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POSTDOCTORAL POSITIONS IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE AT BROWN UNIVERSITY
by Wilson Truccolo March 4, 2015

March 4, 2015

POSTDOCTORAL POSITIONS IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE AT BROWN UNIVERSITY: Applications for NIH-funded post-doctoral positions are invited for the Laboratory of Dr. Wilson Truccolo in the Department of Neuroscience at Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. The positions are for the development of data-driven stochastic and biophysical models of multiscale neural dynamics in human epilepsy. Data consist of simultaneous intracortical microelectrode array recordings of ensembles of single neurons and local field potentials, as well as ECoGs, during seizure and non-seizure states in individuals with intractable epilepsy. The project involves a collaboration between the labs of Dr. Truccolo and Dr. Sydney Cash (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston). The ideal candidate will have a strong background in computational/theoretical neuroscience and modeling of stochastic neural dynamics. Related recent publications can be found on the Truccolo lab website ( http://www.truccololab.com/ <http://dl.dropbox.com/u/983891/Truccolo_home.htm>). Inquiries should be addressed to Dr. Truccolo (wilson_truccolo(a)brown.edu) Applications including a CV, statement of research interests, and the names and full contact details of three referees should be sent to wilson_truccolo(a)brown.edu. -- Wilson Truccolo, Ph.D. Pablo J. Salame '88 Goldman Sachs Assistant Professor of Computational Neuroscience Institute for Brain Science & Department of Neuroscience, Brown University Lab website: http://www.truccololab.com/

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Post-doc at UPenn with Johannes Burge
by Johannes Burge March 4, 2015

March 4, 2015

Postdoctoral position: Perception and neural computation with natural stimuli A postdoctoral position is available to study natural scene statistics, computational neuroscience, and behavioral measurements of performance in the laboratory of Johannes Burge at the University of Pennsylvania. In the lab, we use mathematics, computation, and psychophysics to investigate how vision works in natural conditions. We are broadly interested in how normative models of fundamental perceptual tasks and sub-tasks provide insight into behavioral performance and underlying neural mechanisms. Projects will focus on the processing of motion, stereo-disparity, motion-in-depth, defocus blur, and color in images of natural scenes. I am looking for applicants with strong experience in computational modeling, probability theory, numerical optimization, and psychophysical experimentation. The ideal applicant will also have a general interest in natural images, depth perception, and rigorous experimental work. Programming experience in Matlab, C/C++, OpenGL, and Psychtoolbox is strongly desired, as is an inclination to tinker with high-end display equipment. The successful applicant will have the opportunity to work with: i) a recently collected state-of-the-art, stereo-image database with occlusion-free co-registered laser range data, ii) a high-performance computing cluster, iii) a Vpixx ProPixx stereo-projector (1920x1080 resolution at 480Hz; 240Hz per eye). UPenn has a vibrant community of research groups on the leading edge of perception and systems neuroscience research. Additionally, our lab is affiliated with the newly formed Computational Neuroscience Initiative (CNI, http://cni.upenn.edu) so possibilities for collaboration are strong. Philadelphia is a multi-cultural, diverse, affordable city. Applicants should submit a CV, a 1-page research statement, two sample papers (published or in preparation), and the names, email addresses, and phone numbers of three people qualified to recommend you and your work. The position is for one year with a strong possibility of renewal for a second and third year. To apply or ask questions please contact Johannes Burge at the University of Pennsylvania. I will be attending the upcoming COSYNE conference in Salt Lake City, UT from March 5-7. Please contact me, if you would like to set up a meeting. ======================== Johannes Burge, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Psychology Neuroscience Graduate Group University of Pennsylvania http://burgelab.psych.upenn.edu jburge(a)sas.upenn.edu (215) 573 6528

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ECMLPKDD 2015 : Call for Demos
by ECMLPKDD 2015 March 4, 2015

March 4, 2015

http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org For ECML PKDD 2015 in Porto, Portugal, we solicit submissions for demos. Submissions must describe working systems and be based on state-of-the-art machine learning and data mining technology. These systems may be innovative prototype implementations or mature systems that use machine learning techniques and knowledge discovery processes in a real setting. Systems that use basic statistics are not acceptable. Commercial software is not acceptable. The accepted papers for demos will be included in the conference proceedings, to be published by Springer Verlag in the "Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence" (LNAI) Series. The demos will be presented in a special demonstration session. At least one of the demo submitters must register for the conference, and perform the demo on site. Submission Guidelines All aspects of the submission and notification process will be handled online via the CMT conference management toolkit accessible from the conference web. Please choose the right track during the submission. Instructions concerning the submission, camera-ready formatting and copyright transfer for conference papers also hold for demo papers, unless otherwise specified. A demonstration submission must be up to 4 pages long. It must provide adequate information on the systems components and the way the system is operated, including e.g. screenshots. Submitters should keep in mind that the description of a demo has inherently different content than a research paper submitted to the main conference. A successful demonstration paper provides satisfactory answers the following questions: - What are the innovative aspects or in what way/area does it represent the state of the art? - Who are the target users and why is the system interesting/useful for them? - If there are similar/related pieces of software, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the presented one? The formatting guidelines of Springer Verlag for the LNAI series apply, and the author instructions and style files under http://www.springer.de/comp/lncs/authors.html must be used. For inquiries concerning submissions please contact the Demo Track Chairs; contact data below. Important Dates - Demo submission deadline: 30 April 2015 - Notification of acceptance: 1 June 2015 - Camera-ready paper due: 15 June 2015 (aligned to the deadline of the main conference) Contacts For further information please contact the Demo Track Chairs: - Francesco Bonchi - Jaime Cardoso, INESC TEC and Univ. Porto - Myra Spiliopoulou, Univ. Magdeburg, http://www.kmd.ovgu.de/Team/Academic+Staff/Myra+Spiliopoulou.html Hope to see you all soon in Porto, Portugal!!! The publicity chairs of the ECMLPKDD 2015, Carlos Abreu Ferreira Ricardo Campos --- Este e-mail foi verificado em termos de vírus pelo software antivírus Avast. http://www.avast.com

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Last Mile: SEMAPRO 2015 || July 19 - 24, 2015 - Nice, France
by Cristina Pascual March 4, 2015

