prototype. In addition to working closely with Dr. Chennu, you will interact regularly with clinicians and neuroscientists at the Universities of Cambridge and Liége. Both partners have made available a large dataset of EEG acquired from patients and controls, which will be used to test and validate the prototype to be developed here. You will be supported in your role by Dr. Chennu, in addition to PhD students in the research group, and will be able to access the broad-ranging expertise available across other members of the Data Science group and the School of Computing. This is a fixed term post (to start in Jan 2018, date negotiable) and will provide the successful candidate with a rich collaborative environment: it is positioned within the recently formed Data Science group at the University of Kent, and will involve close collaboration with external partners at the Universities of Cambridge and Liège (Belgium). To succeed in this role you will: • A PhD in Computer Science/Neuroscience, or be near completion • Experience of EEG/MEG Signal Processing, Machine Learning in Neuroscience and MATLAB and/or Python in Neuroscience • Experience of working in a research environment and the ability to liaise with other external partners *The School of Computing* at Kent is a welcoming and supportive environment that has recently been recognised with a Bronze Athena SWAN award. We are a well-balanced, inclusive and diverse community that aims to further enhance our achievements and reputation in teaching, research and innovation. Start date for applications: 29 September 2017 Closing date for applications: 05 November 2017 Interviews are to be held: 29 November 2017 Please see the link below to view the full job description and also to apply for this post. If you require further information about this post/project please contact the PI, Dr. Srivas Chennu at sc785(a)kent.ac.uk. For any questions regarding the application process please contact The Resourcing Team on jobs(a)kent.ac.uk quoting ref number: STM0847 https://www11.i-grasp.com/fe/tpl_kent01.asp?s=4A515F4E5A565B1A&jobid=41306, 5425238748&key=50937013&c=223465364822&pagestamp=sewzjjuhsdmqkvijvz

Sept. 30, 2017

Post-doctoral Research Scientist in Cochlear Implant Research, Psychoacoustics and Virtual Acoustics

by Seeber, Bernhard

Dear List, we are inviting applications for a post-doctoral research scientist to join our team in cochlear implant research, psychoacoustics and/or virtual acoustics. Main responsibilities are: - Research on binaural hearing and auditory scene analysis with normal hearing listeners and/or users of cochlear implants and/or - Development of techniques for and experiments in interactive audio-visual virtual reality - Development of listening tests and statistical analysis of the results - Publication in English-language scientific journals and presentations at conferences - Supervision of student projects, assistance with teaching and with raising external funding. The position is full time and will start at the earliest convenient date. We offer... you the opportunity to join an interdisciplinary team, to work with up-to-date technical equipment including an anechoic chamber hosting a virtual reality system, and to learn about the latest methods in hearing research. Our close interaction with the Bernstein Centre for Computational Neuroscience Munich (www.bccn-munich.de) the Munich School of BioEngineering (www.bioengineering.tum.de) the Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (www.gsn.uni-muenchen.de) the Hearing Research Network Munich, our extensive cooperation with industry and with scientific partners, and the numerous courses offered at TUM create an attractive environment with excellent perspectives for personal development. Please find further information at www.aip.ei.tum.de. Employment is according to the state employees salary scheme (TV-L/E13) and is initially for 1 year with the option for extension. Women are explicitly encouraged to apply. Severely handicapped persons will be favored if they are equally qualified. In principle, the position could also be filled part-time. Munich - the city famous for the Oktoberfest, high-end cars and its unique location to the Alps - is a bustling, international and interesting place to live which also offers a wide range of opportunities to engage in cultural and leisurely activities - from opera to skiing. Interested? I look forward to answering your questions on the phone (+49 89 289 28282) or by email. Please send your expressive application stating research interests preferably by email no later than 31 October 2017 to: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernhard Seeber Professorship for Audio Information Processing Technical University of Munich Arcisstrasse 21 80333 Munich Germany Email: aip(a)ei.tum.de. For further information about the post, including qualification requirements, please visit www.aip.ei.tum.de. Kind regards, Bernhard Seeber -- DAGA Conference Munich, 19.-22. March 2018 http://2018.daga-tagung.de/ Note: Abstract submission deadline: 01.11.2017 Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernhard U. Seeber Professor of Audio Information Processing Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technical University of Munich Arcisstrasse 21 D-80333 Munich, Germany Office: +49 89 289-28282 Fax: +49 89 289-28211 Mobile: +49 (0)174 928 6338 Visitors: Theresienstrasse 90, building N5, room N6504 Web: www.aip.ei.tum.de www.bseeber.de

Sept. 29, 2017

PhD Studentship in Computer Science -- University of Surrey, UK

by a.gruning＠surrey.ac.uk

% PhD Studentship in Computer Science % Studentship start date: January 2018 % Application deadline: September 30, 2017 # Funding amount Fee waiver and a stipend of £16,000 per annum for a Home (UK/EU) student # Position Summary Applications are invited for a cutting-edge 3-year Ph.D. project in the Department of Computer Science, University of Surrey, UK in a number of areas, including machine learning especially deep learning and neural networks, complex systems, and evolutionary computation, with application to biomedicine, transport, security and design optimisation. Applications are particularly welcome to one of the following highlighted projects: 1. Neural networks for biomedicine. The project will focus on constructing a framework for the formulation of bio-inspired learning rules for deep learning neural networks. Its aim is to develop a mathematical and conceptual framework within which bio-inspired learning algorithms can be formulated clearly and concisely for ease of their application, understanding, and generalisation. This project will build upon an ongoing project, namely the Human Brain Project (HBP), a multi-billion Flagship project funded by the EU Horizon 2020. This project area will be co-supervised by Dr Clive Cheong Took and Dr André Grüning. 2. Modelling and controlling the dynamics and time evolution of complex systems. The aim of this PhD is to develop a computational framework for maximising the effect of external interventions in a complex system, and do so in a predictable and trusted manner. Such systems include: transportation networks; social networks; multi-modal patient care systems; social-ecological systems; and many others where there are no single points of control or failure. The core objective is to bring together formal verification and machine learning and develop approaches that allow model checking and scenario appraisal in complex systems. This project area will be co-supervised by Dr Sotiris Moschoyiannis and Dr Clive Cheong Took. For more about the NICE group, see http://www.surrey.ac.uk/cs/research/nice. # Department of Computer Science The Department of Computer Science at the University of Surrey, within the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, has an international reputation for research and teaching. Our research excellence is reflected from the fact that Surrey’s research in computer science has been consistently ranked World Top 150 and UK Top 10 in the SJTU ARWU Subject Ranking in Computer Science since 2012. Similarly, Surrey’s Computer Science subject is ranked at 6 th position in the UK according to the latest Guardian University Guide 2018, which focuses more on teaching excellence. Research in the Department is focused on two main areas: Nature Inspired Computing and Engineering (NICE) and Secure Systems. The NICE group is internationally leading in the area of evolutionary computation, machine learning, brain-inspired computing and complex systems with application to optimisation, data analytics, image processing, swarm robotics, healthcare and bioinformatics. The Secure Systems 1 International (non-UK/EU) students are also eligible to apply, but will be expected to bring additional funding to cover the difference (currently £14,815 per year) between UK/EU and international fees: see https://www.surrey.ac.uk/postgraduate/pgr-fees. # Qualifications To apply you should have at least an upper second class honours degree (or overseas equivalent) in Computer Science, or a suitable technical science or engineering subject such as Computer Engineering and Electronic Engineering. Preference will be given to those with appropriate MSc or equivalent research/industrial experience in relevant areas. Experience in a relevant area is not required, but advantageous. The candidate is expected to have solid mathematical knowledge, including calculus and linear algebra. Hands-on skills in one of the programming languages is expected, such as Matlab, Python, Java, or C/C++. In addition, the applicant must have good communication skills and be fluent in English. We look for a candidate that is self-motivated, engaging, and is a team player. # Application Procedure The application process requires the submission of a CV, two letters of recommendation or contact information of two referees, copies of degree certificates and transcripts from all university-level courses taken. More information about how to apply can be found in the Computer Science PhD page by clicking on the ‘apply online’ button. In addition to the above, as part of your application, you are also required to upload the following documents: - Statement of purpose (1-3 pages) where you introduce yourself, explain why you want to pursue a PhD, present your qualifications and describe your future research plans; - Research proposal describing your research area of interest and motivation in one of the relevant areas. Shortlisted applicants will be contacted directly to arrange a suitable time for an interview. For any questions regarding the application process or an informal discussion about the position especially the highlighted projects, please contact the named supervisors of the specific project given before. For more general queries about the studentship contact Dr Andre Gruning <a.gruning(a)surrey.ac.uk> Surrey continuously strives to be an attractive employer. We acknowledge, understand and embrace diversity. # Useful links: Potential PhD Supervisors and their research interest and publications: - https://www.surrey.ac.uk/cs/people/clive_cheong_took/ - https://www.surrey.ac.uk/cs/people/andre_gruning/ - https://www.surrey.ac.uk/cs/people/sotiris_moschoyiannis/ - https://www.surrey.ac.uk/cs/people/yaochu_jin - https://www.surrey.ac.uk/cs/people/paul_krause - https://www.surrey.ac.uk/cs/people/hongying_tang PhD in Computer Science at Surrey: - http://www.surrey.ac.uk/postgraduate/computer-science-phd - https://www.surrey.ac.uk/department-computer-science/study/postgraduate-res… - https://www.surrey.ac.uk/department-computer-science/study/postgraduate-res… The NICE group - http://www.surrey.ac.uk/cs/research/nice -- Brief? Here's why: http://emailcharter.org<http://emailcharter.org/> Dr Andre Gruning Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) Postgraduate Research Director Department of Computer Science University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH United Kingdom

Sept. 29, 2017

NIH/NSF funded postdoc (U Penn/U Houston/CU Boulder)

by Zachary Kilpatrick

We are seeking a postdoctoral fellow to join an NIH/NSF funded interdisciplinary project that includes Joshua Gold (University of Pennsylvania), Krešo Josić (University of Houston), and Zack Kilpatrick (University of Colorado, Boulder). Our aim is to understand how the brain accumulates evidence in dynamic environments. The project is guided by the overriding hypothesis that brain networks involved in decision-making computations incorporate learned expectations of the environment to implement adaptive decision-making. We seek a candidate who can work at the interface of experimental, computational, and theoretical neuroscience. As part of an interdisciplinary team, The candidate will develop models of neural circuits that approximate normative evidence accumulation in dynamic environments. The candidate will also help to validate these models, using behavioral data from humans and neural recordings from primates performing dynamic decision tasks. For further information please contact Krešimir Josić (josic(a)math.uh.edu <mailto:josic@math.uh.edu>) or Zack Kilpatrick (zpkilpat(a)colorado.edu <mailto:zpkilpat@colorado.edu>)

Sept. 28, 2017

Winter School on Deterministic & Stochastic Models in Neuroscience in Toulouse: December 11 to 15, 2017

by Zachary Kilpatrick

We are glad to announce that from the 11th to the 15th of December 2017 will take place a Winter School on Deterministic and Stochastic Models in Neuroscience at the Institut de Mathématiques de Toulouse in France. The main objective of this event is to organise a winter school around stochastic and deterministic models arising in neuroscience by providing a series of lectures given by internationally reknown speakers for a broad audience (graduate students, PhD students, Postdoctorates, researchers and professors) along with specific research talks. This winter school will showcase some recent and ongoing modeling problems in neuroscience with a strong emphasis on the stochastic and deterministic methods developped to treat them. There will be two lectures dedicated to stochastic methods and two for deterministic ones. The research talks will complement and enlarge these courses with for example topcis on neural field equations, numerical methods or kinetic models of neuronal networks. The webpage of the event can be found here: http://www.cimi.univ-toulouse.fr/mib/en/School-DSMN <http://www.cimi.univ-toulouse.fr/mib/en/School-DSMN> Please note that there will be financial support for a selected number of students (graduate students, PhD students, Post-doctorates) covering local expenses: hotel, metro tickets and food. Students can apply here: http://www.cimi.univ-toulouse.fr/en/registration-winter-school-deterministi… <http://www.cimi.univ-toulouse.fr/en/registration-winter-school-deterministi…> The registration for the winter school is free but mandatory. Lunches and a diner buffet will be covered by the conference. Scientific organizers Patrick Cattiaux & Grégory Faye

Sept. 28, 2017

Theoretical/Statistical Neuroscience Faculty Openings at Columbia

by Allison Ong

Dear Colleague, Columbia has announced a search for two faculty positions in theoretical/statistical neuroscience that are described below (also attached). We would appreciate it if you could forward this information to any interested candidates. We will start to evaluate applications on December 1, 2017. Here is a link to the announcement and the site for applying: academicjobs.columbia.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=65051 Thanks and Best Wishes, Larry Abbott and Liam Paninski *Two Junior Faculty Position in Theoretical / Statistical Neuroscience* The Department of Neuroscience, the Department of Statistics, and the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia University invite applications for two tenure-track positions at the Assistant or Associate Professor level, to begin in 2018. One position will focus on theoretical neuroscience with an appointment in the Department of Neuroscience. The other position will focus on the application of statistics to neuroscience with an appointment in the Department of Statistics. Both positions will include appointments as well as office and laboratory space in the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience and the Grossman Center of the Statistics of Mind within the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute housed in the Jerome L. Greene Science Center at Columbia. The Zuckerman Institute brings together scientists from diverse backgrounds whose research focuses on brain function, wiring, and development. We are seeking dynamic scientists interested in exploiting this multidisciplinary environment by interacting with Zuckerman Institute faculty as well as with others in the Columbia neuroscience, biological sciences, physical sciences, statistics, and machine learning communities, including the Data Science Institute. Zuckerman Institute faculty will function as full members of their home departments: tenure will be granted by the home department and faculty will contribute to teaching in their home departments and the Zuckerman Institute. Candidates will be expected to show expertise and an ability to lead a research program in theoretical and/or statistical neuroscience. Applicants are expected to have a strong record of scientific achievement and to demonstrate the ability to engage in innovative research and teaching. Applicants should hold a PhD in neuroscience, statistics, or a related area. Applications should be submitted through this link: academicjobs.columbia.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=65051 The following documents should be uploaded with your application: cover letter, CV, research plan, teaching statement, three letters of reference or a listing of at least three references that can be contacted, and the inclusion of one or two publications. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply. We will start to evaluate applications on December 1, 2017. Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer --Race/Gender/Disability/Veteran.

Sept. 28, 2017

Postdoctoral position in theoretical neuroscience at NYU

by Cristina Savin

Applications are invited for a postdoctoral scholar position in the Savin group at NYU. We are looking for an innovative and enthusiastic researcher with a strong quantitative background (e.g. Math, Physics, Computer Science) and experience in Neuroscience research and/or Machine Learning. The lab uses theoretical tools based on machine learning and statistics to study the neural correlates of learning and memory at the circuit level. For information about recent publications and ongoing projects see: www.cns.nyu.edu/~csavin <http://www.cns.nyu.edu/~csavin> Potential topics include: - probabilistic computation in neural circuits and its neural signatures, with a focus on learning - circuit level models of memory that aim to explain human memory behavior The postdoc will be part of a large and intellectually vibrant community of researchers from the Center for Neuroscience and the Centre for Data Science at NYU. The position is funded for 2 years, with an initial one-year appointment and expectation of extension contingent on satisfactory progress. Please submit your application to csavin(a)nyu.edu <mailto:csavin@nyu.edu> including: - CV - a statement of research interests - contact details of three people that are familiar with your work

Sept. 27, 2017

Postdoctoral position in Virtual Neuroprosthesis

by Emmanuelle Tognoli

http://www.ccs.fau.edu/~tognoli/virtualNeuroprosthesis.html The BioRobotics Lab at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) invites applications for a NIH NIBIB-funded Postdoctoral position to develop a Virtual Neuroprosthesis aimed at providing a sense of touch in amputees and limb-absent people. Candidates should have a PhD in one of the following degrees: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, bioengineering or related, with interest and/or experience in transdisciplinary work at the intersection of robotic hands, biology, and biomedical systems. Prior experience in the neural field will be considered an advantage, though not a necessity. Underrepresented minorities and women are warmly encouraged to apply. The postdoctoral researcher will be co-advised across the department of Mechanical Engineering and the Center for Complex Systems & Brain Sciences through an interdisciplinary team whose expertise spans Robotics, Microfluidics, Behavioral and Clinical Neuroscience and Orthopedic Surgery. The position will be for one year with a possibility of extension based on performance. Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. The application should include: (1) a cover letter with research interests and experiences, (2) a CV, (3) names and contact information for three professional references. Qualified candidates should send contact: tognoli(a)ccs.fau.edu -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

Sept. 27, 2017

PostDoctoral Position at the LMU (Munich) : dissection of functional cortical network dynamics

by Anton Sirota

*Post-Doctoral* position is available *immediately* at the laboratory of Prof. Anton Sirota at the Ludwig-Maximilians University München (Germany) for the research project that is part of international interdisciplinary collaborative research consortium BrainCom (http://www.braincom-project.eu) The goal of the project is to identify decoding capacity of the network dynamics across cortical circuits derived from the multichannel surface and depth cortical field potential recordings for applications to neuroprosthetics. As a corollary, we aim to develop, for the first time, experimentally-derived circuit-level forward model for the depth and surface cortical field potentials. The project will combine extracellular recordings using newly-developed very large scale high density multichannel arrays with optogenetic circuit-specific manipulation and quantitative behavior analysis in rodents, as well as novel analytical approaches. Project will be integrated into diverse and innovative research program of the Sirota lab (http://cogneuro.bio.lmu.de) Our laboratory is part of Bernstein Centre for Computational Neuroscience Munich (http://www.bccn-munich.de) Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (http://www.synergy-munich.de) and the Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (http://www.gsn.uni-muenchen.de) Applicants are expected to be highly motivated, hard working, creative and capable of independent, analytical and critical thinking. PhD in neuroscience and a strong background in physics, computer science or engineering are required. Solid experience in in vivo electrophysiology, optogenetics and computational neuroscience is highly desirable. Strong quantitative and technical skills are a must. Good knowledge of signal processing and machine learning is a plus. Proficiency in English and good written and oral communication skills are a prerequisite. Good social and teamwork, as well as excellent organizational skills, are expected. Candidates are expected to have first author peer-reviewed publication record. Employment is according to the state employees salary scheme (TV-L/E13) and is initially for 1 year with the option for extension.Candidate selection will be open until the position is filled. LMU Munich is an equal opportunity employer. Applications of women and disabled persons, given similar qualification, are preferred. Applications should include a full CV, a 1 page statement of past experience, research interests, and career goals, along with contact information of at least 2 referees. Please, send your application electronically as a single PDF file to Dr Anton Sirota at sirota(a)bio.lmu.de

Sept. 27, 2017

Postdoctoral positions in theoretical neuroscience

by Brent Doiron

The Doiron group at the University of Pittsburgh (www.math.pitt.edu/~bdoiron) is currently seeking up to two postdoctoral fellows to work on cutting edge problems in theoretical neuroscience. Research topics include: 1) The genesis and consequences of neuronal variability in cortical networks 2) Biologically realistic modeling of assembly formation in cortical circuits 3) How learning and memory impact population codes All projects will involve heavy collaboration with several prominent experimental groups (primate and rodent) both in Pittsburgh as well as abroad. The positions are 3-year terms (contingent upon satisfactory progress) with competitive salary and benefits packages offered by the University of Pittsburgh. The successful candidate will join the Mathematics department at the University of Pittsburgh (www.math.pitt.edu) and will have strong ties to the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition in Pittsburgh (http://www.cnbc.cmu.edu) Candidates should have a Ph.D. in computational neuroscience, mathematics, physics, or engineering and have an excellent track record of scholarship. The University of Pittsburgh is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from under-represented groups. Interested persons should send their CV, a cover letter stating research interests and career goals, and names and contact information of two references to bdoiron(a)pitt.edu . The competition will remain open until the positions are filled. Best Brent -- Professor of Mathematics Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition University of Pittsburgh 301 Thackeray Hall Pittsburgh, PA, 15260 www.math.pitt.edu/~bdoiron

Sept. 27, 2017

Job Announcement: Computational Neuroscience RA

by Stacie Warren

Dear Colleagues, A Computational Neuroscience Research Assistant position is currently available at Palo Alto University to support the Clinical Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Programs directed by Stacie L. Warren, PhD and Tilman Schulte, PhD. This is an exciting opportunity to work on a range of cognitive and affective studies that focus on executive function, emotion regulation, stress responsivity, reward processing, and aging on neural circuitry. Populations of interest include healthy adults, adults with or at risk for developing psychopathology, and neurological disorders. Opportunities to develop and apply novel data analysis techniques, to co-author research publications, and to assist with similar studies in children through a partnership with Stanford University are also available. Primary Responsibilities: Developing software/scripts to implement algorithms for data quality control, preprocessing, analysis, and management. Developing and implementing statistical/mathematical modeling (e.g., machine learning algorithms) to characterize high-dimensional datasets. Assisting with analyzing neuroimaging research data using neuroimaging-specific programs and/or software (e.g., FSL, Freesurfer, SPM, AFNI). Qualifications: BA/BS in a relevant field by the time of appointment. Proficiency in programming (e.g., Matlab, Python, C/C++, java) and shell scripting. Proficiency with Linux OS and file system. Experience with any of the following: signal and image processing, machine learning, statistical/mathematical modeling. Excellent organizational and interpersonal communication skills are required. Strong background in biomedical engineering, computer science, applied mathematics, statistics, computational neuroscience, quantitative psychology, or related subjects. Experience in neuroimaging data analysis is desired. A two-year commitment is required. This is a full-time position with a competitive salary and benefits. To apply, send a CV, a cover letter stating your research interests and career goals, and contact information for three references to swarren(a)paloaltou.edu. Review of applications will begin immediately. -- Stacie L. Warren, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program Palo Alto University 1791 Arastradero Rd. Palo Alto, CA 94304 email: swarren(a)paloaltou.edu <staciewarren3(a)gmail.com>

Sept. 26, 2017

Postdoctoral positions in neural coding - IIT Rovereto, Italy

by Stefano Panzeri

We are seeking candidates for up to three postdoctoral position in computational neuroscience in the Neural Computation Laboratory at the IIT ( http://cncs.iit.it/labs/neural-computation ) directed by Stefano Panzeri ( https://www.iit.it/people/stefano-panzeri) and located in Rovereto (Trento), Italy. This laboratory aims to crack the neural code using neural network modeling and computational analyses of neurophysiological experiments. The laboratory offers a range of strongly interdisciplinary expertise in computational neuroscience, including information theory and other types of advanced single-trial neural analyses, advanced spectral analysis, and biophysically plausible neural network modeling. The successful candidate will develop and use tools for the analysis of large-scale simultaneous recordings of the spiking activity of cells in the cortex to understand how populations of neurons carry information. The successful candidate would have the opportunity to benefit from an extensive set of existing collaborations with leading neurophysiological laboratories, including those of Nikos Logothetis at Max Planck Tubingen (collaborating on oscillations, sensory information coding and neuromodulation), Tommaso Fellin at IIT (collaborating on Optogenetics, Neurophysiology and Neural coding), Mathew Diamond at SISSA (collaborating on the behavioral impact of information carried by spike timing), and Christopher Harvey at Harvard Medical School (collaborating on neural population dynamics and decision making). We are willing to consider candidates interested in any of the aspects of neural coding of interest to the laboratory. Candidates must hold a PhD in a numerate scientific discipline. They must be highly motivated and creative individuals who want to work in a dynamic, multi-disciplinary research environment and be willing to interact with both experimental and theoretical neuroscientists. For reference to recent work of the lab please see : Runyan C. A., et al (2017) Distinct timescales of population coding across cortex, Nature: 548: 92-96. Panzeri S., et al (2017) Cracking the neural code for sensory perception by combining statistics, intervention and behaviour. Neuron 93: 491-507 Safaai, H., et al (2015) Modelling the effect of Locus Coeruleous firing on single trial cortical state dynamics and sensory processing. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 112(41): 12834–12839 Zuo Y, et al (2015) Spike timing and spike rate make complementary contributions to perceptual decisions in rat S1 and S2 cortex. Current Biology 25: 357-363 Besserve M, et al (2015) Shifts of gamma phase across primary visual cortical sites reflect dynamic stimulus- modulated information transfer. PLoS Biology 13(9): e1002257 The formal deadline for applications is Oct 15th 2017. However, interested candidates are advised to contact informally Stefano Panzeri ( stefano.panzeri(a)iit.it) *as soon as possible*. The formal application should be sent by email to selezioni(a)iit.it and to Stefano Panzeri (*stefano.panzeri(a)iit.it) <stefano.panzeri(a)iit.it)>*. The formal application should contain the applicant’s CV, a brief statement of research interests, and names and email addresses of 2 or 3 referees. Thanks Stefano Panzeri

Sept. 26, 2017

postdoctoral positions in brain-inspired computing at Sandia National Laboratories

by Chance, Frances S.

**apologies for the multiple emails from Sandia – this is an advertisement for a separate postdoctoral position than the computational neuroscience postdoc that was advertised last week. I’m very excited to see the neuroscience community at Sandia grow - I think a number of persons on this list have appropriate backgrounds for either position and would encourage those persons to apply to both. Colleagues, We are seeking a Postdoctoral Appointee to join an interdisciplinary research program focused on state-of-the-art computational and mathematical approaches and applications for brain-inspired computing. The neural computing group includes researchers with expertise in machine learning, cognitive science, neuroscience, physics, engineering, mathematics, and data analytics. Current research topics of interest include developing neural models and novel adaptive machine learning algorithms, as well as applying machine learning to develop new neuromorphic computing approaches. Some information on Sandia's neural-inspired computing research can be found at http://neuroscience.sandia.gov/. To apply, visit http://www.sandia.gov/careers/ and click "View All Jobs". Enter "658203" into the search box to locate this posting. For questions please contact William Severa (wmsever(a)sandia.gov<mailto:wmsever@sandia.gov<mailto:wmsever@sandia.gov%3cmailto:wmsever@sandia.gov>>) or Craig Vineyard (cmviney(a)sandia.gov<mailto:cmviney@sandia.gov<mailto:cmviney@sandia.gov%3cmailto:cmviney@sandia.gov>>). Additionally, we also encourage potential applicants to consider several of Sandia's laboratory wide fellowships for recent PhD graduates, including the John von Neumann Fellowship (http://www.sandia.gov/careers/students_postdocs/fellowships/johnvonneumann_…) in computational sciences and the inaugural Jill Hruby Fellowship (http://www.sandia.gov/careers/students_postdocs/fellowships/hruby_fellowshi…) While an offer of employment is not contingent upon receiving one of these fellowships, a number of them do have deadlines in the coming months.

Sept. 25, 2017

Research Associate in Functional Brain Mapping

by Dheeraj Rathee

*Dear All,* *Research Associate in Functional Brain Mapping * Applications are invited for a Post-Doctoral Research Associate (PDRA) in functional brain mapping (FBM) to work on a project aimed at discovering neuromarkers that facilitate stratification of patients with Alzheimer´s disease. The position is currently for 2 years, with possibility for further extension subject to securing funder’s approval. *Ref*( http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BEA525/research-associate-in-functional-brain-map… ) : 2752/ 1672326 *Location:* Ulster University, Magee campus, Derry~Londonderry, Northern Ireland, UK. *Salary*: £27,300 to £40,015 *Closing Date*: 4th October 2017 *Duties: *The successful candidate will use MEG data recorded during cognitive tasks, stimulations, and resting state protocols to explore functional connectivity and other appropriate measures for characterizing individuals with different stages of AD and detecting individuals at the risk of developing AD. S/he will also develop and evaluate methods for assessing treatment effects on individuals with AD in collaboration with industry. *Northern Ireland Functional Brain Mapping (NIFBM) facility: *The NIFBM is located at the Intelligent Systems Research Centre ( https://www.ulster.ac.uk/research/institutes/computer-science/groups/intell… ) of Ulster University, Magee campus, Derry~Londonderry. It is the only brain imaging facility anywhere in Ireland and only one of nine in whole of UK to use a state-of-the-art magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure brain activity. The facility attracts clinicians and researchers from across Northern Ireland as well as Republic of Ireland. It is equipped with the latest whole head 306 channels Elekta Neuromag MEG TRIUX system, which also includes a 128-channel EEG recording system. We offer several advanced techniques for brain stimulation and analysis that allow us to obtain better results and guarantee a high quality service for both research and clinical applications. The ISRC is a major research unit in the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment and hosts around 80 researchers including academic staff, research associates and PhD students organized in four research teams: Neural Systems and Neuro-technology, Computational Neuroscience and Neural Engineering, Cognitive Robotics, and Ambient Intelligence and Virtual Worlds. Based at ISRC, the successful candidate will have an opportunity to interact with researchers from related ISRC teams as well as Biomedical Sciences Research Institute (5* research rating), and the recently developed Centre for Stratified Medicine at Ulster University. *Eligibility Requirements: *An eligible candidate should have a degree in Computing Science, Electronic Engineering, Physics, or a closely related discipline, or a higher degree in the same or related subjects. Applicants with other relevant degrees e.g. medicine, psychology, neuroscience or biomedical sciences may also be considered, subject to demonstration of substantial neuroimaging expertise. A PhD degree in an area relevant to the post is also an essential requirement. It is also required that a candidate: - Has extensive hands-on EEG/MEG experience including protocol design, setting up experiments and stimulations, and data acquisition; - Has strong skills and expertise in EEG/MEG analysis using modern tools such as Fieldtrip, SPM, MNE, and/or Brainstorm; - Has research track record in cognitive or clinical neuroscience supported by at least two high quality journal publications suitable for submission in to UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF); - Is a self-motivated individual, enjoys working in a team and interacting with researchers and study participants. Please apply on-line by visiting either our university web-site http://www.ulster.ac.uk/jobs or the advertisement appearing at: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BEA525/research-associate-in-functional-brain-map… For more information, please contact Prof. Girijesh Prasad, Principal Investigator & Director NIFBM facility. E-mail: g.prasad(a)ulster.ac.uk, Phone: 028 71675645. -------------------------------------------------------- [image: Ulster University] <http://www.ulster.ac.uk/> *Prof. Girijesh Prasad*, Professor of Intelligent Systems, Director, Northern Ireland Functional Brain Mapping facility for MEG studies, Intelligent Systems Research Centre, School of Computing & Intelligent Systems, Faculty of Computing & Engineering, Ulster University, Magee campus, Derry~ Londonderry BT48 7JL, N. Ireland, UK. *T:* +44 - (0)28 71 - 675645, 675409 *E:* g.prasad(a)ulster.ac.uk *W:* https://www.ulster.ac.uk/staff/g.prasad.html https://www.ulster.ac.uk/research/institutes/computer-science/groups/intell… *--------------------------* *Thanks & Regards* *Dheeraj Rathee* PhD Student Intelligent Systems Research Centre | Faculty of Computing and Engineering Ulster University (Magee Campus ) Northland Road, Derry Northern Ireland, UK BT 48 7JL Email Id: dheeraj.rathee(a)gmail.com | rathee-d(a)email.ulster.ac.uk Contact : +447459549514 Skype : dheeraj.rathee || Research Gate <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dheeraj_Rathee> || LinkedIn <https://in.linkedin.com/pub/dheeraj-rathee/97/162/2a8?domainCountryName=Ind…> *A 'Peaceful' Mind is a 'Productive' Mind. * *CONFIDENTIALITY NOTE : The information transmitted, including attachments, is intended only for the person(s) or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, re-transmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by person(s) or entities other than the intended recipient(s) is prohibited. If you have received this mail in error , please notify the sender and destroy any copies of the information. * * *************END OF DISCLAIMER*************** *

Sept. 25, 2017

Fully funded PhD student positions at IMPRS Brain and Behavior Bonn/Florida

by Jakob Macke

The INTERNATIONAL MAX PLANCK RESEARCH SCHOOL (IMPRS) FOR BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR is a transatlantic collaboration between the University of Bonn and the Max Planck associated Center for Advanced European Science and Research (caesar) along with the USA partners Florida Atlantic University and the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI). We seek to fill at least 15 fully funded PhD student positions - NEUROSCIENCE OUR SCHOOL: The first of its kind to unite two Max Planck Institutes (caesar and MPFI) on both sides of the Atlantic, and their university partners (Bonn University and FAU): the IMPRS FOR BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR offers a competitive, English language, interdisciplinary, world-class PhD training and research program in the neurosciences. OUR RESEARCH: IMPRS for Brain and Behavior research projects address how sensory information is encoded in neural circuits and is transformed ultimately to behavior. This research ranges from understanding molecular signaling cascades in spines during learning to understanding how sensory and motor circuits are activated in the awake behaving animal. THE POSITIONS: More than 35 labs with an enormous variety of research projects are seeking outstanding PhD candidates to join their research. See our website for further information on our faculty and possible doctoral projects. Successful candidates will work in a young and dynamic, interdisciplinary, international environment, embedded in the local scientific communities in Bonn or Jupiter. YOUR PROFILE: Highly qualified and motivated aspiring PhD student from any nationality. Proven track record of academic and research excellence. Master’s degree (or equivalent) in biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, or other relevant subject. Truly superior bachelor students may be considered. Fluency in written and spoken English. OUR OFFER: Immersion in a stimulating scientific culture of interaction and international cooperation. State-of-the art facilities with novel scientific technologies and advanced infrastructure. Dedicated support and mentoring personnel. Competitive salary funded for 3 years (extension possible) and no tuition fees. We are committed to diversity and equal opportunity for all applicants. Positions must be started not later than October 1, 2018. YOUR APPLICATION: Apply online at: http://www.imprs-brain-behavior.mpg.de by the December 1, 2017 deadline. Only applications submitted through the online portal will be considered! Short-listed candidates will be interviewed in March 12-13, 2018. CONTACT: Denise Butler, Coordinator (IMPRS.info(a)caesar.de)

Sept. 25, 2017

Several postdoctoral research positions in Statistical Neuroscience

by xaq pitkow

POSITION: We seek several highly motivated postdoctoral research fellows for a collaborative team project building statistical tools for interpreting large scale neural recordings. The fellows will develop new methods and applications of probabilistic graphical models to infer statistical interactions amongst neurons and with their environment. The tools will be validated in neural network simulations, tested in physiological recordings, and made widely available to the neuroscience community for understanding data from next-generation experiments. TEAM: Fellows will join principal investigators and theorists Krešimir Josić, Genevera Allen, Xaq Pitkow, Ankit Patel, and Robert Rosenbaum. The team will interact closely with experimentalists including co-Investigator Andreas Tolias and several other labs interested in applying novel methods we develop. Fellows will also be members of the new Center for Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence housed at the Baylor College of Medicine and supported in part by the NSF NeuroNex program. The Center brings together interdisciplinary researchers from across Houston, including members from Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, University of Houston, and University of Texas Health Sciences. Researchers at the Center contribute diverse expertise in fields including neuroscience, machine learning, statistics, physics, computer science, electrical engineering, and applied mathematics. QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates must have outstanding mathematical skills, a PhD in a relevant quantitative discipline, and expertise in probabilistic graphical models or statistical machine learning. APPLYING: Applicants should email a letter of research interests and CV to Camila Lopez (Camila.Lopez(a)bcm.edu) along with contact information for three references. We look forward to hearing from you!

Sept. 20, 2017

AMCOS save the date

by AMCOS Conference

SAVE THE DATE *AMCOS –** Analysis and Modeling of Complex Oscillatory Systems* March 19-23, 2018 Barcelona, Spain The *AMCOS conference* aims at bringing together renowned experts and young researchers who work on the modeling of complex systems and the emergence of collective phenomena, as well as on the analysis of complex data sets in order to infer structure and functionality of networks. Accompanying *tutorials* by leading experts will interactively introduce the different conference themes. Do you want to present your work? *Registration and abstract submission opens October 15, 2017*. More info at amcosconference.com. *Date and Venue* Tutorials: March 19, 2018 Conference: March 20 - 23, 2018 PRBB <http://www.prbb.org/>, Parc de Recerca Biomèdica de Barcelona *List of speakers* (*TBC) - Peter Ashwin, - Ernest Barreto, - Ginestra Bianconi*, - Raffaella Burioni, - Dante R. Chialvo, - Gustavo Deco, - Alain Destexhe*, - Albert Díaz-Guilera, - Jordi Garcia-Ojalvo, - Wulfram Gerstner*, - Leon Glass, - Sonja Grün, - Cristina Masoller, - Yamir Moreno, - Florian Mormann, - Hiroya Nakao*, - Diego Pazó, - Juan G. Restrepo, - Alex Roxin, - Tilo Schwalger*, - Damián H. Zanette. *Topics covered* synchronization and nonlinear dynamics - dynamics on networks - connectivity and network inference - data analysis in neuroscience - critical phenomena - neural field models - computational neuroscience - complex oscillatory behaviour in physiology *Tutorials* Leading experts in the field will introduce the different conference themes interactively in tutorials on the first day of the conference week. The speakers are: - Ralph G. Andrzejak, - Arkady Pikovsky, - Michael Rosenblum, - Aneta Stefanovska. A (tentative) list of topics comprises basic theory of synchronization, synchronization approach to data analysis, basic concepts of nonlinear time series analysis, and time series analysis of non-autonomous dynamics. The participants are required to bring laptops installed with MATLAB/Octave if they want to take part in the practical activities. *Organizers* The doctoral students (Early Stage Researchers <http://www.uni-potsdam.de/cosmos-itn/people/early-stage-researchers-esrs/>) of the H2020 Marie Curie project COSMOS <http://www.uni-potsdam.de/cosmos-itn/> . For further information see amcosconference.com or contact us via e-mail < amcosconference(a)upf.edu>. Please forward to anyone interested.

Sept. 20, 2017

postdoctoral positions in computational neuroscience at Sandia National Laboratories

by Chance, Frances S.

Colleagues, We are seeking a Postdoctoral Appointee to join an interdisciplinary research program focused on understanding neural computation at the circuit level. The neural computing group includes researchers with expertise in machine learning, cognitive science, neuroscience, physics, engineering, mathematics, and data analytics. Current research topics of interest include computational models of retina, visual cortex (or the neural circuitry underlying perception), and the hippocampus. More information on Sandia’s neuroscience research can be found at http://neuroscience.sandia.gov/. We are also encouraging potential applicants to look at several of Sandia’s laboratory wide fellowships for recent PhD graduates, including the John von Neumann Fellowship (http://www.sandia.gov/careers/students_postdocs/fellowships/johnvonneumann_…) in computational sciences and the inaugural Jill Hruby Fellowship (http://www.sandia.gov/careers/students_postdocs/fellowships/hruby_fellowshi…) While an offer of employment is not contingent upon receiving one of these fellowships, a number of them do have deadlines in the coming months. To apply, visit http://www.sandia.gov/careers/ and click "View All Jobs". Enter “658202” into the search box to locate this posting. For questions please contact Frances Chance (fschanc(a)sandia.gov<mailto:fschanc@sandia.gov>) or Brad Aimone (jbaimon(a)sandia.gov<mailto:jbaimon@sandia.gov>).

Sept. 20, 2017

post-doc positions to work on integrated information theory (IIT) with Prof. Giulio Tononi at University of Wisconsin-Madison

by Larissa Albantakis

*Post-doc position(s) to work on Integrated Information Theory (IIT) * Prof. Giulio Tononi, University of Wisconsin, Madison Several postdoctoral positions are available at the Wisconsin Institute for Sleep and Consciousness in the laboratory of Prof. Giulio Tononi to study complex systems within the framework of integrated information theory (IIT). Immediate funding is available for a range of projects including the foundational development of IIT’s mathematical framework, the development of practical measures of integrated information, and their applications to complex systems (biological and artificial). *Required:* - Strong training in an analytically rigorous discipline such as theoretical or computational biology/neuroscience, physics, mathematics, computer science, or engineering - Programming experience (knowledge of MATLAB, Python, and/or C++ is of advantage) * Preferred:* - Experience in information theory and complex systems - Interest in the philosophy of causation Appointments are renewable from year to year for up to three years, starting as soon as possible or until the positions are filled. Postdoc salaries correspond to the National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award (NRSA) stipend schedule for postdoc trainees, based on number of years of postdoctoral experience. Candidates should send a CV, brief statement (500 words maximum) describing their research interests and potential role within the lab, and email addresses and phone numbers of three references to: Giulio Tononi, MD, PhD (gtononi(a)wisc.edu) Note that generic applications will not be considered. To demonstrate a real interest in IIT, we strongly recommend applicants calculate the Φ value of a small network—three fully connected XOR logic gates, without self-loops, in state 0, 0, 0 (all off)—using the IIT online interface and include the result in the application email. For more information, see http://integratedinformationtheory.org/, or contact Larissa Albantakis, PhD (albantakis(a)wisc.edu) or William Marshall, PhD (wmarshall3(a)wisc.edu) -- Larissa Albantakis, PhD Department of Psychiatry University of Wisconsin 6001 Research Park Blvd Madison, WI 53719

Sept. 20, 2017

Postdoctoral position (Mathematical Neuroscience) at QIMRB, Brisbane Australia

by Matthew Aburn

Mathematical Neuroscience Research Fellow (full time 3 year appointment) - Innovative biomedical modelling - Attractive salary packaging & superannuation options This research fellow will pursue large-scale computational modelling and simulation of brain activity, and innovative analyses of time series and neuroimaging data, with particular focus on epilepsy. *Responsibilities* - You will contribute to developing and analysing new mathematical models of large-scale brain activity, including both biophysical neural mass models and networks of non-linear oscillators. - Simulate computational models on GPUs or high performance computing clusters, and collaborate in applying these to clinical and neuroscience research. - Perform innovative analyses of high-dimensional neurophysiological and neuroimaging data. - Contribute to experimental design and prepare manuscripts for related studies. - Participate in intra-mural group activities, including presentation at lab meetings and collaboration with other lab members and clinicians. *About you* Essential: The successful applicant will possess the following: PhD in mathematics, physics, bioengineering, computer sciences or related field; demonstrated ability to implement mathematical methods in code; evidence of strong oral and written communication skills. Desirable: Ideally candidates may also have a published track record in analysis of non-linear dynamical systems, particularly neural mass or neural field models or coupled non-linear oscillators; previous experience with GPU programming or high performance computing clusters; previous experience in neuroscience research; or expertise in time series analysis or signal processing. *About the lab* Led by Prof Michael Breakspear, the Systems Neuroscience Group (SNG) is an independent research team within QIMR Berghofer. The SNG is a multidisciplinary group who undertake innovative computational modelling and analysis of brain activity in health and disease. QIMR Berghofer is a world-leading translational medical research institute. Based in Brisbane, Australia and working in close collaboration with clinicians and other research institutes, QIMR Berghofer is home to more than 600 scientists, students and support staff. *Salary* Salary range is AUD $81,395-$84,257 per annum, plus up to 15.75% superannuation, and attractive salary packaging. This is a full time three year appointment. Closing date is 15 October 2017 Apply here: http://www.qimrberghofer.edu.au/careers/positions-vacant

Sept. 19, 2017

Postdoctoral position (Bayesian Computation) at QIMRB, Brisbane Australia

by Matthew Aburn

Bayesian Computation Research Fellow (full time 3 year appointment) - Cutting edge data science - Attractive salary packaging & superannuation options This research fellow will develop new systems for model selection and model-based prediction, combining large data sets from patient neuroimaging and intracranial recordings, with biophysical forward models of brain dynamics. *Responsibilities* - You will contribute to the design of systems for Bayesian inference on large data sets, to perform model selection, parameter estimation, data assimilation and prediction using forward models of brain dynamics. - Implement these methods on GPUs or high performance computing clusters, and collaborate in applying these to clinical and neuroscience research, including an application to diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. - Perform innovative analyses of high-dimensional neurophysiological and neuroimaging data. - Contribute to experimental design and prepare manuscripts for related studies. - Participate in intra-mural group activities, including presentation at lab meetings and collaboration with other lab members and clinicians. *About you* Essential: The successful applicant will possess the following: PhD in mathematics, physics, statistics, bioengineering, computer sciences or related field; demonstrated ability to implement mathematical methods in code; and evidence of strong oral and written communication skills. Desirable: Ideally candidates may also have a published track record in applying computational Bayesian methods such as Sequential Monte Carlo, MCMC, Variational Bayes; previous experience with GPU programming or high performance computing clusters; previous experience in neuroscience research; or expertise in time series analysis or signal processing. *About the lab* Led by Prof Michael Breakspear, the Systems Neuroscience Group (SNG) is an independent research team within QIMR Berghofer. The SNG is a multidisciplinary group who undertake innovative computational modelling and analysis of brain activity in health and disease. QIMR Berghofer is a world-leading translational medical research institute. Based in Brisbane, Australia and working in close collaboration with clinicians and other research institutes, QIMR Berghofer is home to more than 600 scientists, students and support staff. *Salary* Salary range is AUD $81,395-$84,257 per annum, plus up to 15.75% superannuation, and attractive salary packaging. This is a full time three year appointment. Closing date is 15 October 2017 Apply here: http://www.qimrberghofer.edu.au/careers/positions-vacant

Sept. 19, 2017

University of British Columbia Murphy lab: PDF and Graduate students wanted, automated in vivo imaging and optogenetics in mouse cortex

by Tim Murphy

University of British Columbia Murphy lab: PDF and Graduate students wanted, automated in vivo imaging and optogenetics in mouse cortex. The Murphy lab at the University of British Columbia is looking for both graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to join a dynamic research team focused on the function of mouse cortex in both normal brain as well as models of stroke and neuropsychiatric disorders. <http://www.neuroscience.ubc.ca/faculty/murphy.html> http://www.neuroscience.ubc.ca/faculty/murphy.html Applicants should have experience in quantitative methods and computer programming and/or behavioral neuroscience. Software systems include both data acquisition and analysis using Python or/and Matlab. Current projects evolve around automated brain imaging/interventions using mouse home cages <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4909937/> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4909937/. The lab has a fully equipped maker space with a 3D printer and electronics and other hardware fabrication facilities. Future work includes integration of behavioral tasks, including go-, no-go- and fine motor control with automated brain imaging and optogenetic stimulation or inhibition. Projects are focused around two major disease areas, which include stroke and mouse models of neuropsychiatric disorders. The laboratory is part of the UBC Centre for Brain Health and the Graduate program in Neuroscience. These entities form a vibrant research community. Applicants are encouraged to apply directly to Tim Murphy and after an initial application are expected to include 3 letters of reference plus an undergraduate and graduate transcript. Salary and stipends are consistent with Canadian granting standards. Please write: <mailto:thmurphy@mail.ubc.ca> thmurphy(a)mail.ubc.ca Tim Murphy, PhD Professor Kinsmen Lab, Dept. of Psychiatry University of British Columbia 2255 Wesbrook Mall Detwiller Pavilion Rm. 4N1 Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z3 Canada 604-822-0705 office

Sept. 15, 2017

Postdoctoral fellowship in human intracranial electrophysiology: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and California Institute of Technology

by Ueli Rutishauser

*** Apologies for multiple postings*** A postdoctoral position focused on investigating the neural mechanisms of learning and memory is available in the Laboratory of Ueli Rutishauser at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Caltech. The lab is broadly interested in human memory and decision making. We focus on understanding how new long-term memories are formed, how existing memories are retrieved to make choices, how memories for social stimuli such as faces are formed, and on utilizing this knowledge to develop new treatments for memory disorders. We utilize a combination of in-vivo electrophysiology (single-neuron and local field potential recordings), neuroimaging, computational and behavioral approaches. The focus of this project is on single-neuron recordings in epilepsy patients to investigate the role of theta-oscillations in coordinating activity during memory-based decisions. The applicant will join a vibrant and collaborative interdisciplinary research team consisting of investigators at both Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the California Institute of Technology. We provide ample opportunity for training with state-of-the art equipment, facilities, analytical methods, and experimental techniques. Our work is funded by the NSF, McKnight Endowment fund, and NIH, including a newly established NIH BRAIN consortium between Cedars-Sinai/Caltech (Rutishauser, Mamelak, Adolphs), University of Toronto (Valiante), Johns Hopkins University (Anderson), and Harvard/Childrens (Kreiman). This provides ample opportunity to work with large-scale single-neuron datasets to test model predictions. This position is based at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. Candidates should have a recent PhD in neuroscience or related field with a track-record of first-author publications. Strong programming (Matlab or similar), data analysis, and statistics skills are required. Previous electrophysiology experience is preferred. Excellent written and oral English communication skills are required. Previous human intracranial EEG and/or macaque electrophysiology experience is a strength. The position is available as early as Nov 1st 2017, with a competitive salary and benefits package commensurate with prior experience (NIH scale). The position is available with an initial appointment for one year and renewal based upon satisfactory performance. Cedars-Sinai is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants should send a CV, brief statement of research interests, and contact information for 2-3 references to Ueli Rutishauser at rutishauseru(a)csmc.edu. Information about the lab and a list of publications can be found at www.rutishauserlab.org . Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. -- Ueli Rutishauser, Ph.D. http://rutishauserlab.org/

Sept. 15, 2017

Open position: clinical data manager, Marseille

by Irene Yujnovsky

> > Clinical data manager for national consortium on epilepsy surgery - Aix-Marseille Université > Marseille, FRANCE > > > A position for an experienced clinical data manager is open to create and maintain an epileptic patient database including registration, normalization and security issues and to ensure the communication with the key partners in the academic, clinical and industry sectors with the aim of generating individual Virtual Patient models using The Virtual Brain (TVB) platform as framework (see http://www.thevirtualbrain.org) This database will be generated in the context of the EPINOV (Improving EPilepsy surgery management and progNOsis using Virtual brain technology) project led by Professor Fabrice Bartolomei (http://fr.ap-hm.fr/service/neurophysiologie-clinique-hopital-timone) funded by the RHU programme. > > Qualification > > Candidates must be highly motivated to work on an interdisciplinary project and collaborate with the various members of the consortium. They should have a degree in biomedical engineering, medical informatics or equivalent level of knowledge. Candidates must possess a solid experience in management of clinical and/or research data and programming (C, MATLAB, Python). Experience with neuroimaging data (stereotactic EEG, MRI, DTI, MEG, EEG), clinical trials, neuroinformatics and its standard formats (for instance DICOM, XNAT, BIDS), machine learning and Big Data would be considered an advantage. > > The EPINOV project and consortium > We are a national consortium composed of clinicians, researchers and industrial partners interested in improving epilepsy surgical prognosis using large–scale brain modelling based on individual epileptic patient data. A prospective, randomized multicenter trial will be conducted with subjects suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy. The clinical trial will systematically evaluate the added value of personalized brain modelling in the surgical decision making. > > Terms of salary and employment > Salary will depend on the diploma and previous experience. Operating languages in the consortium are both French and English. > > Applications including a cover letter, curriculum vitae and the names of two referees should be sent by October 31st 2017 to: Dr. Irene Yujnovsky at irene.yujnovsky(a)univ-amu.fr > > --

