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5th Bernstein Sparks Workshop: Neural models of decision making in natural inference tasks - from theory to experiment
by Ralf M. Haefner May 12, 2015

May 12, 2015

5th Bernstein Sparks Workshop: Neural models of decision making in natural inference tasks - from theory to experiment June 11-12, 2015 in Tübingen, Germany Abstract submission and registration deadline: May 20, 2015 (attendance limited: first come, first served) Detailed information at http://www.bccn-tuebingen.de/events/5th-bernstein-sparks-workshop-2015.html Confirmed Speakers: • Wieland Brendel (University of Tuebingen) • David Cox (Harvard University) • Jaime de la Rocha (IDIBAPS, Barcelona) • Nicolas Heess (Google DeepMind) • Mate Lengyel (University of Cambridge) • Wolfgang Maass (Technical University Graz) • Hendrikje Nienborg (University of Tuebingen) • Andreas Tolias (BCM Houston) • Dan Yamins (MIT) • Rich Zemel (University of Toronto) The brain needs to extract behaviorally relevant information from sensory signals which contain only indirect, incomplete and highly variable information about the world. Beginning with the study of the neural basis of random dot motion discrimination in the late eighties, neural decision making has been studied extensively in neuroscience. However, the models used to reason about decision making do not account for the computational complexity of natural inference tasks such as object recognition, speech recognition or alike. Based on recent advances in machine learning more and more complex artificial neural networks are developed that become increasingly proficient in mimicking perceptual inference abilities of humans and animals. As a side effect of their popularity in technology, the increasing availability and diversity of high-performing neural network models opens a new door for studying the neural mechanisms of robust decision making. Important differences between these networks are the presence or absence of feedback connections, the presence or absence of stochasticity, and the diversity of different nonlinear mechanisms. The existence of this diversity mirrors important discussions in neuroscience on the role and effect of feedback signals is in the brain [1], whether the brain represents and computes with probabilities [2], whether feedback signals are essential for performing probabilistic inference in hierarchical models [3], and whether neural stochasticity can be interpreted in terms of sampling [4] or regularization such as dropout [5]. As a joint effort between theoreticians and experimentalists, the goal of this Sparks workshop will be to survey and discuss the role of these mechanisms for robust decision making in artificial and real neural networks and to derive discriminative experimental tests and tools that seem most promising to analyze them. [1] Gilbert & Li, Nat Rev Neuro 2013 [2] Pouget et al, Nat Rev Neuro 2013 [3] Lee & Mumford, JOSA 2003 [4] Fiser et al., TICS 2010 [5] Srivastava et al, JMLR 2014 Organizers: • Matthias Bethge (BCCN Tübingen) • Ralf Haefner (University of Rochester) • Richard Hahnloser (University of Zürich) • Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS)

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ECMLPKDD 2015: Summer School on Data Sciences for Big Data - Resource Aware Data Mining
by ECMLPKDD 2015 May 11, 2015

May 11, 2015

>From 2nd to 5th of September 2015, the TU Dortmund University and LIAAD-INESC TEC will organize a Summer School on Data Sciences for Big Data - Resource Aware Data Mining. The School will be hosted at Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto and is collocated with <http://ecmlpkdd2015.org/> ECMLPKDD 2015 - European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles and Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases (http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org/) For the summer school, world leading researchers in machine learning and data mining will give lectures on recent techniques dealing with huge amounts of data, spatio-temporal streaming data, distributed and graph data, sensors and embedded systems. The summer school is designed for Master and PhD students, and professionals who wanted to learn cutting edge techniques for data mining with constrained computational resources. For further details go to: <http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org/summer-school/about> http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org/summer-school/about

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ICSLANE: CALL FOR ABSTRACTS AND CONTRIBUTED TALKS
by Alessandro Barardi May 10, 2015

May 10, 2015

----------------------------------------- SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT --------------------------------------- International Conference on System Level Approaches to Neural Engineering (ICSLANE) Dates September 21st – 23rd 2015 Deadline registration 30th May Venue Barcelona Biomedical Research Park <http://www.prbb.org/>, Barcelona, Spain Website http://www.neural-engineering.eu/BarcelonaConference2015/index.html We invite you to submit poster abstracts and apply for contributed talks We introduced a one-day participation option: now you can attend one day of the conference for 80 Euros. The program per day with its outstanding list of confirmed speakers is already available here: http://www.neural-engineering.eu/BarcelonaConference2015/index.html The aim of this interdisciplinary conference is to bring together theoretical and experimental neuroscientists, roboticists and microfluidics experts to present and discuss the state of the art in the field of neural engineering. It is designed to provide fertile grounds for establishing collaborations between classical neuroscientists and leaders in the up-and-coming robotics and microfluidics fields to develop novel neural engineering techniques and promote the understanding of the brain. It will also give the researchers an opportunity to present their work by contributed talks or during poster sessions. ----------------------------------------------------- PROGRAM --------------------------------------------------- Keynote speakers Eugene Izhikevich - Brain Corporation, San Diego, CA, USA. Opening talk, Day 1 Nikos Logothetis - Director Max Planck Institute for Biol Cybernetics, Germany. Closing talk, Day 3 Day 1 Brain-on-chip - engineering of neuronal circuits in-vitro with emphasis on microfluidics Albert Folch - Department Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, USA Thibault Honegger - Laboratoire des Technologies de la Microelectronique, CNRS-CEA, France Yoonkey Nam - Department for Bio and Brain Engineering, KAIST, South Korea Optical neurotechnology Methodology - imaging and engineering techniques that allow recording of neuronal activity Amanda Foust - Neural Coding Laboratory, Imperial College London, London, UK Fritjof Helmchen - Brain Research Institute, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland Adam Packer - Department of Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology, UCL, UK Eftychios Pnevmatikakis - Department of Statistics & Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, USA Day 2 Neural Dynamics - mathematical description of neuronal activity Viktor Jirsa - Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, Marseille, France David Liley - Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia Benjamin Lindner - Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience,Germany John Terry - College of Engineering, Mathematics & Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, UK Neural learning and control - motion planning, controlling and learning neuro-inspired techniques for robotics Dario Farina - Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Germany Sami Haddadin - Institute of Automatic Control, Hannover, Germany Alexandre Pouget - CMU, Geneva, Switzerland Gregor Schöner - Institut für Neuroinformatik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany Reza Shadmehr - John Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA Patrick van der Smagt - BRML labs, TUM, Germany Day 3 Neural Coding - investigation of neuronal strategies for encoding information Andre Bastos - The Picower Institute for Learning & Memory at MIT, Boston, USA Romain Brette - Institut de la Vision, Paris, France Sophie Deneve - Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, LNC, Paris, France Kenneth Harris - Institute of Neurology & Department of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, UCL, UK Stefano Panzeri - Neural Computation Lab, IIT, Rovereto, Italy Jan Schnupp - Auditory Neuroscience Group, Oxford, UK --------------------------------------------------- REGISTRATION --------------------------------------------------- Deadline Registration 30th May Conference fee 200 Euros (plus 50 Euros for optional conference dinner) One-day Conference fee 80 Euros The single-day participation option still allows to apply for a contributed talk or a poster. Registration can be done on our registration form <https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-conference-on-system-level-app…>. Details about the payment will be posted on the conference website. -------------------------------------- CALL FOR POSTERS AND TALKS ------------------------------------- Posters will be selected from half-page abstracts, which should be submitted by email to nett.barcelona.2015(a)gmail.com. Please specify in the object to which theme panel you are submitting your abstract. We invite you to apply for contributed talks. Please send a half-page abstract to nett.barcelona.2015(a)gmail.com. Selected talks will be scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. Each talk should be about 15 minutes long. Abstract Submission closes: 30th May Abstract Acceptance Notification: 30th June This International Conference on System Level Approaches to Neural Engineering conference is organised by the Fellows of the NETT consortium (Neural Engineering Transformative Technologies <http://www.neural-engineering.eu/>). We cordially invite you to participate in this meeting that will take place in Barcelona, Spain, on September 21st – 23rd, 2015. The NETT consortium is a Marie Curie Initial Training Network involving neuroscience research laboratories from the UK, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal, and industrial partners. The network is coordinated by Professor Stephen Coombes from the University of Nottingham, UK, and this three-days long event is part of a series of training events organised by the NETT consortium. Best regards, On behalf of the NETT Fellows, Alessandro Barardi, PhD student. Neural Engineering Transformative Technologies <http://www.neural-engineering.eu/> Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Barcelona, Spain.