March 4, 2015

INVITATION: ================= The submission deadline is March 18, 2015. Please consider to contribute to and/or forward to the appropriate groups the following opportunity to submit and publish original scientific results to SEMAPRO 2015. Authors of selected papers will be invited to submit extended article versions to one of the IARIA Journals: http://www.iariajournals.org ================= ============== SEMAPRO 2015 | Call for Papers =============== CALL FOR PAPERS, TUTORIALS, PANELS SEMAPRO 2015, The Ninth International Conference on Advances in Semantic Processing July 19 - 24, 2015 - Nice, France General page: http://www.iaria.org/conferences2015/SEMAPRO15.html Call for Papers: http://www.iaria.org/conferences2015/CfPSEMAPRO15.html Submission page: http://www.iaria.org/conferences2015/SubmitSEMAPRO15.html Contributions: - regular papers [in the proceedings, digital library] - short papers (work in progress) [in the proceedings, digital library] - ideas: two pages [in the proceedings, digital library] - extended abstracts: two pages [in the proceedings, digital library] - posters: two pages [in the proceedings, digital library] - posters: slide only [slide-deck posted at www.iaria.org] - presentations: slide only [slide-deck posted at www.iaria.org] - demos: two pages [posted at www.iaria.org] - doctoral forum submissions: [in the proceedings, digital library] Proposals for: - mini-symposia: see http://www.iaria.org/symposium.html - workshops: see http://www.iaria.org/workshop.html - tutorials: [slide-deck posed on www.iaria.org] - panels: [slide-deck posed on www.iaria.org] Submission deadline: March 18, 2015 Sponsored by IARIA, www.iaria.org Extended versions of selected papers will be published in IARIA Journals: http://www.iariajournals.org Print proceedings will be available via Curran Associates, Inc.: http://www.proceedings.com/9769.html Articles will be archived in the free access ThinkMind Digital Library: http://www.thinkmind.org The topics suggested by the conference can be discussed in term of concepts, state of the art, research, standards, implementations, running experiments, applications, and industrial case studies. Authors are invited to submit complete unpublished papers, which are not under review in any other conference or journal in the following, but not limited to, topic areas. All tracks are open to both research and industry contributions, in terms of Regular papers, Posters, Work in progress, Technical/marketing/business presentations, Demos, Tutorials, and Panels. Before submission, please check and comply with the editorial rules: http://www.iaria.org/editorialrules.html SEMAPRO 2015 Topics (topics and submission details: see CfP on the site) Basics on semantics Fundamental of semantics processing; Semantic-based techniques for feature selection; Semantic-based pruning; Semantic interoperability; Semantics uncertainty; Semantics pre-processing and post-processing; Semantics harmonization; Constraint-based semantics processing; Embedded semantics into the discovery process; Semantics in spatial and spatio-temporal models Ontology fundamentals for semantic processing Ontology learning; Ontology for semantic interoperability; Ontologies and data pre-processing; Ontology-based evaluation and semantic patterns; Global core ontologies; Progressive ontologies; Bridging semantics through ontologies; Ontology mapping and ontology visualization; Ontology in information systems; Ontology-based semantic mediation; Ontology design and maintenance for conceptual model integration; Reverse engineering of ontologies from conceptual model; Ontologies for explanation generation Semantic technologies Basics of Ontology and Semantic Web; Semantic storing, computing, representation, communications; Semantic-driven system design; Syntactic and semantic processing models; Hardware and software support for semantic processing; Microprocessors for semantic processing; Multi-model semantic systems; Semantic annotation of multimedia supports; Semantic multimedia information retrieval; Natural language semantic processing; Context-based semantic processing; Content-based semantic processing; Scalability to the Web level; Performance in semantic processing; Information security in semantic processing; Explaining semantic processing and its results Models and ontology-based design of protocols, architectures and services Fundamentals in theory; Modeling methodologies; Models and Ontology-driven Technologies (for the communications system design); Models and ontology relationships; Multi-models coherence. Models and ontology-based communications services and protocols; Semantics of services and service modeling; Protocol models and semantics; Application and quality of experience semantics; Services and protocols semantics; Models and ontology-based cross-layer services and architectures design; Models and ontology-based software frameworks; Composition of Services and Composability rules; Cross-layering services models, components and implementations Semantic Deep Web Ontology plug-in search; Information extraction from the Deep Web /e-commerce sites/; Semantic Deep Web annotation and indexing; Deep Web-based ontology; Semantic Deep Web crawlers; Semantic browsing and visualization; Semantic Deep Web data fusion; Semiautomatic ontology generation; Metrics for quality of ontology; Similarity measures for ontology alignment; Measurements for quality of search; Tools for semantic Deep Web; Experience extraction from the Web Semantic reasoning Reasoning methods; Reasoning for the Web; Ontology expressiveness; Ontology alignment, mapping and merging; Expressing formal semantics; Languages (RDF, RDF Schema, OWL, etc); Robustness of reasoning on the Web; Patterns on semantic reasoning; Querying and searching; Scalable and tolerant reasoning; Dynamic reasoning for the Semantic Web; Ontologies and problem-solving methods; Computational learning theory; Approximate reasoning/computing; Strategies for abstraction and compression of information; Cognitive semantic reasoning; Attention semantic scoping; Recency-based self-optimizing memory; Cost-benefit trade-off reasoning models; Negotiation in obtaining near-optimal reasoning results under bounded resources; Case-based reasoning Semantic content searching Methodologies for innovative information retrieval technologies; Combinatorial search; Massive search-spaces with heuristics (e.g., based on Monte Carlo simulations); Searching using metadata, semantics, and ontology; Advanced searching in digital libraries; Advanced use of RDF and OWL; Expressiveness of the content ontologies; Inherent inconsistency and incompleteness of data on the Web; Scalability of semantic processing; Specialized search engines (Hakia, Matrixware and seekda) Hypertext and hypermedia semantic Hypertext techniques and semantic applications; Hypertext and ontologies; Hypertext semantic models; Spatial semantic hypertext; Self-organized hypertext; Semantic adaptive hypertext; Web and hypertext link analysis; Hypertexts and semantic Web; Hypertext semantic applications Semantic voice-video-speech (VVS) searching Engines and methods for VVS advanced searching; Patterns in VVS searching; Contextual VVS searching; Rapid VVS searching; Accuracy in VVS searching; Noise in VVS searching; Performance in VVS searching; Metrics for VVS searching; Text and VVS searching; Applications of VVS Semantic multimedia Efficient storage of structured data that scale to a very large size; Automatic generation of multimedia presentations; Advanced process for multimedia information mining; Semantic metadata extraction; Annotation tools and methods for content semantics; Media ontology generation/learning/reasoning; Semantic multimedia streaming; Semantics enabled multimedia applications /annotation/browsing/storage/retrieval/visualization Semantic social media Community detection and evolution in social media; Recommendation and ranking systems; Search in social media; Event detection, trend identification and tracking in social media; Influence, trust and reputation in social media; Opinion/sentiment analysis, polarity identification; Feed distillation and ranking blogs; Mining microblogging and real time data; Folksonomy, tag semantics, clustering and usage; Advertising models for the social web; Indexing social media content, index freshness; Visualizing social network data; Spam detection, social network spam and profile spam Semantics for sentiment/opinion analysis Architectures for generic sentiment analysis systems; Sentiment analysis techniques on social media; Document-level analysis; Sentence-level analysis; Aspect-based analysis; Comparative-sentiment analysis; Sentiment lexicon acquisition; Optimizing sentiment analysis algorithms; Applications of sentiment analysis Semantic networking Semantic-based QoS (Quality of Service) control and scheduling; Semantic QoE (Quality of Experience) evaluation; Semantic-based Internet data streaming and delivery; Semantics enabled networking and middleware; Semantic routing; Semantic interfaces Domain-oriented semantic applications Semantics for managing pharmaceutical data; Semantic processing for biomedical knowledge; Speech, text and picture recognition; Semantic email workflow and content; Semantic blogs and wikis; Semantic email addressing; Semantic web and digital libraries; Semantic processing in e-Health; Semantic-driven tutoring systems Economics and governance of semantics technologies Organizational views; Legal; Business; Regulations; Assessment; Standards; Harmonization; Cross-nation mediation Semantic applications/platforms/tools Market for semantic technologies; Applications, services and systems based on semantic processing; User friendly semantic system integration tools; Ontology-based data transformation and data migration tools; Ontology mapping tools and languages; Ontology-enabled interoperability in e-science, life sciences, e-business, culture; Commercial cost models for semantic applications; Semantic solutions for business intelligence; Semantic processing platforms ; Supporting ontology platforms/tools (Prot�g�, etc); Semantic query languages (SPARQL, etc); Ontology-enabled search engines; Semantic Web search engines; Interoperability of data, systems, and organizations; Experiments and lessons learned; Standard activities ---------------------- Committee: http://www.iaria.org/conferences2015/ComSEMAPRO15.html ================================================

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Final Program of the Columbia Workshop on Brain Circuits, Memory and Computation
by Aurel A. Lazar March 4, 2015