Sept. 14, 2017

[jobs] Post-doctoral Position in Brain- and biosignal-based speech recognition @ the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT)

by Alessandro D'Ausilio

The IIT (Italian Institute of Technology) Centre for Translational Neurophysiology (CTNSC) is hiring 1 post-doc on Brain- and Biosignal-based Automatic Speech Recognition. Please find more information here: https://www.iit.it/careers/openings/opening/515-postdoctoral-position-in-br… Deadline: September 25th

Sept. 14, 2017

SCiNDU abstract deadline Oct 1st

by Geoffrey Goodhill

A reminder that the SCiNDU abstract deadline is October 1st: SYSTEMS AND COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE DOWNUNDER (SCiNDU) Joint meeting with the 2017 QBI Plasticity Workshop and the 10th Australasian Workshop on Neuro-Engineering and Computational Neuroscience Dec 13-15th 2017 Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia http://www.qbi.uq.edu.au/scindu Confirmed speakers: Polina Anikeeva (MIT) Bernard Balleine (UNSW) Daphne Bavelier (U Geneva) John Bekkers (ANU) Kwabena Boahen (Stanford) Tobias Bonhoeffer (Max Planck Martinsried) Rosa Cossart (INMED Marseille) Kenji Doya (Okinawa) Adrienne Fairhall (U Washington) Marta Garrido (U Queensland) Alex Pouget (U Geneva) Pankaj Sah (U Queensland) Andre van Schaik (Western Sydney) Rafael Yuste (Columbia) Abstract submissions for poster presentation are due by Oct 1st. Some submissions will be selected for oral presentation. See http://www.qbi.uq.edu.au/scindu for more details. Professor Geoffrey J Goodhill Queensland Brain Institute and School of Mathematics & Physics University of Queensland St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia Email: g.goodhill(a)uq.edu.au<mailto:g.goodhill@uq.edu.au> http://www.qbi.uq.edu.au/professor-geoffrey-goodhill

Sept. 14, 2017

Joint Ph.D. position in Systems Neuroscience at Karolinska Institute and KTH Royal Insti. of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

by Arvind Kumar

*Joint Ph.D. position in Systems Neuroscience at Karolinska Institute and KTH Royal Insti. of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden* We invite applications for a joint PhD position in the groups of Dr. Arvind Kumar (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden) and Dr. Dinos Meletis (Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden) to study the dynamics of neuronal ensembles in mouse striatum. *Brief** description of the project* Striatum is the main input of the basal ganglia and plays an important role in a diversity of cognitive and motor functions. The goal of the project is to understand how the population activity of striatal neurons encodes external stimulus and behavioral states of the animal. To this end the student will record, analyse and model the striatal activity in different conditions. *Qualifications* We are looking for a student with a MSc (or equivalent) degree in Physics or Engineering and a strong background in data analysis and/or analysis and modeling of physical systems. Previous knowledge of neuroscience would be useful but not necessary. *Appointment* This will be a joint position at KTH and KI Stockholm, Sweden. The employment as a Phd student is time limited following the regulations for Ph.D. employment in the Higher Education Ordinance (~ 5 years with 80% PhD studies and 20% department service including teaching) of Sweden. *About the research groups* The PhD student will work under the supervision of Dr. Arvind Kumar and Dr. Dinos Meletis. *Dr. Kumar's* research group is based at the *KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. *He uses computational and analytical methods to understand the dynamics and information processing in biological neuronal networks. His lab is developing mathematical models of brain diseases to create a theoretical framework to understand the mechanisms underlying the emergence of disease related aberrant activity dynamics in diseases (e.g. Parkinson's diseases, epilepsy, anxiety). Relevant to the project, in last few years they have developed computational models of the striatum and basal ganglia to understand the role of input correlation, emergence of neuronal assemblies and oscillations. More information about Kumar lab *https://www.kth.se/profile/arvindku/ <https://www.kth.se/profile/arvindku/>* *Dr. Meletis'* lab is based at the *Karolinska Institute, Stockholm*. The lab studies neural circuits that are responsible for generating motivated behaviors, for example the basal ganglia and the serotonin system, and how dysfunction in the activity of neuron subtypes can lead to reward disorders. The lab has established experimental methods to perform large-scale in vivo imaging of the activity of neuron subtypes during behavior in freely moving mice and methods to precisely perturb the activity of genetically defined neurons (optogenetics). Relevant to the project, the lab is investigating the distinct role of striatal neuron subtypes in learning and representing reward and punishments, with the aim to develop an understanding of the neural and ensemble computations that underlie behavior. More information about Meletis lab http://meletislab.org/ *Application* The application should include the following documents: 1. CV including your relevant professional experience and knowledge. 2. Copy of the degree certificate(s) and transcripts of records from your previously attended university-level institutions. Translations into English or Swedish if the original documents are not issued in one of these languages. 3. Statement of purpose: Why do you want to pursue a PhD, what are your academic interests, how they relate to your previous studies and future goals; maximum 2 pages long. 4. Weblink of representative publications or technical reports 5. Contact information for two reference persons. We reserve us the right to contact references only for shortlisted candidates. Send the above info as a single zip file to Dr. Arvind Kumar *arvkumar(a)kth.se <arvkumar(a)kth.se>* *Application deadline: 30 Sept. 2017* *For more info. contact* Dr. Arvind Kumar *arvkumar(a)kth.se <arvkumar(a)kth.se>* *https://www.kth.se/profile/arvindku/ <https://www.kth.se/profile/arvindku/>* Dr. Dinos Meletis: *Dinos.Meletis(a)ki.se <Dinos.Meletis(a)ki.se>* *http://meletislab.org/ <http://meletislab.org/>* -- Dr. Arvind Kumar Computational Biology, School of Computer Science and Communication KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. Adjunct Faculty at: Bernstein Center Freiburg, Neurobiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Biology University of Freiburg, Germany http://www.bcf.uni-freiburg.de/people/details/kumar cancer blog: http://theoryofcancer.blogspot.com cricket blog: http://rightarmoverfast.blogspot.com

Sept. 13, 2017

Open post-doctoral position in Theoretical Neuroscience - INS, Marseille, France

by Irene Yujnovsky

Post-doctoral position in the Theoretical Neuroscience Group - INS, Marseille, France *Summary* The Theoretical Neuroscience Group (Head: Viktor Jirsa) is seeking to fill a post-doctoral position in the context of the project EPINOV to work on statistical & dynamical modeling of seizure propagation using personalized brain modeling and neuroinformatics approaches on a cohort of hundreds of epilepsy patients. EPINOV is one of 10 large-scale projects selected in the 3rd round of French scientific excellence program «RHU» managed by the National Research Agency (ANR). The aim of the EPINOV project is to significantly improve presurgical interpretation, guide surgical strategies and translate computational tools into clinical routine of personalized medicine. We use individual MRI scans to reconstruct brain anatomy and connectivity, which are combined with a neural mass model and fit using the Bayesian modeling software Stan to individuals’ intracranial electrophysiology data (stereotactic EEG), validated by clinical data from other modalities, such as MEG, fMRI, and semiology. *Responsibilities* • Scale up statistical models “vertically” to handle more data and higher resolution anatomy, using model comparison techniques to evaluate the advantage of different model structures • Scale out models “horizontally”, performing coherent, reliable inference across a large cohort of patients using dedicated, on-site HPC resources • Develop routines to evaluate and visualize inference results, making them amenable to clinical interpretation • Integrate developed code into existing code bases and pipelines *Qualification*** • Highly motivated to work on an interdisciplinary project and collaborate with the various members of the consortium. • PhD degree in computational neuroscience, mathematical or statistical modeling, machine learning or equivalent level of knowledge. • Significant, demonstrable experience in data fitting (Bayesian modeling, Dynamical Causal Modeling (DCM), Monte Carlo, etc) will be highly appreciated. • Experience with working in a Linux/HPC environment • Programming in a numerically oriented language (R, Python, MATLAB) • Familiarity with Git, unit testing, Docker/VMs is a plus *The Theoretical Neuroscience group*** We are a multi-national team interested in understanding the mechanisms underlying the spatiotemporal organization of large-scale brain networks. Our work comprises mathematical and computational modeling of large-scale network dynamics and human brain imaging data, the development of neuroinformatics tools for studying large-scale brain networks applied to concrete functions, dysfunctions (epilepsy, dementia) and aging. *Terms of salary and employment*** A 12-month renewable contract will be established. Salary will depend on the diploma and experience. Operating language in the laboratory is English. Applications including a cover letter, curriculum vitae and the names of two referees should be sent by September 30th 2017 to: Dr. Irene Yujnovsky at irene.yujnovsky(a)univ-amu.fr <mailto:irene.yujnovsky@univ-amu.fr> More information about the INS and the Theoretical Neurosciences Group can be found at: http://ins.univ-amu.fr <http://ins.univ-amu.fr/> --

Sept. 13, 2017

[INNS-BDDL 2018] Call for Papers

by Teng Teck Hou

[Apologies for cross-postings] ########################################################### CALL FOR PAPERS The 3rd INNS Conference on Big Data and Deep Learning 2018 April 17-19, 2018, Bali, Indonesia Homepage: http://www.innsbigdata2018.org #######################Description:###################### The International Neural Network Society (INNS) is the premiere organization for individuals interested in a theoretical and computational understanding of the brain and applying that knowledge to develop new and more effective forms of machine intelligence. INNS was formed in 1987 by the leading scientists in the neural network field. Researchers and colleagues who work in the area of big data and machine learning, we are happy to announce "The 3 rd INNS Conference on Big Data and Deep Learning 2018 (INNS BDDL 2018) will be held on April 18 – 19, 2018 in Sanur – Bali, Indonesia. The aim of this conference is to create a valuable and important forum for scientists and engineers throughout the world to present the latest research findings and idea at the forefront of Big Data and Deep Learning. Accepted papers will be published by Elsevier, Scopus indexed. Several papers will be selected for possible publication in top journals. The conference will feature a comprehensive technical program with technical tracks on: Track 1: Big Data Track 2: Big Data Algorithms Track 3: Deep Learning Track 4: Application Areas ####################Important Dates################################# * Tutorial and workshop proposals (Submission) 30 September 2017 * Tutorial and workshop proposals (Decision) 7 October 2017 * Paper submission 1 December 2017 * Decision notification 8 January 2018 * Camera-ready submission 2 February 2018 * Conference 17 - 19 April 2018 ################################################################### #########################Keynote Speakers########################## * Geoffrey I. Webb, Monash University, Australia * Kay Chen Tan, City University, Hong Kong ################################################################### #################### Organizing committees ############### General chairs Seiichi Ozawa, Kobe University, Japan Ah-Hwee Tan, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Program Chairs Plamen P. Angelov, Lancaster University, UK Asim Roy, Arizona State University, USA Mahardhika Pratama, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Valeri Mladenov, Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria Petia Koprinkova-Hristova, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria Petia Georgieva, University of Aveiro, Portugal Honorary Board Mohammad Nuh, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Joni Hermana, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Heru Setyawan, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Local Committee Chairs Dieky Adzkiya, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Advisory Board Yew-Soon Ong, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Robert Kozma, University of Memphis, USA Sankar K. Pal, Indian Statistical Institute, India Haibo He, University of Rhode Island, USA Witold Pedrycz, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada Leszek Rutkowski, Czestochowa University of Technology, Poland Nikola Kasabov, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand Fernando Gomide, University of Campinas, Brazil Marley Vellasco, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Yoonsuck Choe, Texas A&M University Minho Lee, Kyungpook National University, South Korea Bao-Liang Lu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China Irwin King, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Tutorials/Workshop Chairs Igor Skrjanc, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Sundaram Suresh, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Noor Akhmad Setiawan, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia Poster Sessions Chairs Eko Setiadji, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Agus Salim, La Trobe University, Australia Ali Ridho Barakbah, Politeknik Elektronika Negeri Surabaya, Indonesia Special Sessions Chairs Justin Wang, La Trobe University, Australia Yongping Pan, National University of Singapore, Singapore Alfian Futhul Hadi, Universitas Jember, Indonesia Panel Chairs Sreenatha Anavatti, University of New South Wales, Australia Mukesh Prasad, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia Achmad Affandi, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Awards Chairs Tapabrata Ray, University of New South Wales, Australia Dejan Dovzan, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Richard J. Oentaryo, McLaren Applied Technologies, Singapore Publication Chairs Edwin Lughofer, Johannes Kepler University, Austria Jose Antonio Iglesias, Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain Moamar Sayed?Mouchaweh, Institute Mines Telecom Lille Douai, France Publicity Chair Simone Scardapane, Sapienza University, Italy Teng Teck Hou, Singapore Management University, Singapore Kurnianingsih, Politeknik Negeri Semarang, Indonesia International Liaison Chairs Yun Sing Koh, University of Auckland, New Zealand Deepak Puthal, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Wirawan, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Webmaster Mohamad Abdul Hady, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Andri Ashfahani, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Choiru Za’in, La Trobe University, Australia ########################################################## ###### Topics and Areas include, but not limited to the following###### >>BIG DATA Autonomous, online, incremental learning in big data High dimensional data, feature selection, feature transformation for big data Scalable algorithms for big data Big data analytics Data stream analytics Parallel & distributed computing for big data analytics (cloud, map-reduce, etc.) Online learning Online multimedia/stream/text analytics Link and graph mining Big data and cloud computing, large scale stream processing on the cloud Big data and collective intelligence/collaborative learning Big data and hybrid systems Big data and self-aware systems Big data and infrastructure Big data visualization >>Big Data Algorithm Neuromorphic hardware for scalable machine learning Evolving systems for big data analytics Evolutionary systems and big data Fuzzy systems and big data Cognitive modelling and big data Probabilistic approach for big data Concept drift detection for big data Granular computing for big data Transfer learning for big data >>Deep Learning Deep belief network Convolutional neural network Long short term memory Deep network architecture Deep autoencoder Deep stacked network Deep learning for natural language processing Deep learning for machine vision Evolving deep network Transfer learning in deep learning Online deep learning >>Application Areas Banking and Securities Communications, Media and Entertainment Healthcare Providers Education Manufacturing & Natural Resources Government Insurances Retail & Wholesale Trade Transportation Energy & Utilities, Etc. ############################################################################ ##########################Sponsoring Organizations################# * INNS - International Neural Network Society * MTC - Mechatronic Technology Center, Institut Tecknologi Sepuluh Nopember ################################################################ Previous INNS Conference: INNS 2016 in Thessaloniki, Greece INNS 2015 in San Francisco, USA

Sept. 12, 2017

Postdoc Position in ENIMGA-Sleep Working Group

by Masoud Tahmasian

Postdoc Position in ENIMGA-Sleep Working Group ENIGMA-Sleep Working Group has an opening for a post-doctoral position to study brain structure and function in insomnia. The post is based at the Institute of Medical Science and Technology (IMSAT), Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. The Institute has a Sleep Laboratory with wireless polysomnography equipment, access to a 3T MRI scan, High resolution EEG, TMS with Neuronavigation system, Psychophysics labs as well as clinical studies facilities. Title of project: Structural and functional maladaptation in insomnia disorder Supervisior: Dr. Masoud Tahmasian MD PhD, Prof. Mojtaba Zarei MD PhD FRCP(UK) The ENIGMA consortium brings together many researchers to understand brain structure, function, and pathophysiology of disease, based on neuroimaging and genetic data. ENIGMA members are multi-disciplinary scientists from all over the world with research projects on neuroscience, clinical psychiatry, and genetics. The ENIGMA-Sleep Group is a recently launched group lead by Dr. Masoud Tahmasian and Prof. Mojtaba Zarei from the Institute of Medical Science & Technology (IMSAT), Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. The collaborating teams from across the globe endeavor to join knowledge, experience and vision to address important questions in sleep physiology and its disorders using cutting edge brain imaging techniques and relating them with clinical and laboratory investigations. IMSAT was approved by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, and established in 2016. It is one of the fastest growing multidisciplinary research Institute in Iran with well-trained and experienced faculty members from science, engineering and medicine. Our fields of expertise include medical imaging, image processing, clinical trials, wearable technologies, brain stimulation engineering, auditory technology, control engineering, and biomedical technology. There is a wide range of facilities for research at IMSAT including, but not limited to, MRI, EEG, Polysomnography, and actigraphy. There is also a dedicated high performance server for various data analysis. Eligibility: Applicants must have a PhD degree in medical science, neuroscience or engineering with a minimum of one-year research experience in an overseas University. The funding is only available to Iranian nationals. Duration: One year, with possibility to extend for the second year upon successful progression Salary: The successful applicant will be hired by the University with funding support already secured at the rank of assistant professor. Interested individuals should send their CV to m_tahmasian(a)sbu.ac.ir

Sept. 12, 2017

NEURON course at SFN 2017 meeting

by Ted Carnevale

Space is still available for the NEURON course at this year's meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. If you're a lab director trying to decide whether to add computational modeling to your research program, a grad student or postdoc who is just getting started in modeling, or an established NEURON user who wants to find out what the latest advances are, this one-day course is for you! It starts with a practical introduction that reviews basic concepts and presents a workflow for building and using models of cells and networks, and moves on to topics that include how to speed up simulations, using Python with NEURON, and modeling reactive diffusion with the RxD class. For more information and the registration form, see https://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/dc2017/dc2017.html --Ted

Sept. 11, 2017

Lecturer in Computer Science (Biological computation - including computational neuroscience)

by Peter Andras

Lecturer in Computer Science Keele University - School of Computing and Mathematics Salary: £33,943 to £39,324 p.a. Grade 7a Hours: Full Time Contract Type: Permanent Closes: 20th September 2017 Job Ref: KU00000544 Keele University is renowned for its exciting approach to higher education, innovative research, beautiful campus, strong community spirit and excellent student experience. With a turnover in excess of £134 million, over 10,000 students and a total staff of approximately 2000, the University provides high quality teaching across a wide range of academic and vocational subjects and promotes world-class research. Further information can be found at <http://www.keele.ac.uk/> http://www.keele.ac.uk. This post represents an exciting opportunity for an ambitious individual to join a team of staff in Keele Universitys Faculty of Natural Sciences. The Faculty is responsible for research and teaching in many areas of computer science, mathematics, and the physical and biological sciences. Applications are welcome from dynamic and enthusiastic individuals committed to high quality teaching and research in any relevant field of Computer Science (e.g. software engineering, security, human-computer interaction, biological computation, machine learning, formal methods, distributed systems but not restricted to these particular fields), and who have interests that complement our existing research strengths while broadening the scope of our teaching expertise. The lectureship post is part of continued growth and expansion of computer science at Keele, which presents many new opportunities for the development of synergies in both teaching and research. Candidates will be expected to develop an active research programme that both complements and extends our existing research profile in Computer Science. Candidates are also expected to develop research collaborations with colleagues at Keele and elsewhere in strategic research areas of the University, such as smart energy, big data or ageing research. Details of the research carried out in Computer Science at Keele can be found at: <http://www.keele.ac.uk/scm/research/compsci/> http://www.keele.ac.uk/scm/research/compsci/ The successful candidate will have a PhD in an appropriate area of Computer Science (or be very close to completion of his/her PhD) and will have a strong commitment to delivering high quality undergraduate teaching, including supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate research projects and the development and delivery of new modules. The post-holder will have the skills, enthusiasm and flexibility for teaching across a wide range of computer science topics and will also contribute to recruitment activities and administrative duties within our Computer Science programmes. Informal enquires can be made to Professor Peter Andras on 01782 733412 or <mailto:p.andras@keele.ac.uk> p.andras(a)keele.ac.uk Keele University is committed to the principles of the Athena SWAN charter, and values equality and diversity across our workforce. We strive to ensure that our workforce is representative of broader society, and therefore, we would actively welcome applications from women for this role. For full post details and online application form please visit: <http://www.keele.ac.uk/vacancies> www.keele.ac.uk/vacancies Or follow the link: people.keele.ac.uk/tlive_webrecruitment/wrd/run/ETREC107GF.open?VACANCY_ID%3 d061051EnUQ <https://people.keele.ac.uk/tlive_webrecruitment/wrd/run/ETREC107GF.open?VAC ANCY_ID%3d061051EnUQ&WVID=0493472Nsk&LANG=USA> &WVID=0493472Nsk&LANG=USA Interviews will be held on: 18th October 2017 --- Professor Peter Andras Professor of Computer Science and Informatics Director of Postgraduate Research, Faculty of Natural Sciences Head of Computing Division, School of Computing and Mathematics Keele University Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5BG UK Tel. +44-1782-733412 Fax. +44-1782-734268 E-mail: <mailto:p.andras@keele.ac.uk> p.andras(a)keele.ac.uk Web: <http://www.scm.keele.ac.uk/staff/p_andras/> www.scm.keele.ac.uk/staff/p_andras/

Sept. 11, 2017

Energy Efficient Neural Code in Individual Neurons and Brain Circuits

by Yu, Yuguo

In collaboration with Frontiers in Neuroscience, section Neuroenergetics, Nutrition and Brain Health, we are organizing a Research Topic titled "Energy Efficient Neural Code in Individual Neurons and Brain Circuits", hosted by Yuguo Yu, Satish Iyengar. As host editor, I would like to encourage you to contribute to this topic. Please find more information about Research Topics below, including the publishing fees that apply. You can also visit the homepage we have created on the Frontiers website, which defines the focus of the topic, and where all published articles will appear. https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.frontiersin.org_Neu… Please note the submission deadline for this Research Topic: Oct 28, 2017 With your agreement to take part, I would request you submit an abstract in advance of any manuscript submission you choose to make (deadline identified at the homepage above). As I am using the Frontiers system to manage this topic, please first indicate your decision to participate by clicking on one of the following links. AGREE to Participate https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.frontiersin.org_Acc… DECLINE to Participate https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.frontiersin.org_Dec… Let me know if you have any questions about my Research Topic. I look forward to hearing from you soon. With best regards, Yuguo Yu Guest Associate Editor, Neuroenergetics, Nutrition and Brain Health www.frontiersin.org<http://www.frontiersin.org/> Frontiers | Peer Reviewed Articles - Open Access Journals<http://www.frontiersin.org/> www.frontiersin.org Open-access publisher of peer-reviewed scientific articles across the entire spectrum of academia. Research network for academics to stay up-to-date with the latest ... ABOUT FRONTIERS RESEARCH TOPICS Founded by scientists in 2007, Frontiers is a community-rooted open-access publisher, driving innovations in peer review, article-level metrics and research networking. The "Frontiers in" journal series hosts 54 journals covering more than 350 academic specialties, with a network of over 200,000 leading researchers worldwide. Frontiers is a registered member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.oaspa.org_member_Fr… ) and was recognized by the ALPSP Award for Innovation in Publishing in 2014. The idea behind a Frontiers Research Topic is to create a comprehensive collection of peer-reviewed articles that address a specific theme of research, as well as a forum for discussion and debate. Contributions can be articles describing original research, methods, hypothesis & theory, opinions, and more. Please see the relevant journal for a full list of accepted article types. Frontiers will also compile an e-book, as soon as all contributing articles are published, that can be used as educational material, be sent to foundations that fund your research, to journalists and press agencies, or to your professional network. E-books are free to read and download. Once published, your articles will be free to access for all readers, indexed in relevant repositories, and as an author in Frontiers, you retain the copyright to your own papers and figures. FRONTIERS PUBLISHING FEES Manuscripts accepted for publication are subject to publishing fees, which vary depending on the article type. Research Topic A type articles receive a discount on publishing fees; please see here for a full fee table, and further relevant FAQs: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.frontiersin.org_abo… .=

Sept. 11, 2017

Software Development Engineer position on Brain Computer Interfaces at Inria, France

by Maureen Clerc

Dear colleagues, Please take note and circulate the following job offer. With apologies for multiple postings. Maureen Clerc ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ S oftware Development Engineer position available at Inria Sophia Antipolis, France Summary Inria Sophia Antipolis is seeking to a fill software development engineer position to work on Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI). The P300-speller BCI application developed at Inria Sophia Antipolis allows severely disabled patients to communicate using brain activity, measured through electroencephalography (EEG). It has shown excellent performance when tested extensively with 20 patients at Nice CHU. However it still requires some improvements to meet patients' expectations. This project, funded by patient associations, aims to bring BCI out of the lab, and deploy it to its end-users. Responsibilities • Analyze existing software. • Reduce dependencies on third-party libraries. • Automatize installation and calibration. • Study portability onto tablet. • Make application adaptable to users' needs. Qualification • Highly motivated to work on a translational project in Brain Computer Interfaces. • Masters degree in computer science or equivalent degree of knowledge. • Significant, demonstrable experience (at least four years) in C/C++ programming. • Experience with working in a Linux environment. • Familiarity with version management (Git, mercurial), compilers and compiling systems (cmake). • Familiarity with EEG and BCI would be appreciated. • Knowledge of graphical interfaces and visualization (OpenGL, Qt, Gtk) would be appreciated. Work environment Inria is a research institute dedicated to numerical sciences. In Sophia Antipolis (20 km from Nice), the Athena team develops methodology for non-invasive imaging of the Central Nervous System. In particular, it hosts a full-fledged Electroencephalography laboratory and investigates Brain-Computer Interfaces, in the context of the Inria Project-Lab bci-lift. Software development is organized within a development team including other software engineers and researchers, following agile development principles. Terms of salary and employment A 15-month renewable contract will be established. Salary will depend on diploma and experience. Applications including a cover letter, curriculum vitae and the names of two referees should be sent by September 30th 2017 to: Dr. Maureen Clerc at maureen.clerc(a)inria.fr More information about Inria and the Athena team can be found at: https://team.inria.fr/athena/

Sept. 8, 2017

Postdoctoral position in Camouflage Pattern Design and Eye-Tracking Experimentation

by Leslie Osborne

Postdoctoral position in Camouflage Pattern Design and Eye-Tracking Experimentation Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA Type: RESEARCH Position: FULL-TIME POST-DOCTORAL SCHOLAR Description: A position for a postdoctoral fellow in computational vision in biological systems is available to study visual camouflage in the Hanlon Lab at MBL, in collaboration with groups at UC Irvine (C. Chubb) and NTHU (C.C. Chiao) and the University of Chicago (S. Palmer and L. Osborne). The goal of the 3-year study is to develop a generative model of successful camouflage patterning and edge design, both at rest and in motion. Camouflage patterns will be inspired by natural animal behaviors, particularly in cephalopods - octopus, cuttlefish, squid – marine fishes, and insects. The postdoc will be involved in the statistical analysis of natural images and artists’ camouflage designs. Our approach is to use gaze tracking during visual search to define metrics of camouflage success and, complementarily, to measure the statistics of image features that draw human gaze. Visual stimuli for search tasks will be taken from natural image and video databases in the Hanlon and Palmer laboratories and artworks created by students at the Rhode Island School of Design. Human gaze tracking data will be collected and analyzed in the Osborne laboratory. The fellow may participate in data collection from live animals and human subjects, but the primary focus will be image and gaze data analysis. Education and Experience: The ideal candidate will have a background in computational analysis or computer vision, and a Ph.D. in computational biology (e.g. neuroscience, cognitive science, animal behavior), physics, computer science, or a related field. Programming experience in MATLAB is highly desirable. Experience in image and video analysis, and programming experience in Python or C, are also desirable. Previous experience in visual psychophysics is not required, but would be helpful. Environment: The Hanlon Laboratory is part of the Eugene Bell Center at the Marine Biology Laboratory. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts in 1888, the MBL is a private, nonprofit institution and an affiliate of the University of Chicago. Utilizing unique and highly tractable marine and aquatic model organisms, high throughput and comparative genetic approaches, novel imaging technologies and the latest advances in data-intensive computational analysis, scientists in the Bell Center, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Chicago and the Argonne National Laboratory, are providing answers to some of the most fundamental and intriguing questions in biology. The candidate will interact closely with: (i) the team at MBL (the PI and lab personnel); (ii) faculty collaborators at University of Chicago and UC Irvine; (iii) the summer neurobiology and imaging community at MBL; and (iv) art students and faculty at the Rhode Island School of Design. Duration: This position is for 2.5 years. Desired start date is 1 November 2017 or as soon thereafter as feasible. Web link to MBL job listing: https://mbl.simplehire.com/postings/search <https://mbl.simplehire.com/postings/search> Questions: Send inquiries to Roger Hanlon rhanlon(a)mbl.edu <mailto:rhanlon@mbl.edu> Stephanie Palmer sepalmer(a)uchicago.edu <mailto:sepalmer@uchicago.edu> Leslie Osborne osborne(a)uchicago.edu <mailto:osborne@uchicago.edu> Application: The application comprises a cover letter, CV, a 1-2 page description of past research experience, the contact information for 3 references. Follow links at https://mbl.simplehire.com/postings/search <https://mbl.simplehire.com/postings/search> to upload application materials. EEO Statement: MBL supports individuals in reaching their full potential by offering equal employment opportunities and an environment that actively values diversity. MBL complies with all applicable laws concerning hiring and employment practices and is firmly committed to maintaining a workplace free from discrimination by age, ancestry, color, disability, gender, genetic predisposition, national origin, military status, race, religion, or sexual orientation. MBL requires all newly-hired staff to undergo a background check. Background checks are conducted after a conditional offer of employment has been accepted by the applicant. Leslie C. Osborne, Ph.D. Department of Neurobiology Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy The University of Chicago 947 East 58th St. P415 Chicago IL 60637 osborne(a)uchicago.edu +1 773-834-7989

Sept. 7, 2017

Postdoc Position Available - Human Intracranial Electrophysiology

by Woolnough, Oscar

Postdoctoral Research Positions Available One postdoctoral research position is available at the NeuroImaging and Electrophysiology Lab (www.tandonlab.org) in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. This position is funded by a recently awarded BRAIN Initiative U01 grant for which Dr. Tandon is the PI. The project uses electrocorticographic (ECoG) recordings on a large cohort (n=80) to evaluate psycho-linguistic models of reading and speech production with the goal being to create network level representation of language. Collaborators on the project with whom the post-doc will work closely are Nathan Crone (Hopkins), Greg Hickok (UCI), Stanislas Dehaene (College de France), Xaq Pitkow (Baylor) and Josh Breier (UT Houston). Project Description: This is a close multi center collaboration that brings together investigators with established track records in intracranial EEG (iEEG) recordings, neuroscience of language and computational neuroscience to better understand the uniquely human behavior of reading and producing language. More details about the U01 grant are online at NIH Reporter. The post-doc will benefit from a close interaction with several experts in the fields of reading, semantics, and speech production. Post-doc Responsibilities: The selected individual is expected to be a highly motivated, team player that has the passion to study cognitive processes using direct recordings in humans. He or she will be responsible for 1) optimizing and refining paradigms for use in the project, 2) data collection in the epilepsy monitoring unit and in the MRI scanner, 3) ECoG data analysis using analysis pipelines existent in the lab and via the development of innovative strategies, and 4) data presentation at conferences, manuscript and grant writing. Requirements: The selected individual must have a Ph.D. in one or more of the following - neuroscience, psychology, cognitive science, mathematics, electrical engineering or computer science. Previous experience in neural time series data analysis or functional imaging studies of reading or speech production is highly desirable. Crucial is the ability to independently code in either or all of the following – MATLAB, R or Python. Given the multiple unpredictable variables and privacy issues around data collection in human patients, the individual must possess high ethical and professionalism standards, be able to adapt to a changing environment, reorganize schedules dynamically, and work with tight deadlines. The individual must possess the ability to work effectively independently, yet collaborate effectively on projects with multiple investigators. A strong publication record and excellent prior academic credentials are highly desirable. If you are interested, you can email us at nitin.tandon(a)uth.tmc.edu or call us at (713) 500-5475.

Sept. 7, 2017

[publication and call for dialog] IEEE CIS Newsletter on Cognitive and Developmental Systems, 14(1), 2017

by Pierre-Yves Oudeyer

Dear colleagues, I am happy to announce the release of the latest issue of the IEEE CIS Newsletter on Cognitive and Developmental Systems (open access). This is a biannual newsletter addressing the sciences of developmental and cognitive processes in natural and artificial organisms, from humans to robots, at the crossroads of cognitive science, developmental psychology, artificial intelligence and neuroscience. It is available at: http://goo.gl/dyrg6s Featuring dialog: === "Exploring Robotic Minds by Predictive Coding Principle" == Dialog initiated by Jun Tani with responses from: Andy Clark, Doug Blank, James Marshall, Lisa Meeden, Stephane Doncieux, Giovanni Pezzulo, Martin Butz, Ezgi Kayhan, Johan Kwisthout and Karl Friston == Topic: The idea that the brain is pro-actively making predictions of the future at multiple levels of hierarchy has become a central topic to explain human intelligence and to design general artificial intelligence systems. This dialog discusses whether hierarchical predictive coding enables a paradigm shift in development robotics and AI. In particular, the dialog reviews the importance of various complementary mechanisms to predictive coding, which happen to be right now very actively researched in artificial intelligence: intrinsic motivation and curiosity, multi-goal learning, developmental stages (also called curriculum learning in machine learning), and the role of self-organization. They also underline several major challenges that need to be addressed for general artificial intelligence in autonomous robots, and that current research in deep learning fails to address: 1) the problem of the poverty of stimulus: autonomous robots, like humans, have access to only little data as they have to collect it themselves with severe time and space constraints; 2) the problem of information sampling: which experiments/observations to make to improve one’s world model. Finally, they also discuss the issue of how these mechanisms arise in infants and participate to their development. Call for new dialog: === "One Developmental Cognitive Architecture to Rule Them All?" == Dialog initiated by Matthias Rolf, Lorijn Zaadnoordijk, Johan Kwisthout == This new dialog asks whether and how it would be useful both epistemologically and in practice to aim towards the development of a “standard integrated cognitive architecture”, akin to “standard models” in physics. In par- ticular, they ask this question in the context of understanding development in infants, and of building developmental architectures, thus addressing the issue of architectures that not only learn, but that are adaptive themselves. Those of you interested in reacting to this dialog initiation are welcome to sub- mit a response by November 30th, 2017. The length of each response must be between 600 and 800 words including references (contact pierre-yves.oudeyer(a)inria.fr) Let me remind you that all issues of the newsletter are all open-access and available at: http://icdl-epirob.org/cdsnl I wish you a stimulating reading! Best regards, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, Editor of the IEEE CIS Newsletter on Cognitive and Developmental Systems Chair of the IEEE CIS AMD Technical Committee on Cognitive and Developmental Systems Research director, Inria Head of Flowers project-team Inria and Ensta ParisTech, France http://www.pyoudeyer.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/pyoudeyer and Fabien Benureau Assistant Editor Inria Mnemosyne team http://fabien.benureau.com

Sept. 7, 2017

workshop on high performance computing in neuroscience

by Ted Carnevale

This year the workshop on the Neuroscience Gateway Portal (NSG) will be held on Saturday, Nov. 11, from 9 AM to noon in downtown Washington DC near the convention center, as a satellite to the Society for Neuroscience meeting. This workshop will show you how to use this NSF-supported resource in your computationally- intensive modeling and data analysis projects. It will also feature presentations from neuroscientists on how they are using high performance computing (HPC) resources in their own research. The NSG has a simple, convenient browser-based interface for running simulations and data analysis tasks on HPC hardware, and provides free CPU time. It also has a RESTful interface for programmatic access. Currently installed software includes BluePyOpt, Brian, CARLsim, Freesurfer, GENESIS, MATLAB, MOOSE, NEST, NEURON, PyNN, and the Virtual Personalized Multimodal Connectome Pipeline. The registration deadline for this workshop is Friday Oct. 27, but you should register soon because space is limited. See http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/nsg2017/nsg2017.html for more information and a link to the registration form. --Ted

Sept. 5, 2017

workshop announcement - Experimental and Theoretical Analysis of Cortical Dynamics - Rovereto Italy

by Stefano Panzeri

The HBP Partnering Project SloW Dyn <https://www.flagera.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/FLAG-ERA_JTC2015_Project_…>, a FLAG-ERA <https://www.flagera.eu>Project, in collaboration with the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia <http://cncs.iit.it/> and in collaboration with the EITN <https://www.eitn.org/> (European Institute of Theoretical Neuroscience, Human Brain Project) are organizing a one day workshop on: *Experimental and Theoretical Analysis of Cortical Dynamics* Location: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Corso Bettini 31, Rovereto, Italy Date and time: Friday September 22nd, 2017, from 9am to 6pm *Abstract:* Brain function is hypothesized to emerge from the concerted context-dependent dynamics of its networks. This workshop explores theoretical and experimental approaches for the analysis of brain dynamics at multiple spatial and temporal scales. *Confirmed speakers*: Ruth Benavides-Piccione, Cajal Institute, Madrid Maurizio Corbetta, University of Padova Egidio D'Angelo, University of Pavia Alain Destexhe CNRS, Paris Tommaso Fellin IIT, Genoa Mathieu Galtier, Rhythm, Paris Alessandro Gozzi, IIT, Rovereto Maurizio Mattia ISS, Rome Ruben Moreno-Bote, UPF, Barcelona Stefano Panzeri IIT, Rovereto Mavi Sanchez-Vives, IDIBAPS, Barcelona Davide Zoccolan, SISSA, Trieste Hosts: Stefano Panzeri and Tommaso Fellin Attendance is free, but prior registration is needed. For registration and more information, please email slowdynconference(a)gmail.com regards Stefano Panzeri

Sept. 5, 2017

REMINDER: Computational Neuroscience Job at the Krembil Research Institute

by Frances Skinner

Hello all, Just a reminder about the following Faculty position in Computational Neuroscience (see below). *To ensure consideration, please submit your application by September 11th for the latest.* Thank you. --------- https://www.recruitingsite.com/csbsites/uhncareers/JobDescri ption.asp?SiteID=10031&JobNumber=805761 Job Posting #8045761 Position: Computational Neuroscience Research Scientist Site: Krembil Research Institute/Toronto Western Hospital Department: Research Reports to: Director Status: Permanent Full-time The Krembil Research Institute at the University Health Network in Toronto Canada invites applicants to apply for a Scientist position in the area of Computational Neuroscience. The ideal candidate will have a PhD in a relevant field, research expertise and experience in mathematical and computational modeling, and research interests that complement those of the Institute in neurobiology and neurodegeneration. Candidates whose research interests encompasses cellular, micro/macro circuits and/or large scale brain models, and who have collaborative experimental experience are especially encouraged. The successful candidate will have the ability to establish an independent, well-funded program and will be eligible for appointment at the appropriate level within the University of Toronto. The Krembil is one the principal research institutes of the University Health Network of academic teaching hospitals associated with the University of Toronto; the Krembil is also one of the largest research institutes in Canada focusing on human neurological disease from both a basic science and clinical research perspective. The University Health Network (UHN) is Canada's largest academic medical centre, comprising four major teaching hospitals. Qualified applicants must attach their letter of interest, research plan, resume PDF format to the online application and complete some initial screening questions. The search committee will begin to review applications in September with a potential start date in Winter 2018. Posted Date: June 22, 2017 Closing Date: Until filled UHN thanks all applicants, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. UHN is a respectful, caring, and inclusive workplace. We are committed to championing accessibility, diversity and equal opportunity. Requests for accommodation can be made at any stage of the recruitment process providing the applicant has met the Bona-fide requirements for the open position. Applicants need to make their requirements known when contacted. -- Frances Skinner, PhD Krembil Research Institute/UHN and Univ Toronto www.skinnerlab.org

Sept. 5, 2017

Postdoctoral Researcher Position

by Avrama Blackwell

The Computational and Experimental Neuroplasticity laboratory (http://krasnow1.gmu.edu/CENlab/avrama.html) of Kim “Avrama” Blackwell at George Mason University invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research position / software engineer beginning Sept 1, 2017. The successful candidate will contribute to ongoing cutting-edge research in computational systems biology & neuroscience by further development of our stochastic reaction-diffusion software, NeuroRD and further development of parameter optimization software. The position involves design and implementation of new features for both softwares, providing technical support to lab members developing NeuroRD models and investigating the role of calcium dynamics and cell signaling pathways in learning and plasticity, and writing journal articles and giving presentations on the new software features. CENlab is an interdisciplinary, dynamic and creative research group at Mason’s Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, located in northern Virginia (15 miles west of Washington, D.C.). Requirements: Ph.D. in a relevant field (e.g. computer science, physics, bioinformatics, engineering) and at least one publication in reputable journal. Experience in software development (scientific software, python and C++ or JAVA preferred). Expertise with Unix operating systems. Knowledge of stochastic processes. To apply, please send curriculum vitae and cover letter to kblackw1(a)gmu.edu. Position will be filled as soon as a suitable candidate is found. The successful applicant will have office space, a unix computer workstation, and a post-doctoral level salary supplemented by excellent state employee benefits. More information: * NeuroRD website: https://github.com/neurord * Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study: http://krasnow1.gmu.edu * George Mason University: http://www.gmu.edu George Mason University is an innovative, entrepreneurial institution with national distinction in a range of academic fields. Enrollment is 30,000, with students studying in over 150 degree programs at campuses in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William. George Mason University is an equal opportunity employer encouraging diversity.

Sept. 5, 2017

Open position: Research scientist in the field of data analysis

by Orth, Boris

The Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) operates one of the most powerful supercomputing infrastructures in Europe and makes it available to researchers at Forschungszentrum Jülich, in Germany and throughout Europe. The JSC’s “Federated Systems and Data” division develops software for data analysis, data management and access to distributed storage and computing systems. The “Simulation Laboratory Neuroscience” in the “High Performance Computing in Neuroscience” division of JSC provides community-specific support for neuroscientists with respect to complex simulations and data analyses on supercomputers, as well as their methods. Both divisions closely collaborate within the “Helmholtz Analytics Framework”. We are looking to recruit a Research scientist in the field of data analysis Your Job: In many scientific disciplines, the analysis of large data sets plays a crucial role. As part of a team in JSC, you will be working interdisciplinary with scientists from other institutes of Forschungszentrum Jülich, as well as from other Helmholtz Centres, in the areas of Earth System Modelling, Structural Biology, Aerospace, Medical Imaging and Neuroscience. In particular, you will analyse, develop and optimize analysis methods and workflows applied in neuroimaging. On this basis, you will support research groups in sharing their methods and tools, and in deriving generic methods and tools. Your Profile: * A university degree in computer science, mathematics, or a related subject * Profound knowledge and experience in algorithm development * Experience in software development and programming with languages such as Python, C++, R * Knowledge and experience with methods like multivariate statistics, error analysis, machine learning, inference approaches * Interest to collaborate closely with developers and users from academia and industry * Strong proactivity * Good command of spoken and written English and ideally German Ideally, good knowledge of * Scripting languages common in the Unix environment (Bash) * Parallel programming (MPI, OpenMP) * Common programming tools and software distribution systems (e.g., Docker, Easybuild) * Analysis of large neuroimaging datasets as well as the relevant software packages (e.g., FSL, FreeSurfer, MRtrix) Our Offer: * Excellent research and computing infrastructure of one of the largest research centres in Europe, ideally situated between the cities of Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Aachen * A comprehensive further training programme, including English language courses * Flexible working hours and various opportunities to reconcile work and family life * Limited for 3 years with possible longer-term prospects * Full-time position with the option of slightly reduced working hours * Salary and social benefits in conformity with the provisions of the Collective Agreement for the Civil Service (TVöD). Forschungszentrum Jülich aims to employ more women in this area and therefore particulary welcomes applications from women. We also welcome applications from disabled persons. We look forward to receiving your application, preferably online<https://www.hrecruiting.de/obf2/bewerbermanagement.php?kunden_nr=t5ChjatkIf…> via our online recruitment system on our career site, quoting the reference number 2017-194. Contact Human Resource Development and Recruiting Judith Dresen Tel.:+49 2461 61 9700 -- Dr. Boris Orth HPC in Neuroscience Jülich Supercomputing Centre Institute for Advanced Simulation Tel +49 2461 61-9123 Fax +49 2461 61-6656 www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc<http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sept. 5, 2017

ANDA 2018 - G-Node Advanced Neural Data Analysis Course, March 5 - 22, 2018, Jülich, Germany

by Frings, Maren

ANDA 2018 - G-Node Advanced Neural Data Analysis Course March 5 - 22, 2018 Haus Overbach, Juelich-Barmen, Germany Techniques to record neuronal data from populations of neurons are rapidly improving. Simultaneous recordings from hundreds of channels are possible while animals perform complex behavioral tasks. The analysis of such massive and complex data becomes increasingly challenging. This advanced course aims at providing deeper training in state-of-the-art analysis approaches in systems neuroscience. The course is addressed to excellent master and PhD students and young researchers who are interested in learning advanced techniques in data analytics and in getting hands-on experience in the analysis of electrophysiological data. Internationally renowned researchers will give lectures on statistical data analysis and data mining methods with accompanying exercises. Students will define and perform their own analyses on provided data to solve a challenge. Participants are required to have a strong interest in data analysis, a background in a mathematical or related field, knowledge of algebra, matrix operations, and statistics, and need to have solid programming experience (preferably in Python). Date and Venue March 5 - 22, 2018 Haus Overbach, Juelich-Barmen, Germany Faculty · Moshe Abeles, Bar-Ilan Univ, Israel · Michael Denker, Juelich Research Center and RWTH Aachen Univ, Germany · Alain Destexhe, CNRS, Gif sur Yvette, France · Sonja Grün, Juelich Research Center and RWTH Aachen Univ, Germany · Björn Kampa, RWTH Aachen, Germany · Christian Machens, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Portugal · Martin Nawrot, University of Cologne, Germany · Yifat Prut, Hebrew Univ Jerusalem, Israel · Alexa Riehle, CNRS, Marseille, France · Jonathan Victor, Weill Cornell Medical College, USA · Thomas Wachtler, G-Node, LMU Munich, Germany Topics covered Single neuron properties and statistics · Stochastic processes · Surrogate methods · Detection of spatio-temporal patterns · Unitary Events · Statistical analysis of massively parallel spike data · Higher-order correlation analyses · Spike-LFP relationship · Population coding · State space analysis · Machine learning · Data mining · Data management, reproducibility, data sharing · Elephant toolbox Requirements Applicants should be familiar with linear algebra, probability, differential and integral calculus and experienced using Python or Matlab. Preparatory reading material will be provided. Students should bring their own laptops and should be able to install software on their system. Students that do not have a suitable laptop should indicate this immediately after acceptance to the course. We will be able to provide a small number of laptops for the time of the course. Course Fee A course fee of 800 Euros will be charged to accepted students. The course fee contributes to covering accommodation and meals, including coffee breaks. A few stipends will be available to support students with documented need of funding. Housing Accommodation in 2-bed rooms for students will be provided at the course site. How to apply The application should include · a letter of motivation (max 1 page) · curriculum vitae (please indicate the relevant courses you have taken) · description of programming experience · a letter of recommendation. Please send all documents as a single PDF file to <advanced-course(a)g-node.org<mailto:advanced-course@g-node.org>>. Deadlines Applications must be received by October 15, 2017. Early application is encouraged because number of participants is limited. For further information see https://portal.g-node.org/advanced-course-2018/ Organizers · Sonja Grün, Juelich Research Center and RWTH Aachen Univ, Germany · Martin Nawrot, University of Cologne, Germany · Thomas Wachtler, G-Node, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany Dr. Maren Frings Scientific Coordinator Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) Computational and Systems Neuroscience & Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) Theoretical Neuroscience Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH and JARA 52425 Jülich, Germany Building 15.22 Room 4004 Phone +49 2461 61-9468 Fax +49 2461 61-9460 m.frings(a)fz-juelich.de<mailto:m.frings@fz-juelich.de> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sept. 5, 2017

Bernstein 2017 Workshop, "The Neural Code: Universal Grammar or Area-Specific Mechanisms?"

by Hazem Toutounji

Dear Colleagues, We would like to draw your attention to the upcoming workshop *The Neural Code: Universal Grammar or Area-Specific Mechanisms?* at the *Bernstein Conference 2017*, which will take place preceding the conference on *September 12-13* in *Göttingen, Germany*. *Abstract:* The brain responds to sensory stimuli with complex, yet structured, patterns of action potentials, which in turn gives rise to perception, action, remembrance and other facets of the organism's mental life. Finding order in the complexity of neural activity, and the quest for the neural code, occupied much of both experimental and theoretical neuroscience in the last decades. Several general theories of how the brain might encode and transfer information have been suggested, partly backed by experimental evidence. Attractor dynamics, binding by synchrony, brain oscillations acting at multiple temporal scales and Bayesian coding are some of the more prominent proposals into this direction. The debate whether these strategies are different facets of a fundamental neural grammar, or are local codes within functionally distinct brain regions, is far from settled. The aim of the workshop is to bring together experts in the field of neural coding, in order to discuss basic mechanisms of information encoding and the deeper question of whether there is a unifying grammar of neural representations. Schedule: Tue, Sept 12, 2017 13:00 Damian Battaglia, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France *Do oscillations modulate information processing? From routing states to computing modes* 13:45 Mattia Rigotti, Physical Sciences Department, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY *Functional role of the dimensionality of neural responses* 14:30 General discussion 15:00 Coffee Break 15:30 Máté Lengyel, University of Cambridge, UK *A sampling-based neural code of uncertainty in V1 (and I bet elsewhere, too)* 16:15 Nicolas Brunel, University of Chicago, Chicago, USA *Statistics of connectivity in networks optimizing information storage: fixed point attractors vs sequences* 17:00 Misha Tsodyks, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel *Population spikes codes for processing and working memory* 17:45 General discussion Wed, Sept 13, 2017 9:00 Stefano Panzeri, Neural Computation Laboratory, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy *The relationship between cross-cell coupling and the timescales of population coding across cortex* 9:45 Thilo Womelsdorf, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA *Neural coding and inter-areal integration of goal-relevant information using spike bursts* 10:30 *Coffee break* 11:00 Pascal Fries, Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Frankfurt am Main, Germany *Rhythms for Cognition: Communication through Coherence* 11:45 Genaral discussion Kind regards, Eleonora Russo and Hazem Toutounji -- Dr. rer. nat. Hazem Toutounji Postdoctoral Researcher in Theoretical Neuroscience Central Institute of Mental Health Medical Faculty Mannheim of Heidelberg University Square J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany office: +49-621-1703-2366

Sept. 4, 2017

PhD Opportunities in the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine

by Jeff Krichmar

Dear colleagues, The Department of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine is seeking graduate students for admission in Fall 2018. We invite exceptional and highly motivated candidates to apply for full-time PhD research in computational neuroscience, machine learning, computational vision, neural networks, and neurorobotics. Students will have the opportunity to work in the Cognitive Anteater Robotics laboratory (PI: Jeff Krichmar), the Neuromorphic Machine Intelligence laboratory (PI: Emre Neftci), and the newly established Visual Perception laboratory (PI: Zyg Pizlo) at UC Irvine. For more information about ongoing research see: · http://www3.psych.purdue.edu/~zpizlo/ · http://nmi-lab.org/ · http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~jkrichma/CARL/ Projects include: · Cognitive robotics for decision-making, planning, perception, and memory. · Efficient coding in the brain. · Models of neuromodulation. · Neurobiologically inspired vision models. · Models of human problem solving. · Neuromorphic engineering and machine learning · Spike-based computation Applicants should have strong mathematical and computer programming skills, as well as good communication skills. Successful applicants will receive funding toward their Ph.D. for at least 5 years. Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more information about the Cognitive Sciences graduate program, please see: http://www.cogsci.uci.edu/graduate/index.php Jeff Krichmar Professor Department of Cognitive Sciences University of California, Irvine Email: jkrichma(a)uci.edu Website: http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~jkrichma Emre Neftci, PhD (ETH Zurich) Assistant Professor Neuromorphic Machine Intelligence Lab (http://nmi-lab.org/) Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine Email: eneftci(a)uci.edu Zygmunt Pizlo Professor Falmagne Endowed Chair in Mathematical Psychology Department of Cognitive Sciences University of California, Irvine Email: zpizlo(a)uci.edu