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CNS*2015 Meeting in Prague, Early registration ends on May 14
by Tam, Nicoladie May 10, 2015

May 10, 2015

CNS*2015 Meeting in Prague, Czech Republic. Early registration for members ends on May 14, 2015, 11 pm, Pacific Time, USA, after which the registration price will increase. Meeting Info: Tutorial: July 18, 2015 Main Meeting: July 19-21, 2015 Workshop: July 22-23, 2015 http://www.cnsorg.org/cns-2015-prague See you all in Prague.

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new Purkinje neuron paper; alcohol action
by MICHAEL FORREST May 8, 2015

May 8, 2015

Group members may be interested in this new paper. Forrest MD (2015) Simulation of alcohol action upon a detailed Purkinje neuron model and a simpler surrogate model that runs >400 times faster. BMC Neuroscience 16(1):27.http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2202/16/27 Contributions of the paper: (1) New detailed computational model of the cerebellar Purkinje neuron (coded in NEURON and available in modelDB)(2) New reduced (2 compartment) model of the Purkinje neuron that runs >400 times faster than the detailed model. This reduced model replicates the behavior of the full model and can be used (a) in network simulations, to investigate how distinctive single neuron Purkinje behaviors are important to network and system function (b) as a proxy to find parameter values that will permit the full model to replicate new behavior (this is a massive help as parameter searches with the full model - that often have to be conducted manually - are typically very slow, given its large computational cost).(3) It shows a new reduction method - for producing a faithful 2-compartment surrogate model of a detailed multi-compartment model. We apply it to the Purkinje neuron but we envisage that it will be equally applicable to other neuron types - so please try it with your own neuron model investigations. The collapse NEURON code is included in the modelDB entry. (4) It further confirms our prior work which shows that the the sodium-potassium pump controls the intrinsic firing mode of Purkinje neurons; and that the sodium-potassium pump is a computational element in the cerebellum and the brain. This is a significant re-appraisal of the role of these pumps, which previously were thought to have no direct role in brain computations.(5) Why do people fall over when drunk? This paper suggests that alcohol corrupts body movements by inhibiting sodium-potassium pumps in the cerebellum. Kindest regards,Michael

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Summer school "Non-linear methods", University of Cologne, Germany, 28.9.-2.10.15
by Michael von Papen May 8, 2015

May 8, 2015

Dear all, I would like to draw your attention to the upcoming Cologne Summer School on non-linear analysis methods. Feel free to forward this message to interested colleagues. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Cologne Summer School 2015: *Non-Linear Methods for Complex Systems Analysis* Date: Mon-Fri 28.09-02.10.2015 Location: *University of Cologne*, Germany ------------------------------------------------------------------- This one-week summer school brings together *master's degree and PhD students from international universities* for an interdisciplinary hands-on learning experience. The workshop will introduce non-linear analysis methods using the Python toolbox pyunicorn. With the techniques presented in the summer school, such as complex networks and phase space concepts, the students will be able to characterize highly complex systems. Such systems are frequently encountered, e.g., in *biology, chemistry, economics, geoscience, neuroscience, and physics*. Lectures and computer labs will be led by Dr. Reik Donner and Marc Wiedermann from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. For the complete program visit *complexsystems.uni-koeln.de/summerschool.html*. The application deadline is 10.07.2015. The summer school is organized by the Competence Area 3: Quantitative Modeling of Complex Systems of the University of Cologne. Contact: Dr. Michael von Papen (/vonpapen(a)geo.uni-koeln.de/) -- ------------------------------------------ UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE Institute of Geophysics & Meteorology Coordinator of Competence Area III: Quantitative Modeling of Complex Systems Dr. Michael von Papen Pohligstr. 3 (R 3.224) 50969 Cologne Tel.: +49 (0)221 470-2841 Email: vonpapen(a)geo.uni-koeln.de http://complexsystems.uni-koeln.de

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neuroscience summer school in Kyiv, Ukraine
by Sergiy Yakovenko May 7, 2015

May 7, 2015

Dear colleagues, I would like to promote the Xth Summer School "Achievements and Applications of Contemporary Informatics, Mathematics and Physics” in beautiful Kyiv, Ukraine this August 4-18. One of the streams is the Computational Neuroscience focused on models for cellular and system (neuromechanical) applications. The details about Xth Summer School program can be found at summerschool.ssa.org.ua/program. Registration is open until June 1, 2015. Students can also apply for registration discounts (see the “Discounts and scholarships” web page). Cheers, Sergiy -- Sergiy Yakovenko, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Neural Engineering Laboratory Exercise Physiology - Center for Neuroscience West Virginia University School of Medicine Adjunct Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering PO Box 9227, Morgantown, WV, 26506-9227 t: +1 (304) 293-7316 (Office), +1 (412) 407-7792 (Mobile) https://sites.google.com/site/neuralengineeringlab/

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POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR: Matlab Analysis to Decode Brain Neuron Learning
by GJBrewer May 7, 2015

May 7, 2015

Salary: $42,840-$44,556 in beautiful Irvine, California The Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, invites applications for a Postdoctoral Scholar in the area of network analysis of brain regions involved in learning and memory. You will perform experiments to decode information processing in live rat neuronal networks in culture under the direction of Dr. Gregory J. Brewer. His NIH funded project examines hippocampal subnetwork function reconstructed in MEM devices over electrode arrays. You will discover the statistical basis for spontaneous and evoked differences in subregion spike dynamics to reveal coding mechanisms in the brain. The initial appointment will be full-time for a 12 month period. Renewal of the contract will be contingent on the availability of adequate funding and performance. Salary will be commensurate with experience. Requirements: Ph.D. in neuroscience, information/signal processing, network systems analysis, statistical math or physics or related field. Matlab coding expertise is required. Experience in neurophysiology desirable. Application Procedure: Applicants will need to upload their curriculum vitae, a cover letter and names, affiliation and email for 3 references to Professor Gregory J. Brewer via our online RECRUIT system at https://recruit.ap.uci.edu/apply/JPF02808 Screening will begin June 15 and will continue until position is filled. The University of California, Irvine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC nondiscrimination policy. -- Grace to you, Gregory J. Brewer, Ph.D., Professor University of California Irvine, Dept Biomedical Engineering Institute for Memory Impairment and Neurological Disorders (MIND) Nat. Sci, 2, Rm 3101 GJBrewer(a)uci.edu, 217-502-4511 http://brewer.eng.uci.edu/

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[jobs] PhD Opening on Mutual Understanding in Human-Robot Interaction at the Italian Institute of Technology
by Alessandra Sciutti May 7, 2015