March 4, 2015

Columbia Workshop on Brain Circuits, Memory and Computation BCMC 2015 Monday and Tuesday, March 16-17, 2015 Center for Neural Engineering and Computation Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 Monday, March 16, 09:00 AM - 05:45 PM 09:00 AM - 09:45 AM Yoshi Aso (HHMI Janelia), Mushroom Body Output Neurons Encode Valence and Guide Memory-based Action Selection 09:45 AM - 10:30 AM Barbara Webb (University of Edinburgh), A Computational Model of the Insect Mushroom Body Applied to Ant Navigation 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM Co↵ee Break 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Wolfgang Maass (Graz University of Technology), A New Perspective of Synaptic Plasticity and Network Rewiring 11:45 AM - 12:30 PM Charles Randy Gallistel (Rutgers University), The Memory Coding Problem 12:30 PM - 02:00 PM Lunch Break 02:00 PM - 02:45 PM Charles D. Gilbert (Rockefeller University), The Dynamic Brain 02:45 PM - 03:30 PM Stefan Mihalas (Allen Institute for Brain Science), Computational Properties of Cortical Columns 03:30 PM - 04:00 PM Afternoon Break 04:00 PM - 04:45 PM Gary F. Marcus (New York University), The Atoms of Neural Computation 04:45 PM - 05:45 PM Panel Discussion: What Would a Good Theory of the Brain Actually Look Like? Tuesday, March 17, 09:00 AM - 05:45 PM 09:00 AM - 09:45 AM Vivek Jayaraman (HHMI Janelia), A Donut that Means the World to the Fly 09:45 AM - 10:30 AM Daniel Coca (University of Sheffield), Fly Photoreceptors Detect Phase Congruency 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM Co↵ee Break 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Damon A. Clark (Yale University), Tuning Neural Nonlinearities for Naturalistic Visual Motion Estimation 11:45 AM - 12:30 PM Aurel A. Lazar (Columbia University), Neurokernel: Building an in Silico Fruit Fly Brain 12:30 PM - 02:00 PM Lunch Break 02:00 PM - 02:45 PM Anthony Leonardo (HHMI Janelia), Neural Circuits Underlying Internal Models in Predictive Motor Control 02:45 PM - 03:30 PM Fabrizio Gabbiani (Baylor College of Medicine), Biophysics and Neural Computations Underlying Visually-Guided Collision Avoidance Behaviors 03:30 PM - 04:00 PM Afternoon Break 04:00 PM - 04:45 PM Dmitri ”Mitya” B. Chklovskii (Simons Foundation), A Biological Neuron as an Online Matrix Factorization Device 04:45 PM - 05:45 PM Panel Discussion: A Neuroscience Esperanto: Building a Better Bridge Between Modeling and Experimental Neurobiology Registration is free but all participants have to register at: https://bcmc15.eventbrite.com/ Workshop Website: http://www.bionet.ee.columbia.edu/workshops/bcmc/2015 Aurel http://www.bionet.ee.columbia.edu

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First Announcement: International Conference on System Level approaches to Neural Engineering
by Alessandro Barardi March 3, 2015

March 3, 2015

--------------------------------------- FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT --------------------------------------- International Conference on System Level approaches to Neural Engineering Dates: September 21st – 23rd , 2015 Venue: Barcelona Biomedical Research Park <http://www.prbb.org/>, Barcelona, Spain Website: http://www.neural-engineering.eu/BarcelonaConference2015/index.html The aim of this interdisciplinary conference is to bring together theoretical and experimental neuroscientists and roboticists to discuss the state of the art in the field of Neural Engineering. This three day long event is part of a series of training events organized by the Marie Curie Initial Training Network NETT (Neural Engineering Transformative Technologies). It will also give young researchers an opportunity to present their work. Theme panels are: * Neural Dynamics - mathematical description of neuronal activity * Brain-on-Chip - engineering of neuronal circuits in-vitro with emphasis on microfluidics * Neural Learning and Control - motion planning, controlling and learning neuro-inspired techniques for robotics * Neural Coding - investigation of neuronal strategies for encoding information * Optical Neurotechnology - imaging and engineering techniques that allow recording of neuronal activity --------------------------------------- CONFIRMED SPEAKERS --------------------------------------- Andre Bastos - The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, MIT, Boston, MA, USA Romain Brette - Institut de la Vision, Paris, France Sophie Deneve - Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, LNC, Paris, France Dario Farina - Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Göttingen, Germany Albert Folch - Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA Amanda Foust - Imperial College London, London, UK Sami Haddadin - Institute of Automatic Control, Hannover, Germany Kenneth Harris - Institute of Neurology and the Department of Physiology, Pharmacology, and Neuroscience, UCL, London, UK Fritjof Helmchen - Brain Research Institute, Zürich, Switzerland Thibault Honegger - Laboratoire des Technologies de la Microelectronique, CNRS-CEA, Grenoble, France Eugene Izhikevich - Brain Corporation, San Diego, CA, USA Viktor Jirsa - Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, Marseille, France David Liley - Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia Benjamin Lindner - Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany Nikos Logothetis - Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany Yoonkey Nam - Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea Adam Packer - University College London, London, UK Stefano Panzeri - Neural Computation Lab, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto, Italy Eftychios Pnevmatikakis - Columbia University, New York, NY, USA Alexandre Pouget - CMU, Geneva, Switzerland Jan Schnupp - Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics, Oxford, UK Gregor Schöner - Institut für Neuroinformatik Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany Reza Shadmehr - John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA Patrick van der Smagt - BRML labs, TUM, Germany John Terry - College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, UK International Conference on System Level Approaches to Neural Engineering conference is organised by the Fellows of the Neural Engineering Transformative Technologies <http://www.neural-engineering.eu/> (NETT) consortium. On their behalf 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. --------------------------------------- REGISTRATION --------------------------------------- Registration can be done on our registration form <https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-conference-on-system-level-app…> . Registration opens: 1st March 2015 Registration deadline: 30th May 2015 Conference fee will be 200 euros plus 50 euros for an optional conference dinner. Details about the payment will be posted on the conference website. --- Call for posters --- 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. Abstract Submission opens: 1st of March 2015 Abstract Submission closes: 30th May 2015 Abstract Acceptance Notification: 30th June 2015 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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postdoctoral position at Rice University/Baylor College of Medicine
by Fabrizio Gabbiani March 3, 2015

March 3, 2015

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE/BIOPHYSICAL MODELING Computational and Applied Mathematics Rice University and Department of Neuroscience Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Texas ----- A postdoctoral position in computational neuroscience is available at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine, in the laboratories of Steven Cox (Rice University) and Fabrizio Gabbiani (Baylor College of Medicine). Our research focuses on understanding the biophysical mechanisms underlying the implementation of non-linear operations by neurons and neuronal circuits. The postdoctoral fellow will model the cellular and network mechanisms underlying collision avoidance behaviors using advanced mathematical techniques and computer simulations. Modeling will be supported by a large data set of experimental data gathered using electrophysiology, pharmacology, calcium imaging, high-speed video imaging and telemetry. We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a strong background in computational modeling of single neurons and neuronal circuits. Experience with Matlab and NEURON is required. The position is available for one year, with possibility of renewal for a second year, contingent of performance and funding availability. Salary will be commensurate with level of experience, based on an NIH scale. Applications will be accepted until May 15, 2015. Our labs are located at Rice University and in the adjacent Texas Medical Center, close to many of Houston's cultural and outdoor amenities. For further information about Rice University, the Texas Medical Center and Houston please visit http://www.explore.rice.edu/explore/General_Information.asp or https://www.bcm.edu/about-us/life-in-houston For further informal inquiries and to apply, please send CV, the names and full contact information of two to three references, as well as one to two representative publications to cox(a)rice.edu and gabbiani(a)bcm.edu. -- Fabrizio Gabbiani phone: (713) 798 1849 Department of Neuroscience fax: (713) 798 3946 Baylor College of Medicine email: gabbiani(a)bcm.edu One Baylor Plaza, web: glab.bcm.tmc.edu Houston, TX 77030 mail stop: BCM295

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IEEE SMC2015 Special Session: Cognitive Agents and Robotics for Human-Centric Systems: new models and challenges
by Alessandro Di Nuovo March 3, 2015