Sept. 4, 2017

[Extended Deadline-CFP] - HAI 2017 Workshop: Representation Learning for Human and Robot Cognition

by Amir Aly

CALL FOR PAPERS **Apologies for cross posting ** The full day workshop: "*Representation Learning for Human and Robot Cognition*" In conjunction with the *5th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction* *- Bielefeld - Germany - October * *17th, 2017* *Webpage: **http://cognitive-mirroring.org/en/events/hai2017_workshop/* <http://cognitive-mirroring.org/en/events/hai2017_workshop/> *I. Aim and Scope *Creating intelligent and interactive robots has been subject to extensive research studies. They are rapidly moving to the center of human environment so that they collaborate with human users in different applications, which requires high-level cognitive functions so as to allow them to understand and learn from human behavior. To this end, an important challenge that attracts much attention in cognitive science and artificial intelligence, is the “Symbol Emergence” problem, which investigates the bottom-up development of symbols through social interaction. This research line employs representation learning based models for understanding language and action in a developmentally plausible manner so as to make robots able to behave appropriately on their own. This could open the door to robots to understand syntactic formalisms and semantic references of human speech, and to associate language knowledge to perceptual knowledge so as to successfully collaborate with human users in space. Another interesting approach to study representation learning is “Cognitive Mirroring”, which refers to artificial systems that could make cognitive processes observable, such as the models that could learn concepts of objects, actions, and/or emotions from humans through interaction. A key idea of this approach is that robots learn individual characteristics of human cognition rather than acquiring a general representation of cognition. In this way, the characteristics of human cognition become observable and can be measured as modifications in model parameters, which is difficult to verify through neuroscience studies only. In this workshop, we invite researchers in artificial intelligence, cognitive science, cognitive robotics, and neuroscience to share their knowledge and research findings on representation learning, and to engage in cutting-edge discussions with other experienced researchers so as to help promoting this research line in the Human-Agent Interaction (HAI) community. *II. Keynote Speakers * 1. *Beata Joanna Grzyb *– Radboud University – The Netherlands 2. *Thomas Hermann*– Bielefeld University – Germany 3. *Tetsuya Ogata *– Waseda University – Japan 4. *Erhan Oztop *– Ozyegin Universiy – Turkey 5. * Stefan Wermter *– University of Hamburg – Germany *III. Submission * 1. For paper submission, use the following EasyChair web link: *Paper Submission <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=rlhrc2017>*. 2. Use the ACM SIGCHI format: *ACM SIGCHI Templates <http://www.sigchi.org/publications/chipubform>*. 3. Submitted papers should be limited to 2-4 pages maximum. The primary list of topics covers the following points (but not limited to): - Computational model for high-level cognitive capabilities - Predictive learning from sensorimotor information - Multimodal interaction and concept formulation - Human-robot communication and collaboration based on machine learning - Learning supported by external trainers by demonstration and imitation - Bayesian modeling - Learning with hierarchical and deep architectures - Interactive reinforcement learning * IV. Important Dates * 1. Paper submission: *15-September-2017* 2. Notification of acceptance: *25-September-2017* 3. Camera-ready version: *5-**October-2017* 4. Workshop: *17-October-2017* *V. Organizers * 1. *Takato Horii *– Osaka University – Japan 2. *Amir Aly *– Ritsumeikan University – Japan 3. *Yukie Nagai *– National Institute of Information and Communications Technology – Japan 4. * Takayuki Nagai *– The University of Electro-Communications – Japan -- *Amir Aly, Ph.D.* Senior Researcher Emergent Systems Laboratory College of Information Science and Engineering Ritsumeikan University 1-1-1 Noji Higashi, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577 Japan

Sept. 4, 2017

Bernstein 2017 workshop: "Information transmission and communication in brain circuits"

by alireza valizadeh

Dear All, We would like to draw your attention to the half day workshop *"Information transmission and communication in brain circuits"* at Bernstein Conference 2017, Sep 13, Göttingen, Germany. *Abstract:* The question of how the brain integrates the mutiplicity of local processes dispersed through its entire anatomy is a fundamental question in neuroscience. Any single cognitive function may involve several specialized areas whose association is mediated by the functional integration among them. Such integration is mediated by information exchange between brain areas through the routes which can change in fast timescales over which the structure is fixed, providing a flexible effective connectivity despite the rigidity of the infrastructure over fast timescales. The flexibility of the information routing and dynamic effective connectivity are a consequence of the multistability of the collective dynamics of the brain networks. In other words, a single structural connectivity can support plenty of degenerate dynamical states for each of which a special pattern of information transfer between the nodes is observed. Neuronal collective oscillations are hypothesized to provide such a basis for the dynamics communication between brain regions. Several lines of experimental evidences and theoretical arguments indicate that the phase relations between the oscillations of different brain regions can alter effective connectivity by modulating the gain of mutual influence between them. In this workshop the notion of information transfer in brain circuits and the role of brain rhythms in providing a dynamic effective communication network will be reviewed and the latest theoretical and experimental achievements will be presented. *Speakers:* - Wolf Singer (Max Planck Institute), - Mark Timme (Max Planck Institute) - Demian Battaglia (Aix-Marseille University) - Christoph Kirst (The Rockefeller University) - Santiago Canals (Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante) - Raul Vicente (University of Tartu) - Leonardo Gollo (QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute) - Alireza Valizadeh (Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences) *Website:* http://www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2017/satellite-workshops/informa… Best regards, Alireza Valizadeh, Claudio Mirasso ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Alireza Valizadeh Associate professor Neurophysics lab, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS) School of cognitive sciences, Institute for research in fundamental sciences (IPM) Iran Tel:(+98) 24 3315 2120 Fax:(+98) 24 3315 2104 valizade(a)iasbs.ac.ir Web: http://www.iasbs.ac.ir/~valizade/index.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sept. 4, 2017

CfPs Journal of Integrative Neuroscience: Brain-Inspired Intelligence Technology

by Reinoud Maex

Call for Papers Special issue of the Journal of Integrative Neuroscience on Brain-Inspired Intelligence Technology Guest Editors: R.J. Martis, H. Lin, E. Barakova and Y. Zeng BRAIN-INSPIRED INTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGY Brain-inspired intelligence technology aims to showcase the principles and mechanisms of human intelligence through development of brain-inspired intelligent systems. It is an effort to extract, integrate and analyse these principles and mechanisms across scale from quantum neuroscience to cognitive science research in pioneering the next wave of sentient technologies. The special issue is unprecedented, showcasing brain-inspired technology beyond 2020. Deadline for submission:25 November 2017 How to Submit: Authors are requested to submit their manuscript via the submission system available at http://msTracker.com/submit1.php?jc=jin In the “Cover Letter” box please indicate you are submitting your paper to the special issue on Brain-Inspired Intelligence Technology Topics of relevance include: * Biophysical neural networks * Brain-inspired cognitive models * Wetware design * Neurophotonics * Elemental conscious constructs * Quantum entanglement in agents * Cognitive technology supporting brain-inspired intelligence * Brain connectome based on optical nanoscopy technology * Observer-independent intelligence * Pico-scale resolution patch-clamping * Brain-inspired super and general artificial intelligence * New deep neural networks for brain-inspired learning * Brain-inspired intelligent hardware infrastructures * Cognitive neurorobotics For more information contact: Yi Zeng, Ph.D Deputy Director Research Center for Brain-inspired Intelligence Institute of Automation Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing, China, 100190 Email: yi.zeng(a)ia.ac.cn see also http://www.iospress.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/CfP_Brain-Inspired_Intell…

Sept. 2, 2017

APA Technology, Mind, & Society Conference - Submissions due Oct 20

by Jeff Krichmar

Dear Colleagues, This upcoming APA conference on Technology, Mind, & Society may be of interest to many of you. Visit: http://www.apascience.org/conference/index.html The American Psychological Association will hold an interdisciplinary conference on Technology, Mind, and Society in Washington, D.C., on April 5-7, 2018. Scientists, practitioners, policymakers, and students from around the world are invited to participate in the event. The conference will provide a venue for reporting and assessing current efforts to understand and shape the interactions of human beings and technology, for identifying priorities for future work, and for promoting exchange and collaboration among participants. The conference will feature four keynote speakers: Cynthia Breazeal (MIT), Justine Cassell (Carnegie Mellon), Eric Horvitz (Microsoft Research), and Sandy Pentland (MIT). APA invites you and your colleagues and students to submit papers, symposia, and posters for this conference, which will be organized around the following broad themes: • Basic research: How humans understand and use technology, impacts of technology on human experience and behavior, human-technology interactions as mutually adaptive systems, role of technology in advancing other areas of scientific research, and related topics. • Foundations of technology design: Development of technologies informed by psychological, behavioral, and social science research. • Applications: Development, use, and impact of specific technologies in domains such as aging, education, mental and physical health, recreation, and the workplace. • Broader implications: Ethical and policy questions concerning the opportunities and challenges arising from human-technology interactions. The deadline for submissions is October 20, 2017. Submissions can be made here: https://www.openconf.org/APAScience2018TMS/openconf.php The conference is open to researchers, professionals, and students in all relevant areas, including psychology and other behavioral and social sciences, neuroscience, computer science, engineering, design, health research, education research, city and regional planning, public policy, history of science and technology, and philosophy. The conference aims to address the full range of contemporary and emerging technologies. These include but are not limited to artificial intelligence, robotics, mobile devices, social media, virtual/augmented reality, gaming, geographic information systems, autonomous vehicles, and biomedical technologies (e.g., brain-machine interfaces, genetic engineering). APA is sponsoring the conference in cooperation with the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and the Association for Computing Machinery — Special Interest Group for Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI). We look forward to seeing you at the Technology, Mind, and Society Conference! For additional information, see the conference website. If you have any questions, please contact the APA Science Directorate (science(a)apa.org) Jeff Krichmar Department of Cognitive Sciences 2328 Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92697-5100 jkrichma(a)uci.edu http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~jkrichma

Sept. 2, 2017

Scientist I/II - Computational Neuroscience at Allen Institute for Brain Science

by Stefan Mihalas

POSITION SUMMARY We are seeking to fill a position at the level of Scientist to work on coarse-grained models of cortical networks aiming to understand how the observed structure and activity gives relate to cortical computations necessary for visual processing (e.g. figure ground segregation, integration of context). We use mouse vision as a model system and this position will focus on using population statistics (http://alleninstitute.github.io/dipde/) and filter neuron model simulation tools. More specifically, the scientist will work on (i) fitting network models with simple neurons which network structures are consistent with the observed mesoscopic connectivity and in vivo cellular activity, (ii) simulate the activity of such networks at neuronal an population levels and (iii) analyzing the relation between observed network structure and that predicted from different models of cortical computations. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES * Participate in team efforts to find network parameters which are consistent with activity (http://observatory.brain-map.org/visualcoding/) and connectivity (http://connectivity.brain-map.org/) data. * Simulate cortical networks parameterized from experimental data using population and simplified neuron model simulation tools. * Analyze how computations in vision (e.g. figure/ground segregation, integration of context) result from networks similar to those simulated. * Interact with groups performing simulations at other levels of resolution and with experimental groups. * Maintain clear and accurate communication with supervisor and team members. * Publish/present findings in peer-reviewed journals/scientific conferences. BASIC QUALIFICATIONS SCIENTIST I * PhD degree in computational neuroscience, physics, mathematics, applied mathematics or related field. * Strong background in scientific computing is required. * Experience in computational neuroscience is preferred. SCIENTIST II * PhD degree in computational neuroscience, physics, mathematics, applied mathematics or related field. * 4+ years of postdoctoral experience in computational science * Preferred Computational neuroscience * Strong background in scientific computing is required. * Strong publication record. Preferred Qualifications: * Ability to meet aggressive timelines and deliverables in a collaborative environment. * Proven independent thinking and flexibility. * Strong written and verbal communication skills * Experience in pursuing research projects in collaborative fashion. Our mission at the Allen Institute for Brain Science is to accelerate the understanding of how the human brain works in health and disease. By implementing a team science approach on a large scale, we strive to generate useful public resources, drive technological innovations and discover fundamental brain properties through integration of experiments, modeling and theory. To apply please visit https://www.alleninstitute.org/what-we-do/brain-science/careers/job-search/. Applications will be considered on an ongoing basis. Apologies for coss-posting, Stefan Mihalas Assistant Investigator Allen Institute for Brain Science www.alleninstitute.org<http://www.alleninstitute.org/> Affiliate Assistant Professor Department of Applied Mathematics University of Washington

Sept. 1, 2017

5th Baltic-Nordic School on Neuroinformatics (BNNI 2017)

by Marja-Leena Linne

5th Baltic-Nordic School on Neuroinformatics BNNI 2017 Theoretical modelling of brain functions in neurological and psychiatric disorders: Advancing future neuroscience and medicine through Neuroinformatics methods Place: Neuroscience Institute Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Eiveniu str.4, Kaunas Lithuania Time: 6-7 October 2017 More information and applications at: web.lsmuni.lt/bnni/en Important dates: 10 September 2017: Application deadline 12 September 2017: Acceptance notification 6-7 October 2017: School We invite advanced master students, doctoral students, and postdoctoral researchers to participate in the BNNI 2017 to be held at the Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania. The course is interdisciplinary and covers modeling at different levels of organization of the brain, focusing on neurological and psychiatric disorders. The course combines lectures, tutorials and computer exercises. This school is the fifth in the series of the Baltic-Nordic Courses on Neuroinformatics (BNNI 2013 in Kaunas, Lithuania; BNNI 2014 in Tampere, Finland; BNNI 2015 in Tartu, Estonia; BNNI in Warsaw 2016, Poland). The target audience of the course will be advanced master students, doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers in biomedical and technology sciences, from medicine, biology, psychology, to mathematics, informatics, information technology, physics, chemistry, who would like to get an introduction to neuroinformatics and computational neuroscience. Some experience with programming and quantitative reasoning as well as strong interest in computational and mathematical modeling of the brain will be desirable but not necessary to benefit from the school. Last year we had participants from 14 countries all over the world! Faculty includes: Marja-Leena Linne, Tampere University of Technology, Finland; The Human Brain Project Bruce Graham, University of Stirling, UK Daniel Wojcik, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland Arnd Roth, University College London, UK Peter Jedlicka, NeuroScience Center, Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany Tuomo Mäki-Marttunen, Simula Research Laboratory, Oslo, Norway Inga Griskova-Bulanova, Institute of Bioscience, Vilnius University, Lithuania Rima Naginiene, Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania Andrius Radziunas, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Academy, and Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania Ausra Saudargiene, Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, and Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania and others. Venue: The lectures will be held at the Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eivenių str. 4, Kaunas, Lithuania Practical arrangements: There is a small tuition fee of 50 euros. The organizers will provide teaching materials, meals and coffee during the course. The participants are expected to cover their travel and health insurance expenses as well as lodging. The course is supported by the Research Council of Lithuania and Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. We are looking forward to welcoming you at the BNNI 2017 in Kaunas, Lithuania!

Sept. 1, 2017

Doctoral student position - Robot-assisted modeling of spatial navigation paradigms in biological organisms - DEADLINE EXTENDED

by samarasinghe＠ini.rub.de

Please note that the deadline for applications to the position below has been extended to *15.09.2017*. *Research **Position **at the Institute for Neural Compu**ta**ti**o**n * A position as *d**octoral student **in integrative **n**euroscience and **c**ognitive **s**cience *is available immediately in the group of Prof. Sen Cheng in the Institute for Neural Computation at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. The research will focus on robot-assisted modeling of spatial navigation paradigms in biological organisms. Robotic simulations, as well as, physical robots will be used to develop and evaluate the desired models. The position will be funded at 50% of the standard salary scale TV-L E13. It is initially limited to 1 year with the possibility of extension, depending on the availability of funding. Candidates should have an excellent degree in neuroscience, physics, mathematics, engineering, or a related field. Competence in mathematical modeling, and excellent programming skills (Python, C/C++, or Matlab) are mandatory. Candidates are further required to have a strong background in at least one of the following fields: robotics, computational neuroscience, or cognitive modeling. Experience with interdisciplinary research in integrative neuroscience and cognitive science and with collaborative research would be a further asset. The working language at the institute is English. To apply, please send a statement of your research interests, academic transcripts, and a complete CV in one PDF file to samarasinghe(a)ini.rub.de <mailto:samarasinghe@ini.rub.de> by *15**.09****.2017*. Please also request from at least two academic referees that they send letters of reference directly to the same email address. Further information may be available at https://www.ini.rub.de/the_institute/jobs/. The Ruhr University Bochum provides a dynamic research environment in neuroscience and cognitive science. The Institute for Neural Computation unifies various core competencies extending from experimental and theoretical neuroscience to machine learning and robotics. The Ruhr University Bochum is committed to equal opportunity. We strongly encourage applications from qualified women and persons with disabilities. -- Vinita Samarasinghe M.Sc., M.A. Science Manager Arbeitsgruppe Computational Neuroscience Institut für Neuroinformatik Ruhr-Universität Bochum, NB 3/26 Universitätstr. 150 D-44780 Bochum Tel: +49 (0)234 32 27316 Email: samarasinghe(a)ini.rub.de Hours: Monday 9-12 & 14-16; Friday 9-12 & 14-16; Wednesday 12 - 16

Sept. 1, 2017

Postdoc position: computational models of visual memory, Rust lab, UPenn

by Rust, Nicole C

A postdoctoral position focused on developing computational models of visual memory is available in the laboratory of Nicole Rust at the University of Pennsylvania. The lab is broadly interested in understanding the neural processing supporting massive-capacity, single-trial visual memories of images. This specific position involves developing classes of computational models that describe where and how visual memories are stored in the brain as well as how the percept of visual familiarity is signaled. Models include extensions of state-of-the-art descriptions of visual processing (e.g. deep neural networks) as well as more dynamic, mechanistic descriptions. To constrain these models, the researcher will interface with experimentalists in the lab who record and perturb neural signals in monkeys and tree shrews. Opportunities also exist to collaborate with the Simoncelli lab at NYU, the Yamins lab at Stanford, and with other members of the Penn Computational Neuroscience Initiative. Candidates should have a Ph.D. in Computational Neuroscience, Computer Science or a related field prior to starting. The ideal candidate has extensive experience in computational modeling as well as working with behavioral and/or neural data. To inquire about this position, please submit a CV and a brief statement of research interests to nrust(a)psych.upenn.edu<mailto:nrust@psych.upenn.edu>. Nicole Rust Associate Professor Department of Psychology University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA http://www.sas.upenn.edu/psych/rust-lab/

Sept. 1, 2017

[EAIS 2018] Paper Submission deadline is on Saturday, 20th of January 2018 2359 UTC-12hr

by Teng Teck Hou

[Apologies for cross-postings] ################################################## CALL FOR PAPERS IEEE Conference on Evolving and Adaptive Intelligent Systems (EAIS 2018) 25-27 of May 2018, Island of Rhodes, Greece http://easyconferences.eu/eais2018/ ################################################## Contributions will be selected based upon their quality as evaluated by the reviewers. An online submission system for contributions will be made available on this webpage soon. Papers must be comprised of up to 8 pages and they will be published in the IEEE Explore All contributions have to be prepared according to the IEEE conference style guidelines. To see the Topics please visit: http://easyconferences.eu/eais2018/topics.html ################################################## The 2018 IEEE Conference on Evolving and Adaptive Intelligent Systems (EAIS 2018) will be held in The 2018 IEEE Conference on Evolving and Adaptive Intelligent Systems (EAIS 2018) will be held in the exotic island of Rhodes (Greece) which has a beautiful medieval town built by the crusaders and it is preserved as UNESCO monument. A main characteristic of Rhodes is its long ancient history with many ancient Greek sites. Set against the historic backdrop of Rhodes island is the elegant and pisturesque lowrise architecture of Aldemar Amilia Mare Village, an all-inclusive seaside resort. Newly refurbished luxury rooms with sea or garden views are the perfect choice for all holidaymakers, f rom singles to families. Dive into crystal clear swimming pools, try a wide range of watersports at the beach, enjoy the Spa Centre with its fully equipped fitness area and sample the cosmopolitan delights of the themed restaurants. ##############################Important Dates############################## * Paper Submission January 20, 2018 * Special Session Proposals 20 December, 2017 * Paper Decision Notification January 15, 2018 * Camera-Ready Submission February 15, 2018 * Authors registration To be announced * Conference May 25 - 27 2018 ########################################################################### ########################## At least three distinguished Keynote Speakers will be invited ########################## ##################### SPECIAL ISSUES ################################### Selected papers (from the list of the accepted and presented ones) will be considered for publication and inclusion in Special Issue of the EVOLVING SYSTEMS (EVOS) Springer Journal. At least one more Special Issue will be edited ##################Topics and Areas of Interest################## This conference solicits papers addressing original works in topics and areas of interest including, but are not limited to: * Basic Methologies Evolving Soft Computing Techniques Evolving Fuzzy Systems Evolving Rule-Based Classifiers Evolving Neuro-Fuzzy Systems Adaptive Evolving Neural Networks Adaptive Evolving Fuzzy Systems Online Genetic and Evolutionary Algorithms Data Stream Mining Incremental and Evolving Clustering Approaches Adaptive Control Adaptive Pattern Recognition Computational Intelligence in Control and Estimation Incremental and Evolving ML Classifiers Adaptive Statistical Techniques Evolving Decision Systems Big Data Advanced Concepts * Problems and Methodologies in Data Streams Stability, Robustness, Convergence in Evolving Systems Online Feature Selection and Dimension Reduction Online Active and Semi-supervised Learning Online Complexity Reduction Computational Aspects Interpretability Issues Incremental Adaptive Ensemble Methods Online Bagging and Boosting Self-monitoring Evolving Systems Human-Machine Interaction Issues Hybrid Modeling Transfer Learning Reservoir Computing Real-world Applications * EIS for On-Line Modeling, System Identification, and Control EIS for Time Series Prediction EIS for Data Stream Mining and Adaptive Knowledge Discovery EIS in Robotics, Intelligent Transport and Advanced Manufacturing EIS in Advanced Communications and Multi-Media Applications EIS in Bioinformatics and Medicine EIS in Online Quality Control and Fault Diagnosis EIS in Condition Monitoring Systems EIS in Adaptive Evolving Controller Design EIS in User Activities Recognition EIS in Huge Database and Web Mining EIS in Visual Inspection and Image Classification EIS in Image Processing EIS in Cloud Computing EIS in Multiple Sensor Networks EIS in Query Systems and Social Networks EIS in Alternative Statistical and Machine Learning Approaches ################################################################ ##########################Organizing Committee########################## * General co-Chairs Plamen Angelov, Lancaster University, UK Yannis Manolopoulos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece PC co-Chairs Edwin Lughofer Johannes, Kepler University Linz, Austria Lazaros Iliadis, Democritus University of Thrace Honorary co-Chairs Dimitar Filev, Ford Motor Company, USA Nikola Kasabov, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand Special session co-Chairs Abdelhamid Bouchachia, University of Bournemouth, UK Jose Antonio Iglesias, Carlos III University of Madrid (Leganes, Spain) Organizing Chair Apostolos Papadopoulos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Local Organizing co-Chairs Constantinos Demertzis, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece Antonis Papaleonidas, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece Workshop co-chairs M. Sayed - Mouchaweich, Universite Lille, France Andre Paim Lemos, Univerity Minas Gerais, Brazil Publicity and Publication co-Chairs Teck-Hou, Teng Singapore Management University, Singapore Antonis Papaleonidas, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece Web Admin Kyriakos Georgiades, Easy Conferences, Cyprus * International Program Committe Plamen Angelov, Lancaster University, UK Rosangela Ballini, University of Campinas, Brazil Jorge Cassillas, University of Granada, Spain Dejan Dovzan, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Nadine Gaertner, SAP, Germany Lazaros Iliadis, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece Nik Kasabov, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand Spyros Likothanasis, University of Patras, Greece Daniel Furtado Leite, Federal University of Lavras, Brazil Andre Lemos, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil Edwin Lughofer, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria Yannis Manolopoulos, Aristotle University of Thessalonii, Greece Trevor Martin, University of Bristol, UK Seiichi Ozawa, Kobe University, Japan Witold Pedrycz, University of Alberta, Canada Radu-Emil Precup, University of Timisoara, Romania Olga Senyukova, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia El Mustapha Mouaddib, Universite de Picardie Jules Verne, France Jus Kocijan, Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana,Slovenia ####################################################################### #########################Sponsoring Organizations######################### * IEEE * Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece * Democritus University of thrace, Greece ##########################################################################

Sept. 1, 2017

Penn Psych - Faculty Search

by Rust, Nicole C

Assistant Professor, Cognitive or Affective Science Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania The Department of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania intends to make multiple appointments in the areas of Cognitive Science and Affective Science over the next several years. Our primary focus is at the junior, Assistant Professor level, but in exceptional circumstances a more senior hire may be considered. We are interested in candidates with research interests in the areas, broadly defined, of cognitive science (e.g., learning and memory, perception, attention, language, or decision making) or affective science (e.g., clinical or health psychology; social, moral, or political psychology; positive psychology; or the psychology of individual differences), and who use any number of approaches, including but not limited to computational, neuroscientific (behavioral, systems, or cognitive), or developmental. Interested candidates should submit materials online at http://facultysearches.provost.upenn.edu/postings/1121 and include a curriculum vitae, statements of research and teaching interests, and the names and contact information of three referees. Candidates will contribute to the teaching mission of the university with introductory courses such as Introduction to Psychology, Introduction to Brain and Behavior, Cognitive Psychology, or Abnormal Psychology, as well as advanced undergraduate or graduate courses in specific areas of interest. Referees will be contacted by the University with instructions on how to submit a recommendation letter to the website. Review of applications will begin on September 18, 2017 and continue until the position is filled. The Department of Psychology is strongly committed to Penn’s Action Plan for Faculty Diversity and Excellence and to creating a more diverse faculty (for more information, see http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v58/n02/diversityplan.html) The University of Pennsylvania is an equal opportunity employer. Minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and protected veterans are encouraged to apply. Nicole Rust, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Psychology University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104 http://www.sas.upenn.edu/psych/rust-lab/

Aug. 29, 2017

PhD positions at the Univ. of Leicester (for UK/EU candidates only)

by Quian Quiroga, Rodrigo (Prof.)

Fully Funded PhD Studentships (for UK/EU candidates only) Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester, UK. www.le.ac.uk/csn The Centre for Systems Neuroscience at the University of Leicester, UK, offers up to 2, 3-Year Fully Funded (stipend plus fees) PhD positions for UK/EU candidates, to study single cell recordings in humans – performed in epileptic patients for curative surgery. The project will investigate concept cells (a.k.a. Jennifer Aniston neurons) – that means, neurons in the hippocampus and surrounding areas that selectively fire to specific concepts, like different pictures and the written or spoken name of a particular person (e.g. Quian Quiroga et al, Nature 2005; Quian Quiroga Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2012), which are involved in declarative memory functions. The successful candidate will contribute to performing recordings with patients in collaborating hospitals and the analysis of the data to investigate the role of these neurons in memory formation. Candidates should have very good quantitative skills (data processing, and programing in Matlab), a strong background in neuroscience and, ideally, good experience with neurophysiology recordings. They should be able to work both independently and as part of a research team within the Centre for System Neuroscience at Leicester and with our external collaborators. Informal enquiries are welcome and should be made to Valeria Zonato, Research Centre Manager, vz12(a)le.ac.uk or 0116 252 3249. Interested candidates should send their curriculum vitae and a brief description of their scientific interests to Valeria Zonato (vz12(a)le.ac.uk<mailto:vz12@le.ac.uk>). The closing date for the applications is Friday 15th September 2017.

Aug. 29, 2017

[jobs] Researcher in Cognitive Robotics

by Di Nuovo, Alessandro

Apologies for multiple postings. A fixed-term position is available at Sheffield Hallam University (UK), within Sheffield Robotics. The post is funded by the EPSRC project EP/P030033/1 - Number Understanding Modelling in Behavioural Embodied Robotic Systems (NUMBERS). Details of the post and the link for applying can be found here: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BDR925/researcher-cognitive-robotics/ NUMBERS is a highly inter-disciplinary cutting-edge cognitive robotics research programme lead by Dr Alessandro Di Nuovo and developed in collaboration with Sheffield Robotics. The project sees the participation of Plymouth University and Stanford University (USA), and received the support of the NVIDIA Corporation (USA). It will utilise one of the most advanced child-like robotic platforms (the "iCub") to construct a novel artificial cognitive model of mathematical cognition by imitating human like learning approaches for developing number understanding. The researcher will contribute to the project by carrying out experiments with the iCub, including: Software development. Collecting and analysing data. Guaranteeing continuity of the robotic experiments. The researcher will also be an active member of the Sheffield Robotics team contributing to scientific publications and supporting exhibitions and demonstrations. Experience of working with the iCub robotic platform would be an advantage as well as the knowledge of deep learning software frameworks. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the development of the next generation of socially interactive robots capable of learning and mimicking advanced capabilities of human intelligence. Contact e-mail: a.dinuovo(a)shu.ac.uk

Aug. 29, 2017

[Extended Deadline-CFP] - HAI 2017 Workshop: Representation Learning for Human and Robot Cognition

by Amir Aly

CALL FOR PAPERS **Apologies for cross posting ** The full day workshop: "*Representation Learning for Human and Robot Cognition*" In conjunction with the *5th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction* *- Bielefeld - Germany - October * *17th, 2017* *Webpage: **http://cognitive-mirroring.org/en/events/hai2017_workshop/* <http://cognitive-mirroring.org/en/events/hai2017_workshop/> *I. Aim and Scope *Creating intelligent and interactive robots has been subject to extensive research studies. They are rapidly moving to the center of human environment so that they collaborate with human users in different applications, which requires high-level cognitive functions so as to allow them to understand and learn from human behavior. To this end, an important challenge that attracts much attention in cognitive science and artificial intelligence, is the “Symbol Emergence” problem, which investigates the bottom-up development of symbols through social interaction. This research line employs representation learning based models for understanding language and action in a developmentally plausible manner so as to make robots able to behave appropriately on their own. This could open the door to robots to understand syntactic formalisms and semantic references of human speech, and to associate language knowledge to perceptual knowledge so as to successfully collaborate with human users in space. Another interesting approach to study representation learning is “Cognitive Mirroring”, which refers to artificial systems that could make cognitive processes observable, such as the models that could learn concepts of objects, actions, and/or emotions from humans through interaction. A key idea of this approach is that robots learn individual characteristics of human cognition rather than acquiring a general representation of cognition. In this way, the characteristics of human cognition become observable and can be measured as modifications in model parameters, which is difficult to verify through neuroscience studies only. In this workshop, we invite researchers in artificial intelligence, cognitive science, cognitive robotics, and neuroscience to share their knowledge and research findings on representation learning, and to engage in cutting-edge discussions with other experienced researchers so as to help promoting this research line in the Human-Agent Interaction (HAI) community. *II. Keynote Speakers * 1. *Beata Joanna Grzyb *– Radboud University – The Netherlands 2. *Thomas Hermann*– Bielefeld University – Germany 3. *Tetsuya Ogata *– Waseda University – Japan 4. *Erhan Oztop *– Ozyegin Universiy – Turkey 5. * Stefan Wermter *– University of Hamburg – Germany *III. Submission * 1. For paper submission, use the following EasyChair web link: *Paper Submission <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=rlhrc2017>*. 2. Use the ACM SIGCHI format: *ACM SIGCHI Templates <http://www.sigchi.org/publications/chipubform>*. 3. Submitted papers should be limited to 2-4 pages maximum. The primary list of topics covers the following points (but not limited to): - Computational model for high-level cognitive capabilities - Predictive learning from sensorimotor information - Multimodal interaction and concept formulation - Human-robot communication and collaboration based on machine learning - Learning supported by external trainers by demonstration and imitation - Bayesian modeling - Learning with hierarchical and deep architectures - Interactive reinforcement learning * IV. Important Dates * 1. Paper submission: *15-September-2017* 2. Notification of acceptance: *25-September-2017* 3. Camera-ready version: *5-**October-2017* 4. Workshop: *17-October-2017* *V. Organizers * 1. *Takato Horii *– Osaka University – Japan 2. *Amir Aly *– Ritsumeikan University – Japan 3. *Yukie Nagai *– National Institute of Information and Communications Technology – Japan 4. * Takayuki Nagai *– The University of Electro-Communications – Japan -- *Amir Aly, Ph.D.* Senior Researcher Emergent Systems Laboratory College of Information Science and Engineering Ritsumeikan University 1-1-1 Noji Higashi, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577 Japan

Aug. 28, 2017

Postdoc position in electrophysiology/neural coding at Columbia University

by Qi Wang

A postdoc position is available in the Laboratory for Neural Engineering and Control in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University (http://neclab.bme.columbia.edu/) The project investigates the role of the locus coeruleus – norepinephrine (LC-NE) system in modulating neural coding, perception, and learning. The successful applicant should have a background in in-vivo single-unit recording and quantitative analytical methods. Experiences in behavioral training of rodents is a plus. We are looking for highly motivated researchers with a strong technical background, ideally with a PhD or equivalent in Biomedical Engineering, Neuroscience, Psychology, or a related discipline. Applicants should demonstrate excellent oral and written communication skills, and the ability to work effectively independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team. Start date is flexible. Salary will be commensurate to the candidate qualifications. Applicants should submit a CV, a brief description of research interests, and a list of three references. All application materials as well as any inquiries should be sent to qi.wang(a)columbia.edu.

Aug. 28, 2017

Bernstein 2017 Workshop: "Multiscale modeling and simulation"

by Salvador Dura

Dear All, We would like to bring your attention to the* "Multiscale modeling and simulation" workshop* at the *Bernstein Conference 2017, Sept 12-13, Göttingen, Germany.* *Website: *http://www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2017/ satellite-workshops/multiscale-modeling-and-simulation-dura-bernal-lytton *Short abstract:* Understanding brain function requires characterizing the *interactions occurring across many temporal and spatial scales*. Mechanistic multiscale modeling aims to organize and explore these interactions across these scales. Multiscale models can provide insights into how changes at the molecular and cellular levels affect dynamics at local networks and brain areas. At the highest levels, they allow us to connect neural activity to theories of behavior, memory and cognition. The recent introduction of large neuroscience projects in US and EU Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) and Human Brain Project (HBP) respectively provide an opportunity to rapidly gather new and more accurate data to incorporate into the multiscale models. This workshop will present some of the* latest multiscale modeling tools and approaches in neuroscience, as well as representative examples of datadriven multiscale neural simulations*. The workshop aims to encourage both computational and experimental neuroscientists to make use of multiscale modeling in their research. *Organizers: *Salvador Dura-Bernal and Bill Lytton (SUNY Downstate) *Speakers:* *Tue, Sept 12:* - Bill Lytton (SUNY Downstate) - Jean Pierre Changeux (Pasteur Institute) - Volker Steuber (University of Hertfordshire) - Robert McDougal (Yale University) - Salvador Dura-Bernal (SUNY Downstate) - Cliff C Kerr (University of Sydney) *Wed, Sept 13:* - Szabolcs Kali (Hungarian Academy of Science/HBP) - Marianne Bezaire (Boston University) - Daniel Durstewitz (ZI Mannheim) - Kael Dali (Allen Institute for Brain Science) We look forward to seeing you there! Best Salva -- Salvador Durá-Bernal, Ph.D. Research Assistant Professor State University of New York Downstate Medical Center

Aug. 27, 2017

PhD, Master and Postdoc positions in theoretical neuroscience at the MPI for Brain Research

by Tatjana Tchumatchenko

PhD, Master and Postdoc positions in theoretical neuroscience at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research We are looking for undergraduate students interested in writing a Master or PhD thesis and also have open positions for Postdocs to join our group "Theory of neural dynamics" at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research lead by Dr. Tatjana Tchumatchenko. Our group studies how networks of neurons encode and decode sensory stimuli and how these functions are related to computations that underlie cognitive functions and behavior. We develop models to address linear and non-linear properties of neuronal networks and have ongoing collaborations with experimental labs where we analyze in vitro as well as in vivo data and develop appropriate models to explain the observed phenomena. Successful applicants should have a strong background in a quantitative field such as physics, mathematics or computer science and should be interested in an interdisciplinary exchange with other disciplines such as biology or medicine. Life science majors interested in quantitative modeling work are also encouraged to apply, particularly if they would like to combine experiments and theory in their Master or Ph.D. thesis work. We are looking for candidates with strong English skills and prior programming experience. In order to make teamwork in our group enjoyable and fun, the ideal candidate should have a strong work ethic and have demonstrated consistent self-motivation skills. Female students are particularly encouraged to apply. Prospective students should apply by sending an email to theoryneuraldynamics(a)gmail.com which includes * a letter of motivation, * CV, * and a copy of the current academic transcripts To make your motivation letter easier to write for you and more informative for us, please check the list of questions to be answered in your motivation letter at http://www.tchumatchenko.de/Opportunities.html Looking forward to your applications! Tatjana Tchumatchenko

Aug. 27, 2017

Postdoctoral opportunity

by Timothy O'Leary

Post-doctoral position in theoretical neuroscience, University of Cambridge Description We are seeking a highly creative and motivated Postdoctoral Research Assistant/Associate in Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience to join the research group of Dr Timothy O’Leary in the Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge (http://www.olearylab.org/) The successful applicant will undertake exciting collaborative research projects in systems neuroscience, with the opportunity to work closely with experimental laboratories in Harvard Medical School, HHMI Janelia and the Weizmann Institute of Science. The post will therefore involve significant travel. A range of projects is available, covering themes of neural representations of behaviour, neuromodulation and regulatory control in the nervous system. The successful applicant will have, or be near to obtaining, a PhD in theoretical neuroscience, applied mathematics, control engineering, physics, or theoretical biology, and will have extensive research experience demonstrated by a strong publication record. A solid grounding in neuroscience is important. The position is initially for three years with possibility of extension, with a 6 month probation period. The appointment commences December 1, 2017but start date is flexible within reason. We offer a competitive salary in line with experience and we especially encourage applications from minorities and underrepresented groups. Full application details are available here: http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/14796/ Closing date: 2017-10-02 Employment start date: 2017-12-01 Contract length: 3 years Institution: University of Cambridge *Timothy O'Leary* Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Phone +441223746527 Email tso24(a)cam.ac.uk

Aug. 25, 2017

advertised postdoc position

by Matthew Chalk

Postdoc position in theoretical neuroscience, at the Vision Institute in Paris, France: Description: A postdoctoral position is available for a project with Matthew Chalk, at the Vision Institute (www.institut-vision.org/en/) within the University of Pierre and Marie Curie, in Paris, France. The project will involve investigating principles of neural coding in the retina. Specifically, the project will investigate how different coding objectives, such as optimising efficiency or encoding predictive information, can explain the diverse ways that neurons in the retina respond to visual stimulation. The postdoc will include both a theoretical and an experimental component. The theoretical part of the project will extend previous work by Chalk et al. to develop a general theory of optimal neural coding (Chalk et al. NIPS 2016, Chalk et al. bioArxiv 2016). The experimental part will involve running experiments to test this theory in the retina. The experimental part will be in close collaboration with members from the lab of Olivier Marre, who have developed techniques for recording from hundreds of retinal ganglion cells simultaneously (e.g. Marre et al. PLoS Comp. 2015). The Vision Institute is a stimulating environment for brain research. It brings together in a single building researchers, clinicians and industrial partners in order to discover, test and develop treatments and technological innovations for the benefit of visually impaired patients. The ideal candidate should have a PhD with a strong, quantitative background (ideally in fields such as machine learning and/or theoretical neuroscience). The position is funded for three years. Applications should include a CV, a statement of research interests (max 1 page), and two letters of recommendation. The earliest starting date will be 14/01/18. Electronic submissions in pdf-format are preferred and should be sent to Matthew Chalk (matthewjchalk(a)gmail.com <mailto:matthewjchalk@gmail.com>). Feel free to ask any informal questions about the position if you are interested.

Aug. 25, 2017

Fully funded PhD position on machine learning for neuroimaging data analysis

by Diego Sona

We are seeking candidates for a PhD position entitled “Computational Methods for Brain Connectivity Analysis”. The research will aim at developing novel approaches based on machine learning for the analysis of structural and functional brain connectivity from neuroimaging data (e.g., fMRI, rsMRI, DTI, MEG, EEG, etc.). The aim is to better understand the brain and characterize the neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary environment. The applicant should have a background in machine learning and pattern recognition methodologies with a keen interest in neuroscience. The PhD grant is jointly supported by Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) and Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT). The research activity will take place at the Neuroinformatics Laboratory (NILab, https://nilab.fbk.eu/ <https://nilab.fbk.eu/>) and the Pattern Analysis and Computer Vision Laboratory (PAVIS, http://pavis.iit.it/ <http://pavis.iit.it/>). NILab is an interdisciplinary laboratory raised as joint initiative between the Centre for Information Technology of FBK and the Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences of University of Trento (CIMeC, http://www.cimec.unitn.it <http://www.cimec.unitn.it/>). Interested candidates must apply for the PhD grant following the instructions in the call published by Università degli studi di Trento (see the application webpage http://ict.unitn.it/application/ict_doctoral_school <http://ict.unitn.it/application/ict_doctoral_school>) referring to position A5. Deadline for the formal application is August 31, 2017, hrs. 04.00 PM (Italian time, GMT +2) Interested candidates are also invited to contact Paolo Avesani (avesani(a)fbk.eu <mailto:avesani@fbk.eu>) and Diego Sona (diego.sona(a)iit.it <mailto:diego.sona@iit.it>) by emailing their CV and a short statement of interest in this position. For further information on the position and the application process refers to the following links http://ict.unitn.it <http://ict.unitn.it/> http://ict.unitn.it/application/project_specific_grants <http://ict.unitn.it/application/project_specific_grants> Diego Sona --------------------------------------------------------- Pattern Analysis & Computer Vision (PAVIS) Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) Via Morego 30, 16163, Genova, Italy Phone: +39 010 71781 819 E-mail: diego.sona(a)iit.it pavis.iit.it/people/diego-sona ---------------------------------------------------------

Aug. 23, 2017

Assistant Professor Neural Mechanisms of Cognition and Behavior, Emory University (Atlanta, USA)

by Liu, Robert C

Assistant Professor, Neural Mechanisms of Cognition and Behavior The Department of Psychology at Emory University invites applications for a tenure-track position at the level of assistant professor with an anticipated start date of August 1, 2018. We seek applicants to establish an independent, federally-funded program of research aimed at understanding mechanisms of cognition and behavior at biological and psychological levels with a goal of building on Emory's strengths in behavioral, cognitive, affective, social, computational, developmental, and/or comparative neuroscience. We also seek applicants with a strong commitment to undergraduate and graduate teaching. Laboratory space for small animals as well as research facilities for humans (including a research-dedicated 3T MRI scanner) are available. Applicants whose research uses cutting-edge techniques in small animals and bridges to studies with humans are particularly encouraged to apply. Ph.D. required. Candidates should submit applications at psychology.emory.edu. Please include a CV, a research statement, a teaching statement, two or three representative publications, and three letters of recommendation. Please also include a brief statement in your cover letter that addresses past activities and future plans to advance equity, inclusion, and diversity in your professional career. Review of applications will begin on November 1, 2017, and applications received up to 30 days after review begins will be given full consideration. Emory University (Atlanta, GA) is a diverse community that values multiple perspectives and is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Disability/Veteran employer. Women, minorities, persons with disabilities and veterans are encouraged to apply. Robert C. Liu, PhD Associate Professor Department of Biology Emory University O. W. Rollins Research Center Rm 2131 1510 Clifton Rd NE Atlanta, GA 30322 USA Phone: +1 404-727-5274 Email: robert.liu(a)emory.edu<mailto:robert.liu@emory.edu> Lab Website<http://www.biology.emory.edu/research/Liu/html/index.php> ________________________________ This e-mail message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message (including any attachments) is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender by reply e-mail message and destroy all copies of the original message (including attachments).

Aug. 23, 2017

Doctoral student position - Robot-assisted modeling of spatial navigation paradigms in biological organisms

by samarasinghe＠ini.rub.de

*Research **Position **at the Institute for Neural Compu**ta**ti**o**n * A position as *d**octoral student **in integrative **n**euroscience and **c**ognitive **s**cience *is available immediately in the group of Prof. Sen Cheng in the Institute for Neural Computation at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. The research will focus on robot-assisted modeling of spatial navigation paradigms in biological organisms. Robotic simulations, as well as, physical robots will be used to develop and evaluate the desired models. The position will be funded at 50% of the standard salary scale TV-L E13. It is initially limited to 1 year with the possibility of extension, depending on the availability of funding. Candidates should have an excellent degree in neuroscience, physics, mathematics, engineering, or a related field. Competence in mathematical modeling, and excellent programming skills (Python, C/C++, or Matlab) are mandatory. Candidates are further required to have a strong background in at least one of the following fields: robotics, computational neuroscience, or cognitive modeling. Experience with interdisciplinary research in integrative neuroscience and cognitive science and with collaborative research would be a further asset. The working language at the institute is English. To apply, please send a statement of your research interests, academic transcripts, and a complete CV in one PDF file to samarasinghe(a)ini.rub.de <mailto:samarasinghe@ini.rub.de> by 31.08.2017. Please also request from at least two academic referees that they send letters of reference directly to the same email address. Further information may be available at https://www.ini.rub.de/the_institute/jobs/. The Ruhr University Bochum provides a dynamic research environment in neuroscience and cognitive science. The Institute for Neural Computation unifies various core competencies extending from experimental and theoretical neuroscience to machine learning and robotics. The Ruhr University Bochum is committed to equal opportunity. We strongly encourage applications from qualified women and persons with disabilities. -- Vinita Samarasinghe M.Sc., M.A. Science Manager Arbeitsgruppe Computational Neuroscience Institut für Neuroinformatik Ruhr-Universität Bochum, NB 3/26 Universitätstr. 150 D-44780 Bochum Tel: +49 (0)234 32 27316 Email: samarasinghe(a)ini.rub.de Hours: Monday 9-12 & 14-16; Friday 9-12 & 14-16; Wednesday 12 - 16

Aug. 23, 2017

Memory GATE opens early for 2 theoretical PhD students at SISSA

by Alessandro Treves

Memory research: Ground-breaking, Applied, and Technological Exchanges is an EU-funded Innovative Training Network coordinated by Francesco Battaglia and including groups at the Radboud (Nijmegen), UCLondon, NTNU-Trondheim, INSERM & AMU (Marseille), Weizmann, Janssen Pharma and SISSA, which will host 15 PhD students on projects taking different approaches to hippocampal memory functions, starting in early 2018. The two theorists to be hosted at SISSA, however, have to be admitted to its Cognitive Neuroscience PhD, by attending the exam in Trieste on Sept 11-12, 2017, see http://www.sissa.it ----------- Deadline August 31st, 2017 --------------- Ideal candidates, who can be of any nationality but must not have spent much time in Italy in the last 3 years, enjoy analytical, mathematical and computational excursions when seeking fundamental network understanding. Those admitted will be awarded a SISSA fellowship for the first few months, and later a much higher, EU-set M-GATE fellowship once the ITN operates. Feel free to inquire about limbo (then please send a CV) to ale(a)sissa.it -- Alessandro Treves http://people.sissa.it/~ale/limbo.html SISSA - Cognitive Neuroscience, via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy +39-040-3787623 Ambassador (BlaBlaCar) +39-349-2504602

Aug. 23, 2017

Neuromodulation of Neural Microcircuits NM2 Conference 2017

by Srikanth Ramaswamy

We are delighted to announce the upcoming Neuromodulation of Neural Microcircuits (<https://nm2.epfl.ch/>NM2) Conference 2017<https://nm2.epfl.ch> (https://nm2.epfl.ch/) The NM2 Conference will be held at the EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland on the 18th and 19th of Sep. 2017 and at the Campus Biotech in Geneva, Switzerland on the 20th of Sep. 2017. Neuromodulators dynamically reconfigure neural microcircuits and shape brain states by controlling the function of neurons and glia, dendrites, and synapses. NM2 will bring together world-leading experts to: • Identify the state-of-the-art mechanisms of the neuromodulation of neural microcircuits • Illuminate various strategies enabling the measurement of neuromodulatory states in brain health and disease • Integrate knowledge to build a unifying view of the neuromodulation of different brain regions • Inform and attract new talent to drive forward neuromodulation research • Inspire future directions that will transform our understanding of the neuromodulation of brain function and dysfunction and therapeutic intervention NM2 has an exciting program<https://nm2.epfl.ch/page-145616-en.html> with a stimulating lineup of speakers<https://nm2.epfl.ch/page-145624-en.html>! Please mark your calendars to participate in shaping the future course of neuromodulatory research! Registration<https://nm2.epfl.ch/page-145625-en.html> includes coffee breaks, lunch, refreshments and poster sessions. PhD. students and postdocs are particularly encouraged to submit poster abstracts<https://nm2.epfl.ch/page-146294-en.html>. Some abstracts will be selected for flash talks. Early bird registration is open until August 21st, 2017. We look forward to welcoming you at NM2 in beautiful Switzerland! Best regards from the scientific committee of NM2, Srikanth Ramaswamy Henry Markram Mriganka Sur Anita Disney Menahem Segal Michael Hasselmo Seung-Hee Lee Alexander Thiele Amy Arnsten

Aug. 22, 2017

Postdoctoral Fellowship: Enhancing Real-World Memory

by Christopher Honey

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW: ENHANCING REAL-WORLD MEMORY A fully-funded postdoctoral position is available in Dr. Christopher Honey's lab in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University (www.honeylab.org) Working with the Barense Lab at the University of Toronto, our team is developing a memory prosthetic device which enhances memory for everyday events. This postdoctoral research would lead investigations into how memory can be optimized by grouping, timing and framing of replay events. The ideal candidate would be conversant in both neuropsychological theory of memory as well as the computational analysis of real-world audiovisual data. Johns Hopkins is home to a large and vibrant community of neuroscience researchers, and features strong connections between psychology, systems and cognitive neuroscience, biomedical engineering and computer science. Postdoctoral fellows will have access to the MARCC computing cluster; a top-notch neuroimaging center, including 3T and 7T scanners; new TMS and EEG facilities are housed in the PBS department; human intracranial experiments are possible via neurology collaborators in Baltimore and Toronto. The targeted start date for this position is October 2017. The initial appointment is for one year, with the opportunity for renewal thereafter. The University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer of women, minorities, protected veterans and individuals with disabilities and encourages applications from these and other protected group members. Consistent with the University's goals of achieving excellence in all areas, we will assess the comprehensive qualifications of each applicant. QUALIFICATIONS Candidates should have a PhD in a relevant field (e.g., psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, physics, mathematics, computer science) and a record of published work related to memory and/or wearable devices. Strong programming skills are required. APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS To apply, please email chris.honey(a)jhu.edu, providing: a current CV, a brief summary of research accomplishments and plans; two example publications or computational projects; contact information for three references.

