- Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

Postdoc position in calcium imaging of Fragile X zebrafish

by Geoffrey Goodhill

Geoff Goodhill's lab at the University of Queensland is looking for an experimental postdoc to analyse a zebrafish model of Fragile X syndrome using behavioural and calcium imaging approaches. The salary range is AU$81k-87k (US$60-64k). We are particular interested in how neural coding emerges over development in these fish. The project will involve both high-speed video recording of zebrafish larvae behaviour, and large scale 2-photon recording of GCaMP6s neural activity using confocal and light-sheet microscopy. The successful candidate will work closely with an interdisciplinary team with a strong computational focus. A new review paper discussing some of the relevant background is Avitan L & Goodhill GJ (2018). Code Under Construction: Neural Coding Over Development Trends in Neurosciences, online June 20th https://www.cell.com/trends/neurosciences/abstract/S0166-2236(18)30158-9 The University of Queensland (UQ) is ranked in the top 3 universities in Australia and the top 100 in the world. The Goodhill lab is part of the Queensland Brain Institute at UQ, a leading neuroscience institute consisting of over 40 labs, including ~100 PhD students and ~100 postdocs. For more details and to apply please see the following link: http://jobs.uq.edu.au/caw/en/job/504708/postdoctoral-research-fellow The closing date is July 25th AEST. Informal enquiries are also welcome. 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

June 30, 2018

PhD and post-doctoral positions in Electrophysiology / Brain-machine interface at the Université de Sherbrooke, Canada

by Jean Rouat

Dear list, We have PhD and one post-doctoral positions in our research group. Please communicate with my colleague Eric Plourde for further details. 1) PhD positions in Electrophysiology / Brain-machine interface at the Université de Sherbrooke, Canada (co-supervision at the University of Minnesota, USA) for IC implants Auditory implants aim at restoring audition by stimulating a specific structure of the auditory system with an electrode array. The most successful auditory implant, the cochlear implant that stimulates the spiral ganglions in the cochlea, has allowed more than 325 000 people worldwide to regain audition. However, cochlear implants are not appropriate for patients that have a disfunctionnal auditory nerve or for which the cochlea cannot be implanted. Alternative implants have therefore been developed such as the auditory midbrain implant (AMI) that stimulates a structure named the inferior colliculus (IC). One aspect that limits the development of the AMI is the lack of knowledge regarding the optimal approach to stimulate the IC. The proposed project aims at gaining more insight into the optimal design of stimulation patterns for the IC. Objectives: Design optimal inferior colliculus stimulation patterns using adaptive filters specifically adapted for neural signals: the neural activity will be recorded in the auditory cortex and optimal stimulation in the inferior colliculus will be evaluated using a closed-loop approach. A financial support will be provided. Requirements: - Excellent academic record. - Master’s degree in biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, computer engineering, physics, biophysics or other related field with a strong background in mathematics and signal processing. - Willing to conduct experiments in electrophysiology to record the neural activity of the auditory system. No prior knowledge in electrophysiology is required. - Excellent ability to communicate in English, knowledge of French is considered an advantage. Interested candidates should send their CV, academic transcripts and relevant publications as well as the names of 2 references to Prof. Eric Plourde. Contact: Eric Plourde, Eng., Ph.D., Université de Sherbrooke (eric.plourde(a)usherbrooke.ca) 2) Postdoctoral position in statistical signal processing / Brain-machine interface at the Université de Sherbrooke A retinal prosthesis aims at giving back vision to blind people. To do so, an external camera captures visual scenes and sends this information to an electrode array, which is positioned in the eye, in order to stimulate directly the retina. The electric pulses from the electrodes are sent to the brain along the optic nerve and interpreted as sight. The objective of this study is to decode a perceived image using Bayesian decoding approaches. Many types of patterns can be used to stimulate the different electrodes comprising the array and not all are efficient. The research proposal aims at simulating a perceived image using an adapted stimulation approach and Bayesian decoding and comparing it with an image obtained with traditional stimulation approaches. The contract is for a 6-months period. Requirements: - Ph.D. degree in statistical signal processing, biomedical engineering, bio-informatics or other related field - Proven publication record - Excellent ability to communicate in English. Interested candidates should send their CV, academic transcripts and relevant publications as well as the names of 2 references to Prof. Eric Plourde. Contact: Eric Plourde, Eng., Ph.D., Université de Sherbrooke (eric.plourde(a)usherbrooke.ca) ==================================================== The Université de Sherbrooke is a French-speaking institution located in the province of Quebec, Canada, and the heart of an international research pole. It is host to more than 40 000 students from over 120 different countries worldwide. (Source: UdeS) ==================================================== Jean Rouat, Prof., coord. IGLU, http://iglu-chistera.github.io Université de Sherbrooke Université de Montréal Member of the centre for Interdisciplinary research Professeur titulaire, Professeur associé in Music Media and Technology NECOTIS: Computational Neurosciences Vision, neuroscience Lab McGill Schulich School of Music and Intelligent Signal Processing FAS- Sciences biologiques 527 Sherbrooke St. West Faculté de génie, GEGI, C1-3108 90 avenue Vincent-d’Indy Montreal, Qc, 2500 boul. de l'université Montréal, Qc, Canada, H3A 1E3 Sherbrooke, Québec Canada, H3C 3J7 Canada, J1K 2R1 Tél.: +1(819)-821-8000 ext. 63864 http://www.gel.usherbrooke.ca/rouat http://www.gel.usherbrooke.ca/necotis http://www.usherbrooke.ca/gelecinfo/fr/pers/profs/rouj-fr/ Jean.Rouat(a)umontreal.ca ou Jean.Rouat(a)usherbrooke.ca Publications: https://www.gel.usherbrooke.ca/rouat/publications/publiDeJRouat.html