March 3, 2015

[Apologies for multiple postings of this announcement] =========================== CALL FOR PAPERS ============================ IEEE SMC2015 Special Session Cognitive Agents and Robotics for Human-Centric Systems: new models and challenges Introduction Cognitive Agents are inspired from the human cognitive capabilities to exhibit effective behavior through perception, action, deliberation, communication, and through either individual or social interaction with the environment. These computational agents have the ability to function effectively in circumstances not explicitly planned when the system was designed. This ability makes it especially suited to control complex systems, such as robotics, which are designed to provide services and proactively interact with people and other artificial agents in composite Human-Centric environments. The special session aims to attract new developments in the area of cognitive systems, such as novel engineering principles, models and applications of cybernetic systems capable to autonomously improve their capabilities when interacting with the environment in an open-ended process. As a follow-up, authors of accepted papers will be invited to submit an extended version to a special issue in the journal IEEE Transaction on Cognitive Systems and Development (new name of IEEE Trans. on Autonomous Mental Development.) Indicative Topics/Areas The special session welcomes all the contributions in the area of Artificial Cognitive Systems applied to human-centric environments, with particular interest (but not limited to) the following topics: - Bio-inspired, developmental and Cognitive Robotics - Ambient Assisted Living via Cognitive Agents - Computational models of human cognition and interaction - Engineering applications of Cognitive Systems - Artificial Agent cognitive development - Natural language understanding - Standard tools for the design of Cognitive Systems - Medical Systems and Diagnosis - Evolutionary Cognitive Robotics - Cognitive Systems for human wellbeing Important Dates March 31, 2015: Deadline for submission of full-length papers to special sessions. June 1, 2015: Acceptance/Rejection Notification. July 31, 2015: Final camera-ready papers due in electronic form. Submission Manuscripts for a Special Session should NOT be submitted in duplication to any other regular or special sessions and should be submitted to SMC 2015 main conference online submission system on SMC 2015 conference website. All submitted papers of Special Sessions have to undergo the same review process (three completed reviews per paper). The technical reviewers for each Special Session paper will be members of the SMC 2015 Program Committee and qualified peer-reviewers to be nominated by the Special Session organizers. Special Session organizers Alessandro Di Nuovo, Plymouth University (UK) & University of Enna Kore (Italy) alessandro.dinuovo(a)plymouth.ac.uk<mailto:alessandro.dinuovo@plymouth.ac.uk> Giovanni Acampora, Nottingham Trent University (UK) giovanni.acampora(a)ntu.ac.uk<mailto:giovanni.acampora@ntu.ac.uk> ________________________________ [http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/images/email_footer.gif]<http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/worldclass> This email and any files with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the recipient to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient then copying, distribution or other use of the information contained is strictly prohibited and you should not rely on it. If you have received this email in error please let the sender know immediately and delete it from your system(s). Internet emails are not necessarily secure. While we take every care, Plymouth University accepts no responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan emails and their attachments. Plymouth University does not accept responsibility for any changes made after it was sent. Nothing in this email or its attachments constitutes an order for goods or services unless accompanied by an official order form.

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INCF Short Course on Information Processing in Neural Systems
by Frank Jäkel March 3, 2015

March 3, 2015

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ INCF Short Course on Information Processing in Neural Systems -- From Single Neurons to Large-Scale Models of Cognition -- May 2-10, 2015 @ Institute of Cognitive Science, Osnabrück, Germany +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ One of the big challenges in neuroinformatics is bridging the gap between our biophysical understanding of single cells and of networks of neurons on the one side, and the cognitive functions that are characterized in terms of information processing on the other side. This INCF Short Course will provide lectures and hands-on tutorials ranging from dynamical systems theory to cognitive modeling. Target Audience: PhD candidates and post-docs with backgrounds in neuroinformatics, theoretical neuroscience, complex systems, machine learning, applied mathematics/statistics or cognitive modeling. Topics: Dynamical systems: attractors, bifurcations, etc. (Herbert Jaeger) Single neuron dynamics, networks, and computation (Nicolas Brunel) Mean-field theory, neurodynamics, and decision-making (Gustavo Deco) Reservoir computing in simple cognitive systems (Gordon Pipa) Learning of sensory representations in neural systems (Peter König) Distributed Adaptive Control (Paul Verschure) Neural networks, kernel methods, and categorization (Frank Jäkel) A tutorial on reservoir computing (Pipa & Jaeger) A tutorial on large-scale simulations in Nengo (Terry Stewart) A tutorial on information processing models with NEST (Marc-Oliver Gewaltig) The yearly, two-day OCCAM workshop (www.occam-os.de) is integrated into the INCF course and participants of the INCF course will also take part in the workshop. Applications will be accepted until March 7, 2015. The registration fee is 250 Euros. We can offer a limited number of travel stipends to support students. More information on the course and on application details can be found on the course webpage: http://www.incf.ni.uos.de/ _______________________________________________ Comp-neuro mailing list Comp-neuro(a)neuroinf.org http://www.neuroinf.org/mailman/listinfo/comp-neuro

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Osnabrück Computational Cognition Alliance Meeting (OCCAM 2015)
by Frank Jäkel March 3, 2015

March 3, 2015

Dear Colleague, we would like to invite you to register for the 5th +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Osnabrück Computational Cognition Alliance Meeting (OCCAM 2015) "From Simple Neurons to Large-Scale Models of Cognition" May 6-7, 2015. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ List of invited speakers: Nicolas Brunel Gustavo Deco Wolfgang Einhäuser Virginia Flanagin Sonja Grün Marc-Oliver Gewaltig Herbert Jaeger Gordon Pipa Paul Verschure Kai Vogeley The workshop will take place in Osnabrück, Germany, and will be hosted by the Institute of Cognitive Science (University of Osnabrück). Details can be found below and on the following webpage: http://www.occam-os.de The registration deadline is March 7, 2015 (first come first served). The registration fee is 100,- Euros. This year the OCCAM workshop is co-located with an INCF Short Course on the same topic (http://www.incf.ni.uos.de/) The OCCAM workshop series aims at understanding the principles of information processing in the brain with a particular focus on 3 major topics: 1. Neural coding and representation in hierarchical systems 2. Self-organization in dynamical systems 3. Mechanisms for probabilistic inference There will also be a poster session where conference participants will have the opportunity to present their work. The deadline for submitting an abstract for a poster presentation is also March 7. Best regards, Frank Jäkel, Peter König, Gordon Pipa (Organizing committee)

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Reminder: Call for Workshops - Bernstein Conference 2015
by Seeger, Simone March 3, 2015

March 3, 2015

The National Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience invites proposals for Satellite Workshops directly preceding the Bernstein Conference 2015 in Heidelberg ********************************************************************************** Call for Workshop proposals: Workshops: September 14, 2015 (Main Bernstein Conference: September 15-17, 2015) Deadline of proposal submission: March 15, 2015 Notification of acceptance: April 20, 2015 Conference Registration starts: April 27, 2015 Early Registration Deadline: July 21, 2015 ********************************************************************************** The Bernstein Conference started out as the annual meeting of the National Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience and has become the largest single-track Computational Neuroscience conference in Europe in recent years. Since 2013, the Bernstein Conference hosts pre-conference workshops, which have developed swiftly into a well-attended event. They supply a stage to debate topical research questions and challenges in Computational Neuroscience and related fields, different points of view and scientific approaches in an informal setting. Workshops addressing controversial issues, open problems, and comparisons of competing approaches are encouraged. SCHEDULE: September 14, 2015, 9:00 - 18:30. You may apply for either half-day or full-day workshops. Workshop costs: The Bernstein Conference does not provide financial support, but workshop organizers and speakers are offered free workshop registration and reduced fees for the main conference. For further information about the conference, please visit the conference website<http://www.bernstein-conference.de>. DETAILS FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS: The Workshop Proposal form can be downloaded here<http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2015/satellite-workshops/worksho…>. Deadline for submission of Workshop Proposals: March 15, 2015 For more information or the submission of workshop proposals, please contact bc15(a)uni-heidelberg.de<mailto:bc15@uni-heidelberg.de> We are looking forward to meeting you in Heidelberg! THE WORKSHOP PROGRAM COMMITTEE Matthias Bethge (Bernstein Center Tübingen) Upinder Bhalla (NCBS, Bangalore) Carlos Brody (Princeton University) Gustavo Deco (University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona) Andreas Draguhn (Bernstein Center Heidelberg-Mannheim) Daniel Durstewitz (Bernstein Center Heidelberg-Mannheim) Gaute Einevoll (Norvegian University of Life Sciences, Aas) Andreas Herz (Bernstein Center Munich) Peter Kirsch (Bernstein Center Heidelberg-Mannheim) Sara Solla (Northwestern University, Evanston) *** Simone Seeger, M.A. Administration Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit Postfach 12 21 20, 68072 Mannheim J5, 68159 Mannheim Telefon: 0621/1703-1326 oder 06221/54-8310 Fax: 0621/1703-2915 E-Mail: Simone.Seeger(a)zi-mannheim.de<mailto:Simone.Seeger@zi-mannheim.de> Internet: http://www.bccn-heidelberg-mannheim.de<http://www.bccn-heidelberg-mannheim.de/>