Aug. 22, 2017

Postdoctoral researcher, neuroimaging & computational neuroscience

by Megan Peters

Postdoctoral researcher, neuroimaging & computational neuroscience (Megan Peters) The Neural Computation Lab in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California, Riverside, led by Dr. Megan Peters, is seeking a postdoctoral researcher. Topics of investigation include neural substrates of uncertainty, decision-making, and perceptual awareness using computational analysis and neuroimaging (fMRI, EEG). The successful candidate holds a Ph.D. or equivalent in computational neuroscience, bioengineering, applied math, computer science, or related field, and has substantial computational background in analyzing neuroimaging data (e.g., MVPA, connectivity, graph theory) and ideally computational modeling (Bayesian, signal detection theory, neural networks). Proficiency in at least one programming language (Matlab, Python, etc) is required. Our research group is part of a strong and lively neuroscience research community at UCR, and has strong ties to other groups in southern California and worldwide, including at UCLA (Hakwan Lau’s group; Michele Basso’s group; Alicia Izquierdo’s group), Advanced Telecommunications Research (ATR) in Kyoto (Mitsuo Kawato’s group), and Nagoya University (Kazuhisa Shibata’s group). Initial appointment will be for one year, with the possibility to renew up to five years. Compensation will be according to the NIH payscale. The University of California is an equal opportunity employer. Applications from women and underrepresented minorities are encouraged. To apply, please send a CV, statement of interests, up to 3 letters of recommendation and any relevant reprints to Dr. Peters at mpeters(a)engr.ucr.edu. We are accepting applications until the position is filled. -- Megan Peters, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Bioengineering University of California, Riverside http://www.engr.ucr.edu/faculty/meganpeters.html

Aug. 21, 2017

postdoc in Barcelona to do single cell recordings in humans

by Quian Quiroga, Rodrigo (Prof.)

*** Apologies for multiple postings*** Dear all, Please see below details of a postdoc position at the Barcelona ßeta Brain Research Center to study memory mechanisms by performing single cell recordings in humans in collaboration with Hospital del Mar. Cheers, Rodrigo Postdoc Position Barcelona ßeta Brain Research Center (BBRC) The Barcelona ßeta Brain Research Center (BBRC) offers a fully funded postdoc position at the research group headed by Professor Rodrigo Quian Quiroga. The group is part of a new Research Program on Memory, complementary to ongoing research at BBRC dealing with the Prevention of Alzheimer Disease. The group is associated to the epilepsy group headed by Dr. Gerardo Conesa at Hospital del Mar, a health center close to BBRC. Research will involve the study single cell recordings in humans. These recordings are performed in epileptic patients for curative surgery. In particular, the project will investigate concept cells (a.k.a. Jennifer Aniston neurons) – that means, neurons in the hippocampus and surrounding areas that selectively fire to specific concepts, like different pictures and the written or spoken name of a particular person (e.g. Quian Quiroga et al, Nature 2005; Quian Quiroga Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2012), which are involved in declarative memory functions. The successful candidate will contribute to performing recordings with patients at the Hospital del Mar and the analysis of the data to investigate the role of these neurons in memory formation, consolidation, long-term coding and recall. Candidates should have excellent quantitative skills (data processing, and programming, preferably in Matlab) and ideally, a strong background in neuroscience and experience with neurophysiology recordings. They should be able to work both independently and as part of a research team within the BBRC. The position is initially offered for 2 years, with the possibility to extend it for another 2 years. Salary will be competitive, depending on experience. The closing date for the applications is Friday 25th August 2017. Start date will be in October 2017. For application details and further particulars see: https://fpmaragall.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2014/07/Postdoc_Neural… Informal inquiries are welcome and should be submitted electronically to: rh(a)fpmaragall.org Rodrigo Quian Quiroga Centre for Systems Neuroscience University of Leicester www.le.ac.uk/csn

Aug. 21, 2017

FW: 5th Baltic-Nordic School on Neuroinformatics BNNI 2017

by Marja-Leena Linne

5th Baltic-Nordic School on Neuroinformatics BNNI 2017 Theoretical modelling of brain functions in neurological and psychiatric disorders: Advancing future neuroscience and medicine through Neuroinformatics methods Place: Neuroscience Institute Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Eiveniu str.4, Kaunas Lithuania Time: 6-7 October 2017 More information and applications at: http://web.lsmuni.lt/bnni/en Important dates: 3 September 2017: Application deadline 10 September 2017: Acceptance notification 6-7 October 2017: School We invite advanced master students, doctoral students, and postdoctoral researchers to participate in the BNNI 2017 to be held at the Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania. The course is interdisciplinary and covers modeling at different levels of organization of the brain, focusing on neurological and psychiatric disorders. The course combines lectures, tutorials and computer exercises. This school is the fifth in the series of the Baltic-Nordic Courses on Neuroinformatics (BNNI 2013 in Kaunas, Lithuania; BNNI 2014 in Tampere, Finland; BNNI 2015 in Tartu, Estonia; BNNI in Warsaw 2016, Poland). The target audience of the course will be advanced master students, doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers in biomedical and technology sciences, from medicine, biology, psychology, to mathematics, informatics, information technology, physics, chemistry, who would like to get an introduction to neuroinformatics and computational neuroscience. Some experience with programming and quantitative reasoning as well as strong interest in computational and mathematical modeling of the brain will be desirable but not necessary to benefit from the school. Last year we had participants from 14 countries all over the world! Faculty includes Marja-Leena Linne, Tampere University of Technology, Finland Bruce Graham, University of Stirling, UK Daniel Wojcik, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland Arnd Roth, University College London, UK Peter Jedlicka, NeuroScience Center, Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany Tuomo Mäki-Marttunen, Simula Research Laboratory, Oslo, Norway Rima Naginiene, Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania Andrius Radziunas, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Academy, and Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania Ausra Saudargiene, Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, and Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania and others. Venue The lectures will be held at the Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eivenių str. 4, Kaunas, Lithuania Practical arrangements There is a small tuition fee of 50 euros. The organizers will provide teaching materials, meals and coffee during the course. The participants are expected to cover their travel and health insurance expenses as well as lodging. The course is supported by the Research Council of Lithuania and Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. We are looking forward to welcoming you at the BNNI 2017 in Kaunas, Lithuania!

Aug. 20, 2017

Late registration open for Integrated Systems Neuroscience

by Mark Humphries

Dear colleagues, late registration for the Integrated Systems Neuroscience meeting is now open until Friday September 1st Please register here: https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/conferences-meetings/isn2017/ ISN is a forum for the state-of-the-art in systems and computational approaches to key neural circuits. This year our speakers range across population coding; decision-making; hippocampus; whole CNS imaging; cortical dynamics; and motor circuits Our Speakers Rune Berg (Copenhagen University) Tiago Branco (Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits) Neil Burgess (Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL) Megan Carey (Champalimaud Institute, Lisbon) Claudia Clopath (Imperial College, London) Kate Jeffery (UCL) Christian Machens (Champalimaud Institute, Lisbon) Jonathan Pillow (Princeton) Simon Peron (New York University) Manuel Zimmer (IMP, Austria) ISN2017 is being held in Manchester, UK, on the 7-8th September. Any questions? Late-breaking poster? Please contact us at isn2017(a)manchester.ac.uk<mailto:isn2017@manchester.ac.uk> Hope to see you in Manchester! Mark Humphries & Rasmus Petersen Dr Mark Humphries | MRC Senior non-Clinical Research Fellow | Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health | University of Manchester @markdhumphries Public blog: medium.com/the-spike<http://medium.com/the-spike>

Aug. 17, 2017

Open position: Expert in machine learning and high-performance computing

by Daniel Zysman

The Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences seeks an expert in machine learning and high-performance computing to collaborate on cutting edge research on neuroscience, perception, cognition, and artificial intelligence. The department is a world leader in computational approaches to brain science, and is home to state-of-the-art computing resources as well as the Center for Brains, Minds and Machines, a multi-institutional NSF Science and Technology Center dedicated to the study of intelligence. Salary will be competitive with industry. To apply: https://careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/client_mit/external/jobDetails.do… <https://careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/client_mit/external/jobDetails.do…> For more information about our department: https://bcs.mit.edu/ <https://bcs.mit.edu/> Job Description: PROGRAMMER/SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER/COMPUTATIONAL AND MACHINE LEARNING SPECIALIST, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, to help tackle challenging problems in high-performance computing methods and systems, machine learning, management of large datasets, and artificial intelligence. Responsibilities include helping researchers translate computational algorithms into efficiently functioning (especially parallelized and GPU optimized) code; assisting with installation and implementation of third-party tools; staying up-to-date with cutting-edge computational techniques; providing guidance for storage and management of large data sets; developing and maintaining online courses for computing resources, running in-person tutorials on specific software packages/tools, and helping transition users to new computing tools; providing educational support and training to users of the departmental computing cluster; and monitoring cluster usage and resolving problems. Job Requirements: Bachelor’s degree (advanced degree preferred) in a scientific field or computer science; at least four years’ experience in scientific high-performance (cluster) computing; familiarity with Slurm and Lustre; broad computational background with knowledge of Unix, HPC algorithms, GPU computing, programming models, debuggers, and performance tools; software development experience, especially Python and MATLAB, but also R, Lua, JavaScript, etc.; knowledge of high-level APIs for HPC computing; expertise installing and maintaining third-party software in an HPC environment and with container technology, especially in the context of computational reproducibility; familiarity with mathematical algorithms for high-performance computing, use or design of HPC profiling or optimization tools, and deep neural networks; ability to work effectively with scientists and engineers; initiative, tact, and judgment in developing solutions for users; excellent interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively, orally, in writing, and via live presentations; demonstrated ability to assume leadership roles, grasp complex problems, and develop solutions; and extensive background in high-performance computing. MIT is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, ancestry, or national or ethnic origin. ------------------------------------------------------ Daniel Zysman Computational Course Co-Instructor MIT, Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences

Aug. 16, 2017

Fully funded PhD studentship in Computational Neuroscience

by Vassilis Cutsuridis

PhD Position in Computational Neuroscience (EU/UK candidates only) MLearn Research Group (http://mlearn.lincoln.ac.uk/) School of Computer Science University of Lincoln UK Applications are invited for a PhD position in the Machine Learning (MLearn) Research Group at the University of Lincoln. Projects involve the development and simulation of models of neuronal networks (microcircuits) of learning and memory in animal and human entorhinal cortex and hippocampus in health and disease (e.g. epilepsy, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease). A starting point of the project is the paper by Cutsuridis V, et al. (2010). Encoding and retrieval in the hippocampal CA1 microcircuit model. *Hippocampus*, 20(3): 423-446. <http://vassiliscutsuridis.com/docs/Journal_papers/CutCobGraHippo2010.pdf> <http://mlearn.lincoln.ac.uk> Student applicants should have excellent computational and numerical skills and a very good first degree in computer science, engineering, maths, physics, or a related discipline. Successful student candidates are eligible for a research studentship award from the University (GBP 14,553 per annum bursary plus payment of the student fees). This PhD studentship is ONLY OPEN to UK/EU students. The ideal candidate should be highly motivated, technically skilled, a team player and driven to push forward the development of the next generation of deep associative memory neural-networks. Your written and spoken English skills should be excellent. As a PhD student, you may also have the opportunity to teach as a demonstrator in the School of Computer Science. Research in Computer Science at the University of Lincoln has been recognised as internationally excellent and world leading. The School of Computer Science provides a very stimulating environment, offering a large number of specialised and interdisciplinary seminars as well as general training and researcher development opportunities. The University is situated in Lincoln, two hours northeast of London. Please contact Dr Vassilis Cutsuridis (vcutsuridis(a)lincoln.ac.uk) or Prof. Stefanos Kollias (skollias(a)lincoln.ac.uk) for informal enquiries. If you’re interested to apply, please email your CV, a brief statement of your scientific interests, and three reference letters to Dr. Vassilis Cutsuridis (vcutsuridis(a)lincoln.ac.uk) <vcutsuridis(a)lincoln.ac.uk> Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis. Vassilis Cutsuridis School of Computer Science University of Lincoln Lincoln LN6 7TS U.K. Tel: +44 (0) 1522 83 5107 Email: vcutsuridis(a)lincoln.ac.uk Web: http://staff.lincoln.ac.uk/vcutsuridis Personal Web: http://www.vassiliscutsuridis.com/

Aug. 16, 2017

Postdoctoral position / Optimizing NEST for Modular Supercomputing Architecture

by Hans Ekkehard Plesser

com Dear Colleagues! I am looking for a post-doc to join my group to work on optimizing NEST (www.nest-simulator.org) for a novel modular supercomputing architecture developed by the DEEP-EST collaboration (www.deep-projects.eu) and to combine NEST simulations with simultaneous detailed LFP model (HybridLFPy, http://inm-6.github.io/hybridLFPy) or spike-train analysis (Elephant, neuralensemble.org/elephant) exploiting the heterogeneous DEEP-EST architecture. The position is funded by DEEP-EST, an EU FET-HPC project, coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich and involves academic and industry partners. The position is available immediately until the end of the project (June 2020). The full announcement for the position is available at https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/141149/postdoctoral-fellow-i… Please get in touch if you have any questions! Hans Ekkehard -- Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser Associate Professor Faculty of Science and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway Phone +47 6723 1560 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no Home http://arken.nmbu.no/~plesser

Aug. 15, 2017

Leaders and followers: Quantifying consistency in spatio-temporal propagation pattern

by Thomas Kreuz

Dear all, may I kindly draw your attention to our paper on the new multivariate directional measure *SPIKE-Order*. In this paper we propose a new approach to quantify consistency of spatio-temporal propagation patterns in sequences of discrete events (e.g. spike trains). This includes a sorting from leader to follower. As usual we show some applications to neurophysiological data. *Leaders and followers: Quantifying consistency in spatio-temporal propagation pattern <http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/aa68c3/meta>* Thomas Kreuz, Eero Satuvuori, Martin Pofahl and Mario Mulansky New J. Phys., *19*, 043028 (2017). Abstract: Repetitive spatio-temporal propagation patterns are encountered in fields as wide-ranging as climatology, social communication and network science. In neuroscience, perfectly consistent repetitions of the same global propagation pattern are called a *synfire pattern*. For any recording of sequences of discrete events (in neuroscience terminology: sets of spike trains) the questions arise how closely it resembles such a synfire pattern and which are the spike trains that lead/follow. Here we address these questions and introduce an algorithm built on two new indicators, termed *SPIKE-order* and *spike train order*, that define the *synfire indicator* value, which allows to sort multiple spike trains from leader to follower and to quantify the consistency of the temporal leader-follower relationships for both the original and the optimized sorting. We demonstrate our new approach using artificially generated datasets before we apply it to analyze the consistency of propagation patterns in two real datasets from neuroscience (giant depolarized potentials in mice slices) and climatology (El Niño sea surface temperature recordings). The new algorithm is distinguished by conceptual and practical simplicity, low computational cost, as well as flexibility and universality. Implementations are provided online in three free code packages called SPIKY <http://www.fi.isc.cnr.it/users/thomas.kreuz/Source-Code/SPIKY.html> (Matlab GUI), PySpike <http://mariomulansky.github.io/PySpike/>(Python library) and, most recently, cSPIKE <http://www.fi.isc.cnr.it/users/thomas.kreuz/Source-Code/cSPIKE.html>(Matlab command line with MEX-files). Best regards, Thomas Kreuz PS: Three further recent articles: *Measures of spike train synchrony for data with multiple time scales <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165027017301619>* Eero Satuvuori, Mario Mulansky, Nebojsa Bozanic, Irene Malvestio, Fleur Zeldenrust, Kerstin Lenk, Thomas Kreuz JNeurosci Methods *287*, 25 (2017). Background Measures of spike train synchrony are widely used in both experimental and computational neuroscience. Time-scale independent and parameter-free measures, such as the ISI-distance, the SPIKE-distance and SPIKE-synchronization, are preferable to time scale parametric measures, since by adapting to the local firing rate they take into account all the time scales of a given dataset. New method In data containing multiple time scales (e.g. regular spiking and bursts) one is typically less interested in the smallest time scales and a more adaptive approach is needed. Here we propose the A-ISI-distance, the A-SPIKE-distance and A-SPIKE-synchronization, which generalize the original measures by considering the local relative to the global time scales. For the A-SPIKE-distance we also introduce a rate-independent extension called the RIA-SPIKE-distance, which focuses specifically on spike timing. Results The adaptive generalizations A-ISI-distance and A-SPIKE-distance allow to disregard spike time differences that are not relevant on a more global scale. A-SPIKE-synchronization does not any longer demand an unreasonably high accuracy for spike doublets and coinciding bursts. Finally, the RIA-SPIKE-distance proves to be independent of rate ratios between spike trains. Comparison with existing methods We find that compared to the original versions the A-ISI-distance and the A-SPIKE-distance yield improvements for spike trains containing different time scales without exhibiting any unwanted side effects in other examples. A-SPIKE-synchronization matches spikes more efficiently than SPIKE-synchronization. Conclusions With these proposals we have completed the picture, since we now provide adaptive generalized measures that are sensitive to firing rate only (A-ISI-distance), to timing only (ARI-SPIKE-distance), and to both at the same time (A-SPIKE-distance). *Robustness and versatility of a nonlinear interdependence method for directional coupling detection from spike trains <https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.96.022203>* Irene Malvestio, Thomas Kreuz, Ralph G Andrzejak Physical Review E *96*, 022203 (2017). The detection of directional couplings between dynamics based on measured spike trains is a crucial problem in the understanding of many different systems. In particular, in neuroscience it is important to assess the connectivity between neurons. One of the approaches that can estimate directional coupling from the analysis of point processes is the nonlinear interdependence measure L. Although its efficacy has already been demonstrated, it still needs to be tested under more challenging and realistic conditions prior to an application to real data. Thus, in this paper we use the Hindmarsh-Rose model system to test the method in the presence of noise and for different spiking regimes. We also examine the influence of different parameters and spike train distances. Our results show that the measure L is versatile and robust to various types of noise, and thus suitable for application to experimental data. *SPIKE-order <http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/SPIKE-order>* Thomas Kreuz, Eero Satuvuori, Mario Mulansky Scholarpedia, *12*(7):42441 (2017). -- Institute for complex systems, CNR Via Madonna del Piano 10 50119 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy) Tel: +39-349-0748506 Email: thomas.kreuz(a)cnr.it Webpage: http://www.fi.isc.cnr.it/users/thomas.kreuz/

Aug. 15, 2017

Research Associate, Neuroimaging analyst, Western University

by Jorn Diedrichsen

Western University has received a $66M investment from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF). This investment will bring together researchers from across the University under a unifying initiative called BrainsCAN. The mission of BrainsCAN is to reduce the burden of brain disorders that affect sensory, cognitive, and motor functions. The initiative aims at extending and mobilizing knowledge of the mappings between neural circuits and mental functions to deliver evidence-based interventions. The Research Associate, Neuroimaging Analyst will apply their expertise and knowledge to support ongoing research projects directed by the principal investigators of the BrainsCAN initiative. The incumbent will become part of BrainsCAN’s Computational Core, which aims to develop new computational techniques for the analysis of behavioral, brain imaging, and neuronal data. The incumbent will play a lead role in training staff, students and postdoctoral fellows in the application of data analysis and modelling techniques. The incumbent will have developed an independent method-based research portfolio, and will support and operationalize new and innovative computational techniques. Working with individual laboratories, the incumbent will help to develop research and project plans, advise on data analysis techniques and statistical inference related to neuroimaging and electrophysiological research, and assist in the technical and statistical aspects of manuscripts and research reports. Deadline for applications: September 27th Further particulars: https://www.academicacareers.com/node/7227 Please contact me if you have further questions, Jörn Diedrichsen Western Research Chair Brain Mind Institute Department of Computer Science Department of Statistics Email: jdiedric(a)uwo.ca<mailto:jdiedric@uwo.ca> Tel: 1-519-661-2111 x86994

Aug. 15, 2017

Research associate position in matlab programming

by Tania Rinaldi Barkat

Our lab, hosted by the Department of Biomedicine of Basel University, Switzerland, is currently seeking a research associate for a 6-month project. The role would be to write an analysis program in matlab for neuronal data from electrophysiological recordings, as well as analyze the data. JOB DESCRIPTION The first part of the project consists of writing an extension of a professional, user-friendly matlab program for the analysis of electrophysiological data based on an existing program we already have in the lab. The successful candidate will interact with experimentalists in our lab, understand their needs and produce a modular and user-friendly matlab program for extracellular neuronal recordings. The second part of the project consists of using this program to analyze data aimed at deepening our understanding of the brain. Start date is as soon as possible. The period of employment is 6 months, with possibility of extension. YOU ARE OUR NEW RESEARCH ASSOCIATE IF YOU: - Have extensive programming experience in matlab - Have previously worked with neuroscience data, ideally electrophysiological recordings - Have the dual ability of analyzing researchers’ need and translating it into code - Are a creative problem-solver - Are a self-starter and an independent researcher ABOUT THE LAB www.brainsoundlab.com The aim of our lab is to understand the role of specific neural circuits in making sense of sounds. We combine optogenetics, in vivo electrophysiology, voltage-sensitive dye imaging and behavioral assays to explore the functions of neuronal circuits in the mouse auditory cortex. To apply, please send your CV and a cover letter briefly summarizing your research interests to Tania Barkat (tania.barkat(a)unibas.ch) --------------------------- Tania Rinaldi Barkat Assistant Professor in Neurophysiology Basel University Department of Biomedicine, room 7001 Klingelbergstrasse 50-70 4056 Basel Switzerland +41 61 207 1638 www.brainsoundlab.com

Aug. 14, 2017

International Brain Laboratory Staff Positions Ads

by Zachary Mainen

Dear all, Please see below 5 available positions for staff with the International Brain Lab. Dissemination through your contacts would be much appreciated. Best, Zach Mainen --- The International Brain Laboratory (https://www.internationalbrainlab.com/) is seeking 5 collaborators who will play key roles in a new large-scale international collaboration in brain research. The IBL combines the efforts of approximately 50 scientists in 20 laboratories toward understanding the brain-wide basis of a complex behavior. The project will involve recording the activity of millions of neurons in the working brain and building mathematical models of the resulting data. The data sets this project will produce are vast and complex, including physiological recordings, behavioural measurements, and video, all of which must be standardized into common formats, integrated into a single database, and subjected to quality control. These core positions will support the both experimental and theoretical work through the entire lifecycle of data, including acquisition, analysis, modeling and dissemination. Project Manager (PM) - The primary responsibilities of the PM will include ensuring delivery of key milestones, managing overall project budget and finances, facilitating project governance and internal communication, and liaising with funders, external agencies and partners. Candidates should have demonstrated success in project management of a comparable scale and a strong background in scientific research. Technical Manager (TM) - The TM will be responsible for ensuring reproducibility of experiments across labs by (1) helping to establish and maintain a common set of experimental apparatus for behavior and neural recordings and (2) establishing procedures for standardizing, monitoring and troubleshooting experimental conditions, including animal subjects, surgical procedures, materials, etc. The position will involve extensive travel between ten experimental laboratories at six institutions across the U.S. and Europe. The ideal candidate would have a PhD in neuroscience and very strong technical and experimental skills. Strong organizational and interpersonal skills are required. Prior experience in laboratory or project management is desirable. Data Coordinator (DC) - The DC will work closely with our contributing labs and scientific programming staff to ensure the integrity and organization of data collected by experimental labs. The ideal candidate would have a PhD in neuroscience, and extensive experience with large neurophysiological and behavioral datasets. Attention to detail and ability to work collaboratively are both essential. Strong computing ability is also important, including knowledge of relational databases, Python and MATLAB. Scientific MATLAB Programmer (SMP) - The SP will contribute to the design of applications and pipelines for organization, storage and analysis of this data. The job will involve building software and data infrastructure for this collaborative research project, and supporting it. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience with MATLAB and previous work with big data in scientific research. Knowledge of Python and relational databases and experience interfacing with experimental control hardware is desirable. Senior Scientific Programmer (SSP) - The SSP will lead the design of applications and pipelines for organization, storage and analysis of this data. The job will involve building software and data infrastructure, as well as a role in ensuring data integrity, working closely with data providers to ensure it meets project standards. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience with relational databases and Python. Experience with MATLAB, previous work with big data in scientific research, and experience interfacing with experimental control hardware would also be desirable. Remuneration will be competitive and commensurate with experience. There is considerable flexibility in base location within the U.S. and Europe. To apply, please send cover letter and CV to info(a)internationalbrainlab.com with subject: PositionAcronym LastName. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled, with an ideal start date of Sept.-Oct., 2017. --- Zachary F. Mainen, Ph.D. Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown Av. Brasília s/n 1400-038 Lisbon Portugal +351 210 480 100 zmainen(a)neuro.fchampalimaud.org <zmainen(a)fchampalimaud.org> www.neuro.fchampalimaud.org/group/mainen @zmainen

Aug. 11, 2017

PhD Studentship in Computational and Systems Neuroscience

by Christopher Buckley

There are still PhD positions available in our labs, see below. The role would involve computational modelling, dynamical systems analysis and control theory so we particularly encourage candidates with a computational, physics, maths or engineering background interested in getting involved in cutting edge experimental neuroscience to apply. PhD Studentship: Distributed neural processing of self-generated visual input in a vertebrate brain. A PhD studentship in Computational and Systems Neuroscience is available in the groups of Dr Christopher L Buckley (Department of Informatics) and Prof. Leon Lagnado (School of Life Sciences) at the University of Sussex. During movement, sensory input and motor output are bound in a closed-loop: motor actions shape sensory input and sensory inputs inform future motor commands. We will characterise the neural circuits involved in the interactions between the sensory and motor systems using light-sheet microscopy to image neural activity across the brain of live zebrafish in a virtual reality environment (Nature. 2013;493: 466–468). The project will involve computational modeling and “big-data” analysis as well as experiments. Appropriate backgrounds therefore include physical and computational science as well as neuroscience. Experience with programming and a quantitative approach are essential. More information about the project is available at https://tinyurl.com/kjtxoq9. Informal enquiries can be made to Chris Buckley<http://www.christopherlbuckley.com/> (c.l.buckley(a)sussex.ac.uk<mailto:c.l.buckley@sussex.ac.uk>) or Leon Lagnado<http://www.sussex.ac.uk/lifesci/lagnadolab/> (l.lagnado(a)sussex.ac.uk<mailto:l.lagnado@sussex.ac.uk>). Sussex Neuroscience<http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sussexneuroscience> is one of the foremost centers for Neuroscience research in the UK and the University of Sussex has a beautiful campus on the outskirts of the lively South Coast town of Brighton. Application: Please apply through the post-graduate application system of the University of Sussex (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/apply) Please include a brief statement of your scientific interests and skills/experience in the mandatory “research proposal”, including how you would imagine your role in the project (max 2 pages) and include a full CV. Indicate Dr Christopher L Buckley as your preferred advisor and clearly state the title of the studentship. When you apply, please send a copy of your application documents to c.l.buckley(a)sussex.ac.uk<mailto:c.l.buckley@sussex.ac.uk> and l.lagnado(a)sussex.ac.uk<mailto:l.lagnado@sussex.ac.uk>. Funding Notes The studentship includes a three year stipend at a standard rate (currently £14,296 per annum) and, in addition, fees at the UK/EU rate. Since the studentship only covers fees at the UK/EU rate, overseas applicants are kindly requested to state in their application how they propose to cover the difference between UK/EU and overseas fees. Deadline Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Christopher L Buckley Lecturer in Neural Computation University of Sussex Department of Informatics Sussex Neuroscience Falmer Brighton, UK email: c.l.buckley(a)sussex.ac.uk<mailto:c.l.buckley@sussex.ac.uk> twitter: @drclbuckley

Aug. 11, 2017

Postdoc Position in Retina Research / Computational Neuroscience

by Gollisch, Tim

A postdoc position is available in the lab of Tim Gollisch at the University Medical Center Göttingen, Germany. The group studies information processing and neural coding in the neural network of the vertebrate retina, using a combination of electrophysiological and computational approaches. Experimental methods include extracellular multielectrode-array recordings and intracellular recordings from neurons in the isolated retina (mouse and salamander), using both wild-type retinas and optogenetic retina models of vision restoration therapy. A strong focus of the group is to combine these experiments with novel tools for data analysis and mathematical modeling. Our research group if part of the strong and lively neuroscience research community of Göttingen, including the university, several Max Planck Institutes, the German Primate Center, and the European Neuroscience Institute. We are also part of the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Göttingen and of the Collaborative Research Center "Cellular Mechanisms of Sensory Processing" (http://sfb889.uni-goettingen.de/) For more information about the research group, please visit the group's website: http://www.retina.uni-goettingen.de/. We are looking for a highly motivated scientist with a good background in electrophysiology or computational/theoretical neuroscience. Experience in both of these areas is a bonus, but not required. Experience in computer programming or in scripting of data analysis routines is also a plus. The position is for 2 years initially with the possibility for renewal. Please send your application to Tim Gollisch (tim.gollisch(a)med.uni-goettingen.de<mailto:tim.gollisch@med.uni-goettingen.de>), including a CV, a statement of what interests you about the group's work, and contact details for two references. The University Medical Center Göttingen is an equal opportunities employer, and women are especially encouraged to apply. Applicants with disabilities and equal qualifications will be given preferential treatment. -- Prof. Dr. Tim Gollisch University Medical Center Goettingen, Dept. of Ophthalmology Waldweg 33, 37073 Goettingen Tel. +49 (0)551 39-13542 tim.gollisch(a)med.uni-goettingen.de<mailto:tim.gollisch@med.uni-goettingen.de> www.retina.uni-goettingen.de<http://www.retina.uni-goettingen.de>

Aug. 11, 2017

[INNS-BDDL 2018] Call for Papers

by Teng Teck Hou

[Apologies for cross-postings] ########################################################### CALL FOR PAPERS The 3rd INNS Conference on Big Data and Deep Learning 2018 April 17-19, 2018, Sanur - Bali, Indonesia Homepage: http://www.innsbigdata2018.org #######################Description:###################### The International Neural Network Society (INNS) is the premiere organization for individuals interested in a theoretical and computational understanding of the brain and applying that knowledge to develop new and more effective forms of machine intelligence. INNS was formed in 1987 by the leading scientists in the neural network field. Researchers and colleagues who work in the area of big data and machine learning, we are happy to announce "The 3 rd INNS Conference on Big Data and Deep Learning 2018 (INNS BDDL 2018) will be held on April 18 19, 2018 in Sanur Bali, Indonesia. The aim of this conference is to create a valuable and important forum for scientists and engineers throughout the world to present the latest research findings and idea at the forefront of Big Data and Deep Learning. Accepted papers will be published by Elsevier, Scopus indexed. Several papers will be selected for possible publication in top journals. The conference will feature a comprehensive technical program with technical tracks on: Track 1: Big Data Track 2: Big Data Algorithms Track 3: Deep Learning Track 4: Application Areas Important Dates ################################################################### * Tutorial and workshop proposals (Submission) 15 September 2017 * Tutorial and workshop proposals (Decision) 30 September 2017 * Paper submission 2 November 2017 * Decision notification 31 December 2017 * Conference 17 - 19 April 2018 ################################################################### Previous INNS Conference: INNS 2016 in Thessaloniki, Greece INNS 2015 in San Francisco, USA #################### Organizing committees ############### General chairs Seiichi Ozawa, Kobe University, Japan Ah-Hwee Tan, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Program Chairs Plamen P. Angelov, Lancaster University, UK Asim Roy, Arizona State University, USA Mahardhika Pratama, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Local Committee Chairs Dieky Adzkiya, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Advisory Board Yew-Soon Ong, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Robert Kozma, University of Memphis, USA Sankar K. Pal, Indian Statistical Institute, India Haibo He, University of Rhode Island, USA Witold Pedrycz, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada Leszek Rutkowski, Czestochowa University of Technology, Poland Nikola Kasabov, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand Fernando Gomide, University of Campinas, Brazil Marley Vellasco, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Yoonsuck Choe, Texas A&M University Minho Lee, Kyungpook National University, South Korea Bao-Liang Lu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China Irwin King, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong kong Mohammad Nuh, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Joni Hermana, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Heru Setyawan, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Tutorials/Workshop Chairs Igor Skrjanc, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Sundaram Suresh, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Poster Sessions Chairs Eko Setiadji, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Agus Salim, La Trobe University, Australia Special Sessions Chairs Justin Wang, La Trobe University, Australia Yongping Pan, National University of Singapore, Singapore Panel Chairs Sreenatha Anavatti, University of New South Wales, Australia Mukesh Prasad, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia Achmad Affandi, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Awards Chairs Tapabrata Ray, University of New South Wales, Australia Dejan Dovzan, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Richard J. Oentaryo, McLaren Applied Technologies, Singapore Publication Chairs Edwin Lughofer, Johannes Kepler University, Austria Jose Antonio Iglesias, Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain Moamar Sayed?Mouchaweh, Institute Mines Telecom Lille Douai, France Publicity Chair Simone Scardapane, Sapienza University, Italy Teng Teck Hou, Singapore Management University, Singapore Hendro Nurhadi, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia International Liaison Chairs Yun Sing Koh, University of Auckland, New Zealand Deepak Puthal, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Wirawan, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Webmaster Mohamad Abdul Hady, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Andri Ashfahani, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Choiru Zain, La Trobe University, Australia ###### Topics and Areas include, but not limited to the following###### >>BIG DATA Autonomous, online, incremental learning in big data High dimensional data, feature selection, feature transformation for big data Scalable algorithms for big data Big data analytics Data stream analytics Parallel & distributed computing for big data analytics (cloud, map-reduce, etc.) Online learning Online multimedia/stream/text analytics Link and graph mining Big data and cloud computing, large scale stream processing on the cloud Big data and collective intelligence/collaborative learning Big data and hybrid systems Big data and self-aware systems Big data and infrastructure Big data visualization >>Big Data Algorithm Neuromorphic hardware for scalable machine learning Evolving systems for big data analytics Evolutionary systems and big data Fuzzy systems and big data Cognitive modelling and big data Probabilistic approach for big data Concept drift detection for big data Granular computing for big data Transfer learning for big data >>Deep Learning Deep belief network Convolutional neural network Long short term memory Deep network architecture Deep autoencoder Deep stacked network Deep learning for natural language processing Deep learning for machine vision Evolving deep network Transfer learning in deep learning Online deep learning >>Application Areas Banking and Securities Communications, Media and Entertainment Healthcare Providers Education Manufacturing & Natural Resources Government Insurances Retail & Wholesale Trade Transportation Energy & Utilities, Etc. ##########################Sponsoring Organizations########################## * INNS - International Neural Network Society * MTC - Mechatronic Technology Center, Institut Tecknologi Sepuluh Nopember ############################################################################

Aug. 11, 2017

Bernstein 2017 Workshop: "Multiscale modeling and simulation"

by Salvador Dura

Dear All, We would like to bring your attention to the "Multiscale modeling and simulation" workshop at the Bernstein Conference 2017, Sept 12-13, Göttingen, Germany. Website: http://www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2017/satellite-workshops/multisc… Short abstract: Understanding brain function requires characterizing the interactions occurring across many temporal and spatial scales. Mechanistic multiscale modeling aims to organize and explore these interactions across these scales. Multiscale models can provide insights into how changes at the molecular and cellular levels affect dynamics at local networks and brain areas. At the highest levels, they allow us to connect neural activity to theories of behavior, memory and cognition. The recent introduction of large neuroscience projects in US and EU Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) and Human Brain Project (HBP) respectively provide an opportunity to rapidly gather new and more accurate data to incorporate into the multiscale models. This workshop will present some of the latest multiscale modeling tools and approaches in neuroscience, as well as representative examples of datadriven multiscale neural simulations. The workshop aims to encourage both computational and experimental neuroscientists to make use of multiscale modeling in their research. Organizers: Salvador Dura-Bernal and Bill Lytton (SUNY Downstate) Speakers: Tue, Sept 12: - Bill Lytton (SUNY Downstate) - Jean Pierre Changeux (Pasteur Institute) - Volker Steuber (University of Hertfordshire) - Robert McDougal (Yale University) - Salvador Dura-Bernal (SUNY Downstate) - Cliff C Kerr (University of Sydney) Wed, Sept 13: - Szabolcs Kali (Hungarian Academy of Science/HBP) - Marianne Bezaire (Boston University) - Daniel Durstewitz (ZI Mannheim) - Kael Dali (Allen Institute for Brain Science) We look forward to seeing you there! Best Salva -- Salvador Durá-Bernal, Ph.D. Research Assistant Professor State University of New York Downstate Medical Center

Aug. 10, 2017

postdoc position

by Jean Daunizeau

Dear all, Please find below the description of an open postdoc position. Do not hesitate to contact me should you require additional information. Best, Jean. **** Postdoctoral position in computational cognitive neuroscience **** This position is available at the Brain and Spine Institute (Paris, France) <http://icm-institute.org/en/>, in the Motivation, Brain & Behaviour team <https://sites.google.com/site/motivationbrainbehavior/>, under the direction of Dr. Jean Daunizeau. The position will follow standard French salaries at INSERM. Expected starting date: Fall 2017. *Computational cognitive neuroscience* uses mathematical modelling as a tool to understanding how mental processes (e.g., perception, memory, attention, emotion, etc...) are controlled by brain circuits. Its breadth typically ranges from biological models of neural network activity to cognitive models of brain information processing, to machine learning approaches to neuroscience data. In line with this approach, the Motivation, Brain & Behaviour group addresses the issue of identifying the* neural bases of motivation in health and disease* with a strong multi-disciplinary focus. The successful candidate will team with students with very diverse academic backgrounds (from neurology, psychiatry, biology and psychology, to philosophy, to economics and mathematics). S/he will be expected to contribute to all aspects of the research, including computational modelling, as well as data collection and analysis. A non-exhaustive list of possible projects is provided here: https://sites.google.com/site/jeandaunizeauswebsite/students. Required skills: - *[Mandatory]* Ph.D. either in Cognitive Neuroscience or in Engineering (or related fields) - *[Mandatory]* Autonomy in programming in MATLAB, Python or C - *[Desired]* Experience in computational models of neural and/or cognitive processes - Fluency and solid writing skills in English are expected. French is not a requirement. Please apply to jean.daunizeau(a)gmail.com with a recent CV, a brief (1 page) summary of your previous research and a letter of motivation. -- Jean Daunizeau Motivation, Brain and Behaviour group (ICM) web: http://sites.google.com/site/jeandaunizeauswebsite/

Aug. 4, 2017

AoN Brainhack Warsaw 2017 - call for project proposals

by Natalia Bielczyk

AoN Brainhack Warsaw 2017 November 18-19, 2017 University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland *— The call for proposals extended to 1st September 2017 — * On the weekend of 18-19th November 2017, the first edition of *AoN Brainhack* *Warsaw* will take place. During this two-day event dedicated to students and PhD students, we will work in teams on neuroscience-related projects. The aim of the event is to meet new, enthusiastic researchers, make new friendships in academia, learn, share the knowledge on data mining and brain research, but also promote open science in the spirit of the whole Brainhack community (Craddock et al., 2016). The venue and the exemplary projects are presented on our website: *https://brainhackwarsaw.github.io/ <https://brainhackwarsaw.github.io/>* Please note this Brainhack is a satellite event for the interdisciplinary Aspects of Neuroscience conference which will take place on 24-26th November 2017 in Warsaw. Participation in the conference is not mandatory but we encourage to also consider this. Important deadlines: Deadline for project proposals: September 1st, 2017 Announcement of projects: September 15th, 2017 Participant registration starts: September 1st, 2017 Deadline for participant registration: November 1st, 2017 At the moment, the *call for project proposals* is open. The proposals can include various forms of a group activity, e.g., data analysis, app development, a two-day discussion club, developing a new software etc. The organizers will provide a few openly available datasets to the project authors, but developing projects using private datasets is also welcome. *Please send the project proposals and all the related questions to the mailing address: **brainhackwarsaw(a)gmail.com <brainhackwarsaw(a)gmail.com>* Also, please team up with us! Join our channel #brainhack-warsaw-2017 on Brainhack Slack project (https://brainhack-slack-invite.herokuapp.com) for the updates, and share your own ideas with us! We are looking forward to working with you at the AoN Brainhack Warsaw! *The AoN Brainhack Warsaw 2017 team:* Natalia Bielczyk, MSc, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Nijmegen, The Netherlands (natalia.bielczyk(a)gmail.com) Krzysztof Bielski, MSc, Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland Michał Bola, PhD, Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland Daniel Borek, MSc, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland, (dtborek@g <norbert.kopco(a)upjs.sk>mail.com) Beata Goźlińska, BSc, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

Aug. 4, 2017

Post-doc positions in analyses of electron microscopic images from the brain (Kyoto U, Japan)

by Hidetoshi Urakubo

Dear members of Comp-neuro mailing list, Integrated Systems Biology Lab at Kyoto University invites applications for research position for analyses of three-dimensional microscopic images and/or functional magnetic images (fMRI, for example) from the animal/human brain, with a strong motivation into systems/computational neuroscience. We look forward to your applications and recommendations. The full advertisement is available below. On behalf of Prof. Shin Ishii Hidetoshi Urakubo ============================================== Shin Ishii Laboratory, Department of Systems Science, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University Yoshida-Honmachi 36-1, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501 Japan Phone: +81-75-753-4908 Fax: +81-75-753-4907 Email: urakubo-h(a)sys.i.kyoto-u.ac.jp ============================================== [[[ Post-doc positions in analyses of electron microscopic images from the brain ]]] We are seeking a highly motivated post-doc researcher, with a background in 3d/bio image processing and/or computational neuroscience. We are conducting research projects, “Brain Mapping by Integrated Neurotechnologies for Disease Studies (Brain/MINDS; up to 2019/3/31; http://brainminds.jp/en/ ; Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 370: 20140310),” and “Brain Information Dynamics underlying Multi-area Interconnectivity and Parallel Processing (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas, MEXT, Japan; up to 2022/3/31).” Those projects aim to map the structure and function of neuronal circuits to understand the vast complexity of the human/marmoset/rodent brains. The candidate will work on the projects on 3D reconstitution of marmoset brain atlas from 3D microscopic images (from EM and/or Optical) under collaboration with experiment teams. For this position, a PhD or a MD degree, a proven track record of peer-reviewed publications, and solid communication skills in English and/or Japanese are essential. All projects are done with our tenure track and post-doc researchers of various backgrounds including systems biology, bioinformatics, computational biology, mathematical engineering, and machine learning. Our laboratory also has a strong collaboration with other laboratories in Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) and RIKEN Brain Science Institute. [Job title and Job description] Title is a Full-time Researcher / Full-time Research Engineer The position is open after October 1st 2016 (negotiable) Work location is Yoshidahonmachi 36-1, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-city, Japan. 606-8501 The contract is annually renewable up to the end of those projects based on the evaluation. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. Social insurance will be applied. Days off include weekends, public holidays, Year-end and New Year holidays, Foundation Day, and summer vacation. These and other provisions are in accordance with Kyoto U regulations (Kyoto University’s regulations). [Application and required documents] Please send the following five materials to the address below, either in printed or electronic form: 1. Complete CV 2. List of publications 3. Reprints of 1 to 3 major publications 4. Document (one or two pages in A4 or letter size) describing: - Summary of your previous research - Interests and proposal for research 5. Two letters of recommendation (including one from the current supervisor, if available) [Selection process] Selection will be made based on application screening and interviews. [Requirements] Applicants must: - have a Ph.D. (or be near completion). - have strong motivations and ambitions to participate in the research above. [Number of openings] One or two [Deadline for application] Nov 1st (will remain open if positions are not filled) [Send application to] Shin Ishii Integrated Systems Biology Laboratory, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan Email: Shin Ishii <ishii-secr [at] sys.i.kyoto-u.ac.jp> http://ishiilab.jp/kyoto/en/

Aug. 4, 2017

Postdoctoral positions in systems/computational neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania

by Maria Geffen

Postdoctoral positions in systems/computational neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania The Geffen Laboratory of Auditory Coding at the University of Pennsylvania ( http://www.med.upenn.edu/hearing ) has an opening for an experimental and a computational neuroscience postdoctoral fellow positions. We are looking for energetic, talented, friendly, enthusiastic and creative researchers who have recently completed or are about to complete their PhD. Qualifications: experience in systems, computational or molecular neuroscience methods; excellent quantitative skills and proficiency or willingness to learn scientific programming, such as Matlab or python. Our laboratory seeks to deepen our understanding of neuronal circuits and dynamics of neuronal populations contributing to auditory perception and learning. We use state-of-the-art methods including two-photon imaging of Calcium activity in behaving, head-fixed rodents, large-scale electrophysiological chronic and acute recordings, optogenetic, pharmacological and behavioral techniques, in combination with computational modeling and theoretical work. Projects underway in the laboratory include: investigating intra-cortical and subcortical circuits supporting auditory adaptation to statistical regularities of sounds; identifying neuronal circuits for hearing in the presence of noise and in complex acoustic environments; unraveling neuronal circuits controlling learning-driven changes in auditory perception. The Geffen Laboratory is a creative, productive and collaborative group, and the postdoctoral fellows will have many opportunities to interact and collaborate with members of our and other laboratories across the Penn campus and beyond. We are part of the Hearing Research Center, the Computational neuroscience initiative (https://cni.upenn.edu/) and the Mahoney Institute of Neurosciences (http://www.med.upenn.edu/ins/) University of Pennsylvania is a To apply, please send a CV along with a cover letter briefly summarizing your research interests and pdfs of recent publications to mgeffen(a)med.upenn.edu <mailto:mgeffen@med.upenn.edu> .

Aug. 3, 2017

CBIC 2017 deadline extension (15.08.2017)

by Luis Martí

Dear colleagues, Please disseminate to interested parties and apologies for multiple postings. All the best, LM XIII Brazilian Congress on Computational Intelligence (CBIC 2017) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Call for Papers - http://www.cbic2017.org On behalf of the organizing committee, it is our pleasure to invite you to the XIII Brazilian Congress on Computational Intelligence -XIII Congresso Brasileiro de Inteligência Computacional- (CBIC 2017) that will take place at the Institute of Computing of the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 30 October to 1 November 2017. CBIC 2017 aims to provide a high-level international forum for scientists, researchers, engineers, professionals, and educators to disseminate their latest research results and exchange views of the future research directions in the area of computational intelligence. In this edition of CBIC, we have the pleasure of having top-notch researchers as keynote speakers: - Marc Schoenauer (INRIA-Saclay/LRI/Université Paris-Saclay, France), - José Manuel Molina López (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain), and - José A. Lozano (University of the Basque Country and Basque Center for Applied Mathematics, Basque Country, Spain). Paper submissions should be 10-12 pages long, written in English, Portuguese or Spanish using the Springer LNCS style. Topics of interest of CBIC are organized in three tracks (but not limited to them): - Evolutionary, swarm and nature-inspired computation: genetic algorithms, evolutionary multi-objective optimization, estimation of distribution algorithms, genetic programming, artificial immune systems, swarm intelligence, collective intelligence, evolvable hardware, bio-inspired methods, etc. - Neural and machine learning systems: artificial neural networks, deep learning, machine learning, molecular and quantum computing, complex networks, reinforcement learning, hybrid systems, etc. - Fuzzy and stochastic reasoning: fuzzy systems, fuzzy control and decision making, uncertainty analysis, rough sets, fractals, multi-agent systems, game theory, etc. For submission instructions and online submission forms go to http://www.cbic2017.org/Submissions. Important dates --------------- - Workshop and tutorial proposal deadline: 15.07.2017 UTC-12:00 - Workshop and tutorial acceptance notification: 30.07.2017 - Paper submission deadline (extended): 15.08.2017 UTC-12:00 - Paper acceptance notification: 01.09. 2017 - Registration opens: 07.09.2017 - Early registration ends: 01.10. 2017 UTC-12:00 - CBIC 2017 conference: 30.10 — 01.112017 Looking forward to welcoming you in Niterói, Luis Martí - General Chair Nayat Sánchez-Pi - Program Chair

Aug. 1, 2017

5-year research fellow position in Neuromorphic Machine Learning

by Schmuker, Michael

Applications are invited for a 5-year research position in the Biocomputation group at the University of Hertfordshire, under the supervision of Dr Michael Schmuker. This position offers the unique opportunity to explore the interdisciplinary field of neuromorphic machine learning, branching out into artificial intelligence, computational neuroscience, robotics and data science. We are looking for excellent candidates who are keen to explore neuro-inspired machine learning and artificial intelligence using specialised hardware systems such as SpiNNaker and BrainScaleS. For more details and to apply please see the advert at http://www.jobs.herts.ac.uk (reference 014832, deadline: 21st August 2017). — Dr Michael Schmuker Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) Biocomputation group University of Hertfordshire http://biomachinelearning.net

Aug. 1, 2017

PhD position in Neuroscience at the Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Belgium

by Georgios A. Keliris

PhD position in Neuroscience at the Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Belgium The Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary is seeking to fill a full-time (100%) vacancy (m/f) in the Department of Biomedical Sciences (Bio-Imaging Lab) under the supervision of Prof. Georgios A. Keliris PhD position investigating the role of neuromodulation in learning and memory The goal of the project is to understand the neural mechanisms modulating learning and memory in rats. A multimodal approach and combination of state-of-the-art methods (MRI-imaging, electrophysiology, optogenetics and pharmacogenetics) will be used to uncover both the global network as well as specific cellular mechanisms. This approach will also be employed in animal models of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease. Job description · You prepare a doctoral thesis in the field of neuroscience / biomedical imaging. · You publish scientific articles related to the research project of the assignment. Profile and requirements · You hold a master degree in neuroscience, biomedical sciences, or related fields. · You can submit outstanding academic results. · Students in the final year of their degree can also apply. · Foreign candidates are encouraged to apply. · Your academic qualities comply with the requirements stipulated in the university’s policy <https://www.uantwerp.be/en/about-uantwerp/mission-vision/three-core-tasks/r…>. · You are quality-oriented, conscientious, creative and cooperative. · You are fluent in English and have strong communication skills, both in writing and oral presentations · You are a team player · Strong background in one or more of: imaging, computational neuroscience, mathematics, programming (e.g. Matlab/Python/C/…) will be considered as a bonus We offer · a doctoral position for a period of one year, with the possibility of renewal for a further three-year period after positive evaluation; · the start date is as soon as possible · a dynamic and stimulating work environment. How to apply? · Applications should be submitted to Georgios.Keliris(a)uantwerpen.be <mailto:Georgios.Keliris@uantwerpen.be> and should include a copy of your CV and a cover letter. · A pre-selection will be made from amongst the submitted applications. · More information about the application and the position can be obtained from Prof. Georgios A. Keliris

July 31, 2017

Postdoctoral position: cortical microcircuit dynamics

by Okun, Michael (Dr.)