June 29, 2018

PhD opening in Machine learning for Neural Encoding of Naturalistic Auditory Scenes

by Nicolas Farrugia

Dear list, We invite applications for a fully-funded PhD between Université de Montréal, computer science department, and IMT Atlantique, Brest, France. The goal is to model the perception of complex natural auditory stimuli using signals on dynamic brain graphs, and deep learning. Details are here : https://t.co/963vd9Pizg and below Deadline for application is July 15th. The project aims to model natural auditory perception using artificial neural networks and graph signal processing, applied to human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalograph (EEG) data. Recent advances in artificial intelligence are largely due to the outstanding performance obtained by deep neural networks on the classification of composite natural stimuli. Deep learning however still faces important challenges with natural auditory perception [1], in particular in complex, noisy scenes involving several simultaneous sources. This thesis will use human neuroimaging data to improve the ability of artificial networks to classify natural auditory stimuli. Recent works have demonstrated the feasibility of building artificial models to link computational musical features with brain activity [2]. Such models perform as well as human listeners on both music, and simple speech discrimination tasks [3]. The internal layers of the deep networks have also been used to predict brain activity related to natural sounds, by modeling each individual voxel of fMRI activity using combinations of feature maps [3]. We propose to investigate extensions of the current approaches to consider graph convolutional networks [4], signal processing on graphs [5], and to model temporal signals on dynamic graphs [6]. We will build a series of artificial models, using extensive recordings of EEG/fMRI brain activity acquired from participants performing auditory tasks of increasing complexity. This PhD project is a collaboration between the laboratories of Dr. Nicolas Farrugia and Dr Vincent Gripon (Brain Inspired Artificial Intelligence Project, at IMT Atlantique, Brest, France), and the lab of Dr. Pierre Bellec (NeuroMod - Courtois Project on Neuronal Modelling - CRIUGM, Department of Computer Science and Operational Research, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Qc, Canada). The candidate will be expected to share their time between Montreal and Brest. IMT Atlantique is a public technological university focusing on the training of engineers at the MSc. level and junior researchers at the PhD level. Université de Montréal is a world-renowned institution, training elite scientist, and is currently one of the main hubs for artificial intelligence and neuroinformatics research in North America.

June 29, 2018

The Journal of Mathematical Neuroscience - recent articles

by Stephen Coombes

The Journal of Mathematical Neuroscience publishes research articles on the mathematical modeling and analysis of all areas of neuroscience. The new Impact Factor of the journal is 2.414 The current list of journal articles is available at http://www.mathematical-neuroscience.com/ : Investigating the Correlation–Firing Rate Relationship in Heterogeneous Recurrent Networks Andrea K. Barreiro and Cheng Ly https://mathematical-neuroscience.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13408-… Effect of Neuromodulation of Short-term Plasticity on Information Processing in Hippocampal Interneuron Synapses Elham Bayat Mokhtari, J. Josh Lawrence and Emily F. Stone https://mathematical-neuroscience.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13408-… Analysis of an Attractor Neural Network’s Response to Conflicting External Inputs Kathryn Hedrick and Kechen Zhang https://mathematical-neuroscience.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13408-… Saddle Slow Manifolds and Canard Orbits in R^4 and Application to the Full Hodgkin–Huxley Model Cris R. Hasan, Bernd Krauskopf and Hinke M. Osinga https://mathematical-neuroscience.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13408-… Kernel Reconstruction for Delayed Neural Field Equations Jehan Alswaihli, Roland Potthast, Ingo Bojak, Douglas Saddy and Axel Hutt https://mathematical-neuroscience.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13408-… All articles are Open Access. ------------------------------------------------------- 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 contact the sender and delete the email and attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham. Email communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored where permitted by law.

June 28, 2018

Postdoc position in Computational Neuroscience - CRM Barcelona

by Klaus Wimmer

A fully funded POSTDOC POSITION in computational neuroscience is available in the lab of Klaus Wimmer, Computational Neuroscience Group at the CRM, Barcelona, Spain. *Profile* We are looking for an enthusiastic and scientifically curious researcher with a strong interest in computational neuroscience. The perfect candidate has a strong mathematical, physical or engineering background, scientific programming skills (Matlab, Python), and a keen interest in biological neural systems. Knowledge in computational neuroscience, dynamical systems, machine learning or advanced statistics is a plus. Good team spirit is a must. *Research topic* The neural basis of decision making and working memory has been studied extensively, yet our understanding of how distributed circuits in the brain perform these cognitive functions is only at the beginning. Models of cortical circuits can shed light on the underlying neural network dynamics. The Postdoc will work on building such models and on cutting-edge analysis of large-scale neural activity recordings (neuronal population recordings, fMRI, EEG). *The lab* The Computational Neuroscience Group is based at the Centre de Recerca Matemàtica at the campus of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. It is a joint effort of Alex Roxin and Klaus Wimmer, and forms part of a larger network of theoretical and systems neuroscience labs in Barcelona. The successful candidate will benefit from a vibrant and stimulating research community and will have the opportunity of enjoying a lively city. More information can be found at: https://sites.google.com/view/wimmerlab *How to apply* Interested candidates should e-mail their application as a single pdf file to Klaus Wimmer, kwimmer(a)crm.cat, with the subject “Postdoc 2018”. The application should include: (1) CV with publication list, (2) a brief description of research experience and interests, (3) contact information for two references. The position is available immediately and applications will be accepted until it is filled. Informal inquiries are welcome. -- Klaus Wimmer Ramón y Cajal researcher at Centre de Recerca Matemàtica Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici C 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona) Spain Tel. +34 935 86 85 15 https://sites.google.com/view/wimmerlab

June 27, 2018

fully funded PhD position in computational neuroscience with Prof. Laurenz Wiskott in Bochum, Germany

by Laurenz Wiskott

Please forward this job advertisement to candidates who might be interested. Thanks, Laurenz Wiskott. ___________________________________________________________________________ Open position for a PhD student with Prof. Laurenz Wiskott at the Institute for Neural Computation, Bochum, Germany ___________________________________________________________________________ Institute: Institute for Neural Computation Ruhr-University Bochum Universitaetsstr. 150 D-44801 Bochum, Germany, EU The Institute for Neural Computation is a central research institute at the Ruhr-University Bochum, see https://www.ini.rub.de/. It focuses on the dynamics and learning of perception and behavior on a functional level but is otherwise very diverse, ranging from neurophysiology and psychophysics over computational neuroscience to machine learning and technical applications. Research group: Prof. Dr. Laurenz Wiskott, see http://www.ini.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/PEOPLE/wiskott/ Research topics: We are looking for an outstanding candidate who will be working on a model of the hippocampus and neocortex investigating the interplay between episodic memory and semantic memory. We use methods from neural networks and machine learning. It is also planned to simulate experiments done with humans by our experimental partners in Bochum and Münster. The position is part of a team working jointly on developing a system-level model of hippocampal function for memory and navigation. This is being doing in close interaction with a team working on similar questions from the machine learning perspective. Teaching: There is a teaching load of 3 hours per week during the semester, in particular for a programming course in python. Time: The appointment will be for three years and can then be extended for one more year if needed. Requirements: Candidates should have an education (equivalent to a MSc) in computer science, physics, mathematics, electrical engineering or any related field. Required are strong mathematical and programming skills (ideally in python) as well as the ability to communicate and work well in a team. Salary: Salary is 75% of salary scale TV-L E13. Inquiries: Informal inquiries can be addressed to Prof. Laurenz Wiskott <laurenz.wiskott(a)rub.de>. Application: Applications (CV, transcript of records for MSc and BSc, statement of purpose) should be sent as a single file pdf to Prof. Laurenz Wiskott <laurenz.wiskott(a)rub.de>. Ruhr-University Bochum is committed to equal opportunity in employment and gender equality in its working environment. We therefore look forward to applications from qualified women. Applications from appropriately qualified handicapped persons are also encouraged.