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(Firm Deadline: March, 9) VISUM Summer School :: Call for Participation
by Ricardo Gamelas Sousa March 3, 2015

March 3, 2015

Apologies for cross-posting. In order to allow candidates to finish their application, we have decided to extend the deadline for visum 2015 applications. More information bellow. --- Call for Participation 3^rd VISion Understanding and Machine intelligence summer school, Porto, Portugal First Computer Vision Summer School with an industrial track 2-9 July, 2015 http://www.fe.up.pt/visum/|Facebook: http://goo.gl/FbVNtq Application Information: http://www.fe.up.pt/visum/visumschool *Important Dates* Application Deadline *March 9, 2015* Decision March 8, 2015 Early Registration April 10, 2015 Late Registration May 8, 2015 Summer School July 2-9, 2015 *Topics* Randomised Decision Forests and Tree-structured Algorithms in Computer Vision Tae-Kyun Kim, Imperial College London, UK Local Features Extraction and Description Jiri Matas, Czech Technical University, CZ Document Image Analysis Alicia Fornes, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ES Scene Understanding Martial Hebert, CMU, USA Automatic Facial Expression Recognition Michel Valstar, University of Nottingham, UK RGB-D Cameras Thomas Whelan, Imperial College London, UK *Applications* Point Clouds 3D* João P. Costeira, IST, PT ** *Tentative titles *Industry Track* http://asap54.com/ Daniel Heesch www.enermeter.pt/en Manuel João Ferreira www.philips.com Jacek Kustra *Venue* visum will take place in Porto, Portugal’s second-largest city, European Best Destination 2012 and Lonely Planet’s top 10 for 2013. Here, you can find famous baroque style monuments, the worldwide known Port Wine cellars, always having the World Heritage Douro River as the background of this youthful, active and charming city. visum’s program includes social activities. *Accommodation*** *Tattva Design Hostel* Students will have 10% of discount. The prices include: Buffet breakfast, Wi-Fi all over the building, 4 computers in Lounge area, free linen, free locks, free City Maps, free Luggage Storage, free Portuguese Lessons, free Walking Tours, Happy Hour (exclusive prices for TattvaBar for guests). *Hotel da Música* All accepted participants will have a special price included in visum’s fees. Hotel da Música is a luxurious 4-star property set in a prime location in the centre of Porto. Local tourist attractions such as Rotunda da Boavista, Casa da Musica and Hospital Militar are not far from the hotel. Hotel da Música is equipped with free wifi. For more details please follow the link: http://www.hoteldamusica.com/and do not forget to check the special conditions at http://www.fe.up.pt/visum/ Please visit our webpage for up to date information: http://www.fe.up.pt/visum/. We are looking forward for your participation! visum organising committee Tiago Esteves, INEB, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto Kelwin Fernandes, INESC TEC, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto Eduardo Marques, INESC TEC, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto Ana Rebelo, INESC TEC, Universidade do Porto Ricardo Sousa, INEB, Universidade do Porto Luís Teixeira, INESC TEC, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto Follow us on: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/visum/402527539813446 Google+: https://plus.google.com/104076275960053201744/posts Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/visumschool

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Multi-timescale Modeling of Activity-Dependent Metabolic Coupling in the Neuron-Glia-Vasculature Ensemble
by Jolivet, Renaud March 3, 2015

March 3, 2015

Dear colleagues, You might be interested by our recent paper: "Multi-timescale Modeling of Activity-Dependent Metabolic Coupling in the Neuron-Glia-Vasculature Ensemble”, recently published in PLOS Computational Biology (http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004036) From the abstract: Glucose is the main energy substrate in the adult brain under normal conditions. Accumulating evidence, however, indicates that lactate produced in astrocytes (a type of glial cell) can also fuel neuronal activity. The quantitative aspects of this so-called astrocyte-neuron lactate shuttle (ANLS) are still debated. To address this question, we developed a detailed biophysical model of the brain’s metabolic interactions. Our model integrates three modeling approaches, the Buxton-Wang model of vascular dynamics, the Hodgkin-Huxley formulation of neuronal membrane excitability and a biophysical model of metabolic pathways. This approach provides a template for large-scale simulations of the neuron-glia-vasculature (NGV) ensemble, and for the first time integrates the respective timescales at which energy metabolism and neuronal excitability occur. The model is constrained by relative neuronal and astrocytic oxygen and glucose utilization, by the concentration of metabolites at rest and by the temporal dynamics of NADH upon activation. These constraints produced four observations. First, a transfer of lactate from astrocytes to neurons emerged in response to activity. Second, constrained by activity-dependent NADH transients, neuronal oxidative metabolism increased first upon activation with a subsequent delayed astrocytic glycolysis increase. Third, the model correctly predicted the dynamics of extracellular lactate and oxygen as observed in vivo in rats. Fourth, the model correctly predicted the temporal dynamics of tissue lactate, of tissue glucose and oxygen consumption, and of the BOLD signal as reported in human studies. These findings not only support the ANLS hypothesis but also provide a quantitative mathematical description of the metabolic activation in neurons and glial cells, as well as of the macroscopic measurements obtained during brain imaging. Best regards, Renaud -- Renaud Jolivet, PhD Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology University College London r.jolivet(a)ucl.ac.uk<mailto:r.jolivet@ucl.ac.uk> https://sites.google.com/site/renaudjolivet/ +44 20 7679 3243

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INNS (International Neural Network Society) BigData 2015 San Francisco, Aug. 8-10, 2015 - $2000 Best Paper Award - Papers submission deadline is March 22nd.
by Asim Roy March 2, 2015