Applications are invited for a postdoctoral position to carry out research on cortical microcircuit dynamics. Research will involve analysis and modelling of cortical population recordings, focusing on changes occurring in the infraslow frequencies (0.01 - 1 Hz). The position is at the Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester, UK. The project will involve advanced computational and experimental approaches - our experimental facilities include in vivo electrophysiology and 2-photon microscopy setups. Additional details on the PI and the Centre can be found at www2.le.ac.uk/departments/npb/people/mo178 and www.le.ac.uk/csn An ideal applicant would have a quantitative background and strong computational, programming and statistical skills (e.g. a PhD in computational/systems neuroscience, applied mathematics, computer science or related subjects). Previous experience in systems neuroscience research is a significant advantage. Start date is flexible and candidates will be considered on a rolling basis, however anyone applying before 14th of September is guaranteed to be considered. Funding for this position is available for (at least) 3 years. Leicester has a large student community thanks to its two universities, and is within easy reach (~1 hour by train) of London, Birmingham and Sheffield. Interested applicants are most welcome to contact Michael Okun (m.okun(a)le.ac.uk)

July 28, 2017

PhD Scholarship on Model-based Cognitive Neuroscience

by Jelmer Borst

PhD Scholarship on Model-based Cognitive Neuroscience The Institute of Artificial Intelligence of the University of Groningen offers a four-year scholarship for a PhD position on model-based cognitive neuroscience. Model-based cognitive neuroscience is the area of research that bridges the disciplines of computational cognitive modeling and cognitive neuroscience. Cognitive models – be it symbolic process models, mathematical models, or neural network models – are notoriously hard to evaluate based on behavioral measures alone. For that reason, researchers have turned to neuroscience (M/EEG, fMRI) as an additional source of information. At the same time, neuroimaging data is often so complex that it is difficult to fully account for with traditional analysis methods. As a solution, cognitive and mathematical models have been used within the analysis stream to interpret neural measures directly. This dual approach, using neuroscience to inform models and models to inform neuroimaging analyses, is very powerful, and has led to the emerging field of model-based cognitive neuroscience (see a recent special issue of the Journal of Mathematical Psychology for an introduction: Palmeri, Love, & Turner, 2017; Turner, Forstmann, Love, Palmeri, & van Maanen, 2017). The PhD position is available in the cognitive modeling group, under supervision of Jelmer Borst. The goal of our group is to better understand cognitive processes in the human mind. To achieve this, we combine computational modeling with fMRI, EEG, and MEG data, and also apply machine learning techniques to analyze neural data. Top candidates will be invited to write and develop their own research project within the general scope of this research line. The selection procedure for the scholarship is as follows: 1. Candidates apply by submitting a cover letter and CV (see below for details). 2. Based on the cover letters, several candidates will be invited to write a short research proposal within the topic of model-based neuroscience. 3. These candidates will be asked to present this proposal as part of the job interview. 4. After the selection, the candidate’s proposal will be further developed in collaboration with the PhD advisors: Jelmer Borst, Niels Taatgen, and Hedderik van Rijn. Qualifications Successful candidates will have completed a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Cognitive Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence, or another field of science relevant for the position. The ideal candidate has experience with M/EEG or fMRI and cognitive modeling, and has strong programming skills. Conditions The PhD student will be enrolled in the PhD Scholarship Programme and receive a scholarship of € 2027 per month (gross) from the University of Groningen for a period of four years. Date The preferred start date is November 1, 2017, but this can be postponed to February 1, 2018. Application Please see the attachment for details on the application procedure. The application deadline is August 30. For more information, contact Jelmer Borst (j.p.borst(a)rug.nl <mailto:j.p.borst@rug.nl>). http://www.rug.nl/education/phd-programmes/phd-scholarship-programme/phd-sc… <http://www.rug.nl/education/phd-programmes/phd-scholarship-programme/phd-sc…> -- Jelmer Borst Assistant Professor University of Groningen Dept. of Artificial Intelligence E: j.p.borst(a)rug.nl <mailto:j.p.borst@rug.nl> W: http://www.jelmerborst.nl/ <http://www.jelmerborst.nl/>

July 27, 2017

Neuroinformatics 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on August 20-21!

by INCF Congress

Neuroinformatics 2017 will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on August 20-21! We have an exiting program lined up, you can see the full program and speakers here: http://neuroinformatics2017.org/program/ The annual INCF Congress provides a meeting place for researchers in all fields related to neuroinformatics. Join us for keynotes from top neuroscientists, community sessions and poster- and demo sessions. This meeting is especially useful for anyone who is developing neuroscience tools and methods, working on better ways to handle neuroscience data, and looking for cross-disciplinary collaborations. More information: http://neuroinformatics2017.org/ Please spread this information to anyone you feel might be interested in attending. We look forward to seeing you in Kuala Lumpur! Best wishes, the INCF Secretariat *The International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF) is an international non-profit organization devoted to advancing the field of neuroinformatics and global collaborative brain research. Learn more about INCF at www.incf.org <http://www.incf.org>*

July 27, 2017

Human Brain Project: calls are open to join the project in the next project phase

by "Lührs, Anna"

Dear colleagues, As most of you know, the Human Brain Project (HBP) is a Horizon2020 FET Flagship project with a duration of 10 years. One of the main objectives is to build and operate a European Scientific Research Infrastructure for brain research, cognitive neuroscience and other brain-inspired sciences. The HBP recently opened four Calls for Expression of Interest (CEoI), through which new partners can join the HBP Consortium in the next project phase, April 2018 - March 2020. One of the Calls is about "Co-designing the HBP digital infrastructure for advancing the understanding of multilevel brain organisation”. The available budget of EUR 1,839,424.00 will be split between two selected proposals. The submission deadline for this and the others calls is 30 September 2017, 17:00 CEST. More information about the call mentioned above: http://opencalls.humanbrainproject.eu/forms/16/overview <http://opencalls.humanbrainproject.eu/forms/16/overview> The overview of all open calls is published here: https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/en/collaborate/open-calls/ <https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/en/collaborate/open-calls/> Questions regarding the CEoI about co-designing the HBP infrastructure can be sent to: codesigning-hbp(a)opencalls.humanbrainproject.eu <mailto:codesigning-hbp@opencalls.humanbrainproject.eu> Best regards, Anna Lührs Simulation Lab Neuroscience Division HPC in Neuroscience Phone: +49 2461 61 8931 Jülich Supercomputing Centre E-mail: a.luehrs(a)fz-juelich.de Institute for Advanced Simulation http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 27, 2017

One PhD and one PostDoc Position in Theoretical Neuroscience at the Georg-August University of Göttingen available

by Tetzlaff, Christian

The research groups of Prof. Florentin Wörgötter and Dr. Christian Tetzlaff offer one fully-funded PhD and one fully-funded PostDoc position for 4 years. Both groups are based in the Faculty of Physics of the University of Göttingen and work interdisciplinary on the field of self-organizing neural networks with focus on learning, plasticity, and memory. The research goals of both positions are to develop and analyze new theoretical models of learning-related molecular dynamics in dendritic spines. These projects will be in direct cooperation with experimental groups from the Göttingen Campus (e.g., together with the labs of Prof. Silvio Rizzoli and Prof. Stefan Hell) and they are part of a new established collaborative research center (SFB 1286 - "Quantitative Synaptology") at the University of Göttingen, Medical Center Göttingen, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, and Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. The PhD student will have the opportunity to become member of the Göttingen Graduate School for Neurosciences, Biophysics, and Molecular Biosciences. Ideal candidates have experience and interest for mathematical and computational methods as well as for fundamental cell biology. The closing date is 30th of September 2017. Start date is as soon as possible. Applications should be send electronically (preferably one pdf-document) to: tetzlaff(a)phys.uni-goettingen.de<mailto:tetzlaff@phys.uni-goettingen.de> and worgott(a)gwdg.de<mailto:worgott@gwdg.de>

July 26, 2017

PhD and Postdoc positions in cognitive neuroscience in Bordeaux

by Alexandre Zenon

PhD and Postdoc positions in Cognitive Neuroscience in Bordeaux, France Applications are invited for a PhD and a post-doctoral position in cognitive neuroscience at the INCIA, Bordeaux, France. The 3-year positions are funded by the Junior Chair from IDEX Bordeaux. The successful candidates will work on the theoretical development and experimental validation of a neurobiological model of cognitive effort and cognitive fatigue, based on information theory. This work will involve behavioural experiments, neuroimaging and computational modelling. Requirements: Postdoctoral applicants must hold a PhD in neuroscience with strong experience in computational modelling and/or neuroimaging. PhD applicants must hold a Master's degree in a neuroscience-related field (e.g. medicine, biology, psychology, ...). Previous experience in research and data analysis will be valued. Expected start date: Autumn 2017 Send applications with CV, 2 letters of recommendation and motivation letter to alexandre.zenon(a)u-bordeaux.fr<mailto:alexandre.zenon@u-bordeaux.fr>

July 25, 2017

Please post: postdoctoral fellowship available

by Andy Edwards

Postdoctoral fellowship in computational neuroscience: Simula, Oslo Simula Research Laboratory is pleased to offer a 4-year postdoctoral fellowship in computational modelling of multiscale processes in neuroplasticity. Please see the full position description and requirements at our applications page: https://www.simula.no/about/job/postdoctoral-fellowship-neur al-systems-modeling Andy Edwards Senior Scientist Simula Research Laboratory

July 25, 2017

MBCC 2017: ICCV Workshop on Mutual Benefits of Cognitive and Computer Vision - Call For Papers

by Christopher Kanan

## CALL FOR PAPERS (CfP) ## ICCV International Workshop on ‘Mutual Benefits of Cognitive and Computer Vision (MBCC)’ 29 October 2017 Venice, Italy (https://sites.google.com/site/mbcc2017w/home) _____________ Aim and Scope As researchers working at the intersection of biological and machine vision, we have noticed an increasing interest in both communities to understand and improve on each other’s insights. Recent advances in machine learning (especially deep learning) have led to unprecedented improvements in computer vision. These deep learning algorithms have revolutionized computer vision, and now rival humans at some narrowly defined tasks such as object recognition (e.g., the ImageNet Large Scale Visual Recognition Challenge). In spite of these advances, the existence of adversarial images (some of which have perturbations imperceptible to humans) and rather poor generalizability across datasets point out the flaws present in these networks. On the other hand, the human visual system remains highly efficient at solving real-world tasks and capable of solving many visual tasks. We believe that the time is ripe to have extended discussions and interactions between researchers from both fields in order to steer future research in more fruitful directions. This workshop will compare human vision to state-of-the-art machine perception methods, with specific emphasis on deep learning models and architectures. Our workshop will address many important questions. They include: 1) What are the representational differences between human and machine perception? 2) What makes human vision so effective? and 3) What can we learn from human vision research? Addressing these questions is not as difficult as previously thought due to technological advancements in both computational science and neuroscience. We can now measure human behavior precisely and collect huge amounts of neurophysiological data using EEG and fMRI. This places us in a unique position to compare state-of-the-art computer vision models and human behavioral/neural data, which was impossible to do a few years ago. However, this advantage also comes with its own set of problems: Which task/metric to use for comparison? What are the representational similarities? How different are the computations in a biological visual system when compared to an artificial vision system? How does human vision achieve invariance? This workshop is a great opportunity for researchers working on human and/or machine perception to come together and discuss plausible solutions to some of the aforementioned problems. ______ Topics for submission include but are not limited to: - architectures for processing visual information in the human brain and computer vision (e.g. feedforward vs feedback, shallow vs deep networks, residual, recurrent, etc) - limitations of existing computer vision/deep learning systems compared to human vision - learning rules employed in computer vision and by the brain (e.g. unsupervised/semi-supervised learning, Hebb rule, Spike timing dependent plasticity) - representations/features in humans and computer vision - tasks/metrics to compare human and computer vision (e.g. eye fixation, reaction time, rapid categorization, visual search) - new benchmarks (e.g. datasets) - generalizability of machine representation to other tasks - new techniques to measure and analyze human psychophysics and neural signals - the problem on invariant learning - conducting large-scale behavioral and physiological experiments (e.g., fMRI, cell recording) ______________ Invited Speakers We have invited leading researchers from both Cognitive Science and Computer Vision to inspire discussions and collaborations. 1. Michael Tarr, Carnegie Mellon University 2. Davide Zoccolan, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste, Italy ___________________ Submission Guidelines We are inviting both full paper (5-8 pages) and extended abstract (2-4 pages) submissions to the workshop. Submitted papers must follow the ICCV paper format and guidelines (available on the ICCV 2017 webpage). All submissions will be handled via the CMT website: https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/MBCC2017/ Full papers: The submitted papers should have a maximum length of 8 pages, including figures and tables; additional pages must contain only cited references. The review will be double-blind. Please make sure all authors or references to authors are anonymized. Full paper submissions must not have been published before. Extended abstracts: We invite submissions of extended abstracts of ongoing or already published work as well as demos or prototype systems (ICCV format). Authors are given the opportunity to present their work to the right audience. The review will be single-blind. ______________ Important Dates Full Paper submission: August 1st, 2017 Extended Abstract submission: August 5th, 2017 Notification of acceptance: August 15th, 2017 Camera-ready paper due: September 30th, 2017 Workshop: October 29th, 2017 (Morning Session) _____________________________ Workshop Organizing Committee Ali Borji, University of Central Florida Pramod RT, Indian Institute of Science Elissa Aminoff, Fordham University Christopher Kanan, Rochester Institute of Technology _______ Contact mbccw.iccv2017(a)gmail.com

July 23, 2017

BCBT2017 Summer School. Registration deadline August 1st!

by BCBT, Bústia Compartida

*Registration deadline postponed: 1 August 2017* For more information on how to apply, please go to BCBT2017-Eventum UPF <https://eventum.upf.edu/9240/detail/bcbt-2017.html> ------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ *Barcelona Cognition, Brain and Technology Summer School -BCBT2017* University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. 28 August - 8 September 2017 BCBT2017-Eventum UPF <https://eventum.upf.edu/9240/detail/bcbt-2017.html> Join us for the 10th edition of *"Barcelona Cognition, Brain and Technology summer school - BCBT2017 *" be held 28 August-8 September 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. The BCBT summer school is positioned at the interface between biology and future and emerging technologies with an emphasis on the principles underlying brains and their translation to avant-garde technologies. BCBT promotes a shared systems-level understanding of the functional architecture of the brain and its possible emulation in artificial systems. The summer school has been part of a series of events organized by the European coordination action Convergent Science Network of Biomimetics and Neurotechnology (*http://csnetwork.eu/ <http://csnetwork.eu/>*). This year the school is supported by the ERC project CDAC <http://specs.upf.edu/projects/2810> that investigates the role of consciousness in adaptive behavior combining empirical, computational and robot-based approach. BCBT is also supported by EPISENSE <https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/sp3>, a subproject of the Human Brain Project <https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/>(HBP) that investigates brain mechanisms of perception and memory. This is the 10th year of BCBT, which has run with great success in previous years thanks to an excellent line-up of outstanding speakers (see bcbt.upf.edu for previous editions of the school). BCBT lectures <https://www.youtube.com/user/ConvergentScienceNw/playlists> are available online with the BCBT *Podcast interviews *with many of the BCBT speakers. BCBT caters to students and researchers involved in projects that are in the ambit of “BIO-ICT convergence”, "Brain Inspired ICT", “Cognitive systems-robotics”, “Cognitive and neural systems”, “Foundations of social cognition”. BCBT will offer up to 30 student slots for the practical workshops, while as many researchers can register to attend the presentations and discussion sessions as they are interested. The atmosphere of the BCBT summer school is informal with the goal to stimulate in-depth discussion. There are 1 or 2 presentations in the morning, with the afternoons reserved for tutorials and projects for student participants and road-mapping workshops or further discussion for senior scientists. For the 2017 edition, we plan a *1st week* of the school addressing *Neural basis of Consciousness *while the *2nd week* will include presentations aimed at the investigation of *Evolutionary and Developmental aspects of nervous systems and behavior.* Friday 8 is reserved for the presentation of the student projects to which everybody is invited. *BCBT is organized by* Paul Verschure, ICREA and University Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, ES, Tony Prescott, Sheffield University, UK Anna Mura, University Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, ES

July 23, 2017

NeuroMorpho.Org v7.2 released July 19th, 2017

by NeuroMorpho Administrator

Dear colleagues, We’re pleased to announce the July 19, 2017 release of Version 7.2 of NeuroMorpho.Org<http://neuromorpho.org/>, adding 7721 reconstructions from 83 new datasets. The repository now provides access to 70,025 cells and passed 7 million downloads in 163 countries. Please visit the What’s new page<http://neuromorpho.org/WIN.jsp> for details on the added data and other updates. The literature coverage was also updated to include publications through June 2017. We are continuously grateful to all the data contributors<http://neuromorpho.org/acknowl.jsp#DC> who freely share their hard-won tracings with the community. We appreciate any and all feedback and comments. Our apologies if you receive multiple versions of this message through cross-listing. Sincerely, The NeuroMorpho.Org team<http://neuromorpho.org/acknowl.jsp#NMO> ---------------- Giorgio Ascoli<http://krasnow1.gmu.edu/cn3/ascoli>, PhD University Professor Bioengineering Department<http://bioengineering.gmu.edu/>, Volgenau School of Engineering<http://volgenau.gmu.edu/> Neuroscience Program<http://neuroscience.gmu.edu/>, Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study<http://krasnow1.gmu.edu/> Director, Center for Neural Informatics, Structures, & Plasticity<http://krasnow1.gmu.edu/cn3> MS2A1 - George Mason University<http://gmu.edu/>, Fairfax, VA 22030-4444 Ph. +1(703)993-4383/+1(703)673-8894 Author of “Trees of the Brain, Roots of the Mind<http://www.amazon.com/Trees-Brain-Roots-Giorgio-Ascoli/dp/0262028980/>” (MIT Press, 2015<http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/trees-brain-roots-mind>) Founding Editor-in-Chief, Neuroinformatics<http://link.springer.com/journal/12021>

July 21, 2017

8th NeuralEnsemble CodeJam workshop

by Andrew Davison

Dear colleagues, You are invited to participate in the 8th NeuralEnsemble CodeJam workshop, which will take place 13th-15th September 2017 in Lausanne, Switzerland. http://neuralensemble.org/meetings/CodeJam8/ The goal of the CodeJam is to catalyze open-source, collaborative software development in computational and systems neuroscience and neuroinformatics, by bringing together researchers, students and engineers to share ideas, present their work, and write code together. Mornings are dedicated to invited and contributed talks, leaving the afternoons free for discussions, tutorials and code sprints. CodeJam #8 is sponsored by the Human Brain Project Best regards, Andrew -- Andrew Davison, PhD Unité de Neurosciences, Information et Complexité (UNIC) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 1, avenue de la Terrasse 91198 Gif sur Yvette France Tel: +33 1 69 82 34 51 http://www.andrewdavison.info/

July 21, 2017

PhD studentship in Computational Neuroscience/Machine Learning

by Vassilis Cutsuridis

PhD Position in Computational Neuroscience/Machine learning MLearn Research Group School of Computer Science University of Lincoln UK Applications are invited for a PhD position in the MLearn Research Group at the University of Lincoln. Projects involve the development and simulation of models of neurons and neuronal networks hippocampal memory functions (Cutsuridis V, et al. (2010). Encoding and retrieval in the hippocampal CA1 microcircuit model. *Hippocampus*, 20(3): 423-446) <http://vassiliscutsuridis.com/docs/Journal_papers/CutCobGraHippo2010.pdf> and/or applications of machine learning (deep learning) techniques for the analysis of data. A description of our research interests and a list of publications can be found on our webpage (http://mlearn.lincoln.ac.uk/) Applicants should have excellent computational and numerical skills and a very good first degree in computer science, biology, maths, physics, neuroscience, or a related discipline. Successful candidates are eligible for a research studentship award from the University (GBP 14,553 per annum bursary plus payment of the student fees). This studentship is only open to UK and EU students. The ideal candidate should be highly motivated, technically skilled, a team player and driven to push forward the development of the next generation of deep associative memory neural-networks. Your written and spoken English skills should be excellent. As a PhD student, you may also have the opportunity to teach as a demonstrator in the School of Computer Science. Research in Computer Science at the University of Lincoln has been recognised as internationally excellent and world leading. The School of Computer Science provides a very stimulating environment, offering a large number of specialised and interdisciplinary seminars as well as general training and researcher development opportunities. The University is situated in Lincoln, two hours north of London. Please contact Dr Vassilis Cutsuridis (vcutsuridis(a)lincoln.ac.uk) or Prof. Stefanos Kollias (skollias(a)lincoln.ac.uk) for informal enquiries. If you’re interested in this position and you would like to apply, please send your CV, statement of research interests, three reference letters and a photo to Dr. Vassilis Cutsuridis: vcutsuridis(a)lincoln.ac.uk Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis, so please apply as soon as possible. Kind regards, Vassilis --- Dr Vassilis Cutsuridis School of Computer Science University of Lincoln Lincoln LN6 7TS U.K. Tel: +44 (0) 1522 83 5107 Email: vcutsuridis(a)lincoln.ac.uk Web: http://staff.lincoln.ac.uk/vcutsuridis Personal Web: http://www.vassiliscutsuridis.com/

July 20, 2017

Neuromodulation of Neural Microcircuits NM2 Conference 2017

by Ramaswamy Srikanth

We are delighted to announce the upcoming <https://nm2.epfl.ch> Neuromodulation of Neural Microcircuits (<https://nm2.epfl.ch>NM2) Conference 2017<https://nm2.epfl.ch>. The NM2 Conference will be held at the EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland on the 18th and 19th of Sep. 2017 and at the Campus Biotech in Geneva, Switzerland on the 20th of Sep. 2017. Neuromodulators dynamically reconfigure neural microcircuits and shape brain states by controlling the function of neurons and glia, dendrites, and synapses. NM2 will bring together world-leading experts to: • Identify the state-of-the-art mechanisms of the neuromodulation of neural microcircuits • Illuminate various strategies enabling the measurement of neuromodulatory states in brain health and disease • Integrate knowledge to build a unifying view of the neuromodulation of different brain regions • Inform and attract new talent to drive forward neuromodulation research • Inspire future directions that will transform our understanding of the neuromodulation of brain function and dysfunction and therapeutic intervention NM2 has an exciting program<https://nm2.epfl.ch/page-145616-en.html> with a stimulating lineup of speakers<https://nm2.epfl.ch/page-145624-en.html>! Please mark your calendars to participate in shaping the future course of neuromodulatory research! Registration<https://nm2.epfl.ch/page-145625-en.html> includes coffee breaks, lunch, refreshments and poster sessions. PhD. students and postdocs are particularly encouraged to apply for several travel awards<https://nm2.epfl.ch/page-146294-en.html> by submitting poster abstracts<https://nm2.epfl.ch/page-146294-en.html>. Some abstracts will be selected for flash talks. Early bird registration is open until July 31st, 2017. Abstract submission is open until August 13th, 2017. We look forward to welcoming you at NM2 in beautiful Switzerland! Best regards from the scientific committee of NM2, Srikanth Ramaswamy Henry Markram Mriganka Sur Anita Disney Menahem Segal Michael Hasselmo Seung-Hee Lee Alexander Thiele Amy Arnsten [cid:CCBC7D9D-9041-4146-88BA-CC744BDBB811@epfl.ch]

July 20, 2017

PhD scholarship "Deep Learning in clinical neuroimaging", Charité Berlin

by Kerstin Ritter

Dear all, I am offering a PhD scholarship in "Deep Learning in clinical neuroimaging" at Charite Berlin, starting in October 2017 (initially for 2 years). See announcement below: _________________________________________ Deep Learning in clinical neuroimaging PhD scholarship (starting October 2017, initially for 2 years) At the Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging and Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (Charite), we are looking for a motivated and highly talented PhD student for various research questions within the interdisciplinary field of deep learning and clinical neuroimaging. In particular, we employ convolutional neural networks for finding new representations from neuroimaging data in order to predict disease conversion and future clinical disability in neurological as well as psychiatric diseases. Whereas previous disease decoding approaches mostly relied on expert-based extraction of features in combination with standard classification algorithms and thus strongly depend on the choice of data representation, convolutional networks are capable of learning hierarchical information directly from raw imaging data. By this, they have a great potential for finding unexpected and latent data characteristics and might perform as a real “second reader”. A major focus will be on visualization techniques to make the learned content of convolutional neural networks visible. Requirements for the PhD student: - Very good degree in computer science, mathematics, physics, psychology, computational neuroscience or related subject. - Very good programming skills (e.g. Python) - Experience in machine learning - Good writing and communication skills (in English) Please send your application (motivation+CV) in one pdf-file (in English or German) to: Dr. Kerstin Ritter Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Bernstein-Zentrum für Computational Neuroscience Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin Sauerbruchweg 4, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin Tel.: + 49 30 450 539364; Email: kerstin.ritter(a)bccn-berlin.de _________________________________________________ Thank you very much! Best wishes, Kerstin Ritter _______________________________________________ Dr. rer. nat. Kerstin Ritter, nee Hackmack Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin Sauerbruchweg 4, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin

July 20, 2017

Creating a list of important computational predictions

by Yiota Poirazi

Dear all, I believe you would agree that, the greatest recognition of our computational work comes with the experimental verification of our computational predictions. To highlight the most important outcomes of our theoretical work and facilitate a closer interaction with experimental labs so as to increase the chances of our predictions being experimentally tested, I would like to encourage you to nominate your favorite prediction at the following google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJZ2RrXJ0nZonIuyNzN0Cl gXDKDb7xTzoJOiqZTGxm9Kh7ow/viewform?c=0&w=1&usp=mail_form_link This effort started during the CNS 2017 meeting in Antwerp with the support of the OCNS Board. The resulting list will be posted on the CNS 2017 web site and disseminated in social media, as a reference for experimentalists. Thank you very much for supporting this important effort! Best wishes, Yiota Poirazi -- Panayiota Poirazi, Ph.D. Research Director Computational Biology Laboratory Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) Foundation of Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH) Vassilika Vouton, P.O.Box 1385, GR 70013, Heraklion, Crete GREECE Tel: +30 2810 391139 Fax: +30 2810 391101 Εmail: poirazi(a)imbb.forth.gr Lab site: www.dendrites.gr FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence <http://www.fens.org/Outreach/FENS-Kavli-Network-of-Excellence/> -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by *E.F.A. Project* <http://www.efa-project.org>, and is believed to be clean. Click here to report this message as spam. <http://mailgate1.imbb.forth.gr/cgi-bin/learn-msg.cgi?id=4BCD7A00A1.A57D7&to…> -- Panayiota Poirazi, Ph.D. Research Director Computational Biology Laboratory Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) Foundation of Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH) Vassilika Vouton, P.O.Box 1385, GR 70013, Heraklion, Crete GREECE Tel: +30 2810 391139 Fax: +30 2810 391101 Εmail: poirazi(a)imbb.forth.gr Lab site: www.dendrites.gr FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence <http://www.fens.org/Outreach/FENS-Kavli-Network-of-Excellence/>

July 20, 2017

2nd Announcement: Computational Neuroscience in Africa: isiCN IMBIZO 18

by Tim Vogels

Dear all, we would like to draw your attention to the IBRO SIMONS COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE IMBIZO #isiCNI2018 Get to know (and help to build) African Computational and Theoretical Neuroscience. from 7 - 28 January 2018, Muizenberg Beach, Cape Town, South Africa http://isicni.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk <http://isicni.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk/> Application deadline: 15th August 2017 The #isiCNI2018 is a southern hemisphere summer school aiming to promote computational neuroscience in Africa. It will bring together international and local students under the tutelage of the world's leading experts in the field. Like its international sister courses, this three-week summer school aims to teach central ideas, methods, and practices of modern computational neuroscience through a combination of lectures and hands-on project work. Mornings will be devoted to lectures on topics across the breadth of experimental and computational neuroscience. The rest of the day will be spent working on research projects under the close supervision of expert tutors and faculty. Individual research projects will focus on the modelling of neurons, neural systems, behaviour, the analysis of state-of-the-art neural data, and the development of theories to explain experimental observations. Who should apply? This course is aimed at Masters and PhD level students though Honours or Postdoctoral students may also apply. Students should sufficient quantitative skills, (e.g. a background in mathematics, physics, computer science, statistics, engineering or related field). Some knowledge of neural biology will be useful but not essential. Experimental neuroscience students are encouraged to apply, but should ensure that they have a reasonable level of quantitative proficiency (i.e. at least second-year level mathematics or statistics and have done at least one course in computer programming). Please distribute this information as widely as you can. Essential details * Fee (which covers tuition, lodging, and meals): 1100 EUR * Generous scholarships and travel stipends are available based on merit and need * Application deadline: 15th August 2017 * Notification of results: End of September 2017 Information and application http://isicni.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk <http://isicni.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk/> Application form http://tinyurl.com/yc6zbvpo <http://tinyurl.com/yc6zbvpo> Questions? isicn.imbizo(a)gmail.com <mailto:isicn.imbizo@gmail.com> What is an Imbizo? \ɪmˈbiːzɒ\ | Xhosa - Zulu A gathering of the people to share knowledge. FACULTY Larry Abbott - Columbia University Adrienne Fairhall - Washington University Surya Ganguli* - Stanford University Peter Latham - University College London Blake Richards - University of Toronto Timothy Lillicrap - Google DeepMind Mate Lengyel - University of CambridgeJoseph Raimondo - University of Cape Town Yiota Poirazi - Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas Srikanth Ramaswamy - EPFL Lausanne Tim Vogels - University of Oxford Byron Yu - Carnegie Mellon University Alex Antrobus (Gatsby Unit, UCL) Athanasia Papoutsi (Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas) William Podladski (University of Oxford ) Friedemann Zenke (Stanford University / University of Oxford) and others, to be announced *not confirmed DIRECTORS Peter Latham (Gatsby Unit for Computational Neuroscience, UCL, UK) Joseph Raimondo (University of Cape Town, South Africa) Tim Vogels (University of Oxford, UK) Sponsors The isiCNI is made possible by the generous support from the Simons Foundation (https://www.simonsfoundation.org <https://www.simonsfoundation.org/>) and IBRO, the International Brain Research Organisation (http://ibro.info <http://ibro.info/>) Organizational Affiliates University of Cape Town, University College London, University of Oxford, TReND in Africa <http://trendinafrica.org/>, CNCB <http://www.cncb.ox.ac.uk/>, Gatsby Foundation <http://www.gatsby.org.uk/>, IBRO African Center for Advanced Training in Neurosciences at UCT

July 20, 2017

Aspects of Neuroscience - Hackathon: Call for proposals (01.08) - Warsaw, 18-19th November

by Daniel Borek

On the weekend of 18-19th November, the first edition of Aspects of Neuroscience - Hackathon will take place. During this two-day event dedicated to students and PhD students, we will work in teams on neuroscience-related projects. The aim of the event is to meet new, enthusiastic researchers, to share the knowledge on data mining and brain research, but also to share the data and promote open science. We provide with a list of proposed open-access datasets, but we also encourage participants to share their own data during the event. At the moment, we opened the call for project proposals. The proposals can include various forms of a group activity, e.g., data analysis, app development, a discussion club on a particular topic, developing a software etc. Each proposal should indicate: [1] a title and abstract for the project; [2] a list of 1-5 key papers summarising the subject (which the participants should become familiar with before starting the project); [3] a list of requirements for taking part in the project (education level / English level / programming language required); [4] a maximum number of participants [5] a name of an author of the project, and a name of a senior researcher which will supervise the project during the Hackathon [6] what can the participant gain from the project? [7] an information on whether or not there is a plan for extending this work to a paper in case the results are promising An exemplary proposal is in link https://www.dropbox.com/s/ojui2h0wcz82mgy/EXEMPLARYPROPOSAL.pdf?dl=0 Location: University of Warsaw (Further information will be provided soon) Deadline for project proposals: 01.08.2017 Announcement of projects: 15.08.2017 Deadline for registration of participants: 01.11.2017 Please send your proposals to the conference email: neuroaspects(a)uw.edu.pl Proposals will be evaluated by members of our scientific committee before 15.08.2017 Main organizers: Michał Bola, PhD (Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS, Warsaw, Poland) Natalia Bielczyk, MSc (Statistical Imaging Neuroscience Research Group, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Nijmegen, The Netherlands) Daniel Borek, MSc (Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland) Beata Goźlińska (Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland) LIST OF EXAMPLARY OPEN ACCESS DATASETS: [1] calcium imaging datasets: Karl Svoboda https://crcns.org/data-sets/ssc [2] fMRI + DTI: Human Connectome Project http://www. humanconnectome.org/data/ [3] gene expression open-access database: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/ + information on gene function: www.uniprot.org [4] EEG, MRI & behavioural data from N=644 children & adolescents: http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/06/13/149369 [5] EEG data: http://neurotycho.org/ [6] Research data supporting "Brain connectivity during propofol sedation https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/252736

July 19, 2017

PhD positions on Translational Neurosciences and Neurotechnologies - IIT@UniFe

by Alessandro D'Ausilio

PHD PROGRAM in TRANSLATIONAL NEUROSCIENCES AND NEUROTECHNOLOGIES The Center for Translational Neurophysiology of Speech and Communication (CTNSC) at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) is looking for up to 4 highly motivated, full-time PhD students to work in the core research areas of the Center. At the CTNSC we focus our efforts in two integrated directions. On one side we are studying how the brain builds communicative and linguistic representations. On the other side we are designing new brain interfaces, specifically conceived for human use, to record and computationally decode neural signals. The CTNSC is hosted by the Section of Physiology of the University of Ferrara, one of the oldest in Italy (founded in 1391). In terms of its size, facilities, quality and quantity of education and research, the university is a point of excellence within Italy. The PhD student will work in Ferrara, in an international and multidisciplinary team including biomedical engineers, biologists, computer scientists, psychologists and medical doctors. The PhD positions will cover the following core areas of CTNSC: A01 Improving performance and biocompatibility of electrode arrays for brain-computer interfaces A02 Functional investigation of innovative neural interfaces A03 Investigation of sensorimotor functions in animal models (NH primates and rats) A04 Machine learning applications to multimodal brain and speech signals A05 Human neurophysiology of speech and sensorimotor communication A06 Cortical recordings in human patients during awake Neurosurgery A07 Hardware and software development for innovative exploration of brain signals DEADLINE: 1st AUGUST 2017 CTNSC Info: https://www.iit.it/centers/ctnsc-unife PhD page [ITA]: http://www.unife.it/studenti/dottorato/corsi/riforma/neuroscienze How to participate to the selection [ITA/ENG]: http://www.unife.it/studenti/dottorato/modulistica/Guidaconcorso.pdf

July 19, 2017

Postdoc + 2 PhD students in limbo, SISSA, Trieste

by Alessandro Treves

A postdoc is sought to join a HFSP-funded project to study analog cortical computations in linguistic processes. A collaboration with Naama Friedmann (TAU) and Remi Monasson (ENS). Ideal candidates have a flair for (some) language, come from a background we have not thought of and seek to get to places where they have not been, at the crossroads between neuroscience, complex systems, and poetry. Two PhD students from outside Italy are sought to later join as ESRs the EU Training Network M-GATE, on hippocampal memory functions. A network of 7 institutes + 4 companies, coordinated by Francesco Battaglia (Nijmegen). Ideal candidates, who can be of any nationality but must not have spent much time in Italy in the last 3 years, enjoy analytical, mathematical and computational excursions when in search of fundamental network understanding. Deadline August 31st, 2017. Formal applications eventually needed, but please see first obsolete limbo information http://people.sissa.it/~ale/limbo.html and contact ale(a)sissa.it well in advance. -- Alessandro Treves http://people.sissa.it/~ale/limbo.html SISSA - Cognitive Neuroscience, via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy +39-040-3787623 Ambassador (BlaBlaCar) +39-349-2504602

July 18, 2017

CNS 2017 workshop:

by s.a.vangils＠utwente.nl

Please post: Dear all, We cordially invite you to attend our workshop at CNS2017, Thursday July 20: “Recent Developments in Epilepsy Modelling” Epilepsy is a chronic disease of the CNS characterized by the occurrence of seizures. It affects ~1% of the people worldwide, and ⅓ of the affected population does not respond to anticonvulsant drugs. This limited success of anticonvulsant treatment is, in part, due to our limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms that are responsible for the pathological behavior. Translational research can play an important role in the unravelling of the mechanisms that may be responsible. As more and better experimental data become available, it is important to be able to integrate these data with modeling approaches in order to test hypotheses and to improve insight and produce more individualized models. In this workshop a number of active researchers in the field come together to discuss their latest results ranging from computational models on different scales to statistical methods to evaluate the use of biomarkers. Speakers: Victor Jirsa, Fabrice Wendling, Wytse Wadman, Geertjan Huiskamp, Jurgen Hebbink, Bill Lytton, Peter Taylor, Stiliyan Kalitzin, Marc Goodfellow and Stephan van Gils. For details visit: http://wwwhome.math.utwente.nl/%7Egilssa/cns2017/?<http://wwwhome.math.utwente.nl/~gilssa/cns2017/?> With kind regards, Wim van Drongelen en Stephan van Gils Prof. Dr. S.A. (Stephan) van Gils Department of Applied Mathematics University of Twente P.O. Box 217 7500 AE Enschede Chair: Applied Analysis +31-53-4894272 (tel Secretary) +31-53-4893410 (tel Office)

July 17, 2017

Review article: Towards building a more complex view of the lateral geniculate nucleus: Recent advances in understanding its role

by Masoud Ghodrati

Dear vision scientists, We would like to draw your attention to our recent review paper entitled "Towards building a more complex view of the lateral geniculate nucleus: Recent advances in understanding its role <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301008215300757>" published in Progress in Neurobiology, Jun 2017. We hope that this review can link different findings about the LGN function and opens new research avenues in the field. *Recent evidence shows that lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) has more sophisticated functions than a mere relaying hub. We provide a rather unfiltered and eclectic review of the LGN functions, with some focus on its computational role, as well as its role in higher level cognitive process (specifically higher level vision). **In particular, we argue that the LGN has a variety of complex nonlinear behaviors (perhaps the most interesting nonlinearity involves feedback from cortex). We suggest further development of feedback models of high-level vision considering the LGN function. Because of LGN’s contribution in temporal aspects of object processing, modeling LGN function particularly becomes more important when considering non-stationary stimuli (such as videos). Predictive coding and expectation coding models are in this direction.* Actual link: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301008215300757 Here is authors’ free PDF version of the manuscript: https://goo.gl/KCmUR7 Best -- *_____________________________________________________________* Masoud Ghodrati, Department of Physiology, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. E-mails: masoud.ghodrati(a)monash.edu Web pages (Personal) : https://sites.google.com/site/masoudghodrati1985/ *_____________________________________________________________*

July 17, 2017

Open postdoctoral position in human intracranial electrophysiology: Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, West Virginia University

by Shuo Wang

*** Sorry for multiple postings*** We invite applicants with strong motivation in investigating the neural mechanisms of face processing and visual attention/saliency to apply for a postdoctoral position at the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI), West Virginia University. The applicant will work on intracranial single-unit recordings from human subjects, investigating questions related to face processing and/or visual attention and visual saliency. This will include experimental work with patients (electrophysiology and behavior), data processing and analysis, spike-train analysis, and experimental design. The applicant will have access to state-of-the art equipment, facilities and analytical methods and this research will be in a highly collaborative environment. The applicant will not only collaborate with investigators at the BRNI, but also be part of an established team of investigators at both Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Dr. Ueli Rutishauser) and the California Institute of Technology (Dr. Ralph Adolphs), with ample opportunity to learn new techniques and methods. Candidates should have a recent PhD in systems, cognitive, or computational neuroscience with a track-record of first-author publications. Strong programming (Matlab or similar), data analysis, statistics and electrophysiology skills are essential. Excellent written and oral English communication skills are required, including the ability to communicate with patients and their families. Individuals with previous human intracranial EEG experience and/or macaque single neuron recordings that wish to expand into human single-unit recordings are encouraged to apply. Interested applicants should send a CV, including a list of publications, a brief description of research interests and analysis skills, and contact information for 2-3 reference letters to Shuo Wang (shuo.wang(a)mail.wvu.edu) Informal inquiries are welcome. Further information about the lab can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/shuowangsocialneuroscience/.

July 17, 2017

Methods of Information Theory workshop at CNS*2017

by Joseph Lizier

Dear all, Please note that the final schedule and speaker abstracts are available for the following workshop at CNS*2017 in Antwerp this week: Workshop on Methods of Information Theory in Computational Neuroscience 19 and 20 July 2017 Methods originally developed in Information Theory have found wide applicability in computational neuroscience. Beyond these original methods there is a need to develop novel tools and approaches that are driven by problems arising in neuroscience. A number of researchers in computational/systems neuroscience and in information/communication theory are investigating problems of information representation and processing. While the goals are often the same, these researchers bring different perspectives and points of view to a common set of neuroscience problems. Often they participate in different fora and their interaction is limited. The goal of the workshop is to bring some of these researchers together to discuss challenges posed by neuroscience and to exchange ideas and present their latest work. The workshop is targeted towards computational and systems neuroscientists with interest in methods of information theory as well as information/communication theorists with interest in neuroscience. Program: Wed 19 July (Room C.101): * 09:00 Raul Vicente, University of Tartu -- "Estimating and applying partial information decomposition to complex systems" * 09:45 Jil Meier, Delft University of Technology -- "The epidemic spreading model and the direction of information flow in brain networks" * 11:00 Karl Friston, University College London -- "Active inference and artificial curiosity" * 11:45 Taro Toyoizumi, RIKEN Brain Science Institute -- "A Local Learning Rule for Independent Component Analysis" * 14:00 Fleur Zeldenrust, Radboud Universiteit -- "Estimating the information extracted by a single spiking neuron from a continuous input time series" * 14:30 Pedro Martinez Mediano, Imperial College London -- "Integrated Information Theory Without the Hot Air" * 15:00 Mehrdad Salmasi, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich "Information rate of a synapse during short-term depression" * 16:00 Tatjana Tchumatchenko, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt -- "Information coding of mean and variance modulating signals in cortical neurons" * 16:45 Renaud Jolivet, University of Geneva -- "Energy-efficient information transfer at synapses" * 17:30 Rodrigo Cofre, University of Geneva and Universidad de Valparaíso -- "Information Entropy Production and Large deviations of Maximum Entropy Processes from Spike Trains" Thu 20 July (Room C.101): * 09:00 Lionel Barnett, University of Sussex -- "Information Transfer in Continuous and Discrete Time" * 09:45 Joseph T. Lizier, The University of Sydney "An estimator for transfer entropy between spike trains" * 11:00 Viola Priesemann, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organization, Goettingen -- "Quantifying Information Storage and Modification in Neural Recordings" * 11:45 Demain Battaglia, Aix-Marseille University -- "Discrete information processing states in anesthetized rat recordings" * 14:00 Selin Aviyente, Michigan State University "Directed Information: Application to EEG during cognitive control" * 14:45 Adrià Tauste, Universitat Pompeu Fabra -- "Directed information flow within the thalamo-cortical network" * 16:00 Daniele Marinazzo, University of Ghent -- "Synergy and redundancy in dynamical systems: towards a practical and operative definition" * 16:45 Lubomir Kostal, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic -- "Reference frame independence as a constraint on the mutual information decomposition" * 17:30 Robin Ince, University of Glasgow -- "Quantifying representational interactions in neuroimaging and electrophysiological data using information theory" Organisers: Joseph T. Lizier -- chair, The University of Sydney Viola Priesemann, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organisation Justin Dauwels, Nanyang Technological University Taro Toyoizumi, RIKEN Brain Science Institute Alexander G. Dimitrov, Washington State University Lubomir Kostal, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Michael Wibral, Goethe University, Frankfurt

July 16, 2017

CNS2017 workshop on "Neuronal Oscillations: mechanisms and functionality"

by Frances Skinner

Please post: Dear all, We invite you to attend our workshop an CNS2017 tthis year. "Neurona*l Oscillations: mechanisms and functionality"* Oscillations at various frequency ranges have been observed in several brain structures (hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, olfactory bulb and others). They are believed to be important for cognitive functions such as learning, memory, navigation and attention. These rhythms have been studied at the single cell level, as the result of the interaction of a neuron’s intrinsic properties, at the network level, as the result of the interaction between the participating neurons and neuronal populations in a given brain region, and at higher levels of organization involving several of these regions. Recent advances in this field have benefited from the interaction between experiment and theory, and models with varying levels of detail. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together modelers, experimentalists and theorists with the goal of sharing and discussing their current results and ideas on the underlying mechanisms that govern the generation of these rhythms at various levels of organization, and their functional implications. An additional goal is to discuss what we mean by an explanation in the context of this workshop. To this end, speakers will be encouraged to address this issue from the perspective of Aristotle's four causes (efficient, material, formal and final causes) <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2015/entries/aristotle-causality/>. Please see 'What is computational neuroscience? (XVI) What is an explanation?' <http://romainbrette.fr/2013/06/>. Speakers: Day 1: F Skinner, J White, M Bezaire, V Cutsuridis, J Guzman, L Rubchinsky, D Levenstein, F Battaglia, M Bartos, J Mejias Day 2: C. Borgers, C Canavier, M Cunningham, J Lefebvre, A Peyrache, H Rotstein, B Pesaran, A Saudargiene For more details, please visit http://vassiliscutsuridis.com/workshop/CNS2017web.htm Thank you, Frances (on behalf of the organizers) -- Frances Skinner, PhD Krembil Research Institute/UHN and Univ Toronto www.skinnerlab.org

July 14, 2017

postdoc in Barcelona to do single cell recordings in humans

by Quian Quiroga, Rodrigo (Prof.)