June 27, 2018

2018 NEURON Summer Course reminder

by Ted Carnevale

If you are interested in this year's NEURON Summer Course but haven't signed up yet, you should act quickly because only a few seats remain available, and the registration deadline is July 16. The course runs from Monday, August 6, through Saturday, August 11, and will be held at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. It will present a thorough introduction to computational modeling of neurons and networks with NEURON, and is suitable for individuals at all levels of expertise. For more information and the on-line registration form, see http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/summer2018/summer2018.html --Ted

June 26, 2018

Save your space today: FENS Satellite Symposium "From Scanner to Bedside"

by Markus Butz Ostendorf

Dear colleagues, My apologies for cross postings. There are a few spaces left on the FENS Satellite Symposium "From Scanner to Bedside - What connectome and gene expression say about brain diseases" on 6 July in the beautiful guest house "Harnack House" of the Max-Planck Society in Berlin-Dahlem. Save your space today by registration via the symposium's website: https://www.biomax.com/symposiums/from-scanner-to-bedside/ Free registration, lunch and refreshments provided! Looking forward to seeing you in Berlin Markus -- Dr. rer. nat. Markus Butz-Ostendorf Product Manager Biomax Informatics AG Robert-Koch-Str. 2, 82152 Planegg, Germany Registergericht: Amtsgericht München, HRB 134442 Vorstand: Dr. Klaus Heumann Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrates: Prof. Dr. Hans-Werner Mewes Tel: +49 89 895574-862 Fax: +49 89 895574-825 Email: markus.butz-ostendorf(a)biomax.com Website: http://www.biomax.com PGP: https://ssl.biomax.de/pgp/

June 26, 2018

PostDoc available in Neuromorphic Computing within the Human Brain Project

by Thomas Nowotny

Dear all, Within sub-project 9 of the Human Brain Project (HBP) we are looking for a PostDoc to work on applications of neuromorphic computing. You will join a dynamic team of researchers in computational Neuroscience and biomimetic robotic control at the University of Sussex and work on cutting edge prototype neuromorphic systems developed at Heidelberg (BrainScaleS, https://electronicvisions.github.io/hbp-sp9-guidebook/pm/pm.html) and Manchester (SpiNNaker, https://electronicvisions.github.io/hbp-sp9-guidebook/mc/mc_index.html) Excellent programming skills and a keen interest in applying neuromorphic computing to interesting problems will be essential. Previous experience with neuromorphic computing and/or machine learning will be a big plus. Deadline: 24 July 2018 Duration: currently funded until end of March 2020; possible extension into the next funding phase of the HBP. Details & apply: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/about/jobs/research-fellow-in-neuromorphic-computin… Queries: Prof Thomas Nowotny (t.nowotny(a)sussex.ac.uk<mailto:t.nowotny@sussex.ac.uk>) With kind regards, Thomas Nowotny -- Prof Thomas Nowotny Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange School of Engineering and Informatics University of Sussex Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QJ, UK Phone: +441273678593 FAX: +441273877873

June 25, 2018

Neuronal morphology and structure workshop at CNS - 2018

by André Castro

Dear all, We are pleased to announce the 4th edition of the Neuronal morphology and structure workshop at [CNS*2018](https://www.cnsorg.org/cns-2018), Seattle, USA. The workshop will be held at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, July 17 . Our confirmed invited speakers are the following: - Hollis Cline (Scripps Research Institute) (keynote) -- "In vivo time-lapse imaging analysis of neuronal structure and functional plasticity" - Ruth Benavides-Piccione (Instituto Cajal, Spain) -- "The microanatomy of pyramidal cells" - Staci Sorensen[,](http://www.treestoolbox.org/CNS2018_dendrites_workshop/speakers… (Allen Institute, USA) -- "Morphological, electrophysiological and transcriptional descriptions of cortical cell types" - Erik De Schutter (OIST, Japan) -- "The Purkinje cell dendrite causes its unique firing rate-dependent phase response curve" - Uygar Sümbül (Allen Institute, USA) -- "Quantifying neuroanatomy" - Lida Kanari (EPFL, Switzerland) -- "Randomness and structure in artificially generated neuronal networks" - Casey Schneider-Mizell (Janelia Research Campus, USA) -- "The neuroanatomy of connectivity in the Drosophila larva" - Kurt Haas (University of British Columbia, Canada) -- "Dynamic morphometrics: Rapid time-lapse imaging and quantification of experience-driven dendrite growth" - Sophie Laturnus (Universität Tübingen, Germany) -- "A systematic comparison of neural morphology representations for cell type discrimination" - Hongkui Zeng (Allen Institute, USA) -- ''Morphology as a key feature for neuronal cell type classification'' Please see our [website](http://www.treestoolbox.org/CNS2018_dendrites_workshop/index.html) for more details. Organising Committee: Alexander Bird (Ernst Strüngmann Institute and FIAS, Frankfurt) André Castro (Ernst Strüngmann Institute and FIAS, Frankfurt) Hermann Cuntz (Ernst Strüngmann Institute and FIAS, Frankfurt)