March 2, 2015

[Apologies for cross-postings] ########################################### The inaugural INNS Big Data conference 2015 August 8-10, 2015, San Francisco, USA CALL FOR PAPERS ########################################### Homepage: http://www.innsbigdata.org ########################################### The aim of the INNS BigData conference is to promote new advances and research directions in efficient and innovative algorithmic approaches to analyzing big data (e.g. deep networks, nature-inspired and brain-inspired algorithms), implementations on different computing platforms (e.g. neuromorphic, GPUs, clouds, clusters) and applications of Big Data Analytics to solve real-world problems (e.g. weather prediction, transportation, energy management). Please refer to our website for a more detailed list of topics. Being INNS' inaugural conference on the theme of big data, we are especially motivated to synthesize ideas, promote activities and generate broad interest in areas where neural networks have many unique advantages. We also have Twitter, Facebook and Google+ pages! Elsevier Best Paper Award ########################################################### * Recognizes the best paper presented at the INNS Big Data conference. Both application and theoretical papers will be considered. * It will be awarded by the Big Data Analytics Section of the International Neural Network Society and is sponsored by Elsevier. * The Award consists of a plaque and a $2000 honorarium ########################################################### Dr. Fen Zhao Talk ########################################################### * Dr. Fen Zhao is a Staff Associate at the Office of the Assistant Director (OAD) for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE) at the National Science Foundation. * She will give a talk on national big data R&D initiative and on building public-private partnerships around CISE's Big Data, next generation internet, and cybersecurity R&D portfolios. ########################################################### Plenary Speakers ########################################################### * Bin Yu, Chancellor's Professor, University of California , Berkeley * Raghu Ramakrishnan, Head of Cloud and Information Services Lab (CISL) and big data team, Microsoft * Brenda Dietrich, IBM Fellow and VP, Leads the Emerging Technologies Team for IBM Watson, IBM * Juergen Schmidhuber, Scientific Director, IDSIA ########################################################### Tutorials ########################################################### * Deep Learning - Profs. Juergen Schmidhuber (University of Lugano, and the Swiss AI Lab IDSIA) and Dong Yu (Microsoft Research) * Introduction to How Brain Deals with Big Data - Juyang Weng (Michigan State University) * Platforms and Algorithms for Big Data Analytics - Prof. Chandan K. Reddy (Wayne State University) * Big Data Analytics, Machine Learning Cognitive Algorithms and the Mind - Prof. Leonid I. Perlovsky (Northeastern University) * Spiking Neural Networks and Neuromorphic Spatio-Temporal Data Machines - Prof. Nikola Kasabov (Auckland University of Technology) * Online Learning for Big Data Analytics - Prof. Irwin King (Chinese University of Hong Kong) ########################################################### Workshops ########################################################### * Deep Learning - Profs. Juergen Schmidhuber and Dong Yu * Neuromorphic Spatio-Temporal Big Data Machines - Prof. Nikola Kasabov * Neural networks and wearable devices - Prof. Danilo Mandic * Big Data and Power Systems - Profs. Dejan Sobajic and Kumar Venayagamoorthy * Crowd Behaviour and Big Data - Profs. Chrisina Jayne and Mehmed Kantardzic ########################################################### Important Dates ########################################################### * Paper Submission March 22, 2015 * Paper Decision Notification May 22, 2015 * Camera Ready Submission of papers June 8, 2015 ########################################################### Paper Submission and Publication ########################################################### * Prospective authors should submit a full-length draft manuscript (8 pages), including figures, tables and references using the Elsevier Standard template without page numbers. * The full papers should be submitted to the INNS-BigData'2015 EasyChair online submission website: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=innsbigdata2015 * Conference proceedings will be published by Elsevier as a separate issue of Procedia Computer Science, which is an open access publication and is part of Science Direct electronic service. ########################################################### Topics and Areas include, but not limited to: * Autonomous, online, incremental learning - theory, algorithms and applications in big data * High dimensional data, feature selection, feature transformation - theory, algorithms and applications for big data * Scalable algorithms for big data * Learning algorithms for high-velocity streaming data * Kernel methods and statistical learning theory * Big data streams analytics * Deep neural network learning * Machine vision and big data * Brain-machine interfaces and big data * Cognitive modeling and big data * Embodied robotics and big data * Fuzzy systems and big data * Evolutionary systems and big data * Evolving systems for big data analytics * Neuromorphic hardware for scalable machine learning * Parallel and distributed computing for big data analytics (cloud, map-reduce, etc.) * Big data and collective intelligence/collaborative learning * Big data and hybrid systems * Big data and self-aware systems * Big Data and infrastructure * Big data analytics and healthcare/medical applications * Big data analytics and energy systems/smart grids * Big data analytics and transportation systems * Big data analytics in large sensor networks * Big data and machine learning in computational biology, bioinformatics * Recommendation systems/collaborative filtering for big data * Big data visualization * Online multimedia/ stream/ text analytics * Link and graph mining * Big data and cloud computing, large scale stream processing on the cloud Big Data Analytics Section @ INNS ########################################################### Considering the growing interest to process and analyse big data, the International Neural Network Society (INNS) has a new Section on Big Data Analytics (BDA) to help the neural network field position itself as a leading technology contributor to big data analytics. By actively promoting the use of neural networks for big data analytics, the INNS-BDA section is dedicated towards bringing the neural network field to greater heights. Anyone who is interested to know more is encouraged to visit the homepage of the INNS-BDA Section at http://www.inns.org/big-data-section. ACCOMMODATION RESERVATION ########################################################### * A dedicated website is now available for attendees to book their hotel rooms online. * Reservations can be made starting 31-Oct-2014 at this web address: https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_ei_new&eventID=12490679 ########################################################### Co-Sponsors * International Neural Network Society (INNS) * Elsevier Advisory Board * Walter Freeman, University of California, Berkeley, USA * Ali Minai, University of Cincinnati, USA * Danil Prokhorov, Toyota Tech Center * Bernard Widrow, Stanford University, USA * Bart Kosko, University of Southern California, USA General Chairs * Plamen Angelov, Lancaster University, UK * Asim Roy, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA PC Chairs * Adel M. Alimi, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia * Theodore Trafalis, University of Oklahoma, USA * Kumar Venayagamoorthy, Clemson University, USA Plenary Chairs * Nikola Kasabov, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand * Irwin King, Chinese University of Hongkong, China Special Sessions Chairs * Bonny Banerjee, University of Memphis, USA * Alessandro Ghio, University of Genoa, Italy Tutorials/Workshops Chair * Marley Vellasco, PUC-Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil * Trevor Martin, Univ. of Bristol, UK. Poster Session Chairs * Yi Lu Murphy, University of Michigan-Dearborn, USA * Bernardete Ribeiro, University of Coimbra, Portugal Sponsors/Exhibit Chairs * James Dankert, BAE Systems, USA * Rosemary Paradis, Lockheed Martin, USA Publication Chairs * Danilo Mandic, Imperial College, London, UK * John Weng, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA * Mariette Awad, American University of Beirut, Lebanon * Amir Hussain, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK

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Community Session on reproducibility in the neurosciences - 11th Göttingen meeting of the NWG
by Andrea Huber Brösamle March 2, 2015

March 2, 2015

----------------------------------------------------------- Community Session Reproducibility in the neurosciences Novel tools and links to the Human Brain Project (HBP) platforms and the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF) ----------------------------------------------------------- We invite you to attend a Community Session on Reproducibility in the neurosciences taking place during the 11th Göttingen Meeting of the German Neuroscience Society. Date and Time: March 19th, 2015, 14:30-16:30h Location: University of Göttingen, Main Lecture Building, Room 1.141 Snacks and beverages will be served Recently, experiments gathering neuronal data in behaving animals as well as the corresponding data analysis workflows have dramatically gained in complexity. At present, this creates a lack of reproducibility impairing the reliability and efficiency of research. In this community session, the status and approaches to address this challenge will be reviewed and discussed. *Speakers:* Sonja Grün (Jülich Researach Centre & RWTH Aachen) Thomas Wachtler (G-Node, LMU Munich) Jeff Muller (EPFL, Lausanne) We are looking forward to seeing you in Göttingen. Community Session organizer: Sonja Grün (Jülich Researach Centre & RWTH Aachen)

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3rd CFP: EXTENDED DEADLINE Special Session on Quantifying Embodiment, ECAL'15
by Keyan Ghazi-Zahedi March 2, 2015