*** Apologies for multiple postings*** Dear all, Please see below details of a postdoc position at the Barcelona ßeta Brain Research Center to study memory mechanisms by performing single cell recordings in humans in collaboration with Hospital del Mar. Cheers, Rodrigo Postdoc Position Barcelona ßeta Brain Research Center (BBRC) The Barcelona ßeta Brain Research Center (BBRC) offers a fully funded postdoc position at the research group headed by Professor Rodrigo Quian Quiroga. The group is part of a new Research Program on Memory, complementary to ongoing research at BBRC dealing with the Prevention of Alzheimer Disease. The group is associated to the epilepsy group headed by Dr. Gerardo Conesa at Hospital del Mar, a health center close to BBRC. Research will involve the study single cell recordings in humans. These recordings are performed in epileptic patients for curative surgery. In particular, the project will investigate concept cells (a.k.a. Jennifer Aniston neurons) – that means, neurons in the hippocampus and surrounding areas that selectively fire to specific concepts, like different pictures and the written or spoken name of a particular person (e.g. Quian Quiroga et al, Nature 2005; Quian Quiroga Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2012), which are involved in declarative memory functions. The successful candidate will contribute to performing recordings with patients at the Hospital del Mar and the analysis of the data to investigate the role of these neurons in memory formation, consolidation, long-term coding and recall. Candidates should have excellent quantitative skills (data processing, and programming, preferably in Matlab) and ideally, a strong background in neuroscience and experience with neurophysiology recordings. They should be able to work both independently and as part of a research team within the BBRC. The position is initially offered for 2 years, with the possibility to extend it for another 2 years. Salary will be competitive, depending on experience. The closing date for the applications is Monday 25th August 2017. Start date will be in October 2017. For application details and further particulars see: https://fpmaragall.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2014/07/Postdoc_Neural… Informal inquiries are welcome and should be submitted electronically to: rh(a)fpmaragall.org Rodrigo Quian Quiroga Centre for Systems Neuroscience University of Leicester www.le.ac.uk/csn

July 14, 2017

CNS meeting 2017 workshop on "Recent methods and analyses for neuronal population recordings"

by Valentina Pasquale

Dear all, I would like to remind you about the WORKSHOP "RECENT METHODS AND ANALYSES FOR LARGE-SCALE NEURONAL POPULATION RECORDINGS" | JULY 19TH-20TH IN ANTWERP @ CNS MEETING 2017 http://www.computational-neuroscience-of-sensory-systems.org/workshop-on-re… Abstract: Understanding how assemblies of neurons encode information requires recording large populations of cells in the brain. In recent years, progress in population calcium imaging and multichannel electrophysiology opened the possibility to record from hundreds or even thousands of neurons simultaneously. While these techniques offer unprecedented chances to monitor large neural circuits, they also push for the design of new algorithms to gather and process information from such high-dimensional datasets. The workshop "Recent methods and analyses for large-scale neuronal population recordings", which will be held on July 19th-20th in Antwerp at the CNS meeting 2017, will gather leading experimentalists and theoreticians to discuss latest computational methods and analyses used to process such large-scale neuronal population recordings, both in vivo and in vitro. Focusing on high-density electrophysiology and calcium imaging, it will review recent advances in neuroinformatics research, including spike sorting techniques and characterization of neural assemblies' spatio-temporal activity. Organizers: Valentina Pasquale (IIT), Michela Chiappalone (IIT), Pierre Yger (Institut de la Vision, France) Speakers: July 19th * Matthias Hennig (University of Edinburgh, Scotland) * Felix Franke (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) * Nick Steinmetz (University College London, UK) * Pierre Yger (Institut de la Vision, France) * Thomas Deneux (UNIC, CNRS, France) * Marius Pachitariu (University College London, UK) * Stephen J. Eglen (University of Cambridge, UK) * Adrien Peyrache (McGill University, Canada) July 20th * George Dimitriadis (Sainsbury Welcome Centre, UK) * Gaute Einevoll (NMBU, Norway) * Yannick Bornat (IMS Bordeaux, France) * Ulisse Ferrari (Institut de la Vision, France) * Sonja Grün (Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany) * Valentina Pasquale (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy) * Arno Onken (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy) * Paolo Bonifazi (Ikerbasque, Bilbao, Spain) For further information, please visit: http://www.computational-neuroscience-of-sensory-systems.org/workshop-on-re… Best, Valentina Pasquale valentina.pasquale(a)iit.it<mailto:valentina.pasquale@iit.it> ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI TECNOLOGIA Optical Approaches to Brain Function Lab Via Morego, 30 16163 Genova t: +39 010 71781 475 f: +39 010 71781 230 www.iit.it<http://www.iit.it/>

July 14, 2017

Open PhD position computational neuroscienceB

by Claudius Gros

I would like to brink your attention our PhD-program in Computational Neurosciences / Complex Dynamical Systems at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany Field(s): computational neurosciences, complex systems, theory neural networks, simulated robotics, dynamical systems. Application deadline: August 11, 2017 Contact: Prof. Claudius Gros, cgr[(a)]itp.uni-frankfurt.de We are developing new models and generative principles for the brain using a range of toolsets from dynamical systems theory and computational neurosciences. Examples are new objective functions and generating functionals for the sensori-motor loop, transient state dynamics and self-limiting Hebbian plasticity rules. Several subjects are available for the announced PhD thesis including the generation of transient state dynamics through short-term synaptic plasticity, the study of the stationarity principle for statistical learning and/or the generation of motor primitives through self-organized embodiment within the sensori-motor loop. The work will include analytic investigations and numerical simulations of neural networks and/or of simulated robots, using the toolset of dynamical systems theory. The candidate must have a Diploma/Master in physics, an excellent academic track record and good computational skills. Experience or strong interest in the fields of complex systems, computational neurosciences, dynamical systems theory and/or artificial or biological cognitive systems is expected. The degree of scientific research experience needs to be on the level of a German Diploma/Master The appointment will start summer/fall 2017, for up to three years. Interested applicants must submit a curriculum vitae, a list of publications and copies of the academic record. Name, affiliation and email of one or more potential references are to be given. Claudius Gros http://www.itp.uni-frankfurt.de/~gros General information on the University of Frankfurt and its employment policy. With its around 46000 students and 4600 employees, the Goethe University in Frankfurt is the largest university in the state of Hessen and an internationally renowned, important regional employer. Numerous quality and performance oriented internal reforms have been initiated in the recent years. The reorganized campuses for natural sciences and humanities offer an ideal environment for research and education. Since 2008, the Goethe University is a foundation under public law and enjoys full administrative autonomy. The fixed-term employment of the academic staff is subject to the provisions of the Temporary Science Employment Law (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz) and the Hessian Higher Education Act (Hessisches Hochschulgesetz). The University advocates gender equality and therefore strongly encourages women to apply. People with disabilities are given preference if equally qualified. ### ### Prof. Dr. Claudius Gros ### http://itp.uni-frankfurt.de/~gros ### ### Complex and Adaptive Dynamical Systems, A Primer ### A graduate-level textbook, Springer (2008/10/13/15) ### ### Mageia, das Buch der Farben ### http://www.buchderfarben.de ###

July 12, 2017

Vice Chancellor's 5-year Research Fellowship in Biocomputation, Mental Health and Wellbeing (University of Hertfordshire, U.K.)

by Steuber, Volker

Research Fellow: Biocomputation, Mental Health and Wellbeing University of Hertfordshire - School of Computer Science Location: Hatfield Salary: £32,004 to £38,183 Grade 7 p.a. Hours: Full Time Contract Type: Fixed-Term/Contract Placed on: 27th June 2017 Closes: 21st August 2017 Job Ref: 014834 FTE 1.0 FTE working 37 hours per week Duration of Contract: Fixed term contract 5 years from October 2017 Qualifications required: Very strong PhD degree in a quantitative research-oriented discipline, examples are computer science, mathematics, physics and neuroscience; excellent programming skills in at least one major computer language (essential), and very strong mathematical background, with particular emphasis on areas such as computer algebra, Krohn-Rhodes algebraic automata theory and language theory, discrete/continuous/constructive dynamical systems theory, group theory, algebraic topology, information theory, probability theory and statistics, and mathematical methods for computational intelligence. Background in computational neuroscience, including processing and analysis of EEG data, especially EEG microstates, is highly desirable. Experience writing high-quality research publications (essential) and grant applications (desirable), as well as excellent communication skills (essential). Successful history of working in multidisciplinary teams (highly desirable). Description of the research activity and area: Algorithms and Biocomputation are growing areas of research excellence at the University of Hertfordshire. This Fellowship targets the development and application of our novel computational and mathematical methods (e.g., automata-, language-theoretic and algebraic methods; computational mechanics and Krohn-Rhodes computational algebraic biology) to biological systems. The Research Fellow will support ongoing and future work characterizing the neurodynamical spatio-temporal structure of human mental states led by Professor Chrystopher L. Nehaniv and external collaborator Dr Elena Antonova (Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London). Our current BIAL Foundation grant focuses on using EEG microstate ‘grammars’ to distinguish different mental states in expert meditators. EEG microstates are quasi-stable maps of electric potential landscapes of short duration, typically classed in a small number of discrete types analogous to ‘letters’ of an alphabet. The tendency for simple EEG microstate transitions between certain pairs of these discrete types has already been shown to characterize clinical populations (people with schizophrenia or Alzheimer’s vs. healthy controls). Our current research targets finer understanding of richer temporal neurodynamical structure and patterns, using these novel computational methods, toward harnessing their potential eventually for applications in Health and Wellbeing as a diagnostic tool for different clinical populations. The Fellow will reinforce the established collaboration with KCL, supporting validation and development of our methods toward their eventual application in clinical diagnosis and mental illness prevention, as well as in promotion of wellbeing. The Fellow will be expected to publish in high-impact journals and present conference papers together with Professor Nehaniv and Dr Antonova, to contribute to writing grant applications to national and international funding bodies [e.g., Wellcome Trust, EPSRC/BBSRC/MRC, European Commission, and other funding agencies], and contribute to REF outputs of the School of Computer Science. In accord with the CONCORDAT for professional development of researchers, the candidate may be afforded the opportunity to undertake a limited amount of appropriate teaching (upon mutual agreement). The Royal Society / Wolfson Biocomputation Research Laboratory at the University of Hertfordshire has a long history of interdisciplinary innovation in computational methods for systems biology and neural systems, as well as applications of bioinspired-methods to other fields. It enjoys close interdisciplinary links to the Adaptive Systems and Algorithms Research Groups, whose interests include mathematical computer science, compilers, security, networks, artificial Intelligence robotics, artificial life, language acquisition, human-robot interaction, etc., and have labs equipped with humanoid and non-humanoid robots, as well as 3D printing facilities. External research connections to UK, European and international partners (e.g. University of California, Berkeley; Univ. Debrecen and Renyi Institute, Hungary; Sardex, Italy; etc) are supported through numerous research council and EC-funded collaborations and projects. Skills and experience needed: The Fellow will have established him/herself as an independent researcher, capable of establishing a programme of research activity within the scope of the project. S/he will have excellent oral and written communication skills in both spoken and written English and a track record of publications in high impact journals. The Fellow will be expected to build capacity in the area of Biocomputation and participate in attracting external funding, previous success being a desirable attribute. S/he should be able to establish good working relationships, and work closely with members of the Centre for Computer Science and Informatics Research and the School of Computer Science, at the University of Hertfordshire and with partner organisations as appropriate. The fellow should have knowledge of research methodology appropriate for the subject area and knowledge of appropriate databases for the discipline and ability to conduct literature searches in the discipline using appropriate electronic resources. Contact Details: Informal enquiries can be made to Professor Chrystopher L. Nehaniv, email: C.L.Nehaniv(a)herts.ac.uk<mailto:C.L.Nehaniv@herts.ac.uk> tel: +44 1707 284470<tel:01707%20284470> The University offers a range of benefits including a pension scheme, professional development, family friendly policies, child care vouchers, a fee waiver of 50% for all children of staff under the age of 21 at the start of the course, discounted memberships at the Hertfordshire Sports Village and generous annual leave. To make a formal application, follow links and apply on-line: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BCH822/research-fellow-biocomputation-mental-heal…

July 12, 2017

Postdoc Position: Learning Dynamics in Recurrent Networks

by Shouval, Harel

A postdoc position is available in the Shouval lab. The Postdoc will work on a project funded by the BRAIN grant: “Learning spatio-temporal statistics from the environment in recurrent networks”. In this project we will model both recurrent network models, and also the learning rules that allow them to learn their dynamics from environmental cues. This project is a collaboration between the lab of Harel Shouval at the University of Texas in Houston, and the lab of Nicolas Brunel at Duke. This is a two-year position and it can start immediately. The Shouval lab is a leader in developing models of synaptic plasticity and understanding their impact on learning and memory. The models we develop span from the molecular level and up to the systems level. In our some of our recent work we study the impact of synaptic plasticity on recurrent network dynamics and on incorporating reinforcement learning into biophysical plasticity models. We use both computational and analytical techniques to study these issues. The Shouval lab is located in the department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, in the UT medical school. Houston has a thriving Neuroscience community and it is an excellent environment for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience. There is a high concentration of Theoretical Neuroscience labs at the different Houston area Universities (Baylor, Rice, UH, UT). Our Theoretical Neuroscience community is highly collaborative and there is a joint organization to foster these collaborations; the Gulf Coast Consortium in Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience (GCC-TCN). We hold an annual conference, joint graduate courses and a journal club. The ideal candidate will have a PhD in Computational Neuroscience with strong analytical and computational skills. I will also consider candidates with a background in the Physical or Computational Sciences who would like to become a Theoretical Neuroscientists. If you want to apply please send me your CV, and a brief cover letter that includes names of possible references. I will also be happy to answer any question you might have about the project or the position. Harel Shouval Professor Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy The University of Texas Medical School, Houston Director of the Neuroscience Graduate program Email: harel.shouval(a)gmail.com<mailto:harel.shouval@gmail.com> Web: https://med.uth.edu/nba/faculty/harel-shouval/

July 11, 2017

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP IN COMPUTATIONAL MODELING OF BRAIN NETWORKS at Stanford University

by Aarthi Padmanabhan

The Stanford Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Laboratory invites applications for a postdoctoral fellowship in human brain network analysis and modeling. We seek candidates with strong research backgrounds in one or more of the following areas: resting-state and task-evoked fMRI connectivity, structural HARDI-based connectivity, neurophysiological modeling of brain networks, Bayesian modeling, machine learning, and deep neural networks. Candidates must have strong computational skills and a PhD in computational neuroscience, computer science, physics, biomedical engineering or related fields. This is an exciting opportunity to work on multiple NIH- and Stanford-funded projects using multimodal (fMRI, optogenetic, DTI, EEG) brain imaging techniques in multiple clinical populations and normative groups. The successful candidate will develop a vigorous research program that contributes to, and complements, ongoing research studies. The candidate will have access to state-of-the-art brain imaging and HPC/GPU facilities. Please email a CV, statement of research interests and relevant background, and names of three referees to Drs. Vinod Menon and Aarthi Padmanabhan at scsnl.stanford+postdoc(a)gmail.com<mailto:scsnl.stanford@gmail.com> Aarthi Padmanabhan, PhD Scientific Research Director Stanford Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Laboratory Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Stanford University School of Medicine

July 11, 2017

Neuroscience Gateway Workshop at SFN 2017 meeting

by Ted Carnevale

Using the Neuroscience Gateway Portal for Parallel Simulations Saturday, Nov. 11 from 9 AM to noon at downtown Washington DC location. This workshop combines didactic presentations and hands-on instruction on how to use the Neuroscience Gateway Portal (NSG) for computationally intensive simulations and data analysis. NSG eliminates most technical and adminstrative barriers to using high performance computing resources, and even gives away free CPU time on parallel supercomputers. Software currently installed on NSG includes BluePyOpt, Brian, CARLsim, Freesurfer, GENESIS, MATLAB, MOOSE, NEST, NEURON, PyNN, and the Virtual Personalized Multimodal Connectome Pipeline. The registration deadline for this workshop is Friday Oct. 27, but you should sign up early because space is limited. See https://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/nsg2017/nsg2017.html for more information and a link to the registration form. --Ted

July 11, 2017

NEURON course at SFN 2017 meeting

by Ted Carnevale

Using NEURON to Model Cells and Networks Friday, Nov. 10 from 9 AM to 5 PM at a downtown Washington DC location. This course provides a practical introduction to building and using models of neurons and networks with NEURON. Covered topics include basic concepts, workflow for building and using models, speeding up simulations with parallel hardware from multicore personal computers to massively parallel supercomputers, using Python with NEURON, and modeling reactive diffusion with the RxD class. The registration deadline for this course is Friday Oct. 27, but you should sign up early because space is limited. See http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/dc2017/dc2017.html for more information and a link to the registration form. --Ted

July 11, 2017

Announcing the workshop on cloud-based BCIs at the BCI Conference 2017

by Vinay Jayaram

Dear all, We are happy to announce to potential attendees of the 7th BCI Conference in September 2017 that Workshop 1 (Cloud-based BCIs: challenges and opportunities of home-use systems for big data collection) is now calling for abstracts about work on BCIs for home use. This workshop is intended to bring together the various subfields of the BCI community to focus on some of the most pressing issues in the field: Robust machine learning with large datasets, low-cost and robust hardware, and applications for use without expert assistance. We are also happy to confirm Dr. Tim Mullen (Qusp Neurotechnologies) and Prof. Brian Murphy (BrainWaveBank) as keynote speakers for our workshop. More information and the workshop schedule can be found here https://webdav.tuebingen.mpg.de/graz2017/. Interested parties are invited to submit a 200-word abstract about the work they would like to present either via the website or to cloudbci(a)tuebingen.mpg.de by 4 August. Looking forwards to seeing you in Graz, Vinay Jayaram -- Vinay Jayaram PhD Student Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems Spemannstrasse 34, 72076 Tübingen, Germany

July 11, 2017

Two PI positions in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Trento, Italy

by moritzwurm

Call for Expression of Interest for two Assistant Professor positions. More senior candidates will also be considered. *Cognitive Neuroimaging Principal Investigator, University of Trento, Neuroimaging Labs (LNiF), Center for Mind-Brain Sciences (CIMeC), Trento, Italy* The Center for Mind-Brain Sciences (CIMeC) at the University of Trento, Italy, invites expressions of interest from highly motivated scholars in view of the opening of two principal investigator positions at the level of assistant professor (3 years + potential 2 year extension). Candidates who have already a tenured position elsewhere would be considered directly for a tenure-track assistant professor/tenured associate professor. /Research Profile/ The ideal candidate should have an established track record of _research in any area of cognitive neuroimaging studies, preferably fMRI_. The successful candidates will work in the Neuroimaging Labs (LNiF: http://www.cimec.unitn.it/en/69/neuroimaging-labs-lnif) at the Center for Mind-Brain Sciences (CIMeC: http://web.unitn.it/en/cimec) They are expected to develop their own research program but also to interact actively with other CIMeC faculty using different methodologies to address various aspects of cognitive functioning. Knowledge of Italian is appreciated but not required. /Teaching/ The successful candidates are expected to contribute to the Center’s teaching mission at the PhD and MSc level. Instruction is in English. Successful candidates will negotiate the possibility of supervising PhD students who are fully funded by the University. The teaching duties at the MSc level vary depending on academic rank. Assistant professors are expected to teach 60 hrs/year, tenure-track assistant professors 90 hrs/year, tenured associate professors 120 hrs/year. UniTN and CIMeC The University of Trento consistently ranks as a top Italian university in both national Research Assessment Evaluations (RAE) and University Surveys.In the latest RAE the University of Trento as a whole ranks 1st among medium-sized universities. The CIMeC's goal is to foster cutting-edge research on cognition and its neural basis, and to support the dissemination of these findings internationally and within the local community. As an interdisciplinary research and teaching center, it draws on faculty from several departments, including Psychology and Cognitive Science, Linguistics and Philosophy, Physics, Mathematics, and Information Engineering and Computer Science. Current faculty members come from Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, USA, Canada, Argentina, Israel, and the United Kingdom. Although a relatively small group, CIMeC faculty have won many competitive national and international grants, including 1 European Research Council (ERC) advanced grant, 1 ERC consolidator grant, 6 ERC starting grants, other European Framework grants, and highly competitive grants awarded by the local government. The Center has consistently been ranked the leading cognitive neuroscience research unit in Italy. It is part of the Erasmus Mundus European Master Program in Language and Communication Technologies. Expressions of interest in English should include a brief motivation letter and a Curriculum Vitae and should be addressed to Dr. Alfonso Caramazza (alfonso.caramazza(a)unitn.it) <mailto:alfonso.caramazza@unitn.it%29>, who chairs a committee that includes Drs. Mel Goodale and Alex Martin.

July 11, 2017

PhD studentship: "The risk of unknowingly disclosing personal information through eye tracking and webcam technology"

by Durant, Szonya

Leverhulme Magna Carta Doctoral Scholarship Department of Psychology and Department of Computer Science, Royal Holloway, University of London Project: The risk of unknowingly disclosing personal information through eye tracking and webcam technology Supervisors: Dr Szonya Durant (Dept. of Psychology), Dr Dawn Watling (Dept. of Psychology) and Dr Zhiyuan Luo (Dept. of Computer Science) Applications are invited for a funded full-time studentship for doctoral research, Awarded under the Leverhulme Magna Carta Doctoral Centre starting in September 2017 (with the possibility of extending the start date until January 2018 at the very latest). The scholarship covers UK and European Union tuition fees and an annual stipend towards living expenses. The 2017/18 value of the stipend is £16,553. The Research Project This project will assess the risk of unknowingly disclosing personal information over social media, simply through how we move our eyes when interacting with or scanning social media. We aim to examine what personal information (e.g. age, sex, aspects of personality) can be determined from eye movement patterns whilst scanning social media using machine learning. This interdisciplinary PhD project draws on the fields of sensory neuroscience, in particular, the experimental study of eye movements and the latest cutting edge computer science developments in machine learning. The novelty of the proposed interdisciplinary approach promises to yield original insights that will expand the knowledge and understanding in both fields of study and have impact for our understanding of issues around internet privacy. This project is supervised by three experts in their field, the primary PhD supervisor (Dr Szonya Durant<https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/szonya-durant(64105598-7…>) and two co-supervisors (Dr Dawn Watling<https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/dawn-watling(70194d88-af…>and Dr Zhiyuan Luo<https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/zhiyuan-luo(cb78d990-b10…>). Both Dr Durant and Dr Watling are based in The Department of Psychology, which has an active and expanding postgraduate research community, is well-equipped for research. It was ranked 6th out of 82 UK Psychology Departments in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), with 93% of the research classified as world-leading or internationally excellent. Research in the Department spans a breadth of topics across psychological sciences and neuroscience and is supported by excellent facilities - further information on the research environment can be found here<https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/psychology/research/home.aspx>. Dr Luo is based in the Department of Computer Science, one of the UK's leading centres for research into Computer Science - further information on the research environment can be found here<https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/computerscience/research/home.aspx>. In the most recent Research Excellent Framework (REF 2014), it was ranked 11th in the UK for the quality of research output, with a third of publications recognised as world leading, and a further half internationally excellent (87% in total). Both departments are situated on a beautiful campus close to London. Applicants should ideally hold, or be predicted to achieve, a first class undergraduate degree or equivalent in Cognitive or Computer Sciences or related disciplines (minimum requirement: 2.1). An MSc in a Cognitive or Computer Sciences related subject is desirable but not essential. The ideal candidate will have strong skills in computer programming and data analysis. Eye tracking and experimental design experience would be advantageous. The Scholarship The scholarship will fund a full-time PhD for three years, during which time a full academic training programme will be provided. The successful candidate will be engaged in all aspects of the research project, including engaging with and disseminating findings to external stakeholders. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the activities of the Magna Carta Doctoral Centre as well as the postgraduate research community in the Department of Psychology including contributing to teaching. For further details about the Leverhulme Magna Carta Doctoral Centre, please see: https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/iquad/news/articles/leverhulmemagnacartadoc… https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studyhere/researchdegrees/feesandfunding/le… Informal enquiries about the project should be directed to: szonya.durant(a)rhul.ac.uk<mailto:szonya.durant@rhul.ac.uk>. Fulldetails on how to make an application are shown on our Departmental Website<https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/psychology/prospectivestudents/postgraduate…>(select tab "3. Leverhulme Magna Carta Studentships") and in the College Webpages<https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studyhere/researchdegrees/applying/applicat…>. For further details on the application process please contact: Sharon Clutterbuck on psyoffice(a)rhul.ac.uk<mailto:psyoffice@rhul.ac.uk>. Closing date: 5pm on Tuesday 1st August 2017 (may be extended if not enough applications are received for the September start date) Interview dates: 7-18 August (can be flexible around existing commitments) ********************************************************************** Szonya Durant Department of Psychology Royal Holloway, University of London Egham TW20 0EX 01784 276522

July 11, 2017

2 PhD in computational cognitive neuroscience / comp linguistics, Uni Birmingham, UK

by Uta Noppeney

The Computational Cognitive Neuroimaging Group at the University of Birmingham, UK, is seeking two enthusiastic PhD candidates with strong analytical and quantitative abilities for the projects: 1. Robust audiovisual speech recognition in man and machine https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=87556 2. Who does what to whom - Syntactic parsing in man and machine https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=87595 Applicants should have a background in computer science, neuroscience, computational linguistics, psychology, physics or related areas. Prior experience in statistical analysis and/or machine learning would be an advantage. The PhD positions are open to UK and EU nationals. A full 4 year studentship award comprises of an annual stipend at £14,553 for 2017/18 (pro rota for part-time) and full payment of tuition fees at UK/EU level of £4,195 in 2017/18. Application deadline 28th July 2017. For further information, please see http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/pgr/epsrc-studentships/index.aspx, links above or email Prof Uta Noppeney (U.Noppeney(a)bham.ac.uk)

July 11, 2017

Job position: PhD / Post-Doc researcher: Deep-Learning and EEG/ECG

by Martijn Arns

Dear colleagues, We have a vacancy for a PhD or Post-Doc researcher with a focus on applying and developing Deep Learning on EEG and ECG data. See below application text and also: https://www.brainclinics.com/vacature Feel free to distribute with interested colleagues. Research Institute Brainclinics is specialized in applied neuroscience with a focus on mood, concentration, and sleep problems as often seen in psychiatric disorders such as depression, ADHD, OCD, and insomnia. Furthermore, Brainclinics is specialized in research into neuromodulation techniques such as rTMS, tDCS and neurofeedback, personalized medicine, Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), chronobiology, sleep and the circadian system. Within our team we are currently looking for a PhD-candidate or Post-Doc Researcher that will focus on developing and evaluating Deep-Learning techniques applied to psychophysiological data such as EEG and ECG, to extract new knowledge from large datasets to foster the RDoC and personalized medicine approaches we investigate. As PhD-candidate/Post-Doc at Brainclinics, you will work in a varied research team consisting of several PhD-candidates as well as senior researchers. You will contribute to innovation in EEG/ECG analysis techniques, support current PhD-candidates with your technical skills, and develop your own research line focusing on Deep-Learning techniques applied to EEG/ECG. To be eligible for application, you need to have demonstrable experience with the techniques listed below. Especially experience with Deep-Learning techniques is a requirement. We expect: • A Master’s degree and/or PhD in a relevant discipline, e.g., (cognitive) neuroscience, physics etc. • Scientific ambition and drive • Knowledge of python and one more higher programming language (e.g. C#) • Knowledge in matrix computation (e.g. MATLAB) • Knowledge of AI-concepts • Knowledge of time series computation • Accented knowledge of Deep learning techniques with net architectures and layer structures such as convolutional layers and LSTM layers • Experience with neuropsychiatric disorders We offer: • A professional, efficient and innovative research team • A minimum contract for 32 hrs, with possible extension to 40 hrs. • A salary in line with the University CAO Apply If you’re interested in this position and you would like to apply, please send your motivation with CV and photo to Dr. Martijn Arns: martijn(a)brainclinics.com<mailto:martijn@brainclinics.com> Only applications that meet the criteria above will be evaluated. Closing date for this application is August 21st, 2017. Kind regards, Martijn Arns, PhD Research Institute Brainclinics Utrecht University Dept. of Experimental Psychology Twitter: @Brainclinics Bijleveldsingel 34 6524 AD Nijmegen The Netherlands Tel: +31(0)24-7503505 GSM: +31 (0)6-48177919 E-mail: martijn(a)brainclinics.com<mailto:martijn@brainclinics.com> URL: www.brainclinics.com<http://www.brainclinics.com/>

July 11, 2017

Tenure track and mid-career positions at ELSC

by Yoram Burak

Please see the two ads below, for faculty positions at the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences. The application deadline for the searches is September 1, 2017. --- *Tenure Track Positions at ELSC* Following the recent inauguration of the new home <https://elsc.huji.ac.il/index.php?q=building> for the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC) <https://elsc.huji.ac.il/>, we are offering tenure-track positions at the lecturer and senior lecturer levels (roughly equivalent to assistant professor level). We are looking for excellent *early-stage scientists* who aspire to establish active innovative and interdisciplinary research programs *in neuroscience*. *ELSC builds upon Hebrew University’s <http://new.huji.ac.il/en> record of excellence and innovation in its multidisciplinary approach to brain sciences. * *ELSC provides a thriving interface between theoretical and experimental neuroscience across levels.* We offer: ü State-of-the-art, individually-designed laboratories and research facilities ü Competitive start-up funding ü Top ranking Ph.D. interdisciplinary program ü Ph.D. and post-doc fellowships ü State-of-the-art central research facilities ü Outstanding academic milieu *We seek to recruit scientists in the following areas:* 1. Theoretical and computational neuroscience 2. Cognitive neuroscience & human brain imaging 3. Neural circuits and behavior 4. System neuroscience in NHP 5. Molecular neuroscience *Application requirements:* ü Curriculum vitae ü A letter of intent ü An outline of future research and scientific vision ü Reference letters from the PhD advisor and Post-Doctoral host ü Three to five publications that best represent their research work ü Names of 2-3 additional colleagues willing to provide letters of reference *Applications Deadline: Sep 1, 2017* *Applications materials have to be submitted on-line <https://elsc.huji.ac.il/content/new-academic-tenure-track-positions-elsc>* *For further information, please contact Ms. Idit Nusilevitz:* *brain(a)elsc.huji.ac.il* <brain(a)elsc.huji.ac.il>*; phone: 972-2-6585375 <02-658-5375>* *Mid-Career Neuroscientists Positions at ELSC* Following the recent inauguration of the new home <https://elsc.huji.ac.il/index.php?q=building> for the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC) <https://elsc.huji.ac.il/>, we are looking for excellent *Mid-career neuroscientists* (associate or full professor) who aspire to establish active innovative and interdisciplinary research. *ELSC builds upon Hebrew University <http://new.huji.ac.il/en>’s record of excellence and innovation in its multidisciplinary approach to brain sciences.* *ELSC provides a thriving interface between theoretical and experimental neuroscience across levels.* We offer: ü Large, individually-designed *laboratories* ü State-of-the-art central *research facilities* ü Competitive *transition* and *start-up* funding ü Ph.D. and *post-doctoral fellowships* ü An Outstanding academic milieu *We seek to recruit mid-career scientists with a proven track record, in all areas of neuroscience.* To apply, please send *Curriculum Vitae* and a *Letter of Intent* directly to <elsc-director(a)elsc.huji.ac.il> *Applications Deadline: Sep 1, 2017* For information about ELSC see *http://elsc.huji.ac.il/ <http://elsc.huji.ac.il/>* For information please contact Ms. Idit Nusilevitz: brain(a)elsc.huji.ac.il; phone: 972-2-6585375 <02-658-5375>

July 11, 2017

Subject:, postdoc position at Georgia Tech: intersection of visual modeling and computer vision

by Christopher Rozell

A postdoc position at the intersection of Computational Neuroscience, Machine Learning, and Computer Vision is available with the group of Christopher Rozell at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA). We are looking for a highly motivated and creative individual who enjoys working in an exciting interdisciplinary research environment. The research project centers around modeling the visual perception of objects undergoing attribute changes. Applicants should hold a PhD in a related discipline with a strong research record. Experience in areas such as modeling of visual perception, manifold learning, and general computer vision are all positives. The position has significant flexibility and the lab is committed to the professional development of the members, making it valuable preparation for people who are interested in academic, industrial or entrepreneurial careers. The position has no mandatory teaching or administrative duties, but the successful candidate will take an active role in mentoring students and further developing the research program. Excellent (written and oral) communication skills in English, strong coding skills, and ability to work on an interdisciplinary team are all required. The start date is flexible but ideally would be as soon as possible. The position is initially for 12 months with the possibility of renewal. Compensation will be commensurate with relevant experience. Georgia Tech has competitive benefits (including comprehensive medical insurance) and is an equal opportunity employer. Georgia Tech's campus in the heart of midtown Atlanta, which is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas (and entrepreneurial communities) in the United States. Atlanta boasts a wide range of opportunities for recreation, culture, and easy access to domestic and international transportation. Candidates should send a CV, a statement of research experience and interests, expected date of availability, and the contact information for three references to Dr. Rozell at (crozell -at- gatech -dot- edu). Applications are currently being reviewed and will continue until the position is filled.

July 10, 2017

3 Phd/PostDoc position PhD position Industrial Robotics and Design of Electronics Equipment - University of Cadiz (Spain).

by Arturo Morgado

University of Cadiz (Spain) are available 3 Phd/PostDoc position at the Applied Robotics Research Group to participate in R&D collaborative projects with companies. You can find details here: <http://vrteit.uca.es/convocatorias/personal-conv/programa-de-atraccion-de-t…> http://vrteit.uca.es/convocatorias/personal-conv/programa-de-atraccion-de-t… Doctorates with experience in the field of transference and innovation in Industrial Robotics and Design of Electronics Equipment. A minimum of 15-year seniority in their grade (Distinguished Researcher) is required for 1 of them (VTIT‐IDROB‐4 position). For the 2 remaining (ASCETI) the minimum applied is two years since the completion of the doctoral thesis (VTIT‐AROB‐13 and VITI‐ADEE‐17 positions). Candidates must speak Spanish and English. Contracts will have a duration of 4 years with a gross salary of 52000 EUR per year plus a yearly bonus of 3000 EUR, in the case of the young researcher (ASCETI), for reaching a minimum of objectives. In the case of the Distinguished Researcher, this amount will rise up to 100.000 EUR. The researchers object of the contract, will be part of a multidisciplinary team and will undertake industrial development, research and innovation projects for the University of Cádiz (Spain) in collaboration with companies of international scope in the area of Cadiz. Moreover, each researcher will be mentoring a doctoral candidate (who will hold a pre-doctoral contract) and will be his/her Thesis Director. The areas of work are as follows: Industrial Robotics and Design of Electronics Equipment. The period established for receiving application goes from 30th of June to 19th of July 2017. The incorporation of the researcher in the University of Cádiz is due in September 2017. Please, click on the following <http://www.uca.es/personal/portal.do?TR=C&IDR=288> http://www.uca.es/personal/portal.do?TR=C&IDR=288 in order to submit your application form. Any question don’t hesitate to contact us: <mailto:industrial.innovation@uca.es> industrial.innovation(a)uca.es and <mailto:arturo.morgado@uca.es> arturo.morgado(a)uca.es. Best regards. --------------------------------- Arturo Morgado Estévez. <mailto:arturo.morgado@uca.es> arturo.morgado(a)uca.es Head Applied Robotics Research Group. TEP-940. Department of Engineering in Automation, Electronics, Architecture and Computer Networks. Faculty of Engineering. University of Cadiz (Spain). Avenida de la Universidad de Cádiz, nº 10, CP 11519, Puerto Real (Cádiz), Spain.

July 10, 2017

PhD position in Computational Neuroscience/Nonlinear Dynamics on synaptic plasticity - INRIA Sophia Antipolis France

by Romain Veltz

A PhD scholarship in mathematical and computational neuroscience on The modelling of excitatory synapses in healty / pathological condition is available at INRIA Sophia Antipolis <https://www.inria.fr/centre/sophia/>, within the Team MathNeuro <https://team.inria.fr/mathneuro/> in collaboration with Dr Marie's team at the Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IPMC, Sophia Antipolis). This 3 year funded PhD scholarship starts in September 2017 or January 2018. Candidate The ideal candidate should have a background in nonlinear dynamics, stochastic analysis and computational neuroscience. He/she should also have strong ability to program in Python / C / Matlab / Julia. French is not a requirement if fluent in English, but willingness to learn would be beneficial. Applications Send CV, transcripts and contact informations of two persons we could reach for recommendation to romain.veltz(a)inria.fr <mailto:romain.veltz@inria.fr> and marie(a)ipmc.cnrs.fr <mailto:marie@ipmc.cnrs.fr>. Supervisors Dr Romain Veltz (INRIA) Dr Helene Marie (IPMC) Project description Synaptic plasticity is one of the fundamental phenomena which shape neural networks. It is thought to be the basis of our memory and learning capabilities. Synaptic plasticity have been modelled recently [1,2,3] but at a phenomenological level. It is for example quite difficult to link these model internal variables to the synapse biophysics. Another issue is noise. Whereas in many models, noise is added as cherry on top, it is in fact internally generated given the small number of synaptic constituants [4]. The project will focus on the development of a stochastic model of the postsynaptic side of an excitatory synapse, in healthy / Alzheimer conditions, which describes the behaviour of the first biochemical molecules targeted upon arrival of Glutamate. More precisely, the project will first aim at modelling the early phase plasticity (LTP, LTD, STDP) in light of recent experimental data [5,6] with aim to take into account data provided by Dr Marie's lab concerning deficient synapses observed in Alzheimer’s disease like conditions. The project will involve a mix of high performance scientific computation, nonlinear dynamics, stochastic analysis, and an enthusiasm for learning about plasticity mechanisms in general. References Clopath, Claudia, Lars Büsing, Eleni Vasilaki, et Wulfram Gerstner. « Connectivity reflects coding: a model of voltage-based STDP with homeostasis ». Nature Neuroscience 13, nᵒ 3 (mars 2010): 344‑52. doi:10.1038/nn.2479. Graupner, Michael, et Nicolas Brunel. « Calcium-Based Plasticity Model Explains Sensitivity of Synaptic Changes to Spike Pattern, Rate, and Dendritic Location ». Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 22 février 2012. doi:10.1073/pnas.1109359109. Costa, Rui Ponte, Robert C. Froemke, P. Jesper Sjöström, et Mark CW van Rossum. « Unified Pre- and Postsynaptic Long-Term Plasticity Enables Reliable and Flexible Learning ». ELife 4 (26 août 2015): e09457. doi:10.7554/eLife.09457. Ribrault, Claire, Ken Sekimoto, et Antoine Triller. « From the Stochasticity of Molecular Processes to the Variability of Synaptic Transmission ». Nature Reviews Neuroscience 12, nᵒ 7 (juillet 2011): 375‑87. doi:10.1038/nrn3025. Fujii, Hajime, Masatoshi Inoue, Hiroyuki Okuno, Yoshikazu Sano, Sayaka Takemoto-Kimura, Kazuo Kitamura, Masanobu Kano, et Haruhiko Bito. « Nonlinear Decoding and Asymmetric Representation of Neuronal Input Information by CaMKIIα and Calcineurin ». Cell Reports 3, nᵒ 4 (25 avril 2013): 978‑87. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2013.03.033. Tigaret, Cezar M., Valeria Olivo, Josef H.L.P. Sadowski, Michael C. Ashby, et Jack R. Mellor. « Coordinated activation of distinct Ca2+ sources and metabotropic glutamate receptors encodes Hebbian synaptic plasticity ». Nature Communications 7 (13 janvier 2016): 10289. doi:10.1038/ncomms10289.

July 10, 2017

[call for papers] Entropy: special issue on "Information Theory in Neuroscience"

by Eugenio Piasini

(apologies for cross-posting) Dear all, The journal Entropy is currently running a Special Issue entitled "Information Theory in Neuroscience", that we believe could be of interest for the members of this list. As the ultimate information processing device, the brain naturally lends itself to be studied with information theory. Application of information theory to neuroscience has spurred the development of principled theories of brain function, has led to advances in the study of consciousness, and to the development of analytical techniques to crack the neural code, that is to unveil the language used by neurons to encode and process information. In particular, advances in experimental techniques enabling precise recording and manipulation of neural activity on a large scale now enable for the first time the precise formulation and the quantitative test of hypotheses about how the brain encodes and transmits across areas the information used for specific functions. This Special Issue emphasizes contributions on novel approaches in neuroscience using information theory, and on the development of new information theoretic results inspired by problems in neuroscience. Research work at the interface of neuroscience, Information Theory and other disciplines is also welcome. Deadline for manuscript submission: 1 December 2017 For more information: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/entropy/special_issues/neuro Eugenio Piasini and Stefano Panzeri, Italian Institute of Technology Guest Editors

July 10, 2017

3 PhD/PostDoc positions in neuromorphic systems

by elisabetta chicca

Dear colleagues, 2 PhD/PostDoc positions are available at the Neuromorphic Behaving Systems group (https://www.cit-ec.de/en/nbs) Faculty of Technology and Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology at Bielefeld University. You can find details here: http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/Universitaet/Aktuelles/Stellenausschreibungen/ Anzeigen/Wiss/wiss17164_englisch.pdf Another PostDoc position is available at the Cognitronics and Sensor Systems Group (http://www.ks.cit-ec.uni-bielefeld.de, same affiliation as above) for a project in collaboration with the Neuromorphic Behaving Systems group. Unfortunately the call is written in German (see link below), but you can contact me (chicca(a)cit-ec.uni-bielefeld.de) if you are interested in details. http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/Universitaet/Aktuelles/Stellenausschreibungen/ Anzeigen/Wiss/wiss17151.pdf The deadline for all positions is July 19. Best regards, Elisabetta Chicca -- Prof. Dr. Elisabetta Chicca CITEC - Bielefeld University Inspiration 1 33619 Bielefeld - Germany Email: chicca(a)cit-ec.uni-bielefeld.de Tel.: +49 521 106-12043 Fax : +49 521 106-12348

July 7, 2017

tDCS workshop with Frank Padberg and Andre Brunoni

by Martijn Arns

Dear colleagues, we are happy to announce a special 2-day tDCS workshop with Frank Padberg and Andre Brunoni to be held in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. This workshop is particularly suited to researcher, psychologists and psychiatrists interested in applying the technique of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), looking for a unique opportunity to learn and discuss its clinical application with highly regarded experts in the field. Professor Dr. Frank Padberg (Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich) will offer expert insight into how tDCS can be applied in a range of psychiatrist disorders, followed by the state-of-the-art application of tDCS in Depression with Dr. Andre Brunoni (University of São Paulo, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich). Working closely with our guest presenters, participants wil gain an understanding of basic applications of tDCS to build up to advanced methods. Also see following link for more information and sign-up information: http://www.neurocaregroup.com/brunoni-padberg-tdcs-workshop-october-2017.ht… Kind regards, Martijn Arns, PhD Director / Researcher Research Institute Brainclinics Chief Scientific Officer neuroCare Group Twitter: @brainclinics / @neuroclinics Bijleveldsingel 34 6524 AD Nijmegen The Netherlands Tel: +31 24-7503505 GSM: +31 6-48177919 Fax: +31 24-8901447 E-mail: martijn(a)brainclinics.com<mailto:martijn@brainclinics.com> URL: www.brainclinics.com<http://www.brainclinics.com/>

July 7, 2017

Computational Neuroscience Job at the Krembil Research Institute

by Frances Skinner

https://www.recruitingsite.com/csbsites/uhncareers/JobDescription.asp?SiteI… <https://www.recruitingsite.com/csbsites/uhncareers/JobDescription.asp?SiteI…> Job Posting #8045761 Position: Computational Neuroscience Research Scientist Site: Krembil Research Institute/Toronto Western Hospital Department: Research Reports to: Director Status: Permanent Full-time The Krembil Research Institute at the University Health Network in Toronto Canada invites applicants to apply for a Scientist position in the area of Computational Neuroscience. The ideal candidate will have a PhD in a relevant field, research expertise and experience in mathematical and computational modeling, and research interests that complement those of the Institute in neurobiology and neurodegeneration. Candidates whose research interests encompasses cellular, micro/macro circuits and/or large scale brain models, and who have collaborative experimental experience are especially encouraged. The successful candidate will have the ability to establish an independent, well-funded program and will be eligible for appointment at the appropriate level within the University of Toronto. The Krembil is one the principal research institutes of the University Health Network of academic teaching hospitals associated with the University of Toronto; the Krembil is also one of the largest research institutes in Canada focusing on human neurological disease from both a basic science and clinical research perspective. The University Health Network (UHN) is Canada's largest academic medical centre, comprising four major teaching hospitals. Qualified applicants must attach their letter of interest, research plan, resume PDF format to the online application and complete some initial screening questions. The search committee will begin to review applications in September with a potential start date in Winter 2018. Posted Date: June 22, 2017 Closing Date: Until filled UHN thanks all applicants, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. UHN is a respectful, caring, and inclusive workplace. We are committed to championing accessibility, diversity and equal opportunity. Requests for accommodation can be made at any stage of the recruitment process providing the applicant has met the Bona-fide requirements for the open position. Applicants need to make their requirements known when contacted.

July 6, 2017

Summer school on Advanced Computational Neuroscience, Germany

by Alexander Schmidt

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Advanced COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE Summer School in Göttingen, Germany “Neural circuit theories for primate cognition” September 02nd - 10th, 2017 *REGISTRATION **DEADLINE *Ju**ly**2**3**, 201**7**** %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Please, feel free to distribute this email to students and postdocs potentially interested in the school. The aCNS school within the Advanced Computational Neuroscience School in the Emotion-Cognition-Link-Series is a *9**-day intensive course* in *mathematical and computational neuroscience*. It offers an intensive pedagogy of advanced mathematical and computational tools to students working in computational neuroscience and already familiar with its interdisciplinary nature and is designed to qualify young researchers to push the frontiers of the field. The following researchers are in charge of the 4 two-day theoretical blocks and 4 evening lectures: * Nicolas Brunel <https://galton.uchicago.edu/%7Enbrunel/>, /University of Chicago/, Chicago, USA * Alexander Gail <https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/57950.html>, /German Primate Center/, Göttingen, Germany * Raoul Memmesheimer <https://memmesheimer.net/>, /University of Bonn/, Bonn, Germany * John Beggs <http://www.indiana.edu/%7Eiubphys/faculty/jmbeggs.shtml>, /University of //Indiana/, Bloomington, USA * Julia Fischer <http://www.dpz.eu/en/unit/cognitive-ethology/about-us.html>, /German Primate Center/, Göttingen, Germany * Eckart Altenmüller <https://www.immm.hmtm-hannover.de/en/institute/people/eckart-altenmueller/>, /University for Music and Theater/, Hanover, Germany * Annekathrin Schacht <http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/356202.html>, /University of Göttingen/, Göttingen, Germany * Georg Martius <https://is.tuebingen.mpg.de/person/gmartius>, /M//PI//for Intelligent Systems/, Tübingen, Germany The consecutive two day thematic blocks are dedicated to mathematical approaches to circuit dynamics. Each lecturer will give a self-contained introduction to a particular set of theoretical tools in a block of two morning lectures. In the afternoon, participants will work on problem sets designed to develop proficiency in both the mathematical and computational tools learned earlier that day. An additional set of evening ‘easy’ lectures will give the opportunity to discuss significant advances in the field. The course takes place at the Department of Nonlinear Dynamics of the Max-Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen. Registration fee is 200 €. Course language is English. Housing is provided by the school. Travel grants can be applied for. *Only 15 participants will accepted. We invite applicants to apply by filling out the application form at:* *www.bccn-goettingen.de* <http://www.bccn-goettingen.de/events/cns-course> *and have their reference letters submitted by *July 23, 2017*.* Best regards and looking forward to seeing you in Göttingen, B. Feulner, D. Regel, A. Schmidt and J. Wilting (local committee, PhD students) on behalf of the course directors Prof. F. Wolf and Prof. A. Schacht

July 6, 2017

New Book: The Rewiring Brain

by Arjen van Ooyen

Dear colleagues, We would like to draw your attention to our recently published book: *The Rewiring Brain: A Computational Approach to Structural Plasticity in the Adult Brain*, van Ooyen, A, and Butz-Ostendorf, M, eds, Academic Press, June 2017. For more information (preview) and to order the book, go to https://www.elsevier.com/books/the-rewiring-brain/van- ooyen/978-0-12-803784-3 Also see https://anvooyen.home.xs4all.nl/papers/TheRewiringBrain.html *Description* The adult brain is not as hard-wired as traditionally thought. By modifying their small- or large-scale morphology, neurons can make new synaptic connections or break existing ones (structural plasticity). Structural changes accompany memory formation and learning, and are induced by neurogenesis, neurodegeneration and brain injury such as stroke. Exploring the role of structural plasticity in the brain can be greatly assisted by mathematical and computational models, as they enable us to bridge the gap between system-level dynamics and lower level cellular and molecular processes. However, most traditional neural network models have fixed neuronal morphologies and a static connectivity pattern, with plasticity merely arising from changes in the strength of existing synapses (synaptic plasticity). In *The Rewiring Brain*, the editors bring together, for the first time, contemporary modeling studies that investigate the implications of structural plasticity for brain function and pathology. Starting with an experimental background on structural plasticity in the adult brain, the book covers computational studies on homeostatic structural plasticity, the impact of structural plasticity on cognition and cortical connectivity, the interaction between synaptic and structural plasticity, neurogenesis-related structural plasticity, and structural plasticity in neurological disorders. Structural plasticity adds a whole new dimension to brain plasticity, and *The Rewiring Brain* shows how computational approaches may help to gain a better understanding of the full adaptive potential of the adult brain. The book is written for both computational and experimental neuroscientists. Key features: · Reviews the current state of knowledge of structural plasticity in the adult brain. · Gives a comprehensive overview of computational studies on structural plasticity · Provides insights into the potential driving forces of structural plasticity and the functional implications of structural plasticity for learning and memory · Serves as inspiration for developing novel treatment strategies for stimulating functional repair after brain damage *Book Contents* Editorial *Arjen van Ooyen and Markus Butz-Ostendorf* Section I. Experimental background 1. Structural plasticity and cortical connectivity *Vassilis Kehayas and Anthony Holtmaat* 2. Structural plasticity induced by adult neurogenesis *Gregory W. Kirschen, Kurt A. Sailor, and Shaoyu Ge* 3. Structural neural plasticity during stroke recovery *Kimberly Gerrow and Craig E. Brown* 4. Is lesion-induced synaptic rewiring driven by activity homeostasis? *Markus Butz-Ostendorf and Arjen van Ooyen* Section II. Homeostatic structural plasticity 5. Network formation through activity-dependent neurite outgrowth: a review of a simple model of homeostatic structural plasticity *Arjen van Ooyen* 6. Clustered arrangement of inhibitory neurons can lead to oscillatory dynamics in a model of activity-dependent structural plasticity *Rosanna C. Barnard, Istvan Z. Kiss, Simon F. Farmer, and Luc Berthouze* 7. A detailed model of homeostatic structural plasticity based on dendritic spine and axonal bouton dynamic *s**Markus Butz-Ostendorf and Arjen van Ooyen* 8. Critical periods emerge from homeostatic structural plasticity in a full-scale model of the developing cortical column *Sebastian Rinke, Mikael Naveau, Felix Wolf and Markus Butz-Ostendorf* 9. Lesion-induced dendritic remodeling as a new mechanism of homeostatic structural plasticity in the adult brain *Steffen Platschek, Hermann Cuntz, Thomas Deller, and Peter Jedlicka* Section III. Structural plasticity and connectivity 10. The role of structural plasticity in producing nonrandom neural connectivity *Paul Miller* 11. Structural plasticity and the generation of bidirectional connectivity *Daniel Miner, Felix Z. Hoffmann, Florence Kleberg, and Jochen Triesch* 12. Spike timing-dependent structural plasticity of multicontact synaptic connections *Moritz Deger* 13. Selection of synaptic connections by wiring plasticity for robust learning by synaptic weight plasticity *Naoki Hiratani and Tomoki Fukai* Section IV. Structural plasticity and learning and memory 14. Within a spine's reach *Will DeBello and Karen Zito* 15. Impact of structural plasticity on memory capacity *Panagiotis Bozelos and Panayiota Poirazi* 16. Long-term information storage by the interaction of synaptic and structural plasticity *Michael Fauth, Florentin Wörgötter, and Christian Tetzlaff* 17. Impact of structural plasticity on memory formation and decline *Andreas Knoblauch* Section V. Neurogenesis-related structural plasticity 18. Adult neurogenesis and synaptic rewiring in the hippocampal dentate gyrus *Arjen van Ooyen, Gertraud Teuchert-Noodt, Keren Grafen, and Markus Butz-Ostendorf* 19. Modifications in network structure and excitability may drive differential activity dependent integration of granule cells into dentate gyrus circuits during normal and pathological adult neurogenesis *Quinton Skilling, James Roach, Alison L. Althaus, Geoffrey G. Murphy, Leonard Sander, and Michal Zochowski* 20. Computational perspectives on adult neurogenesis *Kristofor D. Carlson, Fredrick Rothganger, and James B. Aimone* 21. Restricted boltzmann machine models of hippocampal coding and neurogenesis *Rory Finnegan, Mark Shaw, and Suzanna Becker* Section VI. Structural plasticity and pathology 22. Modeling the impact of lesions in the brain *Sol Lim, Frances Hutchings, and Marcus Kaiser* 23. Network models of epilepsy-related pathological structural and functional alterations in the dentate gyrus *Ivan Raikov, Mark Plitt, and Ivan Soltesz* 24. Computational models of stroke recovery *Vittorio Sanguineti* 25. Neural plasticity in human brain connectivity: the effects of deep brain stimulation *Tim J. van Hartevelt, Henrique M. Fernandes, Angus B. A. Stevner, Gustavo Deco, and Morten L. Kringelbach*

July 6, 2017

CFP - HAI 2017 Workshop: Representation Learning for Human and Robot Cognition

by Amir Aly

CALL FOR PAPERS **Apologies for cross posting ** The full day workshop: "*Representation Learning for Human and Robot Cognition*" In conjunction with the *5th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction* *- Bielefeld - Germany - October * *17th, 2017* *Webpage: **http://cognitive-mirroring.org/en/events/hai2017_workshop/* <http://cognitive-mirroring.org/en/events/hai2017_workshop/> *I. Aim and Scope *Creating intelligent and interactive robots has been subject to extensive research studies. They are rapidly moving to the center of human environments so that they collaborate with human users in different applications, which requires high-level cognitive functions so as to allow them to understand and learn from human behavior. To this end, an important challenge that attracts much attention in cognitive science and artificial intelligence, is the “Symbol Emergence” problem, which investigates the bottom-up development of symbols through social interaction. This research line employs representation learning based models for understanding language and action in a developmentally plausible manner so as to make robots able to behave appropriately on their own. This could open the door to robots to understand syntactic formalisms and semantic references of human speech, and to associate language knowledge to perceptual knowledge so as to successfully collaborate with human users in space. Another interesting approach to study representation learning is “Cognitive Mirroring”, which refers to artificial systems that could make cognitive processes observable, such as the models that could learn concepts of objects, actions, and/or emotions from humans through interaction. A key idea of this approach is that robots learn individual characteristics of human cognition rather than acquiring a general representation of cognition. In this way, the characteristics of human cognition become observable and can be measured as modifications in model parameters, which is difficult to verify through neuroscience studies only. In this workshop, we invite researchers in artificial intelligence, cognitive science, cognitive robotics, and neuroscience to share their knowledge and research findings on representation learning, and to engage in cutting-edge discussions with other experienced researchers so as to help promoting this research line in the Human-Agent Interaction (HAI) community. *II. Keynote Speakers * 1. *Beata Joanna Grzyb *– Radboud University – The Netherlands 2. *Thomas Hermann*– Bielefeld University – Germany 3. *Tetsuya Ogata *– Waseda University – Japan 4. *Erhan Oztop *– Ozyegin Universiy – Turkey 5. * Stefan Wermter *– University of Hamburg – Germany *III. Submission * 1. For paper submission, use the following EasyChair web link: *Paper Submission <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=rlhrc2017>*. 2. Use the ACM SIGCHI format: *ACM SIGCHI Templates <http://www.sigchi.org/publications/chipubform>*. 3. Submitted papers should be limited to 2-4 pages maximum. The primary list of topics covers the following points (but not limited to): - Computational model for high-level cognitive capabilities - Predictive learning from sensorimotor information - Multimodal interaction and concept formulation - Human-robot communication and collaboration based on machine learning - Learning supported by external trainers by demonstration and imitation - Bayesian modeling - Learning with hierarchical and deep architectures - Interactive reinforcement learning * IV. Important Dates * 1. Paper submission: *01-September-2017* 2. Notification of acceptance: *15-September-2017* 3. Camera-ready version: *30-September-2017* 4. Workshop: *17-October-2017* *V. Organizers * 1. *Takato Horii *– Osaka University – Japan 2. *Amir Aly *– Ritsumeikan University – Japan 3. *Yukie Nagai *– National Institute of Information and Communications Technology – Japan 4. * Takayuki Nagai *– The University of Electro-Communications – Japan -- *Amir Aly, Ph.D.* Senior Researcher Emergent Systems Laboratory College of Information Science and Engineering Ritsumeikan University 1-1-1 Noji Higashi, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577 Japan