June 20, 2018

[jobs][phd]PhD Studentship: Being in the Other's Shoes - Social Cognition in Babies and Robots'

by Dimitri Ognibene

We are looking for the perfect interdisciplinary PhD candidate to find out how humans learn to observe others, how they learn that they are not alone. Are you curious about this? Apply! https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BKG746/phd-studentship-being-in-the-others-shoes… The Schools of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering and Psychology in the Faculty of Science and Health at the University of Essex has an interdisciplinary PhD studentship available focusing on the theme ‘Being in the other’s shoes – Social cognition in babies and robots’. This studentship commences from 14 January 2019, the successful applicant will receive a scholarship for three years (subject to satisfactory progression). The studentship includes: a fee waiver equal to the Home/EU fee (for 2018/19, £ £4,410). International students will need to pay the balance of their fees. a stipend of £14,777 in 2018-19 adjusted according to the directives of the Research Councils UK. In a highly interdisciplinary environment, the PhD student will investigate the role of embodiment in social cognitive development by formulating computational theories, testing them through experimental studies with infants, and closing the loop by re-enacting the experiments with state of the art robots available in the Essex robotics lab. The applicant will also have the opportunity to perform empirical studies and computational modelling on social intelligence to examine disorders of social cognition (lack of engagement, inability to adopt others perspective) and validate the architecture in end user environments (for example robotic companions in homes, hospitals etc.). The University’s centre for Brain Science accounts for one of the most comprehensive and equipped laboratories for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience in the UK’s, which has been featured in media <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-suffolk-26574823/university-of-esse…>. The successful applicant will be part of The Centre for Computational Intelligence, supervised by Dr Mohan and Dr Ognibene and also part of The Centre for Brain Science (Psychology), supervised by Dr Filippetti and Dr Rigato. Address additional questions to: Dr Mohan, (CSEE) vishwanathan.mohan(a)essex.ac.uk <mailto:vishwanathan.mohan@essex.ac.uk> (PI), Dr Ognibene (CSEE) dimitri.ognibene(a)essex.ac.uk <mailto:dimitri.ognibene@essex.ac.uk>, Dr Filippetti (PSYCH) m.filippetti(a)essex.ac.uk <mailto:m.filippetti@essex.ac.uk>, Dr Rigato (PSYCH) srigato(a)essex.ac.uk <mailto:srigato@essex.ac.uk>. -- Dimitri Ognibene, PhD Department of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, UK http://sites.google.com/site/dimitriognibenehomepage/ <http://sites.google.com/site/dimitriognibenehomepage/> Skype: dimitri.ognibene -- Dimitri Ognibene, PhD Department of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, UK http://sites.google.com/site/dimitriognibenehomepage/ Skype: dimitri.ognibene

June 19, 2018

Tenure-track position in Data Analytics and Modeling in Frankfurt, Germany

by Matthias Kaschube

The Department of Computer Science and Mathematics at the Goethe University Frankfurt invites applications for a tenure-track position in Data Analytics and Modeling at the rank of Assistant Professor. Fields of interest include computational neuroscience, machine learning, data mining, and computer vision. We expect the candidate to possess an excellent scientific track record. Experiences with interdisciplinary and/or international collaborations and actively acquiring third-party support are advantageous. The professorship is embedded in the attractive research landscape in the Frankfurt area within and outside of the university, e.g.: https://www.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de/index.php/en/forschung-en <https://www.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de/index.php/en/forschung-en> https://fias.institute/en/ <https://fias.institute/en/> http://www.rmn2.de <http://www.rmn2.de/> The initial tenure-track appointment as Assistant Professor is for six years. The invitation to apply aims to reach early-stage researchers, who have finished their doctorate within the past four years at the date of application. Upon positive evaluation, the incumbent will be promoted to a permanent position at a higher level (W2, corresponding to Associate Professor). The designated salary for the position is initially based on “W1” of the German university scale or equivalent. Goethe University aims at increasing the number of women in research and teaching and therefore particularly encourages qualified female scientists to apply. Applications of scientists from abroad are explicitly requested. Severely disabled applicants with equal qualification and aptitude will be given preferential consideration. Qualified academics with an excellent, internationally recognized research record are invited to submit their application with curriculum vitae (scientific and professional experience), a list of publications (including conference proceedings), a record of teaching activities (including tutor work), a draft of three pages at most on present and planned research, a record of actively acquired third-party funding (including prizes and fellowships), certificates and documents until 23 July 2018 in electronic form (as a single pdf-file) to the Dean of the Department of Computer Science and Mathematics, e-mail: bewerbung(a)fb12.uni-frankfurt.de <mailto:bewerbung@fb12.uni-frankfurt.de> For further details on the position see http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/45303044/fb12#DAM_eng <http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/45303044/fb12#DAM_eng> If you have questions about the position please contact Matthias Kaschube, kaschube(a)fias.uni-frankfurt.de <mailto:kaschube@fias.uni-frankfurt.de>

June 19, 2018

Post-doc in event-driven perception for robots

by Chiara Bartolozzi

The Event-driven perception for robotics (EDPR) laboratory (https://edpr.iit.it/ ) with the iCub Facility, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) is seeking to appoint a postdoctoral fellow, under the supervision of Dr. Chiara Bartolozzi. The selected candidate will join the interdisciplinary team of the iCub project. She/he will contribute to the development of new skills of the iCub robot, based on event-driven sensing. We are looking for a talented and enthusiastic postdoc who will join our team to develop models and architectures capable of interpreting and learning from spatio-temporal information, to extract relevant information and plan appropriate behavior. In particular, the candidate will be in a unique position to exploit recent advances in machine learning, in combination with novel biologically inspired sensors and the accompanying biological-grounded learning models. For full details: https://edpr.iit.it/openings/771:post-doc-position-in-event-driven-percepti… For even more details write to chiara.bartolozzi(a)iit.it<mailto:chiara.bartolozzi@iit.it>

June 19, 2018

Research Associate in Data Science - Dementia

by Wong-Lin, Kongfatt

A new Research Associate post in Data Science is available at Ulster University, UK. The post will be available from 1st August 2018 to 31st January 2019. The successful applicant will join an existing interdisciplinary research team that consists of computer scientists, biomedical scientists and clinicians, and will focus on predictive analytics and modelling of dementia data. For more info, please see: https://atsv7.wcn.co.uk/search_engine/jobs.cgi?SID=amNvZGU9MTczNDIyNyZ2dF90… or contact me. The closing date for the application is 27th June 2018. Best, KongFatt Wong-Lin ----------- E-mail: k.wong-lin(a)ulster.ac.uk https://www.ulster.ac.uk/staff/k-wong-lin This email and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for the use of the addressee and may contain information which is covered by legal, professional or other privilege. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager at postmaster(a)ulster.ac.uk and delete this email immediately. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Ulster University. The University's computer systems may be monitored and communications carried out on them may be recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes. Ulster University does not guarantee that this email or any attachments are free from viruses or 100% secure. Unless expressly stated in the body of a separate attachment, the text of email is not intended to form a binding contract. Correspondence to and from the University may be subject to requests for disclosure by 3rd parties under relevant legislation. The Ulster University was founded by Royal Charter in 1984 and is registered with company number RC000726 and VAT registered number GB672390524.The primary contact address for Ulster University in Northern Ireland is Cromore Road, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry BT52 1SA