May 7, 2015

Apologies for cross-posting =========================================================================== PhD Opening on Mutual Understanding in Human Robot Interaction Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department (RBCS) - Italian Institute of Technology Cognitive Robotics, Interaction and Rehabilitation technologies curriculum =========================================================================== In the spirit of the doctoral School on Bioengineering and Robotics, the PhD Program for the curriculum Cognitive Robotics, Interaction and Rehabilitation Technologies provides interdisciplinary training at the interface between technology and biomedicine. The general objective of the program is to form scientists and research technologists capable of dealing with multidisciplinary projects involving aspects of engineering, technology and life-sciences. In RBCS we are merging top-level neuroscience research and top-level robotics research by sharing fundamental scientific objectives arising from the study of speech recognition and language, the foundations of physical and social interaction, the exploitation of sensory and motor rehabilitation. Among the different research themes proposed I would like to advertise the topic: "Mutual Understanding in Human Robot Interaction" The ideal candidates are students with a higher level university degree willing to invest extra time and effort in blending into a multidisciplinary team composed of neuroscientists, engineers, psychologists, physicists working together to investigate brain functions and realize intelligent machines, rehabilitation protocols and advanced prosthesis. International applications are encouraged and will receive logistic support with visa issues, relocation, etc. Below you can find more details related to the position and the instructions on how to apply. Best regards, Alessandra Sciutti ----------------------------------------- Alessandra Sciutti (PhD) Robotics Brain and Cognitive Sciences Dept. - Italian Institute of Technology Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy email: alessandra.sciutti(a)iit.it =========================================================================== Theme 8: Mutual Understanding in Human Robot Interaction Tutor: Dr. Alessandra Sciutti Department: RBCS (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia) http://www.iit.it/rbcs =========================================================================== Description: As robots are making their way from factory floors into our everyday lives, the design of their interaction with humans is becoming more and more important and a key issue to address is how to transfer the excellent social skills exhibited by humans to human-robot interaction. Our approach to this challenge is based on leveraging on the neural and behavioral mechanisms naturally in place for human-human interaction to foster a seamless mutual understanding with humanoid robots. Hence, we use robots both as tools to stimulate human social interaction and as test beds for the derived models. In particular we focus on understanding in humans and implementing in a robotic platform the basic motor and perceptual skills supporting human collaboration, as gaze tracking [1], temporal coordination between partners [2], gesture and action understanding [3-5]. The activity we propose is twofold: on one side to further investigate how to establish efficient human robot collaboration by implementing models of social skills on the iCub robotic platform and on the other to assess these models in human-robot interactive scenarios by means of multiple techniques (e.g., eye-tracking, motion capture and force measurements). Requirements: Background in computer sciences, robotics, engineering is required, as also willingness to make experiments with human participants and strong motivation to work and adapt to a multidisciplinary environment. International opportunity: The successful candidate will have the opportunity to spend part of his/her PhD at Osaka University and the University of Tokyo in the framework of the Marie Curie IRSES collaborative project CODEFROR ( www.codefror.eu ). References: 1. O. Palinko, A. Sciutti, F. Rea, G. Sandini, Towards Better Eye Tracking in Human Robot Interaction Using an Affordable Active Vision System, HAI 2014 2. A. Bisio, A. Sciutti, F. Nori, G. Metta, L. Fadiga, G. Sandini, T. Pozzo, Motor Contagion during Human-Human and Human-Robot Interaction, PloS one, vol. 9, no. 8, 2014 3. N. Noceti, A. Sciutti, F. Rea, F. Odone, G. Sandini, Estimating human actions affinities across views, VISAPP 2015 4. A. Sciutti, L. Patanè, F. Nori, G. Sandini G., Understanding object weight from human and humanoid lifting actions, IEEE Transactions on Autonomous Mental Development, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 80-92, 2014 5. A. Sciutti, A. Bisio, F. Nori, G. Metta, L. Fadiga, G. Sandini, Robots can be perceived as goal-oriented agents, Interaction Studies, 14:3 . xv, 179, pp. 329350, 2013 Contact: alessandra.sciutti(a)iit.it =========================================================================== How to apply =========================================================================== Please note that the positions are available through the PhD course of Bioengineering and Robotics, curriculum on Cognitive Robotics, Interaction and Rehabilitation Technologies, offered jointly by IIT and the University of Genoa. The official call and application forms are available on the website of the University of Genoa. In particular: The official calls are available here: http://phd.dibris.unige.it/biorob/media/PhD%20Program%20in%20BioRob%20Cognit ive%20Robotics%202015%20def.pdf (Cognitive Robotics, Interaction and Rehabilitation Technologies curriculum. ) Applications must be submitted online, instructions for applicants are available here: http://phd.dibris.unige.it/biorob/index.php/how-to-apply Applicants are strongly encouraged to get in touch with Alessandra Sciutti ( alessandra.sciutti(a)iit.it ). ****** Application deadline: 10 June 2015, Noon, Italian time *******

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RA position – Machine vision & automated behavioral analysis – Brown University (Providence, RI).
by Thomas Serre May 7, 2015

May 7, 2015

Computational (Thomas Serre) and developmental (Dima Amso) labs in the Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, & Psychological Sciences are seeking an NIH-funded research assistant to work on the development of tools, including machine learning and computer vision, appropriate to examining naturalistic interactions in typical and atypical development. Candidates are expected to have solid background in computer vision and/or machine learning. Prior experience with depth sensors (kinect), tracking, object recognition and/or background subtraction algorithms would be a strong plus. An interest in development or cognitive science and applications of computer vision to the biological sciences would also be a plus but this is not a requirement for the position. The initial appointment is for 12 months, renewable for another year, and potentially longer depending on funding. The start date is negotiable though an early start is strongly preferred. Salary is commensurate with experience and is competitive. Requirements: Applicants are expected to have finished, or be about to finish a BS or MSc in computer science or related discipline. They must have a strong background in computer vision and/or machine learning and excellent programming skills (C/C++/Matlab/Python). Programming experience in CUDA and/or parallel computing would be a strong plus. Research groups: Our research groups are located within the Department of Cognitive Linguistic & Psychological sciences at Brown University. We maintain strong ties with the computer science, engineering and applied math departments as part of the Brain Institute. Through Brown’s Center for Computation and Visualization (https://www.ccv.brown.edu) our groups have access to a state-of-the-art computing facility with includes over 300K GPU cores and over 500 Teraflops of GPU computing power. Information about Dr. Serre and his research group can be found at http://serre-lab.clps.brown.edu. Information about Dr. Amso and her research group can be found at http://research.clps.brown.edu/dcnl. Application: Please send your applications by email to dima_amso(a)correct_university_name.edu and thomas_serre(a)correct_university_name.edu where correct_university_name should be replaced by ‘brown'. Please include a brief statement of interests, a curriculum vita and contact details for 2-3 letters of reference (no letters required at this stage). There is no deadline for the application but applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible as the position will be filled as soon as a suitable applicant is found.

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Open Post-doc Position in Active Efficient Coding (AEC)
by Jochen Triesch May 7, 2015

May 7, 2015

We have an opening for a post-doc position in my lab (http://fias.uni-frankfurt.de/de/neuro/triesch) at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) to explore the new area of active efficient coding (AEC), a recently formulated generalization of the efficient coding hypothesis to active perception. The basic idea of AEC is that sensory systems learn to use their motor degrees of freedom to contribute to the efficient encoding of sensory signals. Along these lines, we have developed computational models for the self-calibration of active stereo and motion vision [1,2,3]. These models simultaneously learn a sensory representation with sparse coding approaches and controllers for their eye movements through reinforcement learning. Both learning components aim to maximize the overall coding efficiency of the system, which leads to fully self-calibrating sensory-motor loops for active stereo vision (dispartiy tuning and vergence control) and motion vision (motion tuning and pursuit movements). To the best of our knowledge, these models are the first to demonstrate how such self-calibration can emerge from a generic efficient coding objective. We have also validated the approach on robots such as the iCub (http://www.icub.org) The work will be performed in a stimulating interdisciplinary environment with ample opportunities for collaboration with neuromorphic engineers, neuroscientists, roboticists, psychologists, and clinicians across the globe. A special emphasis will be on better understanding how and why such self-calibration can go awry in clinical conditions such as strabism and amblyopia. We are seeking an outstanding and highly motivated post-doc for this project. Applicants should have obtained a PhD in Computational Neuroscience or a closely related field. The ideal candidate will have excellent programming skills (Matlab, Python, C/C++), very good analytic skills, and a broad knowledge of computational neuroscience, machine learning, computer vision, robotics, signal processing and statistics. Furthermore, specific expertise in visual neuroscience, sparse coding models, and reinforcement learning are requested. Experience with programming Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) is a plus. The position can be filled immediately, and lasts for 2 years. Extension to a third year is possible. The lab has an excellent track record of post-doctoral training with 6 out 11 post-docs having obtained professorships or other permanent academic posts directly after their time in the lab. The Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies is a research institution dedicated to fundamental theoretical research in various areas of science. It is embedded into Frankfurt's recently established natural science research campus. Frankfurt itself is the hub of one of the most vibrant metropolitan areas in Europe. Apart from its strong economic and financial sides, it boasts a rich culture and arts community and repeatedly earns highest rankings in worldwide surveys of quality of living. Applications should include a brief statement of research interests, CV and contact information for at least two references. Send applications to application(a)fias.uni-frankfurt.de. Review of applications will begin immediately. Interviews can be arranged at the upcoming Vision Science Society meeting in St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA, May 13-18 by emailing triesch(a)fias.uni-frankfurt.de. [1] A Unified Model of the Joint Development of Disparity Selectivity and Vergence Control. Zhao Y, Rothkopf CA, Triesch J, Shi B. IEEE Int. Conf. on Development and Learning and Epigenetic Robotics (ICDL), 2012. (Paper of excellence award.) http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6400876 [2] Robust active binocular vision through intrinsically motivated learning L. Lonini, S. Forestier, C. Teulière, Y. Zhao, B. Shi, J. Triesch, frontiers in Neurorobotics, 2013. http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbot.2013.00020/full [3] Self-calibrating smooth pursuit through active efficient coding C. Teulière, S. Forestier, L. Lonini, C. Zhang, Y. Zhao, B. Shi, J. Triesch, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 2014 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921889014002486 -- 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