July 5, 2017

TECHNE AHRC Funded PhD Studentship: "Using Depth of Field to Guide Attention and Convey Narrative Structure"

by Durant, Szonya

TECHNE AHRC Funded PhD Studentship: "Using Depth of Field to Guide Attention and Convey Narrative Structure" Royal Holloway, University of London - The Department of Psychology and the Department of Media Arts Qualification type: PhD Location: London, Egham Funding for: UK Students, EU Students Funding amount: £16,553 plus fees at Home/EU rate. Closes: 1st August 2017 Supervisors: Dr Szonya Durant (Dept. of Psychology) and Mr Adam Ganz (Dept. of Media Arts). Applications are invited for a National Productivity Investment Fund PhD studentship funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council starting in October 2017. The studentship includes a stipend of £16,553 (plus fees at home/EU rates) for three years. There is an additional NPIF £550 per year to facilitate engagement with the Partner, and students can apply for an additional six months stipend to engage in extended development activities such as work placements. As a TECHNE student, the person selected will have full access to the TECHNE Doctoral Training Partnership development activities and networking opportunities, joining a cohort of about 50 students per year from across seven universities in London and the south-east. See www.techne.ac.uk<http://www.techne.ac.uk/>. TECHNE students can apply for additional funding to support individual or group training and development activities. This interdisciplinary PhD project draws on the fields of sensory neuroscience, in particular, the experimental study of eye movements and film and media studies, and in particular the study of visual perception, narrative comprehension, and affective response in relation to film editing. The novelty of the proposed interdisciplinary approach promises to yield original insights that will expand the knowledge and understanding in both disciplines. It expands the new discipline of psychocinematics by looking at how audiences perceive (and thus how filmmakers can use) a new element of film grammar - the ability to vary depth of field within in a shot which has been developed by our industrial partner Cinefade. The primary PhD supervisor is based in the Department of Psychology, which has an active and expanding postgraduate research community, is well-equipped for research. It was ranked 6th out of 82 UK Psychology Departments in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), with 93% of our research classified as world-leading or internationally excellent. Research in the department spans a breadth of topics across psychological sciences and neuroscience and is supported by excellent facilities - further information on the research environment can be found here<https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/psychology/home.aspx>. The second supervisor is based in the Media Arts Department, a top 10 REF department led by award-winning world-class experts and leading industry practitioners, which provides a professional working environment for the development of media practice skills and creativity. Both departments are situated on our beautiful Egham campus close to London. Applicants should ideally hold, or be predicted to achieve, a first class undergraduate degree or equivalent in Psychology, Media Arts, or related disciplines (minimum requirement: 2.1). An MSc in a psychology- or cinematography-related subject is desirable but not essential. The ideal candidate will have strong skills in experimental design and statistical analysis, and some experience of lens-based media, film editing, computer programming, and eye tracking would be advantageous. The project will involve a 6 months placement working with CineFade Ltd which will involve trips to various UK locations to meetings with their clients. Applicants must meet the RCUK residency requirements as described in paragraphs 43-46 of the 'Conditions of Research Council Training Grants<http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/documents/termsconditionstraininggrants-pdf/>' and comply with conditions set out in the AHRC Training Grant Funding Guide<http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/skills/phdstudents/currentawardholders/>. Informal enquiries about the project should be directed to szonya.durant(a)rhul.ac.uk<mailto:szonya.durant@rhul.ac.uk> or adam.ganz(a)rhul.ac.uk<mailto:adam.ganz@rhul.ac.uk>. Full details on how to make an application are shown on our Departmental Website<https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/psychology/prospectivestudents/postgraduate…> (select "tab 2 - Research Council UK Funded Studentships") and in the College Webpages<https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studyhere/researchdegrees/applying/applicat…>. For further details on the application process please contact Sharon Clutterbuck (psyoffice(a)rhul.ac.uk<mailto:psyoffice@rhul.ac.uk>). Closing date: 5pm on Tuesday 1st August 2017. Interview dates: 7-18 August (can be flexible around existing commitments). Szonya Durant Department of Psychology Royal Holloway, University of London Egham TW20 0EX 01784 276522

July 5, 2017

Bernstein Conference 2017 in Göttingen - early room booking strongly recommended !

by Kerstin Schwarzwaelder

Dear colleagues, Please let me remind you that the number of available accommodation for the Bernstein Conference 2017 in Göttingen is very limited due to several concurrent events. Thus, we strongly recommend early room booking! Many Hotels in Göttingen are already booked out for that week! The local organizers of the Bernstein Conference arranged for room contingents in a variety of hotels that you may book by yourself by email or phone. Please follow the instructions at the Accommodations Website (www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2017/venue/accommodation<http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2017/venue/accommodation>). We would like to emphasize that these room contingents will be held open up to different expiration dates depending on the hotel (or until they are filled). Many expiration dates were already mid of June 2017. We strongly encourage participants to share rooms and to book rooms as a group. We emphasize that it will be very difficult to book accommodation beyond the expiration dates. Please find a list of the hotels at the Accommodations Website of the Bernstein Conference. Dates of the Bernstein Conference 2017: ************************************************************** Satellite Workshops September 12-13, 2017 Main Conference September 13-15, 2017 PhD Symposium September 12 & 15, 2017 ************************************************************** Venue of the Bernstein Conference 2017: ************************************************************** The Central Lecture Hall (Zentrales Hörsaal Gebäude, ZHG) Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5 37073 Göttingen, Germany ************************************************************** Website of the Bernstein Conference 2017: ************************************************************** www.bernstein-conference.de<http://www.bernstein-conference.de> ************************************************************** Best regards, Kerstin Schwarzwälder -- Dr. Kerstin Schwarzwälder Scientific Coordination / Management Officer Please note: Our email addresses have changed. Please use k.schwarzwaelder(a)fz-juelich.de<mailto:k.schwarzwaelder@fz-juelich.de> 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 mail: k.schwarzwaelder(a)fz-juelich.de<mailto:k.schwarzwaelder@fz-juelich.de> web: www.nncn.de<http://www.nncn.de> Twitter: NNCN_Germany<https://twitter.com/NNCN_Germany> YouTube: Bernstein TV<https://www.youtube.com/user/BernsteinNetwork> Facebook: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany<https://www.facebook.com/BernsteinNetwork/> LinkedIn: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany<https://www.linkedin.com/company/bernstein-network-computational-neuroscien…> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/bernstein-network-computational-neuroscien…> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 4, 2017

Research positions in Neuromorphic computing in Singapore

by Yansong Chua

Multiple scientist and engineer positions are open for a 4-year neuromorphic program in Singapore, at the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), A*STAR. The program is a multi-disciplinary effort, that straddles across the hardware (neuromorphic chip with RRAM, on-chip learning), middleware (emulator) and software (learning algorithms), and we aim to develop a demonstrating application system at end of the program. The program hence presents an unique research opportunity for candidates hoping to build a complete neuromorphic learning system. We are now in the early stages of the program and are actively recruiting talented scientists who would be excited to work on any aspects of the program (hardware, middleware, software and system integration). Multiple top-ranked universities and research institutes in Singapore (NUS, NTU, IME, IHPC, I2R) are working on the program. The work package I am in-charge of is primarily involved in the design of better algorithms for spiking neural networks. To this end, successful candidates will conduct research in one or more of the following areas: - Neuronal encoding: how to better encode external stimuli into spike based representations to facilitate decoding with high fidelity and also better learning performance (in terms of accuracy and power efficiency). - Supervised learning: given that spiking neural networks are asynchronous and sparse in their activities, the design of supervised learning algorithms that can fully capitalize on these properties becomes critical. - Mapping of state-of-art deep learning networks to spiking networks. Neuromorphic learning algorithms are still solving fairly simple problems compared to deep learning. For this, we would like to systematically borrow from the deep learning community networks and learning algorithms that can quickly boost the capabilities of spiking neural networks. - Unsupervised learning. STDP is well suited for unsupervised learning in spiking neural networks, and we would like to further advance STDP learning in spiking neural networks (both theory and applications). Preference will be given to candidates who can document knowledge in deep learning, spiking neural networks or signal processing (with interest in spiking neural networks). Candidates must have a PhD (for scientists) or MS/BS (for engineers) in computer science, computational neuroscience or related fields. Strong programming and quantitative skills are highly desired. Candidates should be proficient in spoken and written English. The appointment will be for 3 years, and extended for another 1 year, after review. Salaries are commensurate with internationally-competitive salaries and benefits. The start date is flexible and applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the positions are filled. Other benefits include: - Funding for international conferences and training courses - Collaboration opportunities with an excellent network of international scientists Candidates please send your curriculum vitae, a statement of research interests and three references to Dr. Yansong Chua (chuays(a)i2r.a-star.edu.sg ).

July 4, 2017

Computer scientist or Scientific programmer in the Department of Neural Systems and Coding

by Friedrich Kretschmer

Computer scientist or Scientific programmer The Max Planck Institute for Brain Research <https://www.mpg.de/151405/hirnforschung?section=all> in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, is an innovative and growing research facility of the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science. The Department of Neural Systems and Coding <https://brain.mpg.de/research/laurent-department.html> (Prof. Dr. Dr. Gilles Laurent) is part of the interdisciplinary neuroscience campus in Frankfurt/Riedberg where the new MPI building is located. Research in the Department aims to understand the physiology of perception with an experimental focus centered on neural computation, neuronal coding and integration. To support our international team of biologists, computer scientists and physicists, we invite applications for a full time staff position as Computer scientist or Scientific programmer, starting as soon as possible, initially with a fixed-term contract for two years. Your profile & our requirements We seek a self-driven and interactive individual with the following skill set: * advanced programming skills and strong understanding of OOP concepts * strong experience working with MATLAB or Python. * proficient understanding of code versioning tools * practical knowledge of best coding practices * experience with management, storage and access of large datasets * cross platform development for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux platforms. Applicants should be familiar with a scientific environment. Knowledge of computational neuroscience and practice in other programming languages (C, C++, R), as well as computer vision, image processing, object recognition, automatic processing and control of behavioral experiments would be of advantage. Candidates are expected to hold a degree in a quantitative field involving computational work, such as computer science, physics, applied math, electrical engineering or comparable research experience. Graduate work at Masters or PhD level (science exposure) is a plus. Our offer We offer a competitive salary based on the collective wage agreement for government service wWorkers (TVöD Bund) depending on qualifications and professional experience as well as various fringe benefits in accordance with public service provisions. You can expect an interesting, responsible and varied job in a young, international and interdisciplinary team. Your application The Max Planck Society is an equal opportunity employer and is striving to increase the proportion of women in areas where they are under-represented. It therefore expressly encourages female applicants. The Max Planck Society is striving to employ more individuals with disabilities. It therefore expressly encourages applicants with disabilities. Please submit your application (in English, single PDF file) by email (HR(a)brain.mpg.de <mailto:HR@brain.mpg.de>) until *July 31, 2017* to Max Planck Institute for Brain Research -Human Resources- Max-von-Laue-Str. 4 60438 Frankfurt am Main Germany

July 3, 2017

Neuroinformatics 2017 in Kuala Lumpur!

by congress

Dear all, It is high time to register for Neuroinformatics 2017, August 20-21, in Kuala Lumpur! See full program and speakers here: *http://neuroinformatics2017.org/program/* <http://neuroinformatics2017.org/program/> *Register by July 15th to get early bird registration rates: * *http://neuroinformatics2017.org/register/ <http://neuroinformatics2017.org/register/>* The annual INCF Congress provides a meeting place for researchers in all fields related to neuroinformatics. Join us for keynotes from top neuroscientists, community sessions and poster- and demo sessions. This meeting is especially useful for anyone who is developing neuroscience tools and methods, working on better ways to handle neuroscience data, and looking for cross-disciplinary collaborations. *http://neuroinformatics2017.org/* <http://neuroinformatics2017.org/> Please spread this information to anyone you feel might be interested in attending! *The International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF) is an international non-profit organization devoted to advancing the field of neuroinformatics and global collaborative brain research. Learn more about INCF www.incf.org <http://www.incf.org/>* *We look forward to seeing you in Kuala Lumpur!* Best Regards INCF Secretariat

July 3, 2017

PhD position in Theoretical Neuroscience/Nonlinear Dynamics - Ile De France (Paris)

by A. Torcini

More details here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nowtt4cb3d69xfi/project_phd.pdf?dl=0 Title of the PhD project: Exact Reduction of Multiscale Neural Dynamics Goal: PhD grant without teaching duties, 3 years, fully funded, 1400 euros/month (with teaching duties in french the salary can increase to 1600 euros/month) When: starting from 1st October 2017 Keywords: Dynamics of neural networks; Mean field analysis; Microscopic and Macroscopic statistical analysis; Linear and nonlinear instabilities; Lyapunov exponents Where: The candidate will be based at the Universite' de Cergy-Pontoise, Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modélisation in Cergy-Pontoise, Ile de France (France) under the supervision of Prof Alessandro Torcini and with the co-supervision of Dr. E. Montbrió at the Center for Brain and Cognition, Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona, Spain). Required titles/skills: - Master Title (M2) in Theoretical Physics or in Appled Mathematics or in related subjects - Strong knowlegde of statistical mechanics, nonlinear dynamics, applied mathematics - Strong ability to program in Fortran or in C language - Knowledge in computational neuroscience - Interest for multidisciplinary research - Ability to turn smoothly autonomous, once the road has been set - Programming with Matlab and/or Python - French is not a requirement if fluent in English, but willingness to learn would be beneficial How to apply and more details can be downloaded here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nowtt4cb3d69xfi/project_phd.pdf?dl=0 Funding: The project is funded by the Initiative of Excellence Paris Seine, within the programme of the French Government "Investissemensts d'Avenir "

July 2, 2017

LAWCN 2017 - Submission Deadline Extended: July 15, 2017

by Christian Brackmann

Due to new partnerships with IBRO (International Brain Research Organization), SPRINGER, IEEE-RITA, CCIS/ISI Proceedings and numerous requests, the submission deadline was extended to July 15, 2017! Apologies for cross-posting and/or duplicate posts. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CALL FOR PAPERS LATIN AMERICAN WORKSHOP ON COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE 2017 Paper Submission Deadline: July 15, 2017 (extended) November 22-24, 2017 Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil. http://www.inf.ufrgs.br/lawcn/ Contact: lawcn2017(a)easychair.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computational neuroscience is the study of brain function regarding the information processing properties of the structures that make up the nervous system. It is an interdisciplinary science that links the diverse fields of neuroscience, as cognitive science, medicine, psychology, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, mathematics, physics and even philosophy. The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), located in Porto Alegre, in the south of Brazil, has promoted a more restricted version of this Workshop in November 2012. Since then, participants and investigators in the interdisciplinary fields related to Computational Neuroscience are claiming to resume the realization of this event. In this sense, with a broader scope aiming to encourage young researchers and graduate master and doctorate students in all Latin America, this edition will have three main topics: a) neuroscience, b) neuroengineering and c) artificial intelligence and related techniques. The Workshop will consist mainly of the following activities: 1. presentation of up to 8 key renowned international and national researchers; 2. presentation of up to 50 oral presentations; 3. presentation of poster presentations; 4. presentation of practical applications in neuroscience, both from University and from companies active in the field; and 5. practical demonstration of the A2200 Enigma machine, which belongs to the Informatics Institute, as a special tribute to the 105th Birthday Anniversary of Alan Turing, considered one of the founding fathers of Computer Science. All participants who investigate and contribute to the understanding of the properties of the brain, such as Medicine, Physics, Computer Science, Engineering, Psychology, Philosophy and others are welcomed. Issues related to the support of Communication and Information Technology and High-Performance Computing in Neuroscience will receive particular attention. UFRGS is happy to welcome LATIN AMERICAN WORKSHOP ON COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE (LAWCN) in Porto Alegre, Brazil. GENERAL INFORMATION IMPORTANT DATES * June 30, 2017 July 15, 2017: Submission deadline for papers * September 04, 2017: Notification of acceptance * September 25, 2017: Camera-ready papers and copyrights waivers * November 13, 2017: Posters Image Files due, which will be digitally presented * November 22-24, 2017: Workshop, UFRGS - Porto Alegre, Brazil. SCOPE LAWCN 2017 covers all aspects of Computational Neuroscience. Although the interdisciplinary nature of the Conference and the stimulus to work at intersections and the frontiers of different disciplines, for the sake of clarifying the scope of the Workshop, topics will be presented on the three main axes. The interest topics include (but are not limited to): a) Neuroscience: * Sensory processing * Network dynamics * Reinforcement learning * Motivation and decision making * Statistical approaches in neuroscience * Systems Neuroscience * Learning and memory Attention * Arousal of Sensory-Motor Integration Learning in networks * Ethical and philosophical issues related to Neuroscience * Educational issues b) Neuroengineering: * Large-scale recordings * Neural signal processing * Neuromodulation * Neuroprosthetics * Robotics * Biomedical devices development * Humanoid robots * Robots for Elderly People * Sensing in Robotics * Fusion of Sensors * Hardware implementations in Neuroscience * Software implementations in Neuroscience * Brain-Computer Interfaces: design and applications * Ethical and philosophical issues related to Neuro-engineering * Educational issues c) Artificial Intelligence and related techniques: * Artificial Intelligence Techniques in Neuroscience * Bioinformatics * Clustering and Applications * Computer Vision, Cognitive and Humanoid Vision * Databases, Data Mining, Intelligent Data Analysis, Knowledge-based Systems and Linguistic Tools * Data Visualization and Applications * Deep Learning * Statistical Pattern Recognition/Document Processing and Recognition * Fuzzy and Hybrid Techniques * Geometric Algebra Application in Perception-Action * High-Performance Computing for Pattern Recognition * Image Coding, Processing, and Analysis * Kernel Machines * Mathematical Theory of Computational Neuroscience * Neural Networks * Parallel and Distributed Applications for Computational Neuroscience * Robotics and Humanoids * Shape and Texture Analysis * Signal Processing and Analysis * Spatio-temporal Analysis * Ethical and philosophical issues related to Artificial Intelligence * Educational issues KEYNOTE SPEAKERS LAWCN Organizing Committee is proud to announce the confirmation of the following invited talks: Dr. Francisco Sotres Bayón, Professor of Neurosciences at the National Autonomous University of México(UNAM ), México Title of the talk : Understanding the Brain mechanisms of learned and innate motivational conflicts Dr. Laurence Devillers,Professor of Computer Science at Paris-Sorbonne University,Paris,France Title of the talk : Affective and Social Robotics : engagement,evaluation and ethics Dr. Sen Cheng, Professor of Computational Neuroscience at the Ruhr University Bochum(RUB),Bochum, Germany Title of the talk : Intrinsic Sequences in the hippocampus for spatial navigation and memory storage Dr. Vinicius Rosa Cota, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Federal University of São João del-Rei (UFSJ), São João del-Rei, Brazil Title of the talk : Toward a neural prosthesis to the epileptic brain by tackling neural hyper synchronism The confirmation of other invited speakers will be done soon. REGISTRATION FEES - Until 30/06/2017 15/07/2017 Undergraduate Student: R$ 100,00 Graduate Student: R$ 150,00 Professionals: R$ 200,00 - Until 13/10/2017 Undergraduate Student: R$ 125,00 Graduate Student: R$ 175,00 Professionals: R$ 225,00 - From 14/10/2017 Undergraduate Student: R$ 150,00 Graduate Student: R$ 200,00 Professionals: R$ 250,00 Registrations can be done at: http://www2.fundacaomedica.hcpa.ufrgs.br/siafnet/hinscricoesemcursosv3.aspx… PAPER SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATIONS - Papers should be submitted exclusively through EasyChair website: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=lawcn2017 - Papers will be evaluated based on their originality, quality, and significance of the theoretical and practical contribution to Computational Neuroscience; - Only papers presented at the conference will be included in the proceedings; - All papers (Short and Full) and Digital Posters must be in PDF format and include abstract, figures, tables and references in the minimum/maximum amount of pages (according to the category desired); - Papers can be submitted in four categories (see image bellow): - Short paper not related directly to Computer Science: - Length: between 3 and 8 pages - Languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese - Short paper related to Computer Science: - Length: between 6 and 8 pages - Language: English - Full paper not related directly to Computer Science: - Length: between 10 and 15 pages - Languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese - Full paper related to Computer Science: - Length: between 10 and 15 pages - Language: English - Papers that are not related directly to Computer Science will be published in the Latin-American Workshop on Computational Neuroscience Proceedings and can be submitted in English, Portuguese or Spanish. Papers that are related to Computer Science will be published in Springer-Verlag Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS) Proceedings (ISSN 1865-0929), and the best papers will be indicated to be published in Education, Technology and Culture (ISSN 1808-0588) or IEEE-RITA (ISSN 1932-8540). - Papers (Short and Full) can be selected by the Program Committee for Oral or Poster presentations, regardless its length and category. - At least one author of each accepted paper for oral or poster presentation must register at the conference. If more than one paper per author is accepted, there is an extra registration fee; - Since LAWCN has goals to foster and encourage investigation careers of young and talented researchers, the Program Committee will select the best papers to be published in indexed journals. Contacts with editors have already been made and will continue until the realization of the Workshop to stimulate Science divulgation. - One of the authors must sign and attach a disclosure form if the paper is accepted; - More details about the papers submission process can be found on the Congress web page. LAWCN AWARDS The Program Committee will select the three best oral presentations (one for each main topic of the event) during the workshop. One of the authors of these papers will be entitled to a prize that will consist of amounts up to USD 300 for registration in scientific events in areas related to the Workshop and which occur in 2018, as well as free registration for the next edition of LAWCN. These awards will depend on the amount obtained by the registrations. ORGANIZERS General Chair: Prof. Dr. Dante Augusto Couto Barone, Informatics Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Deputy General Chair: Prof. Dr. Marino Bianchin, Medicine Faculty, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Organizing Committee: Christian Puhlmann Brackmann IFFAR, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil Dante Augusto Couto Barone UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Eduardo Oliveira Teles IFBA, Camaçari, BA, Brazil Heron Pereira UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Jaime Andres Riascos Salas UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Marino Muxfeldt Bianchin UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Paulo Rogério de Almeida Ribeiro UFMA, São Luís, MA, Brazil Pedro Schestatsky UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Rodrigo Alejandro Sierra UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Program Committee: Alexandre César Muniz de Oliveira, Informatics Department, Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), São Luís, Brazil Antônio Carlos Roque, Physics and Mathematics Department, São Paulo University (USP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil Areolino de Almeida Neto, Informatics Department, Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), São Luís, Brazil Christian Haag Kristensen, Psychology Faculty, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Dante Augusto Couto Barone, Informatics Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Diana Adamatti, Center of Computational Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG), Rio Grande, Brazil Edson Prestes e Silva Junior, Informatics Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Eduardo López-Larraz, Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioural Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany Eduardo Vicentini de Medeiros, Experimental Philosophy and Cognitive Studies Laboratory, Vale do Rio dos Sinos University (UNISINOS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Fabrício Lima Brasil, Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neurosciences, Santos Dumont Institute (ELS IINN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil Felipe Meneguzzi, Informatics Faculty, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Francisco Sotres Bayón, Celular Physiology Institute, National Autonomous University of México (UNAM), México Frederico Augusto Casarsa de Azevedo, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany Gustavo Gauer, Psychology Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Hougelle Simplício Gomes Pereira, Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neurosciences, Santos Dumont Institute (ELS IINN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil Jés de Jesus Fiais Cerqueira, Electrical Engineer Department, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil Jim Tørresen, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo (UiO), Oslo, Norway Juan Verdejo-Román, Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada (UGR), Granada, Spain Luciana Porcher Nedel, Informatics Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Luis Fernando Cardenas Parra, Psychology Department, Los Andes University, Bogotá, Colombia Marco Rocha Curado, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany Marcos Yuzuru de Oliveira Camada, Electrical Engineering Graduate Course, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil Marino Muxfeldt Bianchin, Medicine Faculty, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Miguel Perez Garcia, Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada (UGR), Granada, Spain Olavo Amaral, Biochemical Medicine Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Patricio Donnelly Kehoe, Scientific and Technological Center of Rosario, National University of Rosario (UNR),Rosario, Argentina Paulo Rogério de Almeida Ribeiro, Computer Engineering Department, Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), São Luís, Brazil Pedro Schestatsky, Medicine Faculty, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Reinhold Scherer, Institute of Neural Engineering, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria Renan Cipriano Moioli, Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neurosciences, Santos Dumont Institute (ELS IINN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil Risto Ilmoniemi, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering,Aalto University, Helsinki,Finland Rodrigo Alejandro Sierra, Biosciences Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Rukiye Uzun, Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering,Bulent Ecevit University (BEU), Zonguldak, Turkey Sen Cheng, Computational Neuroscience Institute, Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), Bochum, Germany Silvio Cesar Cazella, Department of Exact and Applied Social Sciences,Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Victor Christian Paredes Cauna, Texas A&M University, Bryan/College Station, USA Vinicius Rosa Cota, Electrical Engineering Department, Federal University of São João del-Rei (UFSJ), São João del-Rei, Brazil -- *Christian Puhlmann Brackmann* Professor at Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology Farroupilha (IFFAR) Doctoral Student / Computers in Education - Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) http://lattes.cnpq.br/3440794204799048 christian(a)brackmann.com.br (Skype) cpbrackmann(a)inf.ufrgs.br +55 55 98100 1819 ** *“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”* Nelson Mandela

July 1, 2017

CFP: A Standard Model of the Mind

by Christian Lebiere

Invitation to submit a position paper to the AAAI 2017 Fall Symposium on A Standard Model of the Mind The purpose of this symposium is to engage the international research community in developing a standard model of the mind, with a focus specifically on human-like minds, which include human minds but also artificial minds that are either inspired by human ones or are similar because of common functional goals. The notion of a standard model has its roots in particle physics, where it is assumed to be internally consistent, yet still have major gaps; and serves as a cumulative reference point for the field while driving efforts to both extend and revise it. A standard model of the mind could yield similar benefits while also guiding experimentation, application, extension, interpretation, evaluation, and comparison. The intent is not to develop a single implementation, model or theory that everyone would abide by and agree is correct. What is sought is a statement of the best consensus given the community's current understanding of the mind, plus a sound basis for further refinement as more is learned. A beginning was made at the 2013 AAAI Fall Symposium on Integrated Cognition, followed by an effort to capture and extend that initial consensus. Truly creating a standard model requires participation by researchers from across the community; hence this symposium. Format Working sessions will focus on the concept, framework, major components, and initial draft of a standard model; on mapping of existing architectures onto the model; and on summarizing the results and looking to the future. Each session will consist of an introduction, brief statements by 3-4 panelists on their position papers, and a moderated panel discussion. The focus will be on interactions that lead to a written summary document. Submissions Position papers (up to 6 pages) can be submitted to sm(a)ict.usc.edu by July 21, 2017. They should address fundamental issues with the concept of a standard model, outline proposals for such a model, or suggest specific contents. While contributions from all perspectives will be considered, those arising from a cognitive architecture approach — and yielding implications for the computational structure and function of the mind and its parts — are expected to be most directly relevant. Organizing Committee John Laird (University of Michigan, laird(a)umich.edu) Christian Lebiere (Carnegie Mellon University, cl(a)cmu.edu) Paul S. Rosenbloom (University of Southern California, rosenbloom(a)usc.edu) For More Information People considering writing position papers are encouraged to visit the symposium website (http://sm.ict.usc.edu) which has additional background resources. You can also contact any member of the organizing committee.

June 29, 2017

Final call for abstracts: June 30th for the Integrated Systems Neuroscience 2017 meeting (Manchester, UK)

by Mark Humphries

We announce the final call for abstracts for the Integrated Systems Neuroscience meeting (7-8th September 2017, Manchester, UK). Abstract submission deadline: June 30th 2017 (Decision: July 28th) (Registration deadline: August 11th ) For abstract submission information and registration, please visit: https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/conferences-meetings/isn2017/ Meeting information: The goal of this meeting is to present the state-of-the-art in integrated systems and computational approaches to key neural circuits. A poster session with wine reception will be held on the first evening. Confirmed speakers: Rune Berg (Copenhagen University) Tiago Branco (Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits) Neil Burgess (Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL) Megan Carey (Champalimaud Institute, Lisbon) Claudia Clopath (Imperial College, London) Kate Jeffery (UCL) Christian Machens (Champalimaud Institute, Lisbon) Jonathan Pillow (Princeton) Simon Peron (New York University) Manuel Zimmer (IMP, Austria) Organisers: Mark Humphries & Rasmus Petersen (University of Manchester) Sponsors: we gratefully acknowledge the support of the Medical Research Council _____________________________________________________________________________ Dr Mark Humphries | MRC Senior non-Clinical Research Fellow | Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health http://www.systemsneurophysiologylab.manchester.ac.uk/

June 27, 2017

OCNS 2017 meeting workshop on high performance computing

by Ted Carnevale

What: Workshop on High Performance Computing Resources for Large Scale Simulations When: 14:00 - 18:00 on Thursday, July 20, 2017 Where: CNS 2017 meeting in Antwerp, Belgium Who: Organized by A Majumdar and S Sivagnanam (UCSD) and T Carnevale (Yale) See how neuroscientists engaged in large scale simulation projects, and developers of powerful tools for computational neuroscience research, are making productive use of high performance computing resources. Learn about the tools they are developing. Find out how you can use those tools in your own research. Speakers to include A Majumdar, S Sivagnanam, and T Carnevale S Dura-Bernal, S Neymotin, W Lytton (SUNY Downstate) M Migliore, C Lupascu, L Bologna, R Migliore (NRC, Palermo) P Gleeson (UCL) A Peyser (Juelich) C Weaver (Franklin and Marshall) M Bezaire (BU) For abstracts and other information see http://www.nsgportal.org/NSGWorkshop-OCNS-2017.html --Ted

June 26, 2017

Re: [Comp-neuro] Recruiting at Neurala in Boston, MA-Exciting Opportunities!

by Lisa Martin-Garlic

> Hello! > > I am actively recruiting for Neurala in Boston, MA. We are hiring > Engineers, Research Scientist, Marketers, Project Managers and Sales! > > Neurala, Inc. (http://www.neurala.com) is a software company that > developed The Neurala Brain— Deep Learning neural network software that > makes smart products like inspection cameras, robots, drones, toys, > consumer electronics and self-driving cars more autonomous, engaging and > useful. Neurala software is based on extensive research and development > efforts, including technology that Neurala developed for NASA for planetary > exploration and for the U.S. Air Force Research Labs. Neurala, named one of > the 50 most influential companies in the robotics industry, has secured in > excess of $16M in funding from some of the largest and most innovative > venture firms in US and Europe. > > Please check out our job postings at http://www.neurala.com/about/careers/ and > if you are interested in learning more please email me at > lmartin(a)mlhired.com or lisa(a)neurala.com > > Thank you! > > Lisa > > > -- > > > Lisa Martin-Garlic > M&L Recruiting (@Neurala) > 617-943-9521 <(617)%20943-9521> > lmartin(a)mlhired.com > lisa(a)neurala.com > >

June 26, 2017

ICAM-I2CAM Symposium on Mathematical and computational approaches to the 'Big Data' challenge in neuron-glia interactions

by Maurizio De Pittà

Dear colleagues, please share with your peers, students and whoever may be interested. We would like to invite you to the forthcoming ICAM-I2CAM <http://icam-i2cam.org/> Symposium on "*Mathematical and computational approaches to the 'Big Data' challenge in neuron-glia interactions*" hold in Edinburgh, UK on *July 9, 2017* during the XIII Euroglia meeting <http://www.glia2017.eu/?s=welcome>. The aim of the symposium is to bridge between experiments and modeling studies in in quantitative research on glia. The symposium hosts a panel of four internationally renowned scientists with multidisciplinary expertise in physics, engineering, quantitative biology and statistics, whose shared research interests are in developing computational approaches to study different types of glia: oligodendrocytes, astrocytes and microglia. The four speakers will discuss some of the latest findings of current quantitative research on neuron-glia interactions, providing a concise, mind-provoking overview of the open challenges in the field. ------------------------------------- Symposium program <http://www.glia2017.eu/?s=meeting-schedule> ------------------------------------- David Attwell (University College London, UK) Tuning of axonal conduction speed by myelinated axon morphology Maurizio De Pittà (The University of Chicago, USA) Conditions for the observation of regulation of synaptic transmission by gliotransmitters Elena Galea (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain) Spatial analysis of astrocytes in health and in Alzheimer’s disease Levi Wood (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA) Multivariate regression profiling of cytokines in Alzheimer´s disease ------------------------------------- Symposium details ------------------------------------- ICAM-I2CAM Symposium on "*Mathematical and computational approaches to the 'Big Data' challenge in neuron-glia interactions*", Kilsyth Room, International Conference Center, Edinburgh, UK, July 9, 2017, 10am-12pm. ------------------------------------- The Institute for Complex and Adaptive Matter (ICAM-I2CAM <http://icam-i2cam.org/index.php/about>) is a trans-academic International Research Institute with a rich research agenda focusing on the study of matter to understand emergent behaviors. ICAM-I2CAM is constituted of 70+ universities worldwide and offers interesting founding opportunities to its members for Educational and Research programs as well as for the organization of scientific events. To find out more, please visit ICAM-I2CAM homepage <http://icam-i2cam.org/index.php>. ----- Maurizio De Pitta' https://sites.google.com/site/mauriziodepitta/home

June 26, 2017

University of Surrey -- Lecturer / Senior Lecturer in Machine Learning and Computational Intelligence

by a.gruning＠surrey.ac.uk

We are advertising for a new permanent academic post: https://jobs.surrey.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=039217 Closing date: of 28 June 2017 -- Brief? Here's why: http://emailcharter.org<http://emailcharter.org/> Dr Andre Gruning Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) Department of Computer Science University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH United Kingdom

June 23, 2017

A survey on sparse representation

by 桂

Dear all, The following paper is a survey on sparse representation. We focus on applying sparse representation to feature selection. J. Gui, Z. Sun, S. Ji, D. Tao, and T. Tan, "Feature Selection Based on Structured Sparsity: A Comprehensive Study", IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, vol. 28, no. 7, pp. 1490-1507, 2017. The paper and matlab code can be downloaded from http://www.escience.cn/people/guijie/Publication.html. If you have any problem, feel free to contact me. Best regards! -- ＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊ Associate Professor Jie (Joe) Gui, Ph.D., SMIEEE Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Hefei 230031, Anhui, China Homepage: http://www.escience.cn/people/guijie/index.html ＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

June 22, 2017

Last Call for Papers - LAWCN 2017

by Christian Brackmann

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CALL FOR PAPERS Paper Submission Deadline: June 30, 2017 LATIN AMERICAN WORKSHOP ON COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE 2017 November 22-24, 2017 Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil. http://www.inf.ufrgs.br/lawcn/ Contact: lawcn2017(a)easychair.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computational neuroscience is the study of brain function regarding the information processing properties of the structures that make up the nervous system. It is an interdisciplinary science that links the diverse fields of neuroscience, as cognitive science, medicine, psychology, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, mathematics, physics and even philosophy. The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), located in Porto Alegre, in the south of Brazil, has promoted a more restricted version of this Workshop in November 2012. Since then, participants and investigators in the interdisciplinary fields related to Computational Neuroscience are claiming to resume the realization of this event. In this sense, with a broader scope aiming to encourage young researchers and graduate master and doctorate students in all Latin America, this edition will have three main topics: a) neuroscience, b) neuroengineering and c) artificial intelligence and related techniques. The Workshop will consist mainly of the following activities: 1. presentation of up to 8 key renowned international and national researchers; 2. presentation of up to 50 oral presentations; 3. presentation of poster presentations; 4. presentation of practical applications in neuroscience, both from University and from companies active in the field; and 5. practical demonstration of the A2200 Enigma machine, which belongs to the Informatics Institute, as a special tribute to the 105th Birthday Anniversary of Alan Turing, considered one of the founding fathers of Computer Science. All participants who investigate and contribute to the understanding of the properties of the brain, such as Medicine, Physics, Computer Science, Engineering, Psychology, Philosophy and others are welcomed. Issues related to the support of Communication and Information Technology and High-Performance Computing in Neuroscience will receive particular attention. UFRGS is happy to welcome LATIN AMERICAN WORKSHOP ON COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE (LAWCN) in Porto Alegre, Brazil. GENERAL INFORMATION IMPORTANT DATES * June 30, 2017: Submission deadline for papers * August 20, 2017: Notification of acceptance * September 10, 2017: Camera-ready papers and copyrights signatures * November 13, 2017: Digital Posters due, which will be digitally presented * November 22-24, 2017: Workshop, UFRGS - Porto Alegre, Brazil. SCOPE LAWCN 2017 covers all aspects of Computational Neuroscience. Although the interdisciplinary nature of the Conference and the stimulus to work at intersections and the frontiers of different disciplines, for the sake of clarifying the scope of the Workshop, topics will be presented on the three main axes. The interest topics include (but are not limited to): a) Neuroscience: * Sensory processing * Network dynamics * Reinforcement learning * Motivation and decision making * Statistical approaches in neuroscience * Systems Neuroscience * Learning and memory Attention * Arousal of Sensory-Motor Integration Learning in networks * Ethical and philosophical issues related to Neuroscience * Educational issues b) Neuroengineering: * Large-scale recordings * Neural signal processing * Neuromodulation * Neuroprosthetics * Robotics * Biomedical devices development * Humanoid robots * Robots for Elderly People * Sensing in Robotics * Fusion of Sensors * Hardware implementations in Neuroscience * Software implementations in Neuroscience * Brain-Computer Interfaces: design and applications * Ethical and philosophical issues related to Neuro-engineering * Educational issues c) Artificial Intelligence and related techniques: * Artificial Intelligence Techniques in Neuroscience * Bioinformatics * Clustering and Applications * Computer Vision, Cognitive and Humanoid Vision * Databases, Data Mining, Intelligent Data Analysis, Knowledge-based Systems and Linguistic Tools * Data Visualization and Applications * Deep Learning * Statistical Pattern Recognition/Document Processing and Recognition * Fuzzy and Hybrid Techniques * Geometric Algebra Application in Perception-Action * High-Performance Computing for Pattern Recognition * Image Coding, Processing, and Analysis * Kernel Machines * Mathematical Theory of Computational Neuroscience * Neural Networks * Parallel and Distributed Applications for Computational Neuroscience * Robotics and Humanoids * Shape and Texture Analysis * Signal Processing and Analysis * Spatio-temporal Analysis * Ethical and philosophical issues related to Artificial Intelligence * Educational issues KEYNOTE SPEAKERS LAWCN Organizing Committee is proud to announce the confirmation of the following invited talks: Dr. Francisco Sotres Bayón, Professor of Neurosciences at the National Autonomous University of México(UNAM ), México Title of the talk : Understanding the Brain mechanisms of learned and innate motivational conflicts Dr. Laurence Devillers,Professor of Computer Science at Paris-Sorbonne University,Paris,France Title of the talk : Affective and Social Robotics : engagement,evaluation and ethics Dr. Sen Cheng, Professor of Computational Neuroscience at the Ruhr University Bochum(RUB),Bochum, Germany Title of the talk : Intrinsic Sequences in the hippocampus for spatial navigation and memory storage Dr. Vinicius Rosa Cota, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Federal University of São João del-Rei (UFSJ), São João del-Rei, Brazil Title of the talk : Toward a neural prosthesis to the epileptic brain by tackling neural hyper synchronism The confirmation of other invited speakers will be done soon. REGISTRATION FEES - Until 30/06/2017 Undergraduate Student: R$ 100,00 Graduate Student: R$ 150,00 Professionals: R$ 200,00 - Until 13/10/2017 Undergraduate Student: R$ 125,00 Graduate Student: R$ 175,00 Professionals: R$ 225,00 - After 14/10/2017 Undergraduate Student:R$ 150,00 Graduate Student:R$ 200,00 Professionals:R$ 250,00 Registrations can be done at: http://www2.fundacaomedica.hcpa.ufrgs.br/siafnet/hinscricoesemcursosv3.aspx… PAPER SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATIONS - Papers should be submitted exclusively through EasyChair website: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=lawcn2017 - Papers will be evaluated based on their originality, quality, and significance of the theoretical and practical contribution to Computational Neuroscience; - Only papers presented at the conference will be included in the proceedings; - All papers (Short and Full) and Digital Posters must be in PDF format and include abstract, figures, tables and references in the minimum/maximum amount of pages (according to the category desired); - Papers can be submitted in four categories (see image bellow): - Short paper not related directly to Computer Science: - Length: between 3 and 8 pages - Languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese - Short paper related to Computer Science: - Length: between 6 and 8 pages - Language: English - Full paper not related directly to Computer Science: - Length: between 10 and 15 pages - Languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese - Full paper related to Computer Science: - Length: between 10 and 15 pages - Language: English - Papers that are not related directly to Computer Science will be published in the Latin-American Workshop on Computational Neuroscience Proceedings and can be submitted in English, Portuguese or Spanish. Papers that are related to Computer Science will be published in Springer-Verlag Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS) Proceedings (ISSN 1865-0929), and the best papers will be indicated to be published in Education, Technology and Culture (ISSN 1808-0588) or IEEE-RITA (ISSN 1932-8540). - Papers (Short and Full) can be selected by the Program Committee for Oral or Poster presentations, regardless its length and category. - At least one author of each accepted paper for oral or poster presentation must register at the conference. If more than one paper per author is accepted, there is an extra registration fee; - Since LAWCN has goals to foster and encourage investigation careers of young and talented researchers, the Program Committee will select the best papers to be published in indexed journals. Contacts with editors have already been made and will continue until the realization of the Workshop to stimulate Science divulgation. - One of the authors must sign and attach a disclosure form if the paper is accepted; - More details about the papers submission process can be found on the Congress web page. LAWCN AWARDS The Program Committee will select the three best oral presentations (one for each main topic of the event) during the workshop. One of the authors of these papers will be entitled to a prize that will consist of amounts up to USD 300 for registration in scientific events in areas related to the Workshop and which occur in 2018, as well as free registration for the next edition of LAWCN. These awards will depend on the amount obtained by the registrations. ORGANIZERS General Chair: Prof. Dr. Dante Augusto Couto Barone, Informatics Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Deputy General Chair: Prof. Dr. Marino Bianchin, Medicine Faculty, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Organizing Committee: Christian Puhlmann Brackmann IFFAR, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil Dante Augusto Couto Barone UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Eduardo Oliveira Teles IFBA, Camaçari, BA, Brazil Heron Pereira UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Jaime Andres Riascos Salas UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Marino Muxfeldt Bianchin UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Paulo Rogério de Almeida Ribeiro UFMA, São Luís, MA, Brazil Pedro Schestatsky UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Rodrigo Alejandro Sierra UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Program Committee: Alexandre César Muniz de Oliveira, Informatics Department, Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), São Luís, Brazil Antônio Carlos Roque, Physics and Mathematics Department, São Paulo University (USP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil Areolino de Almeida Neto, Informatics Department, Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), São Luís, Brazil Christian Haag Kristensen, Psychology Faculty, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Dante Augusto Couto Barone, Informatics Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Diana Adamatti, Center of Computational Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG), Rio Grande, Brazil Edson Prestes e Silva Junior, Informatics Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Eduardo López-Larraz, Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioural Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany Eduardo Vicentini de Medeiros, Experimental Philosophy and Cognitive Studies Laboratory, Vale do Rio dos Sinos University (UNISINOS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Fabrício Lima Brasil, Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neurosciences, Santos Dumont Institute (ELS IINN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil Felipe Meneguzzi, Informatics Faculty, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Francisco Sotres Bayón, Celular Physiology Institute, National Autonomous University of México (UNAM), México Frederico Augusto Casarsa de Azevedo, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany Gustavo Gauer, Psychology Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Hougelle Simplício Gomes Pereira, Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neurosciences, Santos Dumont Institute (ELS IINN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil Jés de Jesus Fiais Cerqueira, Electrical Engineer Department, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil Jim Tørresen, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo (UiO), Oslo, Norway Juan Verdejo-Román, Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada (UGR), Granada, Spain Luciana Porcher Nedel, Informatics Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Luis Fernando Cardenas Parra, Psychology Department, Los Andes University, Bogotá, Colombia Marco Rocha Curado, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany Marcos Yuzuru de Oliveira Camada, Electrical Engineering Graduate Course, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil Marino Muxfeldt Bianchin, Medicine Faculty, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Miguel Perez Garcia, Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada (UGR), Granada, Spain Olavo Amaral, Biochemical Medicine Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Patricio Donnelly Kehoe, Scientific and Technological Center of Rosario, National University of Rosario (UNR),Rosario, Argentina Paulo Rogério de Almeida Ribeiro, Computer Engineering Department, Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), São Luís, Brazil Pedro Schestatsky, Medicine Faculty, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Reinhold Scherer, Institute of Neural Engineering, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria Renan Cipriano Moioli, Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neurosciences, Santos Dumont Institute (ELS IINN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil Risto Ilmoniemi, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering,Aalto University, Helsinki,Finland Rodrigo Alejandro Sierra, Biosciences Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Rukiye Uzun, Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering,Bulent Ecevit University (BEU), Zonguldak, Turkey Sen Cheng, Computational Neuroscience Institute, Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), Bochum, Germany Silvio Cesar Cazella, Department of Exact and Applied Social Sciences,Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Victor Christian Paredes Cauna, Texas A&M University, Bryan/College Station, USA Vinicius Rosa Cota, Electrical Engineering Department, Federal University of São João del-Rei (UFSJ), São João del-Rei, Brazil -- *Christian Puhlmann Brackmann* Professor at Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology Farroupilha (IFFAR) Doctoral Student / Computers in Education - Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) http://lattes.cnpq.br/3440794204799048 christian(a)brackmann.com.br (Skype) cpbrackmann(a)inf.ufrgs.br +55 55 98100 1819 ** *“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”* Nelson Mandela

June 22, 2017

14 PhD position for 3 years each

by Dominik Endres

The Research Training Group (RTG) 2271 “Expectation Maintenance vs. Change in the Context of Expectation Violations: Connecting Different Approaches” is funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG). The overarching goal of this RTG is to investigate why and when organisms (humans, animals) change or maintain generalized expectations in the face of disconfirming evidence. Fourteen doctoral students will be funded in each cohort (3 years per cohort). Vacant positions are advertised here: http://www.uni-marburg.de/fb04/forschung/phdprogram/index_html The dissertation projects in this RTG cover a range of topics related to expectation maintenance vs. expectation change in various contexts, including mathematical psychology, cognitive modeling, clinical psychology, educational psychology, social psychology, or biological psychology. Thirteen researchers (“Principal Investigators”) from the Department of Psychology at Philipps University Marburg are involved in the RTG. You can find more information about these researchers, the research program and the qualification program on the above website. APPLICATION DEADLINE: June 30th 2017 -- Prof. Dr. Dominik Endres AE Theoretische Neurowissenschaft Allgemeine und Biologische Psychologie FB Psychologie, Gutenbergstr 18, 35032 Marburg, Germany Tel. +49-(0)6421-28-23818

June 21, 2017

12 month postdoc position in Insect Robotics @ Edinburgh (fwd)

by Barbara Webb

We have a 12 month RA vacancy, from 1 Sept 2017, on the EPSRC project "Exploiting invisible cues for low-cost outdoor robot navigation" which looks at how insects use ultraviolet and polarised light as cues, and how we could copy this on robots. Experience/interest in modelling natural sensory and neural systems, and robot sensing and navigation, would be ideal, and excellent programming skills required. We would expect the candidate to have a PhD or be nearing completion of a PhD in a relevant area. Please see the official link below for full details or contact me direct with any questions. https://www.vacancies.ed.ac.uk/pls/corehrrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobs… Barbara Webb -- The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

June 21, 2017

PhD at CerCo, Toulouse, France

by Timothée Masquelier

Beating Roger Federer: *Modeling visual learning and expertise through a bioinspired neural network embedded in an electronic device* *Goal: *PhD grant. *When:* starting from September 2017 (date may be flexible to some extent) *Topic:* How do expert tennis players, like Roger Federer for example, predict if a ball will bounce in or out the field to decide if it should be played or not? After thousands of trajectory presentations, best champions have developed extraordinary skills in such a task, but little is known on how the visual system turns selective to spatiotemporal properties of the visual stimulus (e.g., 3D position, velocity and acceleration) and learns how to make an efficient use of it. The goal of the project is to build an embedded system – based on FPGA circuits and ARM processor – an artificial neural networkwhich would replicate – and perhaps beat – the visual and anticipatory performances of these expert players. To achieve this goal successfully, we will develop a bio-inspired neural network, based on some of the key properties of human vision: the Smart NeuroCam (GST company) will be used to reproduce the retina functioning. It triggers its message under the form of spikes, in an asynchronous way (without any concept of frame per second), responding to spatial or temporal changes in the pattern of illumination. Several kinds of pre-processing filters can be implemented in VHDL language directly in the FPGA circuits, and the output is then sent to a neural network. The artificial network will learn to use this message, applying a simple learning rule, the Spike-Timing-Dependent Plasticity (STDP). This rule allows each neuron to become selective to a particular property of the stimulus, completely autonomously and with no supervision. Several layers will be built to allow perceiving more and more complex properties of the visual scene. Once the network will be established, its performances will be assessed in different conditions of learning and compared to those of the best tennis players. *The project is funded by a French National Research Agency (ANR)*, involving two sites and several researchers: - Robin Baurès, Benoit Cottereau, Timothée Masquelier and Simon Thorpe, CerCo, Toulouse. - Michel Paindavoine, GST, Dijon. *Where: *The candidate will be based at CerCo, Toulouse (France), and will make the interface with the two sites, with regular trips. The computational neuroscience part will be done at Toulouse, and electronic part at Dijon. *Tasks:* - Matlab (or Python) based simulations of numerical filters. These filters will be applied to the image processing from which spikes are generated and then sent to feed the neural network and STDP learning mechanism. - VHDL coding to implement these numerical filters into the FPGA circuits of the cameras - C/C++ coding of the neural network and STDP mechanism that should work on an embedded ARM processor system - Experimental tests that will allow evaluating the performance of the whole system, from spikes generation to visual properties learning of the embedded system, to predict tennis ball’s trajectories *Required skills:* - Strong knowledge on electronic, and openness to computational neurosciences - Knowledge in signal-image processing, and artificial neural network - Interest for multidisciplinary research - Ability to turn smoothly autonomous, once the road has been set - Ability to be at the interface of two scientific fields and two working areas - Programming with Matlab and/or Python for simulating the neural network - Programming in VHDL language for FPGA circuits - Programming in C/C++ language for porting the algorithms on ARM microprocessors - French is not a requirement if fluent in English, but willingness to learn would be beneficial *Citizenship Eligibility:* We discourage Iranian students to apply, since most likely the CNRS will not accept them for security/defense reasons, unfortunately. *Relevant publications for the project:* - Masquelier, T., Guyonneau, R. & Thorpe S.J. (2009). Competitive STDP-Based Spike Pattern Learning. Neural Comput, 21(5),1259-1276. - Masquelier, T. & Thorpe, S.J. (2007). Unsupervised learning of visual features through spike timing dependent plasticity. PLoS Comput Biol, 3(2):e31. - Cottereau, B.R., McKee, S.P. & Norcia, A.M. (2014). Dynamics and cortical distribution of neural responses to 2D and 3D motion in human. Journal of Neurophysiology 111(3), 533-543. - SmartNeuroCam by GST : https://gsensing.eu/fr/ category/sections/products *Contact:* *Robin Baurès, PhD* Associate Professor CerCo, Université Toulouse 3, CNRS CHU Purpan, Pavillon Baudot 31059 Toulouse Cedex 9 – France Office phone: 0033 (0)5 62 74 62 15 <05%2062%2074%2062%2015> Email : robin.baures(a)cnrs.fr *Pr Michel Paindavoine* GlobalSensing Technologies 14, rue Pierre de Coubertin 21000 Dijon email : michel.paindavoine(a)gsensing.eu -- Timothée Masquelier - timothee.masquelier(a)cnrs.fr - http://cerco.ups-tlse.fr/~masquelier/