March 2, 2015

3rd CALL FOR PAPERS *** EXTENDED DEADLINE *** 13th European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL 2015) Special Session on Quantifying Embodiment Session paper submission deadline: Monday, 16 March 2015 Notification of acceptance of papers: Friday, 24 April 2015 Paper Camera-Ready-Copy deadline: Monday, 18 May 2015 Conference convenes: 20-24 July 2015, York, United Kingdom Conference website: http://ecal2015.alife.org <http://ecal2015.alife.org/> Special Session website: http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/nature/ecal2015/embodiment.html <http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/nature/ecal2015/embodiment.html> There is a growing acknowledgement in the artificial life and artificial intelligence community that embodiment is a key for the understanding of cognitive systems. Despite the consensus about the importance of embodiment, there is no clear definition of what the agent’s embodiment actually is. We believe that a quantitative approach can help to answer this open question. This is inspired by Einstein’s answer to the question ”What is time?”, to which he replied ”Time is what clocks measure”. Although this seems to be a trivial answer, it reveals that what we mean by time depends on the way we measure it. We are interested in quantifications of embodiment from various view points and different fields. A non-exclusive list of examples is: • Quantifications of the embodiment’s effect on sensing • Quantifications of the embodiment’s effect on cognitive processes • Quantifications of the embodiment’s effect on acting • Quantifications of brain-body-environment separation We are open to quantifications from any formal approach. Examples are information theory and dynamical systems, but others are highly welcome too. The ideal outcome of the special session would be a good overview of different concepts and quantifications of embodiment and an understanding how they overlap and differ, thereby leading to a better understanding and a clearer picture of what embodiment actually is. Papers are submitted via the ECAL paper submission form and published in the conference proceedings. You need to select “Quantifying Embodiment” when you are submitting your paper. Special Session Chairs: Keyan Ghazi-Zahedi, Christoph Salge, Georg Martius, Daniel Polani

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PhD and Postdoc positions (eye-movements, stereo) at QMUL
by Miles Hansard March 2, 2015

March 2, 2015

PhD Studentship: Computational Analysis of Eye-Movements. School of EECS, Queen Mary, University of London. Applications are invited for a fully-funded PhD studentship, to conduct research into human eye-movements. The project will develop new computational models of visual behaviour, based on recent ideas from computer vision, spatial statistics and time-series analysis. The models will be tested in psychophysical experiments, and implemented in an open-source tool-kit. Supervised by Miles Hansard (computer vision, http://www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/~milesh/) and Isabelle Mareschal (experimental psychology). All nationalities are eligible to apply, for details see: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AKO352/phd-studentship-in-eye-movement-analysis/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Research Assistant: Geometric Evaluation of Stereoscopic Video. School of EECS, Queen Mary, University of London. This new project will develop a new approach to the evaluation of 3D content, based on computational models of human binocular vision. Disparity statistics will be computed from stereoscopic video, by a prototype system, for use in depth-grading and other post-production tasks. To work with Miles Hansard (http://www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/~milesh/) in conjunction with a high-profile graphics and visual effects company. All nationalities are eligible to apply, for details see: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/ATT437/research-assistant/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- http://www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/~milesh/

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INCF Nodes Workshop in Warsaw, April 16-17
by Daniel Wójcik March 2, 2015

March 2, 2015

Dear Colleagues, Each Spring, the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF; http://www.incf.org) holds the INCF Nodes Workshop. This is the main event bringing representatives from each Node country together to present their activities, begin and continue collaborations, and inspire the future directions of INCF: http://incf.org/activities/workshops/node-workshops/node-workshops The next workshop will be organized by the Polish Node of INCF, and will spotlight Polish neuroinformatics research in areas from molecular neuroscience to brain-computer interfaces and supercomputing. It will be held at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (http://en.nencki.gov.pl/) in Warsaw, 16-17 April 2015, and will be the first Nodes Workshop open to the wider scientific community. Registration is free. Deadline for registration: * March 16* Workshop details: http://bit.ly/incf2015spring Looking forward to welcoming you in Warsaw, Daniel Wojcik On behalf of the Polish Node of INCF -- Daniel K. Wojcik, PhD, DSc Laboratory of Neuroinformatics, Head PhD Studies, Head Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology 3 Pasteur St, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland tel: (+48 22) 5892348 fax: (+48 22) 8225342 skype: danek8317 http://dwojcik.pl/ http://neuroinflab.wordpress.com/ http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0812-9872

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Systems and Computational Neuroscience Down Under (SCiNDU)
by Geoffrey Goodhill March 1, 2015

March 1, 2015

SCiNDU: SYSTEMS AND COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE DOWN UNDER qbi.uq.edu.au/scindu<http://qbi.uq.edu.au/scindu> December 15-17th, 2015, Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia This conference will bring together international leaders in understanding the computational principles underlying how neural circuits decode sensory information, make decisions, and learn from experience. Abstract submissions for poster presentation are welcome. Deadline for abstracts and early registration is Oct 16th 2015. Some abstracts will be selected for short talks. Confirmed invited speakers include: Ehsan Arabzadeh (ANU) Mark Bear (MIT) Michael Breakspear (QIMR) Allen Cheung (QBI) Yang Dan (UC Berkeley) Peter Dayan (UCL) Geoffrey Goodhill (QBI) Zach Mainen (Champalimaud) Jason Mattingley (QBI) Linda Richards (QBI) Peter Robinson (Sydney) Marcello Rosa (Monash) Pankaj Sah (QBI) Mandyam Srinivasan (QBI) Greg Stuart (ANU) Stephen Williams (QBI) Li Zhaoping (UCL) On December 15th the conference will be preceded by tutorials including: Mark Bear: Experience-dependent synaptic plasticity Peter Dayan: Neural reinforcement learning Jason Mattingley: Brain stimulation, attention and plasticity Li Zhaoping: Vision, efficient coding and salience We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Queensland Brain Institute and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function. 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

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Reminder: MBL Methods in Computational Neuroscience Course 2015: applications due March 5
by Mark Goldman March 1, 2015

March 1, 2015

Applications are open for the Methods in Computational Neuroscience course at the Marine Biology Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. The course will run from July 29 to August 26, 2014, and the online application form can be found at: http://ws2.mbl.edu/studentapp/studentapp.asp?CourseID=MCN. The course application deadline is March 5. The course covers a range of topics in computational neuroscience including neuronal biophysics, neural coding & information processing, circuit dynamics, learning & memory, motor control, and cognitive processing & disease. In addition, numerous tutorials and problem sets will cover a broad range of computational and mathematical modeling methods. The course strongly emphasizes the collaboration between theory and experiment in solving neuroscience problems, and lectures will be given by a mixture of theorists and experimentalists. The final weeks of the course are primarily reserved for development and work on projects that students design in collaboration with the resident faculty. Further information can be found on the MCN website: http://www.mbl.edu/mcn/ 2015 Course Directors: Michale Fee, MIT Mark Goldman, UC Davis 2015 Confirmed Faculty: Larry Abbott, Columbia University Steve Baccus, Stanford University Jeff Beck, Duke University William Bialek, Princeton University Dmitri Chklovskii, HHMI Janelia Farm Peter Dayan, University College London Bard Ermentrout, University of Pittsburgh Adrienne Fairhall, University of Washington Ila Fiete, UT Austin Loren Frank, UCSF Michael Frank, Brown University Surya Ganguli, Stanford University John Huguenard, Stanford University David Kleinfeld, UC San Diego Nancy Kopell, Boston University John Lisman, Brandeis University Eve Marder, Brandeis University Bartlett Mel, University of Southern California Jonathan Pillow, Princeton University Maneesh Sahani, University College London Terry Sejnowski, Salk Institute Michael Shadlen, Columbia University Josh Shaevitz, Princeton University Sara Solla, Northwestern University Haim Sompolinsky, Hebrew University David Tank, Princeton University Josh Tenenbaum, MIT Srini Turaga, Janelia Farm Xiao-Jing Wang, NYU Daniel Wolpert, Cambridge University Ryohei Yasuda, Duke University

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a neural architecture for autonomous spatial and object attention, invariant object category learning and recognition, and Where’s Waldo search with freely moving eyes
by Stephen Grossberg Feb. 27, 2015