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CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: Society for Neuroeconomics Annual Meeting 2015
by Echo Wang May 6, 2015

May 6, 2015

Society for Neuroeconomics Annual Meeting 2015 Call for Abstracts Due *June 3rd, 2015* 11:59PM EDT Submit at http://neuroeconomics.org/abstract/ <http://neuroeconomics.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=06bb83fa6d8d4ed86f…> *Meeting Information* *Dates:* September 25 – 27, 2015 *Location:* Conrad Miami Hotel, Miami, FL Annual Kavli Foundation Plenary Lecture Keynote Speaker: *Ann Graybiel*, PhD, Investigator and Institute Professor at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT Confirmed Kavli Foundation Workshops in the Foundations of Neuroeconomics: *David Laibson*, Harvard University; *Nick Barberis*,Yale University; and *Mara Mather*, USC Consumer Neuroscience Satellite Symposium at the University of Miami on 9/24. Registration is separate. More details to come. *Call for Abstracts* The Society for Neuroeconomics invites submission of research abstracts for its 2015 annual meeting. Abstracts are encouraged from any area of neuroeconomics and decision neuroscience research. All submissions will be evaluated by a Program Committee. About the Meeting: The Society for Neuroeconomics promotes interdisciplinary research and discussion through its annual meeting. The meeting is attended by scholars in all levels and areas of neuroeconomics research including the fields of economics, psychology, neuroscience, finance and medicine. The meeting's format, consisting of general sessions, meals, and a reception, provides ample opportunities for networking and offline discussions. Details of the meeting will be continually updated at http://www.neuroeconomics.org/conference <http://neuroeconomics.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=06bb83fa6d8d4ed86f…> How to submit your abstract: *NEW THIS YEAR: All abstracts will be blind-reviewed by the Program Committee.* In order for your abstract to be blinded for peer review, you must upload two separate files containing your abstract. Please see instructions on what to include in each file below: - The first file contains all sections of the abstract but DOES NOT include authors, affiliations, contact information or acknowledgements (if applicable). Please title this file “Blind_Abstract”. - The second file contains all sections of the abstract but DOES include authors, affiliations, contact information or acknowledgements (if applicable). Please title this file according to the following template: “Last Name_First Name_Abstract”. An administrator screening the abstracts for compliance with requirements will number the files and forward only blinded files to the Program Committee. All abstracts should have titles. Samples for each abstract file to be uploaded can be found by clicking the submission link below. Theses samples are in the preferred font and format with the recommended sections. Please submit abstracts online at http://neuroeconomics.org/abstract/ <http://neuroeconomics.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=06bb83fa6d8d4ed86f…> All submissions will be considered for a 20-minute slide presentation, unless the submitter opts out. If your submission is not selected for a slide presentation, the Program Committee will automatically consider it for a poster presentation. A small selection of posters will also be selected for Poster Highlights, two-minute oral spotlight presentations held during the general sessions. To qualify for abstract submission, you must be a member in good standing with your 2015 dues paid by the time of abstract submission. You can find membership and payment information at http://www.neuroeconomics.org/membership <http://neuroeconomics.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=06bb83fa6d8d4ed86f…> . *Guidelines for abstracts submitted to the Society for Neuroeconomics Meeting 2015* Abstracts should describe novel theoretical, computational and empirical results; abstracts that fail to do so will not be considered. Abstracts should not report findings that will be published elsewhere prior to the meeting, although presentation of the work at a recent meeting (e.g., within a year) of another society is acceptable. The abstract should state the study's objective, briefly describe the methods used, summarize the results obtained, and state the conclusions. Ideally, these sections will be indicated explicitly. It is not satisfactory to say, "The results will be discussed." Abstracts should emphasize the significance of results and general principles rather than describe common methods and procedures. Use standard abbreviations for units of measure. Other abbreviations should be fully spelled out on first mention, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. The body of your abstract should be no more than 2,300 characters, including punctuation (not spaces), and no longer than 1 page. Abstracts longer than this limit will be returned to the submitting author for revision and must be resubmitted by the abstract deadline or will not be accepted. The title, author, affiliations, contact information, acknowledgements, and references are NOT included in the character count but everything must fit on one page. Figures are not allowed in the abstract. Any conflicts of interest (e.g., financial disclosures) should be declared at the time of submission. For more information click here: http://www.neuroeconomics.org/conference/abstract <http://neuroeconomics.us10.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=06bb83fa6d8d4ed86…> or contact Echo Wang at wang(a)neuroeconomics.org

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Postdoc and RA positions
by Marta Garrido May 6, 2015

May 6, 2015

Applications are invited for two scientists to work on an Australian Research Council funded project to advance the knowledge of the brain mechanisms underlying learning and memory. The project will use a combination of MRI, M/EEG / LFP and behavioural recordings as well as computational modelling. This research will be conducted within the laboratory of Dr Marta Garrido (http://www.cai.uq.edu.au/garrido) based at the Centre for Advanced Imaging (http://www.cai.uq.edu.au/) and in collaboration with colleagues at the Queensland Brain Institute ( http://www.qbi.uq.edu.au/) and the Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function (http://www.cibf.edu.au/) Postdoctoral Research Fellow: http://jobs.uq.edu.au/caw/en/job/497377/postdoctoral-research-fellow-cognit… Research Assistant: http://jobs.uq.edu.au/caw/en/job/497376/research-assistant Enquires: Dr Marta Garrido (m.garrido(a)uq.edu.au) (Apologies for cross-posting) -- Marta I. Garrido, PhD https://sites.google.com/site/martaigarridophd/ DECRA Research Fellow Centre for Advanced Imaging and Queensland Brain Institute The University of Queensland Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia http://www.cai.uq.edu.au/garrido Chief Investigator ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function <http://www.cibf.edu.au/>

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Research postdoc positions in neuroimage analysis and computational neuroscience.
by Mark Woolrich May 5, 2015

May 5, 2015

Applications are invited for two postdoctoral scientists to work on a Wellcome Trust funded project to advance understanding of spontaneous whole-brain activity. The project will use a combination of MRI, M/EEG / LFP recordings, methods development and biophysical modeling to advance understanding of spontaneous whole-brain activity, and provide new insights into the underlying mechanisms. This research will be conducted within the OHBA Analysis Group headed by Mark Woolrich and based at the Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity (http://www.ohba.ox.ac.uk) and will be in collaboration with colleagues at FMRIB (http://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/analysis) and the Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour (http://www.cncb.ox.ac.uk) We are looking for excellent researchers with a strong technical background, ideally in computational neuroscience and/or in developing neuroimaging analysis methods, but also with experience in other areas of Engineering/Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science and Physics (e.g. Machine Learning and Pattern Recognition). Post in Neuroimaging Analysis https://www.recruit.ox.ac.uk/pls/hrisliverecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobs… Post in computational biophysical model development https://www.recruit.ox.ac.uk/pls/hrisliverecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobs…

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[meetings] Living Machines IV: Call for Participation, Exhibits, and Late Breaking Abstracts
by Nathan F Lepora May 5, 2015