June 20, 2017

PhD student candidate, “Multi-scale epileptic networks”

by Paolo Bonifazi

Thank you for your attention - I apologize for possible multiple posting. At the Biocruces Health Research Institute (Bilbao, Spain) we are looking for a PhD student to develop and carry on a project entitled “Multi-scale epileptic networks”, financed by the Spanish Ministry (MINECO) and leaded by Dr. Paolo Bonifazi (Ikerbasque Tenure Track Researcher at Biocruces, member of the Computational Neuroimaging laboratory leaded by Prof. J. Cortes; http://www.jesuscortes.info) in collaboration with the Cruces University Hospital (Bilbao, Spain), the Ruber International Hospital (Madrid, Spain) and the University of Bari (Italy; Dr. S. Stramaglia). The project, aimed at studying longitudinally the multi-scale topology of human epileptic networks, combines electrophysiological data recorded through deep electrodes (implanted in epileptic patients undergoing surgery), with functional and diffusion MRI (acquired before the electrodes implant and post surgery after about six and twelve months). Depending on the interest of the candidates, the project might also involve epileptic animal model studies (using optogenetics, in-vivo electrophysiology and/or high field MRI, in collaboration with other local research institutions). The motivated Spanish or International candidates, possibly with a background in either Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science or Engineering, should contact as soon as possible (best if within Wednesday the 20th of June) Dr. Paolo Bonifazi (paol.bonifazi(a)gmail.com or paolo.bonifazi(a)osakidetza.eus) for detailed information. The PhD fellowship (for a maximum of 4 years) is funded by the Basque Government and the Ikerbasque Foundation (http://www.ikerbasque.net/) Deadline for the PhD fellowship application is 2nd of July. ==================== Paolo Bonifazi, PhD Ikerbasque Tenure Track Researcher Computational Neuroimaging Laboratory Biocruces Health Research Institute Hospital Universitario Cruces Plaza de Cruces, s/n E-48903. Barakaldo, Spain Tel +34 94 600 6000 (ext. 5298) Email: paol.bonifazi(a)gmail.com; paolo.bonifazi(a)osakidetza.eus http://www.ikerbasque.net/paolo-bonifazi

June 15, 2017

Call for Abstracts: Bernstein Conference 2017

by Zrinka Gattin

*Call for Abstracts: Bernstein Conference 201**7* * **New deadline for abstract submission:* June 28, 2017 for abstracts aimed as contributed talks and posters July 31, 2017 abstracts aimed as posters only ************************************************************** Satellite Workshops September 12-13, 2017 Main Conference September 13-15, 2017 PhD Symposium September 12 & 15, 2017 ************************************************************** The Bernstein Conference started out as the annual meeting of the Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience and has become the largest annual Computational Neuroscience conference in Europe with more than 500 international participants in recent years. This year the conference is organized by the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Göttingen. The main conference (Sep 13-15, 2017) will be accompanied by satellite workshops (Sep 12-13, 2017) and a PhD symposium (Sep 12 & 15, 2017). An important part of the main conference will be the two poster sessions. We are now inviting the submission of abstracts from all relevant areas. Authors of most accepted abstracts will get the chance for a poster presentation, a small number of abstracts will be selected for contributed talks during the main conference. Please note the earlier submission deadline for authors applying for a talk. All accepted abstracts will be published online and will be citable via Digital Object Identifiers (DOI). *DETAILS FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION:* Please note that the submission of an abstract does not replace the conference registration (www.bernstein-conference.de/registration <http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2017/registration>). Poster space is limited and early submission is encouraged. For abstract submission visit: www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2017/abstracts <http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2017/abstracts> *ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINES:* Posters to be considered as contributed talks: June 28, 2017 Other posters: July 31, 2017 *TRAVEL GRANTS* To support the participation of young researchers at the Bernstein Conference, the Bernstein Coordination Site offers 10 Travel Grants, each endowed with 500 €. Please find further information under www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2017/travel-grant <http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2017/travel-grant> *CONFERENCE DETAILS:* Conference registration is *OPEN* Early registration deadline: July 09, 2017 *ACCOMMODATION AND HOTEL RESERVATION:* *We strongly recommend early room booking!* *The number of available accommodation is limited due to several concurrent events. And many Hotels in Göttingen are already booked out for that week!* We arranged for room contingents in a variety of hotels that you may book by yourself by email or phone. Please follow the instructions at our Accommodations Website (http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2017/venue/accommodation) We would like to emphasize that these room contingents will be held open up to different expiration dates depending on the hotel (or until they are filled). Many expiration dates are already mid of June 2017. We strongly encourage participants to share rooms and to book rooms as a group. *We emphasize that it will be very difficult to book accommodation beyond the expiration dates. * Please find a list of the hotels at our Accommodations Website. VENUE Satellite Workshops, Main Conference and PhD Symposium: The Central Lecture Hall (ZHG), Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5, 37073 Göttingen, Germany VENUE Public Lecture: Alte Mensa, Wilhelmsplatz 1, 37073 Göttingen, Germany, September 13, 2017, 8 pm For more information on the conference, please visit the websitehttp://www.bernstein-conference.de We are looking forward to welcoming you in Göttingen! Program chair: Fred Wolf Koordinator: Zrinka Gattin Co-Organizers: Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS): Alexandra Stein, Kerstin Schwarzwaelder -- Dr Zrinka Gattin Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) Goettingen Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology (BFNT) Goettingen PhD Program in Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience Am Fassberg 17 D-37077 Goettingen Phone: +49 (0)551 5176 418 Fax: +49 (0)551 5176 14418 E-Mail:zrinka@nld.ds.mpg.de

June 14, 2017

Chair and Director in Neural Computation Research Group - University of Nottingham

by Stephen Coombes

Dear all, The University of Nottingham is looking to appoint an outstanding individual as Chair and Director to lead the development of a new Neural Computation Research Group. This will be a joint appointment between the Schools of Mathematical Sciences and Psychology. For further information please follow the link below to the full job advert: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/jobs/currentvacancies/ref/PROF176717 The closing date is Friday, 7th July 2017. Best regards, Steve ------------------------------------------------------- Stephen Coombes Professor of Applied Mathematics School of Mathematical Sciences Nottingham, UK Tel: 0115 846 7836 http://www.maths.nott.ac.uk/~sc/ ------------------------------------------------------- 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 send it back to me, and immediately delete it. Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham. This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as permitted by UK legislation.

June 14, 2017

Postdoctoral position on the Inventive Use of Mathematics

by Christian Lebiere

A post doctoral position is available on a NSF project studying how mathematical knowledge is learned and then used in inventive ways. Candidates with a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, computer science, or related fields are encouraged to apply. The project has taken many approaches to this question including behavioral studies, neural imaging, and computational modeling. The involvement of the post doc in this position will depend on their strengths, interests, and what they want to lean. The position has funding for at least 2 years. Interested candidates should send inquiries and applications (CV, research interests, references) to John Anderson (ja(a)cmu.edu)

June 12, 2017

[INNS-BigData 2018] Call for Papers

by Teng Teck Hou

[Apologies for cross-postings] ########################################################### CALL FOR PAPERS The 3rd INNS Conference on Big Data 2018 April 17-19, 2018, Bali, Indonesia Homepage: http://www.innsbigdata2018.org #######################Description:###################### The International Neural Network Society (INNS) is the premiere organization for individuals interested in a theoretical and computational understanding of the brain and applying that knowledge to develop new and more effective forms of machine intelligence. INNS was formed in 1987 by the leading scientists in the neural network field. Researchers and colleagues who work in the area of big data and machine learning, we are happy to announce "The 3 rd INNS Conference on Big Data and Deep Learning 2018 (INNS BDDL 2018) will be held on April 18 19, 2018 in Sanur Bali, Indonesia. The aim of this conference is to create a valuable and important forum for scientists and engineers throughout the world to present the latest research findings and idea at the forefront of Big Data and Deep Learning. Accepted papers will be published by Elsevier, Scopus indexed. Several papers will be selected for possible publication in top journals. The conference will feature a comprehensive technical program with technical tracks on: Track 1: Big Data Track 2: Big Data Algorithms Track 3: Deep Learning Track 4: Application Areas Important Dates ################################################################### * Tutorial and workshop proposals (Submission) 15 September 2017 * Tutorial and workshop proposals (Decision) 30 September 2017 * Paper submission 2 November 2017 * Decision notification 31 December 2017 * Conference 17 - 19 April 2018 ################################################################### Previous INNS Conference: INNS 2016 in Thessaloniki, Greece INNS 2015 in San Francisco, USA #################### Organizing committees ############### General chairs Seiichi Ozawa, Kobe University, Japan Ah-Hwee Tan, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Program Chairs Plamen P. Angelov, Lancaster University, UK Asim Roy, Arizona State University, USA Mahardhika Pratama, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Local Committee Chairs Dieky Adzkiya, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Advisory Board Yew-Soon Ong, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Robert Kozma, University of Memphis, USA Sankar K. Pal, Indian Statistical Institute, India Haibo He, University of Rhode Island, USA Witold Pedrycz, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada Leszek Rutkowski, Czestochowa University of Technology, Poland Nikola Kasabov, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand Fernando Gomide, University of Campinas, Brazil Marley Vellasco, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Yoonsuck Choe, Texas A&M University Minho Lee, Kyungpook National University, South Korea Bao-Liang Lu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China Irwin King, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong kong Mohammad Nuh, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Joni Hermana, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Heru Setyawan, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Tutorials/Workshop Chairs Igor Skrjanc, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Sundaram Suresh, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Poster Sessions Chairs Eko Setiadji, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Agus Salim, La Trobe University, Australia Special Sessions Chairs Justin Wang, La Trobe University, Australia Yongping Pan, National University of Singapore, Singapore Panel Chairs Sreenatha Anavatti, University of New South Wales, Australia Mukesh Prasad, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia Achmad Affandi, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Awards Chairs Tapabrata Ray, University of New South Wales, Australia Dejan Dovzan, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Richard J. Oentaryo, McLaren Applied Technologies, Singapore Publication Chairs Edwin Lughofer, Johannes Kepler University, Austria Jose Antonio Iglesias, Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain Moamar Sayed?Mouchaweh, Institute Mines Telecom Lille Douai, France Publicity Chair Simone Scardapane, Sapienza University, Italy Teng Teck Hou, Singapore Management University, Singapore Hendro Nurhadi, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia International Liaison Chairs Yun Sing Koh, University of Auckland, New Zealand Deepak Puthal, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Wirawan, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Webmaster Mohamad Abdul Hady, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Andri Ashfahani, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Choiru Zain, La Trobe University, Australia ###### Topics and Areas include, but not limited to the following###### >>BIG DATA Autonomous, online, incremental learning in big data High dimensional data, feature selection, feature transformation for big data Scalable algorithms for big data Big data analytics Data stream analytics Parallel & distributed computing for big data analytics (cloud, map-reduce, etc.) Online learning Online multimedia/stream/text analytics Link and graph mining Big data and cloud computing, large scale stream processing on the cloud Big data and collective intelligence/collaborative learning Big data and hybrid systems Big data and self-aware systems Big data and infrastructure Big data visualization >>Big Data Algorithm Neuromorphic hardware for scalable machine learning Evolving systems for big data analytics Evolutionary systems and big data Fuzzy systems and big data Cognitive modelling and big data Probabilistic approach for big data Concept drift detection for big data Granular computing for big data Transfer learning for big data >>Deep Learning Deep belief network Convolutional neural network Long short term memory Deep network architecture Deep autoencoder Deep stacked network Deep learning for natural language processing Deep learning for machine vision Evolving deep network Transfer learning in deep learning Online deep learning >>Application Areas Banking and Securities Communications, Media and Entertainment Healthcare Providers Education Manufacturing & Natural Resources Government Insurances Retail & Wholesale Trade Transportation Energy & Utilities, Etc.

June 11, 2017

Call for abstracts: Integrated Systems Neuroscience 2017 meeting (September 7-8, Manchester, UK)

by Mark Humphries

We announce the second call for abstracts for the Integrated Systems Neuroscience meeting (7-8th September 2017, Manchester, UK). Abstract submission deadline: June 30th 2017 (Decision: July 28th) (Registration deadline: August 11th ) For abstract submission information and registration, please visit: https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/conferences-meetings/isn2017/ Meeting information: The goal of this meeting is to present the state-of-the-art in integrated systems and computational approaches to key neural circuits. A poster session with wine reception will be held on the first evening. Confirmed speakers: Rune Berg (Copenhagen University) Tiago Branco (Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits) Neil Burgess (Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL) Megan Carey (Champalimaud Institute, Lisbon) Claudia Clopath (Imperial College, London) Kate Jeffery (UCL) Christian Machens (Champalimaud Institute, Lisbon) Jonathan Pillow (Princeton) Simon Peron (New York University) Manuel Zimmer (IMP, Austria) Organisers: Mark Humphries & Rasmus Petersen (University of Manchester) Sponsors: we gratefully acknowledge the support of the Medical Research Council _____________________________________________________________________________ Dr Mark Humphries | MRC Senior non-Clinical Research Fellow | Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health http://www.systemsneurophysiologylab.manchester.ac.uk/

June 9, 2017

Postdoctoral position and lab/manager position available in the Zacks lab

by Jeff Zacks

Dear Colleagues, We have two positions available in the lab; one for a postdoctoral fellow, one for a lab manager/research assistant. Please pass these along to any graduating seniors or nearly-done PhD students you think would be appropriate. Thanks! Jeff Zacks Jeffrey M. Zacks, Ph.D. Associate Chair, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences Professor of Radiology Washington University in Saint Louis 1 Brookings Drive St. Louis, MO 63130-4899 314-935-8454 314-935-7588 (fax) jzacks(a)wustl.edu <mailto:jzacks@wustl.edu> http://dcl.wustl.edu/~jzacks 1) Postdoctoral position in the computational cognitive neuroscience of event cognition Dynamic Cognition Lab, Washington University The Dynamic Cognition Lab, headed by Jeff Zacks, seeks a postdoctoral researcher to work on an ONR-funded project examining comprehension and memory of complex, naturalistic events. This effort will involve computational modeling, behavioral experiments, and pattern-based fMRI. It will engage collaborators at Wash U, and also at UC Davis, Princeton, Harvard, and NYU. The position is funded for three years with potential for extended funding. Ideally, candidates will be available to start in Fall 2017. Potential applicants may want to have a look at the lab web site (dcl.wustl.edu <http://dcl.wustl.edu/>) for information on current related research. (See also psychweb.wustl.edu, and neuroscience.wustl.edu for information on related resources.) A PhD in Psychology or Neuroscience is required for this position. Desirable additional qualifications include: * Previous experience with neuroimaging, especially MVPA * An interest in event cognition and memory * A promising publication record To apply, please send a statement of research interests and CV, and have two letters of evaluation sent by faculty familiar with your work. Email submission is fine; please send application materials or questions about the position to jzacks(a)wustl.edu. If you prefer paper mail the address is: Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences Washington University Saint Louis, MO 63130 2) Lab manager/research assistant Washington University in St. Louis, Psychology Department Seeking a motivated associate to assist with behavioral and functional MRI experiments, starting summer 2017. An ideal candidate would be a newly-graduated undergraduate who has a strong curiosity about cognitive and computational neuroscience, and has relevant coursework and laboratory experience in this area. Duties will include interacting with human participants, data collection and analysis, and also managerial functions such as scheduling facilities and coordinating with other research team members. Required qualification: * Undergraduate degree in psychology, neuroscience, or a related field. Desirable qualifications: * Programming skills * Research experience with human subjects * Experience with functional MRI * Experience with film production This full-time, federally funded position provides a great opportunity to gain experience before going on to an advanced degree. St. Louis is a vibrant, affordable city, and Washington University has a rich community of cognitive scientists and neuroscientists. Two-year commitment required. Health benefits provided. To apply, see the PDF application at the Dynamic Cognition Laboratory website, http://dcl.wustl.edu. Jeffrey M. Zacks, Ph.D. Washington University Department of Psychology Campus Box 1125 St. Louis, MO 63130-4899 314.935.8454 jzacks(a)wustl.edu

June 8, 2017

Fully-funded PhD studentship in "Data-driven null models for big data networks"

by Mark Humphries

We seek PhD candidates for the project "Data-driven null models for big data networks", supervised by Dr Mark Humphries at the University of Manchester. We are developing network theory approaches to analysing data in systems neuroscience (Humphries, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1101/115485 ). The aim of this PhD project is to develop an analysis framework for separating signal from noise in data-driven networks. We will develop new, flexible data-driven null models for network structure - models that will predict noise. Using these models, we will create powerful ways of extracting the signal network from observed data. With these signal networks, we will then explore how they change the conclusions we can draw from our observed data, what large-scale structures they uncover in the networks, and how they can track changes to networks over time. Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis, so please apply as soon as possible. This studentship is MRC-funded, so only open to UK and EU students. More information, and how to apply: https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=78216&LID=1020 Questions: mark.humphries(a)manchester.ac.uk<mailto:mark.humphries@manchester.ac.uk> Our lab: http://www.systemsneurophysiologylab.manchester.ac.uk/ _____________________________________________________________________________ Dr Mark Humphries | MRC Senior non-Clinical Research Fellow | Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health http://www.systemsneurophysiologylab.manchester.ac.uk/ [0da17e2a-9ed5-496a-b161-9fd4491ce5c7]@markdhumphries <https://twitter.com/markdhumphries> Public blog: https://medium.com/the-spike

June 8, 2017

Postdoc and a PhD Studentship available in Computational and Systems Neuroscience

by Christopher Buckley

A postdoc and a PhD studentship are available on the BBSRC funded project entitled "Distributed neural processing of self-generated visual input in a vertebrate brain” at the University of Sussex, UK. Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Systems Neuroscience A post-doctoral position funded by the BBSRC is available in the groups of Dr Christopher L Buckley (School of Engineering and Informatics) and Prof. Leon Lagnado (School of Life Sciences) on a project titled “Distributed neural processing of self-generated visual input in a vertebrate brain”. We will characterise the neural circuits involved in the interactions between the sensory and motor systems using state-of-the-art light-sheet microscopy to image neural activity across the brain of zebrafish behaving in a virtual reality environment (Nature. 2013;493: 466–468). Sussex Neuroscience (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sussexneuroscience) is one of the foremost centres for Neuroscience research in the UK and has particular strengths in in vivo imaging and systems neuroscience. The University is 10 mins from the diverse and culturally rich town of Brighton. Applicants must have a Ph.D and research experience in neuroscience (or closely related discipline). A quantitative approach is essential and experience with programming is a distinct advantage. More information about the project is available at https://tinyurl.com/kjtxoq9. Informal enquiries are welcome and can be made to Chris Buckley (c.l.buckley(a)sussex.ac.uk) or Leon Lagnado (l.lagnado(a)sussex.ac.uk) Applications: Please see http://www.sussex.ac.uk/about/jobs/research-fellow-in-systems-neuroscience for more details. Deadline: August 1st PhD Studentship A PhD studentship in Computational and Systems Neuroscience on the same project is available in the groups of Dr Christopher L Buckley (Department of Informatics) and Prof. Leon Lagnado (School of Life Sciences) at the University of Sussex from September 2017. The position will involve computational modeling and “big-data” analysis as well as experiments. Appropriate backgrounds therefore include physical and computational science as well as neuroscience. Experience with programming and a quantitative approach are essential. More information about the project is available at https://tinyurl.com/kjtxoq9. Informal enquiries can be made to Chris Buckley (c.l.buckley(a)sussex.ac.uk) or Leon Lagnado (l.lagnado(a)sussex.ac.uk) Sussex Neuroscience is one of the foremost centers for Neuroscience research in the UK and the University of Sussex has a beautiful campus on the outskirts of the lively South Coast town of Brighton. Application: Please apply through the post-graduate application system of the University of Sussex (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/apply) Please include a brief statement of your scientific interests and skills/experience in the mandatory “research proposal”, including how you would imagine your role in the project (max 2 pages) and include a full CV. Indicate Dr Christopher L Buckley as your preferred advisor and clearly state the title of the studentship. When you apply, please send a copy of your application documents to c.l.buckley(a)sussex.ac.uk. Funding Notes The studentship includes a three year stipend at a standard rate (currently £14,296 per annum) and, in addition, fees at the UK/EU rate. Since the studentship only covers fees at the UK/EU rate, overseas applicants are kindly requested to state in their application how they propose to cover the difference between UK/EU and overseas fees. Deadline: Applications will be considered on a rolling basis but candidates applying before 15 July can be sure to be considered. Christopher L Buckley Lecturer in Neural Computation University of Sussex Department of Informatics Sussex Neuroscience Falmer Brighton, UK email: c.l.buckley(a)sussex.ac.uk twitter: @drclbuckley

June 8, 2017

Registration Open - EPFL Online Course: Simulation Neuroscience I

by Eilif Muller

Dear Colleagues, I would like to bring to your attention this upcoming new course on Simulation Neuroscience we are offering online, leveraging the HBP Brain Simulation Platform. It is the first of 3 planned courses through which we will teach students to construct and simulate data-driven microcircuits, like the Blue Brain cortical model. More details are below. Many thanks for forwarding to students who may be potentially interested. Best regards, Eilif ===== ANNOUNCEMENT ===== The Center for Digital Education of the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland in cooperation with the Blue Brian Project is welcoming students to participate in a new online course entitled: Simulation Neuroscience I - Reconstruction of a single neuron Faculty: Prof. Henry Markram, Prof. Idan Segev, Prof. Sean Hill, Prof. Felix Schuermann, Samuel Kerrian, Lida Kanari, Werner Van Geit, Dr. Srikanth Ramaswamy, Dr. Eilif Muller Abstract: Simulation Neuroscience is an emerging approach to integrate the knowledge dispersed throughout the field of neuroscience. The aim is to build a unified empirical picture of the brain, to study the biological mechanisms of brain function, behaviour and disease. This is achieved by integrating diverse data sources across the various scales of experimental neuroscience, from molecular to clinical, into computer simulations. In a series of three courses, you will learn to use the state-of-the-art modelling tools of the Human Brain Project Brain Simulation Platform to simulate neurons, build neural networks, and perform your own simulation experiments. This is the first course of the series that will teach you how to digitally reconstruct a single neuron. We invite you to join us and share in our passion to reconstruct, simulate and understand the brain! The course is targeted at senior bachelor, master or PhD students in science or engineering fields looking for an introduction to Simulation Neuroscience. It is a 6 week course, with an estimated course load of 5-7 hours per week. The registration deadline is June 13, 2017 The start date of the course is June 15, 2017 Registration is limited due to available compute resources, on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information: https://actu.epfl.ch/news/mooc-simulation-neuroscience-reconstruction-of-a-… ------------- Dr. Eilif Muller Section Manager - In Silico Neuroscience - Experimentation EPFL - Blue Brain Project QIJ 3ème étage CH-1015 Lausanne Switzerland Tel: ++41 21 693 0698 Fax: ++41 21 693 5350 www: http://bluebrain.epfl.ch/page-77926-en.html www: http://neuralensemble.org/people/eilifmuller

June 7, 2017

Permanent academic positions in computational neuroscience/ machine learning at assistant and associate professor level

by Eleni Vasilaki

There are two permanent academic openings in the Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, in the area of Computational Neuroscience within the Machine Learning group. Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Reader in Machine Learning and Computational Neuroscience. Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Reader in Machine Learning and Robotics. Lecturer is roughly equivalent to Assistant professor and Senior Lecturer/Reader to Associate Professor in the US system. Since it was established in 1982, the Department of Computer Science at the University of Sheffield has attained an international reputation for its research and teaching. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise, we were ranked 5th out of 89 departments in the UK for computer science research. For more information please see: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/dcs/jobs/index Prof. Eleni Vasilaki, DPhil CEng MIET Computer Science, University of Sheffield, www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/~eleni

June 6, 2017

Call for participation and posters: IMOL2017 – Third International Workshop on Intrinsically Motivated Open-ended Learning

by Gianluca Baldassarre <gianluca.baldassarre＠istc.cnr.it>

*** Apologies for cross-posting *** Dear colleagues, this mail is to invite you to "IMOL2017 – Third International Workshop on Intrinsically Motivated Open-ended Learning" that will be held in Rome, October 4th-5th-6h, 2017. IMOL 2017 is the third international workshop on Intrinsically Motivated Open-ended Learning. Following previous editions, IMOL 2017 aims to further explore the promise of intrinsically motivated open-ended lifelong learning in robots and artificial systems. *We are opening the call for participation and posters (more details on the website and below) with deadline July 16th, 2017*. More info available at imol-conf.org and below. Best wishes, the organizers: Gianluca Baldassarre, Vieri Giuliano Santucci, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, Andrew Barto ------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------- *IMOL2017 – Third International Workshop on Intrinsically Motivated Open-ended Learning* Organizers: Gianluca Baldassarre, Vieri Giuliano Santucci, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, Andrew Barto We are pleased to announce the “Third International Workshop on Intrinsically-Motivated Open-ended Development (IMOL2017)”, which will be held in Rome, Italy, on 4-5-6 October 2017 in a beautiful central location. <http://www.residenzadiripetta.com/it/> All information regarding the workshop, including an extended description of the its scope, can be found in the website imol-conf.org Following two previous workshops, the highly focused “Third International Workshop on Intrinsically-Motivated Open-ended Development (IMOL2017)” aims to further explore the promise of intrinsically motivated open-ended lifelong learning. The workshop aims to be a highly interactive event. To this purpose, it will feature high profile keynote presentations and the participation of an audience of about 60 people. It will foster close interaction among the participants by enabling intense peer-to-peer discussions, poster sessions, and collective round tables directed toward specific objectives. It will take place at a lovely venue in the center of Rome fostering interactions, with evenings devoted to autonomous exploration of the city. It will be followed by a call for papers to be published in an open journal special issue (e.g. a Frontiers in Neurorobotics Research Topic). *Aims of the Workshop* The Workshop will occur over three whole days, with the last session of each day dedicated to a plenary discussion targeting three important topics: (1) The identification of the most important open challenges in the field of autonomous open-ended lifelong learning, with the aim of compiling a list of high-impact goals identified as important next-steps. (2) The definition of one or more benchmarks for evaluating models and architectures for autonomous open-ended learning (at a later date, an open competition will be held based on the benchmark). (3) The identification of the most promising approaches and techniques to tackle the open challenges identified under point (1). *Topics of interest* - Autonomous robots lifelong learning - Multi-task reinforcement learning - Deep reinforcement learning - Intrinsic motivations - Curriculum learning - Goal self-generation - Multiple task solution and parameterized skills - Neural/probabilistic representations and abstractions Architectures for open-ended learning - Goal-based skill learning - Knowledge transfer and avoidance of catastrophic forgetting - Compositionality and chunking - Hierarchies of goals and skills - Mitigating risks of real-world deployment of open-ended learning systems *Current list of invited speakers* - Baldassarre, Gianluca - Barto, Andrew - Bellemare, Marc - Calinon, Sylvain - Cangelosi, Angelo - Konidaris, George - Merrick, Kathryn - Natale, Lorenzo - O’Regan, Kevin - Oudeyer, Pierre-Yves - Peters, Jan - Polani, Daniel - Reinhart, Felix - Rolf, Matthias - Ruecker, Elmar - Santucci, Vieri Giuliano - Stulp, Freek - Triesch, Jochen - Uchibe, Eiji *Call for Application* Participation in the workshop is free of charge and includes the lunches for the three days. However, the workshop is limited to a restricted number of people given the capacity of the venue and the aim of the event. Prospective attendees should express their interest in participating by submitting the form downloadable from the link below, and their willingness (or not) to contribute a poster. In this case, people is also invited to submit a short/extended abstract (max 2 pages), possibly including figures. The submissions will be selected on the basis of the quality and of how well they fit the workshop’s aims. Both senior and young researchers, including Ph.D. students, are encouraged to submit to ensure a full representation of the community. Moreover, applicants are also requested to indicate in the form their willingness to participate in a special issue in Frontiers in Neurorobotics. This request aims to investigate the overall interest for the initiative, which will be followed by a standard Frontiers call after the workshop. Application deadline: July 16th, 2017 Notification of acceptance: July 27th, 2017 Please submit the form downloadable here <http://www.imol-conf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMOL2017_ApplicationFor…> and the optional abstract (subject: “IMOL2017 submission: name, last name”) to: *imol.conf(a)gmail.com <imol.conf(a)gmail.com>* ------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------- -- .|.CS...|.......|...............|..|......US.|||.|||||.||.||||..|...|....... Gianluca Baldassarre, Ph.D., Laboratory of Computational Embodied Neuroscience, Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (LOCEN-ISTC-CNR), Via San Martino della Battaglia 44, I-00185 Roma, Italy E-mail: gianluca.baldassarre(a)istc.cnr.it Web: http://www.istc.cnr.it/people/gianluca-baldassarre Tel: +39 06 44 595 231 Fax: +39 06 44 595 243 Motto: 'Learn from the past, live in(tensely) the present, dream for the future' Life mission statement: 'Serve humanity through core knowledge' ...CS.|||.||.|||.||..|.......|........|...US.|.|....||..|..|......|.........

June 5, 2017

We're hiring! New open position at LANVIE - University of Geneva

by Margherita Mauri

Dear All, We are recruiting a research assistant/postdoc for a full time position at the LANVIE https://www.unige.ch/medecine/psyat/en/research-groups/935frisoni/ Please find the job description below: * Field: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cognitive disorders 1. Study of AD biomarkers 2. Study of the biological basis of cognitive impairment due to Suspected Non-Alzheimer Pathology (SNAP) and of the interplay between amyloidosis and tau-related Neurodegeneration * Projects: 1. Epinettes database - A clinical database for diagnosis and prognosis of patients consulting at the Memory Clinics of the HUG 2. SNAP - Study of the biological basis of cognitive impairment due to Suspected Non- Alzheimer Pathology 3. Human Brain Project (HBP) - Medical Informatics Platform * Tasks: 1. Image analysis: Analysis of MRI and PET images of the brain finalised to the extraction and study of AD imaging biomarkers and cognitive pathologies (Freesurfer, FSL, Matlab, SPM) 2. Didactics: didactic activities management; MSc student supervision 3. Project management: Clinical ethical submissions; Work and data management; Communication and team management 4. Research tasks: Identification of new research opportunities and submission of project funding applications; presentation of research results according to need, participation in international and local conferences and publication in scientific journals; Identification, development and maintenance of collaborative relationships with current and future KOLs, scientific experts, scientific groups and study sites; Participation in working groups, boards, commission representing a project or the Team ; 5. To be customized basing on CV. Should you are interested in this position, please send your CV, cover letter and list of publication to margherita.mauri(a)unige.ch. Best regards, Margherita Margherita MAURI Assistante de Recherche Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève et Université de Genève LANVIE - Laboratoire de Neuroimagerie du Vieillissement, Chemin du Petit Bel-Air 2 (Bâtiment Voirons) CH 1225 - Chêne Bourg

May 31, 2017

Call for Abstracts: Information Processing in Complex Systems

by Eckehard Olbrich

Call for Abstracts The Information Processing in Complex Systems (IPCS'17 https://ipcs.computationalscience.nl/) satellite meeting is organized during the Conference on Complex Systems. Our objective is to provide a forum for researchers who follow an information-theoretic approach to complex systems. Here they can present recent achievements and discuss promising hypotheses and further research directions. It will be a one-day event in September 20, 2017, as part of the Conference on Complex Systems (CCS'17 <http://ccs17.unam.mx/>). This conference is the official annual conference of the Complex Systems Society and is scheduled to convene in September 17-22, 2017. Background All systems in nature can be considered from the perspective that they process information. Information is registered in the state of a system and its elements, implicitly and invisibly. As elements interact, information is transferred. Indeed, bits of information about the state of one element will travel – imperfectly – to the state of the other element, forming its new state. This storage and transfer of information, possibly between levels of a multi level system, is imperfect due to randomness or noise. From this viewpoint, a system can be formalized as a collection of bits that is organized according to its rules of dynamics and its topology of interactions. Mapping out exactly how these bits of information percolate through the system reveals fundamental insights in how the parts orchestrate to produce the properties of the system. A theory of information processing would be capable of defining a set of universal properties of dynamical multi level complex systems, which describe and compare the dynamics of diverse complex systems ranging from social interaction to brain networks, from financial markets to biomedicine. Each possible combination of rules of dynamics and topology of interactions, with disparate semantics could be translated into the language of information processing which in turn will provide a lingua franca for complex systems. Based on the success of the previous year, IPCS’17 will again combine classical and quantum information approaches. If you would like to attend this scientific discourse then you only need to register for CCS’17. Note that the deadline for early registration is June 15. Abstract Submission We invite abstracts for oral presentations of work where information theory is used to tackle a complex systems problem. Our submission page (https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ipcs17) is open until June 30, 2017. Please keep the word count for the abstract to max. 300. There is the possibility to upload an extended anstract (single page pdf, one figure). Organizing committee Rick Quax (University of Amsterdam) Eckehard Olbrich (MPI Leipzig) Mile Gu (Nanyang Institute of Technology) Manlio de Domenico (Universitat Rovira i Virgili) For further informations or questions please contact ipcs17(a)easychair.org -- Dr. Eckehard Olbrich Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences Inselstrasse 22 D-04103 Leipzig Germany Tel.: +49 341 9959 568 Fax: +49 341 9959 658 E-mail: olbrich(a)mis.mpg.de

May 31, 2017

PhD Studentships in Computational Neuroscience

by Steuber, Volker

PhD Positions in Computational Neuroscience Biocomputation Research Group Centre for Computer Science and Informatics Research University of Hertfordshire UK Applications are invited for PhD positions in the Biocomputation Research Group at the University of Hertfordshire. Projects involve the development and simulation of models of neurons and neuronal networks to study information processing in the cerebellum or olfactory system and /or the application of machine learning techniques for the analysis of neural data. A description of our research interests and a list of publications can be found on our webpage (http://biocomputation.herts.ac.uk/).? Applicants should have excellent computational and numerical skills and a very good first degree in computer science, biology, maths, physics, neuroscience, or a related discipline. Successful candidates are eligible for a research studentship award from the University (GBP 14,553 per annum bursary plus payment of the student fees). Applicants from outside the UK or EU are eligible. Research in Computer Science at the University of Hertfordshire has been recognised as excellent in the latest Research Excellence Framework Assessment, with 50% of the research submitted rated as internationally excellent or world leading. The Centre for Computer Science and Informatics Research provides a very stimulating environment, offering a large number of specialised and interdisciplinary seminars as well as general training and researcher development opportunities. The University is situated in Hatfield, in the green belt just north of London.? Please contact Dr Volker Steuber for informal enquiries. Application forms are available under http://www.herts.ac.uk/apply/schools-of-study/computer-science/our-research… and should be returned to Mrs Lorraine Nicholls, Research Student Administrator, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, Herts, AL10 9AB, Tel: 01707 286083. The short-listing process will begin on 16 June 2017.

May 31, 2017

Extended Deadline: Coupling & Causality in Complex Systems, Sep 25-27, Cologne, Germany

by Michael von Papen

============================================================== CALL FOR PAPERS (*Extended Deadline June 15*, 2017) http://c3s.uni-koeln.de ============================================================== INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: *Coupling and Causality in Complex Systems* September 25-27, 2017, Cologne, Germany -------------------------------------------------------------- The interdisciplinary conference Coupling and Causality in Complex Systems (C3S) is hosted by the Competence Area 3: Quantitative Modeling of Complex Systems of the University of Cologne (UoC), Germany. It is organized by the Institute of Geophysics & Meteorology, UoC, the Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf and the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Research Center Juelich. -------------------------------------------------- *Invited Speakers* Jörg Breitung - Macroeconomic Policy Institute, University of Cologne, Germany David Gross - Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne, Germany Philip Holmes - Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering / Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton, USA Ankit Khambhati - Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, USA Laura Marzetti - Department of Neuroscience, Università degli Studi "G. d'Annunzio" Chieti - Pescara Arkady Pikovsky - Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University Potsdam, Germany Michael Rosenblum - Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University Potsdam, Germany Jakob Runge - The Grantham Institute for Climate Change, Imperial College London -------------------------------------------------- *Preliminary Session Program* We will have different sessions with differing topics and each session will be opened by one of the invited speakers. Here is a preliminary version of our program: Session 1 Synchronization I Arkady Pikovsky Session 2 Synchronization II Silvia Daun Session 3 Coupled oscillators I Phil Holmes Session 4 Coupled oscillators II Michael Rosenblum Session 5 Phase coupling Laura Marzetti Session 6 Network structures Ankit Khambati Session 7 Bayesian networks David Gross Session 8 Granger causality I Jörg Breitung Session 9 Granger causality II Esther Florin Session 10 Causal network measures Jakob Runge Further topics of interest for the conference include, amongst others, research and methods development on: functional connectivity, (partial directed) coherence, network topology, graph-theoretic measures, directed graphs, nonlinear dynamics of complex systems, complex spatio-temporal systems, mutual information and transfer entropy. -------------------------------------------------------------- *Scientific Organizing Committee* Silvia Daun - Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Germany; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Research Center Jülich, Germany Esther Florin - Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Psychology, Düsseldorf, Germany Joachim Gross - Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Glasgow, UK Michael von Papen - Institute of Geophysics & Meteorology, Cologne, Germany; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Research Center Jülich, Germany -------------------------------------------------------------- *Abstract* Complex systems such as the human brain, Earth’s climate and economy are characterized by a multitude of coupled processes on different spatial and temporal scales. In order to better understand the dynamics of the system at hand each scientific area has developed specific tools to identify, model and quantify these processes. The conference Coupling and Causality in Complex Systems (C3S) will present a collection of these approaches with the aim to provide scientists with new analysis strategies for their field. The conference focuses on how to characterize a complex system and on the methods for estimating and modeling of statistical coupling (e.g. network coherence, creation and modulation of small networks and local or long-range synchronization by cross frequency phase-phase and phase-amplitude coupling) and causality (e.g. Granger causality, transfer entropy). Therefore, data analysts from different study fields including neuroscience, mathematics, physics, biology, and economy will present their approaches with a particular focus on the methods they use. The aim of this conference is to foster discussions and the transdisciplinary exchange of advanced techniques, methods, and algorithms, thereby stimulating potential future collaborations. -------------------------------------------------------------- *PAPER SUBMISSION AND REGISTRATION* Authors are invited to submit conference abstracts with up to 400 words. Authors of exceptional abstracts will be given the opportunity to present their research in a talk. However, poster sessions will be provided with ample time for discussions. For your submission, please use the conference website c3s.uni-koeln.de. To register, please send an email with the subject "registration" to c3s-conference(a)uni-koeln.de. Please be sure to include your full name, your affiliation and whether you qualify as student (also PhD candidates) or not. The registration fee will cover snacks and refreshments during coffee breaks, lunch and a dinner with all participants. Early-bird registration is available until July 10 with a reduced fee of 100 EUR (50 EUR for students), after July 10 the registration fee will be 200 EUR (100 EUR for students). -------------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT DATES Paper Submission deadline: June 15, 2017 Author Notification: end June, 2017 Early-bird registration: July 10, 2017 Conference: September 25-27, 2017 ============================================================== Please find the call for papers and more information at the conference website: http://c3s.uni-koeln.de. For questions regarding the conference feel free to contact us via c3s-conference(a)uni-koeln.de. -- ------------------------------------------ UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE Institute of Geophysics & Meteorology Coordinator of Competence Area III: Quantitative Modeling of Complex Systems Dr. Michael von Papen Email: m.papen(a)uni-koeln.de http://www.uni-koeln.de/~vpapenm http://complexsystems.uni-koeln.de ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

May 30, 2017

Call for Abstracts: Workshop on Social Learning and Cultural Evolution (SlaCE 2017)

by Julien Hubert

Dear Colleagues, This is a call for abstracts for the Second International Workshop on “Social Learning and Cultural Evolution (SlaCE)”, which will be held at ECAL 2017 in Lyon, France. Organizers: Julien Hubert, j.g.hubert(a)vu.nl <mailto:j.g.hubert@vu.nl> Jacqueline Heinerman, j.v.heinerman(a)vu.nl <mailto:j.v.heinerman@vu.nl> Evert Haasdijk, e.haasdijk(a)vu.nl <mailto:e.haasdijk@vu.nl> Chris Marriott, dr.chris.marriott(a)gmail.com <mailto:dr.chris.marriott@gmail.com> James Borg, j.borg(a)keele.ac.uk <mailto:j.borg@keele.ac.uk> Peter Andras, p.andras(a)keele.ac.uk <mailto:p.andras@keele.ac.uk> Submission deadline: June 27, 2017 Notification of acceptance: July 27, 2017 Submission website: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=slace2017 <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=slace2017> Workshop website: http://www.climbinggiants.com/slace/2/index.html <http://www.climbinggiants.com/slace/2/index.html> Contact e-mail: j.g.hubert(a)vu.nl <mailto:j.g.hubert@vu.nl> ********* DESCRIPTION ******** In social species, learning from others, i.e. social learning, is one of the cornerstones of cognitive development. Social learning has been shown to increase the learning speed of individuals, but also enables them to reach a higher performance in comparison with learning individually. Social learning also enables local populations to develop a culture that can evolve over time. Realising social learning in artificial systems faces many challenges requiring inputs from machine learning, robotics and evolutionary biology. The aim of this workshop is to promote discussions on social learning and cultural evolution with a special emphasis on the future of of the field. Social learning has been actively studied in psychology but is still in its infancy in artificial systems. Many open questions remain, such as when is social learning advantageous, or what kind of information should be transferred. These questions have been studied but a consensus has yet to be reached, mainly because of the difficulty to compare results in social learning due to the absence of a common research framework. This workshop is devoted to discuss and establish such a framework that will push the research forward. The core of the workshop will consist of short presentations from contributors on their work in the field (current or historical), collective research goals and milestones in social learning and cultural evolution or new concepts, modelling techniques or research questions. Presenters are encouraged to address any of the following topics (though this list is not exhaustive): - Social Learning Mechanisms - Social Information Transfer - Transfer learning - The interaction between social and non social learning - The interaction between learning and evolution - Environmental Variability, Environmental Complexity, and Social Learning - Social Learning Strategies - Social Learning and Life History Evolution - Models of Learning in Nature - The Evolution of Culture - Communication - Social Networks and Social Contagion on networks - Group structure and learning bias - Social Robotics - Grounded (Animat) models of Social Learning - Do our definitions match those used in other related fields (i.e Imitation, Culture, ...) - Human Cultural Evolution (Cumulative Culture) - Co-operation - Gene-Culture Co-Evolution/ Dual Inheritance Theory - Philosophy of Culture - Memetics The workshop will conclude with a fishbowl discussion on the future of Social Learning and Cultural Evolution research in ALife. We ask potential contributors to submit an extended abstract (1 page). We are open to presenters who are contributing during the main ECAL conference to also talk about their work during the workshop in order to have additional discussions. PhD students and young career academics who are new to the field are encouraged to submit to this workshop. SLACE-2017 will be held on September 4th 2017, at ECAL 2017 Kind Regards, Julien, James, Jacqueline, Evert, Chris and Peter — Julien Hubert, PhD Computational Intelligence Group Computer Science Department Faculty of Sciences - VU University Amsterdam

May 28, 2017

Open position: PhD in signal processing / computational & clinical neuroscience

by Alan

Dear all, Please find an open position for a PhD in signal processing / computational & clinical neuroscience *Project title: ** *NeuroCog – Parkinson action (https://neurocog.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr) Funding body: UGA Contract duration: 3 years Starting date: From September 2017 on. *Job description:* The successful candidate will develop new TMS/EEG methods (acquisition and processing) for early Parkinson’s disease diagnosis that will quantify the impairment of cortical excitability. *Requested expertise: ** *Computer science / Signal processing / Parkinson’s disease / Neuroimaging / Brain stimulation *Project scientific summary:* Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most frequent neurodegenerative disorder. Unfortunately, there is no cure for PD and no neuroprotective treatment and about 95% of patients will become demented within 25 years after the diagnosis. The presentation and evolution of PD is highly heterogeneous between patients and some PD phenotypes are more at risk of having a more severe and progressive course of the disease. In particular, although cognitive deficits are very frequent in old patients, in younger patients it is difficult to predict whether they will develop early cognitive disturbances. For this PhD project, we assume that in PD patients with a subtype characterized by prevalent cognitive issues, the impairment of cortical excitability in the fronto-parietal networks would be a new biomarker detectable at an early disease stage. We will thus study the cortical excitability using innovative methodologies that will be first developed in healthy subjects (Harquel et al, 2016; in press) and then longitudinally tested in a cohort of de novo PD patients. Overall, this project investigates PD phenotypes under a neurophysiological perspective that is highly innovative. *Host research groups:* The main goal of the primary host research group (Brain Stimulation & Systems Neuroscience, PI: Olivier David) is to study large-scale brain networks in order to develop new applications of brain stimulation in the field of psychiatry, movement disorders and epilepsy using a translational approach based on clinical and preclinical research. The secondary host lab (Laboratory of Psychology and Neurocognition, PhD co-director: Dr A. Chauvin) is a Cognitive Science Research Unit affiliated to the CNRS (National Institute of Biological Sciences, section 26) and to two universities (University Grenoble-Alpes, Grenoble and University of Savoie Mont Blanc, Chambery). Members of the LPNC who compose the TMS group have an interdisciplinary approach which encompasses engineering, experimental psychology; computational and mathematical modelling; neuropsychology; cognitive psychiatry; and neuroimaging. In addition, the PhD fellow will be in constant interaction with the Movement Disorder Unit of CHUGA (PI: Pr E Moro) and other research groups within the NeuroCog project working on the same cohort of PD patients. Very close interactions between experimentalists, methodologists and clinicians, will offer an optimal environment to develop skills of young scientists. Contacts: Dr Olivier David, Research Director, Inserm, Olivier.David(a)inserm.fr. Dr Alan Chauvin, Assistant Professor, UGA, Alan.Chauvin(a)univ-grenoble-alpes.fr. *Please send application including CV, statement of research interests, and the names and full contact details of at least two referees.** * References: Harquel, S., Bacle, T., Beynel, L., Marendaz, C., Chauvin, A., & David, O. (2016). Mapping dynamical properties of cortical microcircuits using robotized TMS and EEG: Towards functional cytoarchitectonics. NeuroImage, 135, 115–124. Harquel, S., Diard, J., Raffin, E., Passera, B., DallIgna, G., Marendaz, C., et al. (In press). Automatized set-up procedure for transcranial magnetic stimulation protocols. NeuroImage -- New E-mail : Alan.Chauvin(a)univ-grenoble-alpes.fr -- Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition LPNC CNRS UMR 5105 Université Grenoble Alpes(UGA) Batiment Science de l'Homme et Math (BSHM) 38041 Grenoble Cedex 09 Alan.Chauvin(a)univ-grenoble-alpes.fr 33 (0) 476 825 926

May 26, 2017

Two Research Associate/Assistant Positions in Interpersonal Neural Connectivity at Cambridge University

by Dr V Leong

--- TWO RESEARCH ASSOCIATE/ASSISTANT POSITIONS IN INTERPERSONAL NEURAL CONNECTIVITY AVAILABLE --- The Baby-LINC Lab at Cambridge University is seeking two highly-skilled and motivated post-doctoral researchers to join our multidisciplinary data analysis team! We have recently completed an ESRC-funded large-scale EEG hyperscanning study on mother-infant neural coupling in relation to early learning. We are interested in understanding the interpersonal neural oscillatory dynamics that underpin different mother-infant social interactional states (such as joint attention versus inattention). We are also interested in characterizing the topology of coupled neural networks during successful learning and information transfer within mother-infant dyads. Candidates should be able to demonstrate strong technical expertise in one or more of the following areas : 1) Neural connectivity analysis 2) Signal processing (artifact identification and denoising) 3) Information theoretic analysis 4) Machine learning (including Bayesian learning) Applicants should have already obtained (or be about to complete) a PhD in a relevant subject, which may include (but is not limited to) the fields of computational neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, biomedical physics, and engineering. Excellent programming skills are essential as the post-holder(s) will be expected to contribute to the lab’s in-house library of custom-built analysis scripts. Experience with EEG/MEG analysis is desirable. Excellent organisational and communication skills are essential, as the candidate must work well as part of a larger research team which includes international collaborators. This is an exciting opportunity to join pioneering research in the field of interpersonal neuroscience, at a time when there is growing interest and momentum. Two posts are available. One post, appointed through the University of Cambridge, is available at the level of Research Associate (post-doctoral) or Research Assistant (PhD to be awarded), on a 50% part-time basis. A second full-time (100%) post is available at the level of Research Associate only. This second post will be appointed through Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), but the post-holder will be entirely based in Cambridge. All suitable applicants will automatically be considered for both posts, unless the candidate indicates otherwise. We would like both successful candidates to begin as soon as possible, and no later than 1st August 2017, but flexible working arrangements can be considered. Informal enquiries are welcome, and can be made to Dr Victoria Leong by email (vvec2(a)cam.ac.uk) or telephone (+ 44 1223 333567). For further information, and to apply : http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/13871/ -- Victoria Leong, PhD Assistant Professor of Psychology Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) Affiliated Lecturer Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge (UK)

May 25, 2017