June 18, 2018

Postdoctoral Position: Wireless optogenetics and electrophysiology in rats.

by Fellous, Jean-Marc - (fellous)

Dear List Members The Computational and Experimental Neuroscience Laboratory is looking to a postdoctoral fellow to work on understanding the computational roles of the multiple levels of the rat hippocampal longitudinal axis. The work will involve state-of-the-art wireless optogenetic manipulations and high-density tetrode recordings in the behaving animal. While some background in experimental neuroscience using these techniques is preferred, the position may be suitable for a motivated computational neuroscientist wanting to learn experimental neuroscience techniques. The project is multi-disciplinary and will involve collaborations with other researchers in the US and abroad, therefore good communication skills are required. Applicant should send a cover letter (email is ok), a CV and the names/contact information of at least two references to Dr. Jean-Marc Fellous (fellous at email.arizona.edu) The search is ongoing and is projected to be completed by October 1st, 2018. Applications will be processed as they are received. More information about the laboratory can be found at: http://amygdala.psychdept.arizona.edu/lab.html The CENL and the University of Arizona are committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive work environment and women and minorities are encouraged to apply. The University of Arizona is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. Jean-Marc

June 17, 2018

Postdoctoral and doctoral studies in the neuroscience of spatial motion estimation and motor planning

by Andrea Green

POSTDOCTORAL AND DOCTORAL STUDIES IN THE NEUROSCIENCE OF SPATIAL MOTION ESTIMATION AND MOTOR PLANNING Departement de neurosciences, Universite de Montreal Applications are invited for postdoctoral and doctoral studies in systems neuroscience in the laboratory of Dr. Andrea Green. Successful applicants will join a multidisciplinary research group studying how the brain integrates multisensory cues to create estimates of our spatial motion and how such estimates are used in motor planning and control. Research in our group involves computational models of the nervous system, behavioral and neural recording experiments in non-human primates as well as human behavioral studies. Successful applicants will investigate the computation of spatial motion estimates and/or their contribution to voluntary reaching through neural recordings within brainstem-cerebellar circuits or motor cortical regions of non-human primates. All students with a strong background in biological sciences, engineering, mathematics, computer science, physics or psychology and an interest in system-level study of the brain are encouraged to apply. However, 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 systems, prepare manuscripts for publication, and participate in international conferences. For further information, please contact Dr. Andrea Green (andrea.green(a)umontreal.ca) Applicants are asked to send a curriculum vita, copies of academic transcripts, a statement of research interests and the names and contact information for two references, to: Dr. Andrea Green Departement de neurosciences, Universite de Montréal C.P. 6128 Succursale Centre-ville Montreal, QC H3C 3J7, CANADA Tel: 514-343-6111 x3301 Email: andrea.green(a)umontreal.ca Applications will be accepted until the positions are filled.

June 15, 2018

Professorship in Artificial Intelligence

by Steuber, Volker

Professor of Artificial Intelligence University of Hertfordshire, UK School of Computer Science, College Lane Campus, Hatfield Salary £58,293 to £64,397 pa dependent on skills and experience FTE: Full time position working 37 hours per week (1.0FTE) Duration of Contract: Permanent position Closing date: 3 September 2018 Applications are invited for an exceptionally well qualified Professor of Artificial Intelligence of international standing who shares our commitment to research-informed teaching, embraces the research impact agenda, and values collegiality. Applicants will strengthen existing activity within the School and develop it further, enhancing the research strengths and external reputation of the School of Computer Science and contributing significantly to its performance in future research assessments and collaborations with public and commercial partners. The successful applicant will connect to and complement the research conducted by the Adaptive Systems Research Group within the Centre for Computer Science and Informatics Research. The School hosts the University of Hertfordshire Robot House, a facility ubiquitously equipped with low-cost sensors providing a realistic environment for experiments with robotics in a smart home; a fully-fledged RoboCup lab for development of humanoid robots participating in international competitions, and a large variety of different robotic platforms, including iCub and Baxter. We encourage applications from researchers across a wide spectrum of AI, and particularly encourage applications from researchers working on emerging topics in AI. Possible fields include, but are not limited to: • Machine learning: reinforcement learning, Deep Methods, statistical methods, large scale data modelling/intelligent processing and high-performance learning algorithms • Robotics: embodied and/or cognitive robotics, HRI, robot safety, emotional/social robots, smart homes and sensors, sensor fusion, assistive robotics • Complex Systems: collective intelligence, adaptive, autonomous and multi-agent/robot systems, collective and swarm intelligence, social and market modelling, adaptive, evolutionary and unconventional computation • Mathematical Modelling: statistical modelling, information-theoretic methods, compressive sensing, intelligent data visualization, multiscale models, optimization • Emerging Topics in AI: computer algebra and AI, topological methods (e.g. persistent homology), modern topics in games and AI • AI and applications: financial modelling, AI and biology/physics/cognitive sciences • Foundations: fundamental questions of intelligence and computation, emergence of life/intelligence, Artificial Life As well as providing research supervision at PhD and MSc level, the School of Computer Science offers modules in Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, neural and evolutionary computing, as well as Artificial Life on the BSc and MSc programmes. Applicants will be committed to a strong research and research-informed teaching agenda, and will actively contribute to increase research impact of the School, in the enthusiastic, welcoming and collegiate environment of the school. Applicants must hold a PhD (or equivalent) in a relevant subject, possess excellent communication skills in English, an internationally excellent research record and reputation, including publications of the highest quality suitable for submission to the REF (UK Research Excellence Framework). Applicants are expected to show evidence of experience and success in research/commercial income generation, engagement with the research impact agenda, engagement with key stakeholders in the relevant Artificial Intelligence community and management and leadership ability. The professor will have opportunity to contribute actively to interdisciplinary research projects at the school and university level. Applications must be made online https://www.herts.ac.uk/contact-us/jobs-and-vacancies/academic-vacancies?, reference 016194?. Informal enquiries may be addressed to Dr Volker Steuber (Associate Dean Research, v.steuber(a)herts.ac.uk) or Professor William Clocksin (Dean of School, w.clocksin(a)herts.ac.uk) Please note that applications sent directly by email will not be accepted.