May 5, 2015

Living Machines IV: The 4th International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems 28th to 31st July 2015 http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2015 To be hosted at La Pedrera, Barcelona, Spain In association with the Universitat Pompeu Fabra PARTICIPATION IN THE LM2015 CONFERENCE Registration for LM2015 is now open at http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2015/registration Registration prices are 350/400/200 (CSN Members/non-members/students) until July 15 and 400/500/250 for late registration Student authors of accepted papers will be eligible to apply for a limited number of LM2015 travel bursaries (see living-machines(a)sheffield.ac.uk for details). Late July is a busy time in Barcelona, we recommend that conference delegates book their accommodation soon. Suggestions for conference accommodation are http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2015/accommodation LM2015 SATELLITE EVENTS We have scheduled to the following satellite events (see http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2015/satelliteevents for details). The list of workshops is: * The Robot Self * Nature Inspired Manufacturing * How to Practice Bio Inspired Design More details at http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2015/workshops Satellites will be hosted at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra campus in PobleNou http://www.upf.edu/campus/. Please register for satellite events when you register for the main conference event. It is possible to register for a satellite event and not attend the the main conference. Please contact the event organisers for further information about satellite events. EXHIBITS Submissions are invited for the LM2015 exhibition to feature working biomimetic or biohybrid systems and biomimetic/biohybrid art. Authors of conference papers are particularly encouraged to submit exhibit proposals, however, the call for exhibits is open to all. The title and author list of all accepted exhibits will appear in the LM2015 programme (in print and online), and there will be a prize for the best LM2015 exhibit. At least one person is expected to register for the conference to present the exhibit (though this can be the same person who presents and accepted paper). In general, LM2015 cannot help financially with the cost of bringing exhibits to the conference, however, we are able to offer advice and can potentially provide storage, or accept postal delivery, of exhibit material. Your 1-page exhibit description should include: title (max. 150 characters), author list, lead author contact information, a 150-250 word description, a photograph if possible. Please specify if your exhibit requires any of the following: a table, a poster board, electric power. Please let us know if you have any additional requirements, we will do our best to accommodate reasonable requests. Send your 1-page LM2015 exhibit description to info.csnetwork(a)upf.edu by June 1st. LATE-BREAKING ABSTRACTS The call for full papers and extended abstracts has now closed, however, we are still accepting late-breaking abstracts (LBAs) for poster presentation only. LBAs will be too late to appear in the LM2015 proceedings, but will instead be published online, with the title and author list in the LM2015 programme (in print and online). LBAs will also be eligible for the LM2015 best poster prize. At least one author of an LBA must register as a LM2015 conference delegate. Authors of LBAs who have student status will be eligible to apply for LM2015 travel bursaries. LBAs should be a maximum of one A4 page and include a title (max. 140 chars), author list, contact information for the lead author, a 150-250 word description, up to 6 key-words. A figure or photo can also be included. Please send your 1-page LM2015 late-breaking abstract to Stuart Wilson s.p.wilson(a)sheffield.ac.uk by July 1st, 2015

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Bernstein Conference 2015: Registration is open
by Seeger, Simone May 4, 2015

May 4, 2015

BERNSTEIN CONFERENCE 2015 in Heidelberg Registration is open now! Please register here<https://mi3.lambdalogic.de/forms/Bernstein2015.do>. Early registration deadline: July 24, 2015 **************************************************************************** Satellite Workshops<http://www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2015/satellite-workshops> September 14, 2015 Main Conference<http://www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2015/program> September 15-17, 2015 **************************************************************************** The Bernstein Conference has become the largest annual Computational Neuroscience Conference in Europe and now regularly attracts more than 500 international participants. This year, the Conference is organized by the Bernstein Center Heidelberg-Mannheim and will take place in Heidelberg on September 15-17, 2015. In addition, there will be a series of pre-conference satellite workshops on September 14, 2015. The Bernstein Conference is a single-track conference, covering all aspects of Computational Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, and sessions for poster presentations are an integral part of the conference. The Bernstein conference will also feature a series of satellite workshops on September 14, 2015. The goal is to provide an informal forum for the discussion of timely research questions and challenges. For more information on the conference, please visit: http://www.bernstein-conference.de CONFERENCE DATE AND VENUE: Satellite Workshops September 14, 2015 Main Conference September 15-17, 2015 Venue: Neue Universität, Grabengasse 3-5, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany PHD STUDENT EVENT: September 17-18, 2015 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Peter Bastian Andreas Draguhn Daniel Durstewitz Martin Gerchen Joachim Hass Elke Jochum Peter Kirsch Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg Christoph Schuster Simone Seeger We look forward to seeing you in Heidelberg in September!

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Retinal Mechanisms Underlying Motion Perception
by Roman Poznanski May 4, 2015

May 4, 2015

JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE NEUROSCIENCE http://www.worldscinet.com/jin Call for Papers! Special Issue on Retinal Mechanisms Underlying Motion Perception in Vertebrates This call for paper s is dedicated to the work of Vaxim Maximov on the general theme of retinal directional selectivity in vertebrates. All papers are welcome that describe neurophysiology, anatomical or neural modelling of retinal circuitries underlying motion perception. 1. Can asymmetry be justified based on anatomical studies showing less inhibitory synapses between SAC and DSGC in the null direction? 2. Is calcium bias to somatofugal motion due to intrinsic properties of SAC or is calcium bias in centrifugal motion caused by presynaptic delay in glutamate receptor activation induced calcium? 3. Are SACs are connected asymmetrically to DSGCs: those pointing in the null direction deliver inhibition; those pointing in the preferred direction do not? 4. Is intracellular calcium signal and not the membrane potential (voltage) directionally selective? Submission deadline: 30 September 2015 Contact: Dr. Ilya Damjanov, damjanov(a)iitp.ru<mailto:damjanov@iitp.ru> ------- Roman R. Poznanski Professor Laboratory of Biological Modeling The Rockefeller University 1230 York Avenue New York, NY 10065-6399 Office: (212) 327-7646 E-mail: rpoznanski(a)rockefeller.edu http://romanpoznanski.blogspot.com and Chief-Editor, Journal of Integrative Neuroscience http://www.worldscinet.com/jin/mkt/editorial.shtml

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Re: [Comp-neuro] Postdoc and PhD student in Oxford
by Rafal Bogacz May 1, 2015

May 1, 2015

Dear Colleagues, I would like to let you know about open positions for a postdoctoral researcher and a PhD student in computational modelling of the neural circuits affected by Parkinson's disease and the effects of deep brain stimulation. The post-holders would work in an interdisciplinary MRC Unit for Brain Network Dynamics in Oxford. Closing date for application is noon 4th June 2015. Further information can be found at: http://www.mrcbndu.ox.ac.uk/vacancies Best wishes, Rafal Bogacz

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Postdoctoral Research Associate in Computational Modelling of Decision Making at the University of Ulster
by Wong-Lin, Kongfatt April 30, 2015

April 30, 2015

Applications are invited for the following post: Postdoctoral Research Associate in Computational Modelling of Decision Making at the University of Ulster There is an important practical need and challenge for autonomous systems to perform multisensory decision-making and report decision uncertainty. This project aims to develop a neural computational model of decision-making capable of performing such tasks. The model will be tested under various complex simulated environments and implemented in reconfigurable and programmable hardware for real-time applications, hence bridging from basic neuroscience research to engineering applications. This project is available in the University of Ulster's Computer Science Research Institute (in collaboration with University of Wolverhampton) and is tenable in the Faculty of Computing and Engineering at the Magee Campus. The successful applicant will utilize knowledge in computational neuroscience, embedded systems and machine learning. The postholder will join an externally funded multidisciplinary research team, and will benefit from the expertise of computational neuroscience, cognitive robotics and neuroengineering at Ulster and Wolverhampton. All applicants should hold or about to obtain a Ph.D. degree in Computing, Engineering, Computational Neuroscience, Computational Sciences, Neuroscience, Mathematics, Physics, Cognitive Science, or a related discipline. Applicants must be highly motivated and willing to pursue research and develop skills and knowledge across disciplines. The application process for the post is opened with a closing date for applications on the 11th May 2015, and interviews will be held shortly after. The successful applicant is expected to be able to begin work in June 2015. Further details can be found at: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/ALA611/research-associate-in-computational-modell… We prefer to issue and receive applications via our on-line recruitment website at www.ulster.ac.uk/jobs<http://www.ulster.ac.uk/jobs> If you wish to discuss further regarding this post or the research project, please contact: Dr. KongFatt Wong-Lin, tel: +44 028 7167 5320, e-mail: k.wong-lin(a)ulster.ac.uk ________________________________ 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 University of Ulster 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

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Large-Scale and HPC data analysis in bioinformatics, system and synthetic biology - 2nd cfp
by Andrea Bracciali April 30, 2015

April 30, 2015

CIBB 2015 — CALL FOR PAPERS – Special Session on Large-Scale and HPC data analysis in bioinformatics: intelligent methods for computational, systems and synthetic biology. CIBB 2015 12th International Meeting on Computational Intelligence Methods for Bioinformatics and Biostatistics CNR Research Area, Naples, Italy 10-12 September 2015 http://bioinfo.na.iac.cnr.it/cibb2015/ cibb2015(a)gmail.com Aims and scope Biomedical research is currently facing the Big Data wave created by the huge amount of experiments performed every day in omics sciences. This new situation demands appropriate IT-infrastructures and scalable software to analyse data within an acceptable timespan. Massive parallel clusters, distributed technologies, on-Chip solutions such as GPGPU and Xeon Phi must be exploited with adequate algorithmic solutions to reach their full potential. The aim of this special session is to bring together researchers interested in cutting-edge methods to address the challenges posed by the huge amount of data produced in omics sciences and in application to systems and synthetic biology. The track aims to present latest advancements concerning High Performance Computing solutions required to treat multi-omics Bid Data and to support the various Large-Scale challenges of current computational biology. Relevant topics within this context include all the field of Next-Generation Sequencing data analysis and interpretation, Genomics patterns identification and mining, Transcriptomics and Proteomics data integration, Systems Biology models simulation and optimization, Structural Biology and Molecular Dynamics, Synthetic Biology circuits design and simulation. Organisers Dr. Andrea Bracciali Dept. of Computing Science and Mathematics, University of Stirling, UK Dr. Ivan Merelli Institute for Biomedical Technologies Italian National Research Council, Italy Dr. Mario Guarracino High Performance Computing and Networking Institute Italian National Research Council, Italy Submissions Conference papers must be prepared following the guidelines illustrated on the CIBB website, which include the requirement of being between 4 and 6 pages in length and having five sections: 1. Scientific background 2. Material and methods 3. Results 4. Conclusion 5. References (no more than 10) These papers should be submitted in PDF format on the Easy Chair conference system (it is necessary to select this special session in the submission system). A second submission after the conference, in an extended version, is required to be considered for publication in the Springer’s Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics (LNBI) series (http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-73658-0) Moreover, as it has been the case in previous CIBB conferences, we are planning to publish the best papers of CIBB 2015 in an extended form in a special issue of an international scientific journal, including special session papers. Important dates Paper submission deadline : May 10, 2015 Abstract submission deadline: May 10, 2015 Notification of Acceptance: July 1, 2015 Final papers due: July 30, 2015 (*) Conference: September 10-12, 2015 (*) for the inclusion in the CIBB15 conference proceeding ICT COST Action High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications (cHiPSet) The organiser of this special sessions are actively involved in the ICT COST Action High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications (cHiPSet), due to formally start in June. The possibility of a co-located event is being explored. Italian Flagship initiative Interomics The special sessions will be supported by the Flagship initiative Interomics (PB05). About the organisers Dr. Andrea Bracciali is currently a SICSA lecturer at the Department of Computing Science and Mathematics of the University of Stirling (from August 2010). Before that, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at CNR, Italy (2009-2010) in the Applied Formal Methods group, and at the Computer Science Department of the University of Pisa (2003-2008), where he received his Ph.D. (2003) in Computer Science. His main research interests are centred in the formal description of interaction in computing with application for Systems Biology and Crowd Dynamics. His main research interests regard the formal description of interaction in computational systems and theories and tools for reasoning about such descriptions. This stream of research spawns form Theoretical Computer Science, Concurrency Theory and, more recently, Systems Biology. Web: http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/~abb/ Dr. Ivan Merelli is currently research fellow at the Institute for Biomedical Technologies (ITB) of the National Research Council (CNR) in the Bioinformatics Division. He received his Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano, with a thesis about molecular surface modelling and analysis. In February 2009 he received a PhD in Computer Science from the university of Milano - Bicocca with a research project about surface matching for macromolecular docking and functional annotation. His research activities concern the development of software for sequence based genomics and for structural proteomics research, with particular interest in protein-protein interactions. He works actively on the implementation of high performance bioinformatics software using cluster infrastructures and grid distributed platforms. He has been involved in the development of databases and computational solutions for projects of Integrative System Biology, gene expression analyses and drug discovery. Web: http://www.itb.cnr.it/web/bioinformatics/staff Dr. Mario Guarracino is researcher at High Performance Computing and Networking Institute of the Italian National Research Council. He received a PhD in Mathematics defending a thesis on projection techniques for parallel sparse linear algebra and an Ms in Applied Mathematics. His postdoctoral training from National Research Council focused on low cost high performance architectures for scientific computing. He has been collaborating with Center for Applied Optimization at University of Florida since 2005. He has taught various undergraduate courses in both computer science and mathematics. His research interests include machine learning methods for computational biology and planning and development of high performance computational components for parallel and distributed problem solving environments. He is author of publications in the field of high performance scientific computing, computational biology and machine learning. Web: http://www.na.icar.cnr.it/~mariog/

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Network Plasticity as Bayesian Inference
by David Kappel April 30, 2015

April 30, 2015

We would like to announce our new paper on stable network function through stochastic plasticity. Summary: Networks of neurons in the brain are exposed to a multitude of internal and external changes and perturbations, to which they have to respond quickly in order to maintain stable functionality. In addition, experimental data suggest that these networks are simultaneously able to maintain structural constraints such as the empirically found connection probability between specific types of neurons, and heavy-tailed distributions of synaptic weights. Other experimental data point to surprising ongoing fluctuations in dendritic spines and spine volumes, to some extent even in the adult brain and in the absence of synaptic activity. In our paper "Network Plasticity as Bayesian Inference" we have shown that stochasticity of synaptic connection may support stable network function. It enables networks to sample parameters from some low-dimensional manifold in a high-dimensional parameter space that represents attractive combinations of structural constraints and a good fit to empirical evidence (e.g., sensory inputs). The resulting new theory of network plasticity explains from a functional perspective the experimentally observed ongoing fluctuations and structural priors that previously appeared to be quite puzzling, and provides a viable alternative to existing models that propose convergence of parameters to point estimates of their optimal values, e.g. to maximum likelihood values. A preprint of the paper is available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/1504.05143v1 The supplement at: http://www.igi.tugraz.at/kappel/pdfs/ms-541-suppl.pdf -- David Kappel Institute for Theoretical Computer Science Graz University of Technology Inffeldgasse 16b, A-8010 Graz, Austria Tel.: ++43/316/873-5847 http://www.igi.tugraz.at/kappel/

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reminder: Call for Abstracts – IWSP7: Epilepsy Mechanisms, Models, Prediction & Control
by Levin Kuhlmann April 30, 2015

April 30, 2015

The 7th International Workshop on Seizure Prediction (IWSP7: Epilepsy Mechanisms, Models, Prediction & Control) will bring together world leading epileptologists, engineers, physicists, mathematicians, neurosurgeons and neuroscientists to focus on epilepsy research in Melbourne Australia from 3-6 August 2015. Abstract submission deadline: 16th April 2015. Notification of acceptance: 31st May 2015. Early bird registration: full: AU$465; Student/Early Career Researcher: AU$165. Early bird registration deadline: 30th June 2015. Standard registration: full: AU$565; Student/Early Career Researcher: AU$265. Over 30 generous travel stipends will be awarded to participants submitting the best abstracts as determined by the IWSP7 Scientific Advisory Board. The majority will be awarded to undergraduate or postgraduate students and early career researchers (people who completed their PhD within the period of the 3 years preceding 3rd August 2015). The best abstracts will also be selected for talks by the IWSP7 Scientific Advisory Board. Topics for abstracts include, but are not limited to: seizure prediction, detection and control; seizure mechanisms, animal models and human neurophysiology; neuroimaging of epilepsy/seizure localisation; computational modelling of epilepsy; epilepsy networks; high frequency oscillations; model-based estimation, statistical signal processing or control theory applied to epilepsy. For information on invited speakers and the preliminary conference program, and how to submit abstracts and register visit: http://www.iwsp7.org Please forward this notice to anyone that you think might be interested. Or post the conference poster around your department. The poster can be obtained at the link: http://www.iwsp7.org/flyers/IWSP7_Call_for_Abstracts.pdf We would also like to draw your attention to two partner events: Epilepsy Melbourne which brings together Melbourne’s best epilepsy researchers and will be held at the same venue as IWSP7 on the afternoon of August 6th and all of August 7th. Attendance is free for IWSP7 registrants. Swinburne Brain Imaging Symposium 2015: Principles and Applications of Magnetoencephalography is a meeting on MEG and neuroimaging occurring in Melbourne in the week preceding IWSP7 from June 29-30 2015. http://www.research.swinburne.edu.au/our-research/events/neuroimaging-sympo… We look forward to seeing you at IWSP7! On behalf of the local organizing committee Levin Kuhlmann, PhD David B. Grayden, PhD Mark J. Cook, MD Dean R. Freestone, PhD Alan Lai, PhD Elma O'Sullivan-Greene, PhD Andre Peterson, BSc(hons) Email: organizingcommittee(a)iwsp7.org<mailto:organizingcommittee@iwsp7.org>