June 15, 2018

Tenure-track position at Tufts University

by John Rinzel

Dear computational neuroscience list, The Department of Psychology at Tufts University is seeking applicants at the assistant professor level for a tenure-track position in computational clinical neuroscience to begin September 1, 2019. Further information is here: https://apply.interfolio.com/51438 Inquiries should be emailed to Department Manager Jessica Storozuk ( Jessica.Storozuk(a)tufts.edu) Regards, Ani Patel Aniruddh D. Patel Professor, Dept. of Psychology, Tufts University Senior Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Azrieli Program in Brain, Mind, & Consciousness http://ase.tufts.edu/psychology/people/patel/

June 15, 2018

[CFP] IROS-2018 Workshop: Towards Intelligent Social Robots: From Naive Robots to Robot Sapiens

by Amir Aly

CALL FOR PAPERS **Apologies for cross posting ** We are pleased to call for papers for the IROS-2018 workshop: "*Towards Intelligent Social Robots: From Naive Robots to Robot Sapiens*" In conjunction with the *IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)** - Madrid - Spain - October * *5th, 2018* *Webpage: **http://intelligent-social-robots-ws.com/* <http://intelligent-social-robots-ws.com/> *I. Aim and Scope *Robots that cook creatively, clean up our rooms dutifully, entertain our guests wittily and keep us company loyally. Robots that assist human users in their daily chores and provide support in times of need. Researchers around the world have envisioned such robot companions for a long time. Thanks to numerous innovations in sensor technology and software development, robots are now increasingly able to plan complex tasks in unknown environments, learn from experience and adapt to changes in the environment. The greatest challenges in robotics now lie in the development of robot skills and high-level AI-based functionalities that enable robots to work effectively in close collaboration with humans. Aside from the numerous technical challenges, which must be overcome before this vision can become a reality, multi-disciplinary research efforts are also invested into the social engineering of robots. In order to engineer “smart” robots that we accept, trust and welcome into our homes, it is paramount that we identify and investigate the factors that affect social interactions between humans and robots. For this purpose, computer scientists, AI researchers, engineers and psychologists tackle important questions that will determine whether robots will be perceived as helpful and reliable companions or as irritating nuisances. How should robots look, behave and communicate with us? What are our expectations of robot behavior in a social context? How can robots learn using the capabilities of their environments to achieve tasks and to address the needs of their human co-inhabitants? What kind of robot intelligence is required for what kind of tasks? In this workshop, participants will discuss with seasoned experts and young researchers what defines social and artificial intelligence for “smart” robots and how modern technological advances can equip robots with such intelligence. As such, this workshop aims to shed light on the intersection between cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and robotics research both from the theoretical and technical perspectives. Recent advances and possible avenues for future research in the field of “smart” robotics are principal topics of discussion during the workshop. ** *This workshop is endorsed by the IEEE Technical Committees*: *Human-Robot Interaction and Coordination, Cognitive Robotics, and Robot Learning*. *II. Keynote Speakers * 1. * Angelo Cangelosi *– University of Manchester/Plymouth – UK 2. *Yiannis Aloimonos *– University of Maryland – USA 3. * Selma Sabanovic *– Indiana University – USA 4. *Michael Beetz* – University of Bremen – Germany 5. *Matthias Scheutz *– Tufts University – USA *III. Submission * 1. For paper submission, use the following EasyChair web link: *Paper Submission <https://easychair.org/account/signin.cgi?key=72898427.c11B4hAVw0ZMhuaQ>* . 2. Use the IEEE style (two-column format – US letter): *IEEE Templates <https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html>*. 3. Submitted papers should be limited to 2-6 pages maximum. The primary list of topics covers the following points (but not limited to): - Multimodal human robot interaction - Cognitive modeling of human behavior - Cognitive architectures and strategies for intelligent interaction with the environment - AI and machine learning approaches applied to human-robot-environment interaction - Cloud robotics and ubiquitous computing - Ambient assisted living - Human intention recognition and prediction - Robot acceptance - Social engineering - Language learning, embodiment, and social intelligence - Computational modeling for high-level human cognitive functions - Predictive learning from sensorimotor information - Multimodal interaction and concept formulation - Language and action development - Learning, reasoning, and adaptation in collaborative human-robot tasks - Affordance learning - Learning by demonstration and imitation - Language and grammar induction in robots * IV. Important Dates * 1. Paper submission: *20-August-2018 * 2. Notification of acceptance: *30-August-2018* 3. Camera-ready version:* 7-September-2018 * 4. Workshop: *5-October-2018* *V. Organizers * 1. *Amir Aly *– Ritsumeikan University – Japan 2. *Sascha Griffiths *– Hamburg University – Germany 3. * Verena Nitsch *– Bundeswehr University – Germany 4. *Katerina Pastra* – Cognitive Systems Research Institute – Greece 5. *Tadahiro Taniguchi* – Ritsumeikan University – 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

June 15, 2018

Call for Applications: Symposium and Summer School on the Logistics of Neuronal Function

by Jochen Triesch

We invite applications from PhD students and post-docs to participate in a two-week summer course on the Logistics of Neuronal Function in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, from August 28 to September 7. Neurons face a variety of logistics challenges. They need to organize the production, transport, storage, and recycling of various molecules such as neurotransmitters, mRNA, and proteins to fill their extensive dendritic and axonal arbors. For example, most proteins have turnover rates of several days, which implies that neurons must organize the production and transport of vast numbers of proteins to maintain their structure and function. Due to their large size compared to other cells of the body, these problems are particularly severe for neurons. It is likely that evolution has driven neurons to find robust and efficient solutions to these challenges. So how do they organize production, transport, delivery, storage, and recycling processes and how are logistic failures related to nervous system disorders? This first workshop and summer school on the logistics of neuronal function bring together leading experimentalists, theoreticians, and method developers to exchange ideas on these fundamental questions. Organizers: Jochen Triesch, Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies Erin Schuman, MPI Brain Research, Frankfurt Tatjana Tchumatchenko, MPI Brain Research, Frankfurt Christian Tetzlaff, Georg-August University, Göttingen Confirmed Speakers of the Giersch International Symposium (August 28 - September 1): Maarten Altelaar, Utrecht, Netherlands Peter W. Baas, Drexel U., USA Upinder S. Bhalla, TIFR, India Long Cai, Caltech, USA Daniel Choquet, Bordeaux, France Guillame Drion, Liege, Belgium Seth Grant, University of Edinburgh, Scotland Kristian Franze, U. of Cambridge, UK Lukas Kapitein, Utrecht, Netherlands Ken Kosik, UC Santa Barbara, USA Timothy O’Leary, Cambridge University, UK William W. Lytton, SUNY Downstate, USA Jeremy Niven, U. of Sussex, UK Marianne Renner, Institut du Fer a Moulin, France Erik De Schutter, OIST, Japan Antoine Triller, École Normale Superièure, France Noam Ziv, Technion, Israel Confirmed Giersch Summer School Lecturers (September 3 - 7): Eric Hosy, U Bordeaux, France Timothy O’Leary, Cambridge University, UK William W. Lytton, SUNY Downstate, USA Marianne Renner, Institut du Fer a Moulin, France Christian Tetzlaff, U. Göttingen, Germany Jochen Triesch, FIAS, Germany Special Public Talk by: Nobel Laureate Edvard Moser The third "Giersch International Symposium", will take place at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies. The conference series, funded by STIFTUNG GIERSCH gives young scientists the opportunity to learn from well known, exceptional researchers and to expand their networks. Accommodation and meals are provided free of charge. To apply visit: https://indico.fias.uni-frankfurt.de/event/11/overview and see the instructions there. Required materials include: CV, letter of recommendation from supervisor, poster abstract, and short text specifying the reason for participation. Application Deadline: June 30 Contact: gis2018(a)fias.uni-frankfurt.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