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Table of Contents Alert: Cognitive Computation journal (Springer): Vol.7, No.2 / April 2015 Issue
by Dr Amir Hussain April 29, 2015

April 29, 2015

Dear Colleagues: (with advance apologies for any cross-postings) We are delighted to announce the publication of Volume 7, No.2 / April 2015 Issue, of Springer's Cognitive Computation journal - www.springer.com/12559 ================================================================ Important News: Increased Impact Factor & Six bi-monthly Journal Issues from 2015! ================================================================ As you will know, Cognitive Computation was selected for coverage in Thomson Reuter’s products and services in 2011. Beginning with V.1 (1) 2009, this publication is now indexed and abstracted in: ♦ Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch®) ♦ Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition ♦ Current Contents®/Engineering Computing and Technology ♦ Neuroscience Citation Index® Cognitive Computation received its first Impact Factor (IF) of 1.0 in 2011. The IF for 2013/2014 increased to 1.1 (with a first 5 year IF of 1.387) (Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports® 2013) Many congratulations to the editors, reviewers and authors! Want to be part of the growing success? Visit the journal homepage ( http://springer.com/12559) for instructions on submitting your research. ================================= Quarterly to Bi-monthly Issues, from 2015!! ================================= Due to continuously growing number of high quality submissions, the number of Issues has increased from four (quarterly Issues) to six (bi-monthly Issues) each year, starting Feb 2015! ======================================== The April 2015 Issue comprises a Special Issue on "Sentic Computing", Guest Edited by: E. Cambria and A. Hussain. The Guest Editorial titled: "Sentic Computing" is available (for free download) here: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12559-015-9325-0 The full listing of published articles (Table of Contents) for this April 2015 Issue can be viewed here (and also at the end of this message, followed by an overview of the previous Issues/Archive listings): http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/7/2/ <http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/6/3/> You may also be interested in the last Special Issue of 2014 (Vol. 6, No.4 / Dec 2014) on "Modeling emotion, behaviour and context in socially believable robots and ICT interfaces", Guest Edited by: Anna Esposito, Leopoldina Fortunati, and Giuseppe Lugano. The Guest Editorial is available (for free download) here: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12559-014-9309-5 and the full listing of 24 articles can be found here: http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/6/4/page/1 <http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/6/2/page/1> This exciting Special Issue was the outcome of a strategic trans-disciplinary Workshop organized by EU COST (http://www.cost.eu/) on ‘‘The future concept and reality of social robotics: challenges, perception and applications. Role of social robotics in current and future society,’’ held in Brussels (Belgium). A list of the journal's most downloaded articles (which can always be read for FREE) can be found here: http://www.springer.com/biomed/neuroscience/journal/12559?hideChart=1#realt… Other 'Online First' published articles not yet in a print issue can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/121361/?Content+Status=Accepted All previous Volumes and Issues of the journal can be viewed here: http://link.springer.com/journal/volumesAndIssues/12559 ============================================ Reminder: Cognitive Computation "LinkedIn" Group: ============================================ To further strengthen the bonds amongst the interdisciplinary audience of Cognitive Computation, we have set-up a "Cognitive Computation LinkedIn group", which has nearly 800 members already! We warmly invite you to join us at: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3155048 For further information on the journal and to sign up for electronic "Table of Contents alerts" please visit the Cognitive Computation homepage: http://www.springer.com/12559 or follow us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/CognComput for the latest On-line First Issues. For any questions with regards to LinkedIn and/or Twitter, please contact Springer's Publishing Editor: Marleen Moore: Marleen.Moore(a)springer.com Finally, we would like to invite you to submit short or regular papers describing original research or timely review of important areas - our aim is to peer review all papers within approximately six-eight weeks of receipt. We also welcome relevant high quality proposals for Special Issues - four are already planned for 2015-16 (for CFPs, see: http://www.springer.com/biomed/neuroscience/journal/12559?detailsPage=press ) With our very best wishes to all aspiring readers and authors of Cognitive Computation, Professor Amir Hussain, PhD (Editor-in-Chief: Cognitive Computation) E-mail: ahu(a)cs.stir.ac.uk (University of Stirling, Scotland, UK) Professor Igor Aleksander, PhD (Honorary Editor-in-Chief: Cognitive Computation) (Imperial College, London, UK) http://www.springer.com/12559 Also consider your work for related Book Series: SpringerBriefs on Cognitive Computation: http://www.springer.com/series/10374 NEW: Springer Series on Socio-Affective Computing: http://www.springer.com/series/13199 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents Alert -- Cognitive Computation Vol 7 No 2, April 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Issue on Sentic Computing Issue Editors: E. Cambria, A. Hussain -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sentic Computing Erik Cambria, Amir Hussain http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12559-015-9325-0 Propagating and Aggregating Fuzzy Polarities for Concept-Level Sentiment Analysis Mauro Dragoni, Andrea G. B. Tettamanzi, Célia da Costa Pereira http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12559-014-9308-6 <http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12559-014-9308-6/fulltext.html> <http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12559-014-9308-6/fulltext.html> Resonance Elicits Diffusion: Modeling Subjectivity for Retweeting Behavior Analysis Songxian Xie, Jintao Tang, Ting Wang http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12559-014-9293-9 <http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12559-014-9293-9/fulltext.html> Sentilo: Frame-Based Sentiment Analysis Diego Reforgiato Recupero <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Diego+Reforgiato%C2%A0Recu…>, Valentina Presutti <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Valentina+Presutti%22>, Sergio Consoli <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Sergio+Consoli%22>, Aldo Gangemi <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Aldo+Gangemi%22>, Andrea Giovanni Nuzzolese <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Andrea+Giovanni+Nuzzolese%…> http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12559-014-9302-z Word Embedding Composition for Data Imbalances in Sentiment and Emotion Classification Ruifeng Xu <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Ruifeng+Xu%22>, Tao Chen <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Tao+Chen%22>, Yunqing Xia <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Yunqing+Xia%22>, Qin Lu <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Qin+Lu%22>, Bin Liu <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Bin+Liu%22>, Xuan Wang <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Xuan+Wang%22> http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12559-015-9319-y AspNet: Aspect Extraction by Bootstrapping Generalization and Propagation Using an Aspect Network Yunqing Xia <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Yunqing+Xia%22>, Erik Cambria <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Erik+Cambria%22>, Amir Hussain <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Amir+Hussain%22> http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12559-014-9305-9 Twitter Sentiment Analysis for Large-Scale Data: An Unsupervised Approach Rafeeque Pandarachalil <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Rafeeque+Pandarachalil%22>, Selvaraju Sendhilkumar <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22Selvaraju+Sendhilkumar%22>, G. S. Mahalakshmi <http://link.springer.com/search?facet-creator=%22G.+S.+Mahalakshmi%22> http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12559-014-9310-z --------------------------------------------------------- Previous Issues/Archive: Overview: --------------------------------------------------------- All previous Volumes and Issues can be viewed here: http://link.springer.com/journal/volumesAndIssues/12559 Alternatively, the full listing of the Inaugural Vol. 1, No. 1 / March 2009, can be viewed here (which included invited authoritative reviews by leading researchers in their areas - including keynote papers from London University's John Taylor, Igor Aleksander and Stanford University's James McClelland, and invited papers from Ron Sun, Pentti Haikonen, Geoff Underwood, Kevin Gurney, Claudius Gross, Anil Seth and Tom Ziemke): http://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9956/1/1/ The full listing of Vol. 1, No. 2 / June 2009, can be viewed here (which included invited reviews and original research contributions from leading researchers, including Rodney Douglas, Giacomo Indiveri, Jurgen Schmidhuber, Thomas Wennekers, Pentti Kanerva and Friedemann Pulvermuller): http://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9956/1/2/ The full listing of Vol.1, No. 3 / Sep 2009, can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9956/1/3/ The full listing of Vol. 1, No. 4 / Dec 2009, can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9956/1/4/ The full listing of Vol.2, No. 1 / March 2010, can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9956/2/1/ The full listing of Vol.2, No. 2 / June 2010, can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9956/2/2/ The full listing of Vol.2, No. 3 / Aug 2010, can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9956/2/3/ The full listing of Vol.2, No. 4 / Dec 2010, can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9956/2/4/ The full listing of Vol.3, No.1 / Mar 2011 (Special Issue on: Saliency, Attention, Active Visual Search and Picture Scanning, edited by John Taylor and Vassilis Cutsuridis), can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9956/3/1/ The Guest Editorial can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/hu2245056415633l/ The full listing of Vol.3, No.2 / June 2011 can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9956/3/2/ The full listing of Vol. 3, No. 3 / Sep 2011 (Special Issue on: Cognitive Behavioural Systems, Guest Edited by: Anna Esposito, Alessandro Vinciarelli, Simon Haykin, Amir Hussain and Marcos Faundez-Zanuy), can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9956/3/3/ The Guest Editorial for the special issue can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/h4718567520t2h84/ The full listing of Vol. 3, No. 4 / Dec 2011 can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9956/3/4/ The full listing of Vol. 4, No.1 / Mar 2012 can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9956/4/1/ The full listing of Vol. 4, No.2 / June 2012 can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9956/4/2/ The full listing of Vol. 4, No.3 / Sep 2012 (Special Issue on: Computational Creativity, Intelligence and Autonomy, Edited by: J. Mark Bishop and Yasemin J. Erden) can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1866-9956/4/3/ The full listing of Vol. 4, No.4 / Dec 2012 (Special Issue titled: "Cognitive & Emotional Information Processing", Edited by: Stefano Squartini, Björn Schuller and Amir Hussain, which is followed by a number of regular papers), can be viewed here: http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/4/4/page/1 The full listing of Vol. 5, No.1 / March 2013 Special Issue titled: Computational Intelligence and Applications Guest Editors: Zhigang Zeng & Haibo He, which is followed by a number of regular papers), can be viewed here: http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/5/1/page/1 The full listing of Vol. 5, No.2 / June 2013 Special Issue titled: Advances on Brain Inspired Computing, Guest Editors: Stefano Squartini, Sanqing Hu & Qingshan Liu, which is followed by a number of regular papers), can be viewed here: http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/5/2/page/1 The full listing of Vol. 5, No.3 / Sep 2013 Special Issue titled: In Memory of John G Taylor: A Polymath Scholar, Guest Editors: Vassilis Cutsuridis & Amir Hussain, which is followed by a number of regular papers), can be viewed here: http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/5/3/page/1 The full listing of Vol. 5, No.4 / Dec 2013, which includes regular papers (including an invited paper by Professor Ron Sun, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA, titled: Moral Judgment, Human Motivation, and Neural Networks), and a Special Issue titled: Advanced Cognitive Systems Based on Nonlinear Analysis. Guest Editors: Carlos M. Travieso and Jesús B. Alonso, can be viewed here: http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/5/4/page/1 The full listing of Vol. 6, No.1 / Mar 2014, can be viewed here: http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/6/1/page/1 The full listing of Vol. 6, No.2 / June 2014, can be viewed here: http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/6/2/page/1 The full listing of Vol. 6, No.3 / Sep 2014, can be viewed here: http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/6/3/page/1 <http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/6/2/page/1> The full listing of Vol. 6, No.4 / Dec 2014 (Special Issue on Modeling emotion, behaviour and context in socially believable robots and ICT interfaces, Guest Editors: Anna Esposito, Leopoldina Fortunati, and Giuseppe Lugano) can be viewed here: http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/6/4/page/1 <http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/6/2/page/1> The full listing of Vol. 7, No.1 / Feb 2015 can be viewed here: http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/7/1/ <http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/6/3/> (with the first six papers part of a Special Issue on "Neural Signal Processing", Guest Edited by: Jordi Sole´-Casals, Francois-Benoit Vialatte, Justin Dauwels. The Guest Editorial titled: "Alternative Techniques of Neural Signal Processing in Neuroengineering" is available (for free download) here: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12559-015-9317-0) -- The University of Stirling has been ranked in the top 12 of UK universities for graduate employment*. 94% of our 2012 graduates were in work and/or further study within six months of graduation. *The Telegraph The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