June 14, 2018

Bernstein Conference 2018 in Berlin: Registration is open

by Alexandra Stein

BERNSTEIN CONFERENCE 2018 in Berlin Registration is open! Please register here: www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/registration<http://www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/registration> Early registration deadline: July 19, 2018 ABSTRACT SUBMISSION: For the details on abstract submission please visit: www.bernstein-network.de/de/bernstein-conference/2018/abstracts<http://www.bernstein-network.de/de/bernstein-conference/2018/abstracts> Deadline for abstracts aimed as contributed talks and posters: June 21, 2018 Deadline for abstracts aimed as posters only: July 17, 2018 **************************************************************************** Satellite Workshops: www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/satellite-workshops<http://www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/satellite-work…> Main Conference: www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018<http://www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018> PhD Symposium: www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/phd-symposium<http://www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/phd-symposium> **************************************************************************** The Bernstein Conference is the largest annual Computational Neuroscience Conference in Europe and now regularly attracts around 500 international participants. This year, the Conference will take place in Berlin from September 26-28, 2018. In addition, there will be a series of pre-conference satellite workshops on September 25-26, 2018. The Bernstein Conference is a single-track conference, covering all aspects of Computational Neuroscience and Neurotechnology. Sessions for poster presentations are an integral part of the conference. The goal of the satellite workshops is to provide an informal forum for the discussion of timely research questions and challenges. For more information on the conference, please visit: www.bernstein-conference.de<http://www.bernstein-conference.de> CONFERENCE DATE AND VENUE: Satellite Workshops: September 25-26, 2018 Venue: Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), Marchstrasse 23, 10587 Berlin (10 min. walk to Bernstein Main Conference venue) Main Conference: September 26-28, 2018 Venue: Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) Main Building, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin PhD Symposium: September 28-29, 2018 Venue: Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Philippstraße 13, Haus 6, 10115 Berlin NEW THIS YEAR: Postdoc Meeting: September 25, start 7:00 pm Venue: Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), Marchstrasse 23, 10587 Berlin (in the same building as the Satellite Workshops) This event is an informal get-together for post-docs. It is an opportunity to get to know each other, foster collaborations, exchange experiences and ideas. No preparation required, but if you have an idea or a particular topic you want to discuss with your peers, bring it along. Drinks and snacks will be provided. PhD Social Event: September 25, start 8:00 pm Venue: depends on the number of participants Warm-up for PhD Symposium ACCOMMODATION AND HOTEL RESERVATION: We strongly recommend early room booking! The number of available accommodation is limited! 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 (www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/hotels<http://www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/hotels>). 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). We are looking forward to welcoming you in Berlin! Conference Chair: Andreas Herz Conference Host: Henning Sprekeler Program Chair: Gilles Laurent Program Vice Chair: Susanne Schreiber Workshop Chair: Jakob Macke Workshop Vice Chair: Tatjana Tchumatchenko Technical Organization: Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS): Alexandra Stein, Kerstin Schwarzwaelder BERNSTEIN CONFERENCE 2018 in Berlin Registration is open! Please register here: www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/registration<http://www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/registration> Early registration deadline: July 19, 2018 ABSTRACT SUBMISSION: For the details on abstract submission please visit: www.bernstein-network.de/de/bernstein-conference/2018/abstracts<http://www.bernstein-network.de/de/bernstein-conference/2018/abstracts> Deadline for abstracts aimed as contributed talks and posters: June 21, 2018 Deadline for abstracts aimed as posters only: July 17, 2018 **************************************************************************** Satellite Workshops: www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/satellite-workshops<http://www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/satellite-work…> Main Conference: www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018<http://www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018> PhD Symposium: www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/phd-symposium<http://www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/phd-symposium> **************************************************************************** The Bernstein Conference is the largest annual Computational Neuroscience Conference in Europe and now regularly attracts around 500 international participants. This year, the Conference will take place in Berlin from September 26-28, 2018. In addition, there will be a series of pre-conference satellite workshops on September 25-26, 2018. The Bernstein Conference is a single-track conference, covering all aspects of Computational Neuroscience and Neurotechnology. Sessions for poster presentations are an integral part of the conference. The goal of the satellite workshops is to provide an informal forum for the discussion of timely research questions and challenges. For more information on the conference, please visit: www.bernstein-conference.de<http://www.bernstein-conference.de> CONFERENCE DATE AND VENUE: Satellite Workshops: September 25-26, 2018 Venue: Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), Marchstrasse 23, 10587 Berlin (10 min. walk to Bernstein Main Conference venue) Main Conference: September 26-28, 2018 Venue: Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) Main Building, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin PhD Symposium: September 28-29, 2018 Venue: Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Philippstraße 13, Haus 6, 10115 Berlin NEW THIS YEAR: Postdoc Meeting: September 25, start 7:00 pm Venue: Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), Marchstrasse 23, 10587 Berlin (in the same building as the Satellite Workshops) This event is an informal get-together for post-docs. It is an opportunity to get to know each other, foster collaborations, exchange experiences and ideas. No preparation required, but if you have an idea or a particular topic you want to discuss with your peers, bring it along. Drinks and snacks will be provided. PhD Social Event: September 25, start 8:00 pm Venue: depends on the number of participants Warm-up for PhD Symposium ACCOMMODATION AND HOTEL RESERVATION: We strongly recommend early room booking! The number of available accommodation is limited! 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 (www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/hotels<http://www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2018/hotels>). 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). We are looking forward to welcoming you in Berlin! Conference Chair: Andreas Herz Conference Host: Henning Sprekeler Program Chair: Gilles Laurent Program Vice Chair: Susanne Schreiber Workshop Chair: Jakob Macke Workshop Vice Chair: Tatjana Tchumatchenko Technical Organization: Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS): Alexandra Stein, Kerstin Schwarzwaelder -- Dr. Alexandra Stein Head of Bernstein Coordination Site 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 9583 mobile: (+49) 0151 67114645 mail: a.stein(a)fz-juelich.de<mailto:a.stein@fz-juelich.de> web: www.bernstein-network.de<http://www.bernstein-network.de> Twitter: NNCN_Germany YouTube: Bernstein TV Facebook: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany LinkedIn: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 14, 2018

Postdoc in systems or computational neuroscience at Brandeis (Boston Area), ,

by Paul Miller

Postdoc in systems or computational neuroscience at Brandeis (Boston Area) The Miller and Katz labs are looking for a postdoctoral researcher with expertise in two or more of the following areas: electrophysiology, optogenetics, animal behavior, data analysis, and/or computational modeling. The postdoc will work on a collaborative project, which is funded by the BRAIN initiative. The project’s goal is to uncover the dynamics and neural circuitry underlying the ongoing consumption decisions that occur when an animal is choosing between different tastes or olfactory stimuli. The ideal candidate will be highly motivated, bring relevant skills based on past experience, be willing and able to develop new project-related skills, and be good at communicating with others in both experimental and computational labs. Any interested candidate should contact Paul Miller at pmiller(a)brandeis.edu <mailto:pmiller@brandeis.edu>, indicating areas of expertise and which areas of the project (in particular experiment versus modeling) are of greatest interest. A C.V. and the names and contact details of three faculty willing to provide recommendations should accompany the application. The position is available as of now and is open until a suitably qualified candidate is appointed. The appointee will work in either the Katz Lab or Miller Lab at Brandeis University in Waltham MA (in the Greater Boston Metro area), a liberal arts college with a very strong research community, particularly in the life sciences. Salary will be on the NIH scale (experience-dependent, starting at $48 432). Brandeis University has a strong institutional commitment to the achievement of excellence and diversity.Women and underrepresented minority candidates are encouraged to apply.Brandeis University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age or protected veteran status.

June 13, 2018

3rd International MOBI Conference

by Daniel Ferris

11 - 14 JULY, 2018 3RD INTERNATIONAL MOBILE BRAIN/BODY IMAGING CONFERENCE http://mobi2018.bpn.tu-berlin.de/ Berlin, Germany ______ Speakers Diane Damiano Chief of Functional & Applied Biomechanics NIH Arthur Kramer Professor of Psychology & Engineering, Northeastern University Scott Makeig Director Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience Klaus Gramann Chair Biological Psychology and Neuroergonomics, Technical University Berlin Dan Ferris Robert W. Adenbaum Professor of Engineering Innovation, University of Florida Juliet King Director Art Therapy, Indiana University School of Medicine Stefan Debener Chair of Neuropsychology, University of Oldenburg John Foxe Killian J. and Caroline F. Schmitt Chair in Neuroscience, University of Rochester Medical center Helen J. Huang Professor, University of Central Florida Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor, University of Houston Thorsten Zander CEO, Zander Laboratories B.V., Amsterdam, The Netehrlands Peter Koenig Chair Neurobiopsychology, University of Osnabrueck Girija Kaimal Professor Creative Arts Therapies, Drexel University Tzyy-Ping Jung Co-Director Center for Advanced Neurological Engineering, UCSD Hirokazu Tanaka Professor School of Information Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology Paola Pinti Research Associate Dept. of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London Edmund Wascher Chair of Ergonomics, Leibnitz Research Center for Working Environments and Human Factors Janna Protzak Postdoctoral Researcher, Technische Universitaet Berlin Tim Mullen CEO Qusp Hasan Ayaz Professor School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University Julia Kline Senior Researcher Fitbit, San Francisco Guy Cheron Director Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, Université Libre de Bruxelles Eduardo Macagno Professor Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego Tal Shafir Research Fellow, The Emili Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center, University of Haifa Guido Orgs Lecturer, Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London Grainne McLoughlin Associate Professor, Cognitive Neuroscience, King’s College London Chin-Teng Lin Director, Computational Intelligence and Brain Computer Interfaces, University of Technology Sydney Martin Seeber Research Scientist, Functional Brain Mapping Lab, University of Geneva Stephanie Scott Researcher, Brain-Computer Interface Laboratory, Colorado State University Lewis Chuang Group leader, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics Christer Ahlström Researcher, The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute Sha Xin Wei Director School of Arts, Media + Engineering, Arizona State University Pierfilippo De Sanctis Professor Albert Einstein College New York Conny Kranczioch Research Scientist, Department of Psychology, University Oldenburg Simon Ladouce Impact Fellow, Department of Psychology, University of Stirling Angus Hunter Professor, Health and Sport Science, University of Stirling Hanna Poikonen Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki John Iversen Research Scientist, University of California San Diego Agnieszka Wykowska Social Cognition in Human-Robot Interaction, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genua Elsa Kirchner Robotics Lab, University of Bremen Andreas Mierau Exercise & Sport Science, LUNEX International University of Health, Luxembourg Nadja Schott Professor, Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences -- Daniel P. Ferris, Ph.D. Editor-In-Chief, IEEE-TNSRE editortnsre(a)gmail.com

June 13, 2018

PhD position in neuromorphic engineering - 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 2018 (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 network which 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: For security / defense reasons, an evaluation will be made of the candidates before any possible acceptation. 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 de 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 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 12, 2018

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER

by Tatiana Pasternak

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION IN THE NEUROSCIENCE OF PERCEPTUAL DECISIONS Postdoctoral position to study cortical circuitry underlying memory-guided perceptual decisions is available immediately in the laboratory of Dr. Tatiana Pasternak. Experimental approaches include extracellular multi-electrode recordings and inactivation of spiking and LFP activity from prefrontal and extrastriate visual cortical regions of non-human primates during complex behavioral tasks. An important component of the work is a collaboration involving computational modeling 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 Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience Departments of Neuroscience, Brain & Cognitive Science, Biomedical Engineering, and Center for Visual Science University of Rochester https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/labs/pasternak.aspx <https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/labs/pasternak.aspx>

June 11, 2018