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Research assistant job
by Fabián Soto April 29, 2015

April 29, 2015

A research assistant position is available in the Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory in the Department of Psychology at Florida International University. Research in the lab focuses on understanding the interplay between learning and visual processes in object categorization, using a combination of behavioral, computational and brain imaging techniques. Responsibilities will include programming and conducting behavioral and fMRI experiments, scheduling and screening human volunteers for participation in experiments, analyzing behavioral and neuroimaging data, working with computational models of vision and learning, and performing lab management tasks. A bachelor’s (or higher) degree in neuroscience, psychology, statistics, computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics, or other related field is required. Strong quantitative skills, computer programming skills (especially python; experience with R and/or C++ is a plus), and organizational skills are required. The preferred start date is September 1st, 2015. The position requires a commitment of two years. This position is ideal for someone interested in obtaining experience in cognitive neuroscience research, and improving quantitative and computational skills, with the goal of applying to graduate school. For informal inquiries, please send a CV, names of references, and a brief statement of background skills and interests to fabian.soto(a)fiu.edu Fabian A. Soto Assistant Professor Department of Psychology Florida International University Miami, FL

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Reminder CfP : Barcelona Cognition, Brain and Technology Summer School 2015
by BCBT, Bústia Compartida April 29, 2015

April 29, 2015

*Barcelona Cognition, Brain and Technology Summer School (BCBT2015)* University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. 31st August – 11th September, 2015 http://bcbt.upf.edu/bcbt15/ Join us for the annual *"Barcelona Cognition, Brain and Technology summer school - BCBT2015 *" to be held from 31st August to 11th September, 2015 in Barcelona Spain. The summer school is part of a series of events organized by the European coordination action Convergent Science Network of Biomimetics and Neurotechnology (http://csnetwork.eu/) BCBT 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. This is the 8th year of BCBT, which ran 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 are available online (see http://csnetwork.eu/) as well as the CSN *Podcast interviews *with many of the BCBT speakers. BCBT caters to the students and researchers involved in projects that are in the ambit of “Bio-ict convergence”, "Brain Inspired ICT", “Cognitive systems-robotics”. 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 are interested. For the lectures the limit will be placed at 60-70 given the capacity of the available lecture theatre. The atmosphere of the BCBT summer school is informal with the goal to stimulate in-depth discussion. There are presentations in the morning, usually 2, with the afternoons reserved for tutorials and projects for student participants and road-mapping workshops or further discussion for senior scientists. For the 2015 edition we plan a *1st week* of the school addressing *Evolutionary and Developmental aspects of nervous systems and behavior *(31 Aug - 5 Sept *)*, while the *2nd week* will include presentations aimed at the investigation of *Decision Making* (7-10 Sept). Friday 11 is reserved for the presentation of the student projects to which everybody is invited. *Application deadline: 27th July 2015* For more information and to apply, please go to http://bcbt.upf.edu/bcbt15 *BCBT offers a number of scholarships.* These are CSN scholarships <http://csnetwork.eu/scholarships> and may cover travel expenses, accommodation and registration fee. http://bcbt.upf.edu/bcbt15/ BCBT2014 is supported by the Convergent Science Network of Biomimetics and Neurotechnology (http://csnetwork.eu/) Co-organized by Paul Verschure (BCBT Chair) ICREA and University Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, ES Tony Prescott (BCBT Co-Chair) University of Sheffield, UK Leah Krubizer (week1 BCBT Co-Chair) UC Davis, CA, USA Gustavo Deco (week2 BCBT Co-Chair) ICREA University Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, ES Anna Mura (BCBT Co-Chair) SPECS, University Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, ES

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