Feb. 27, 2015

The following series of articles progressively develop a neural architecture for autonomous spatial and object attention, invariant object category learning and recognition, and Where’s Waldo search with freely moving eyes: ARTSCAN View-invariant object category learning and recognition with freely moving eyes in a 2D scene Fazl, A., Grossberg, S., and Mingolla, E. (2009). View-invariant object category learning, recognition, and search: How spatial and object attention are coordinated using surface-based attentional shrouds. Cognitive Psychology, 58, 1-48. http://cns.bu.edu/~steve/FazGroMin2008.pdf pARTSCAN View-, position-, and size-invariant object category learning and recognition with freely moving eyes in a 2D scene Cao, Y., Grossberg, S., and Markowitz, J. (2011). How does the brain rapidly learn and reorganize view- and positionally-invariant object representations in inferior temporal cortex? Neural Networks, 24, 1050-1061. http://cns.bu.edu/~steve/NN2853.pdf dARTSCAN ARTSCAN with transient and sustained distributed attention and prefrontal priming in a 2D scene Foley, N.C., Grossberg, S. and Mingolla, E. (2012). Neural dynamics of object-based multifocal visual spatial attention and priming: Object cueing, useful-field-of-view, and crowding. Cognitive Psychology, 65, 77-117. http://cns.bu.edu/~steve/FolGroMin2012.pdf ARTSCAN SEARCH Solution of Where’s Waldo Problem: finding a valued object in a 2D scene Chang, H.-C., Grossberg, S., and Cao, Y. (2014) Where's Waldo? How perceptual cognitive, and emotional brain processes cooperate during learning to categorize and find desired objects in a cluttered scene. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, doi: 10.3389/fnint.2014.0043. http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnint.2014.00043/full 3D ARTSCAN ARTSCAN of a 3D scene whose 3D perceptual representations remain stable as the eyes move Grossberg, S., Srinivasan, K., and Yazdanbakhsh, A. (2014). Binocular fusion and invariant category learning due to predictive remapping during scanning of a depthful scene with eye movements. Frontiers in Psychology: Perception Science, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01457. http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01457/full Stephen Grossberg Wang Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems Professor of Mathematics, Psychology, and Biomedical Engineering Director, Center for Adaptive Systems http://www.cns.bu.edu/about/cas.html http://cns.bu.edu/~steve steve(a)bu.edu

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ECMLPKDD 2015 : Call for Papers, Tutorials and Workshops
by ECMLPKDD 2015 Feb. 27, 2015

Feb. 27, 2015

The European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles and Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases (ECMLPKDD) will take place in Porto, Portugal, from September 7th to 11th, 2015 (http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org) This event is the leading European scientific event on machine learning and data mining and builds upon a very successful series of 25 ECML and 18 PKDD conferences, which have been jointly organized for the past 14 years. ECMLPKDD 2015 will host three tracks, tutorials and a set of workshops. Therefore, we invite all researchers and practitioners from different communities to submit papers and/or present tutorial and workshop proposals. ************************* CALL FOR PAPERS ************************* JOURNAL TRACK ********************* Articles for this track are submitted all year long directly to either Machine Learning or Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, and are reviewed like regular journal articles. Accepted articles appear in full in the journal and the authors are given a presentation slot at the conference. Articles deemed insufficiently mature for journal publication may be accepted for inclusion in the proceedings. Submissions to the journal track will be managed by the Guest Editorial Board. Paper Submission: Cut-off dates for the bi-weekly batches are 18 Jan, 1 Feb, 15 Fev, 1 Mar, 15 Mar, 29 Mar, 12 Apr, 26 Apr of 2015 Web Page: http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org/submission/journal-track RESEARCH PROCEEDINGS TRACK ******************************************* The research proceedings track, which is organized in the traditional way. Accepted papers will be published in the Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (LNCS/LNAI) of Springer, after reviewing by the programme committee. Abstract Submission Deadline: March 26, 2015 Paper Submission Deadline: April 2, 2015 Paper Acceptance Notification: June 1, 2015 Paper Camera Ready Submission: June 15, 2015 Web Page: http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org/submission/research-proceedings-track INDUSTRIAL, GOVERNMENTAL & NON-GOVERNMENTAL PROCEEDINGS TRACK **************************************************************************** ************************** The NEW industrial, governmental & non-governmental (NGO) proceedings track is independent and distinct from the Research Track. Submissions to this track should solve real-world problems and focus on engineering systems, applications, and challenges. Accepted papers will be published in the Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (LNCS/LNAI) of Springer, after reviewing by the programme committee. Abstract Submission Deadline: March 26, 2015 Paper Submission Deadline: April 2, 2015 Paper Acceptance Notification: June 1, 2015 Paper Camera Ready Submission: June 15, 2015 Web Page: http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org/submission/industrial-proceedings-track ***************************************************************** CALL FOR TUTORIAL AND WORKSHOP PROPOSALS ***************************************************************** TUTORIALS ************** The tutorials are intended to provide a comprehensive introduction to established or emerging research topics of interest for the machine learning and the data mining community. These topics include related research fields or applications. The ideal tutorial should attract a wide audience. It should be broad enough to provide a basic introduction to the chosen research area, but it should also cover the most important topics in depth. We welcome half day workshop proposals. Proposal Deadline: March 2, 2015 Proposal Acceptance Notification: March 23, 2015 Web Page: http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org/submission/call-for-tutorials WORKSHOPS **************** The workshops will be on relevant and current topics in Machine Learning and Data Mining. The scope of the proposal should be consistent with the conference themes as described in the ECMLPKDD 2015 Call for Papers (http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org/submission) Interdisciplinary workshops that bring together researchers and practitioners from different communities are especially welcome. We encourage workshops that bridge the gap between theoretical advances and important and/or innovative applications of machine learning and data mining. We welcome both full and half day workshop proposals. Proposal Deadline: March 2, 2015 Proposal Acceptance Notification: March 23, 2015 Workshop Websites and Call for Papers Online: March 27, 2015 Workshop Proceedings (Camera-ready): August 3, 2015 Web Page: http://www.ecmlpkdd2015.org/submission/call-for-workshop-proposals Hope to see you all soon in Porto, Portugal!!! The publicity chairs of the ECMLPKDD 2015, Carlos Abreu Ferreira Ricardo Campos --- Este e-mail foi verificado em termos de vírus pelo software antivírus Avast. http://www.avast.com

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Postdoctoral position in Computational Neuroscience at IUPUI
by Yaroslav Molkov Feb. 27, 2015

Feb. 27, 2015

A postdoctoral/research associate position in computational neuroscience is available immediately in the NIH funded project focusing on multiscale computational modeling of interactions between respiratory central pattern generator and sympathetic nervous system as it relates to neurogenic hypertension. This collaborative project is performed by the groups of Yaroslav Molkov (Dept. of Mathematical Science, Indiana University – Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN, USA), Ana Abdala (University of Bristol, UK) and Daniel Zoccal (Sao Paulo State University, Brazil). Excessive sympathetic activity plays a crucial role in the development and maintenance of hypertension. Such autonomic dysfunction is observed in hypertensive patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Chronic exposure to intermittent hypoxia (CIH) that occurs in OSA is the main factor leading to sympathetic overactivity and hypertension. A CIH-driven increase in sympathetic output is largely dependent on the emergence of active expiratory pattern. The respiratory central pattern generator (rCPG) is composed of two interacting oscillators. The first occupies Bötzinger/pre-Bötzinger complexes and generates self-sustained respiratory rhythm controlling the diaphragm to provide inspiration. The second oscillator, the parafacial respiratory group (pFRG), resides in the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN). The RTN/pFRG oscillations emerge in hypoxic and hypercapnic conditions, and drive motor output to abdominal muscles for active (forced) expiration. Interactions of these respiratory circuits with the sympathetic neurons of the rostral and caudal ventrolateral medulla evoke respiratory-related oscillations in sympathetic efferent drive. Exposure to CIH leads to alterations in excitability of RTN/pFRG neuronal population and/or modifications in synaptic connections between respiratory oscillators and sympathetic neurons which ultimately results in the elevated baseline sympathetic activity and arterial pressure. This interdisciplinary project aims to reveal the mechanisms that couple breathing and control of blood pressure in the brain in health and disease, and for the first time translate them into a realistic computational model. Such a model will have the unprecedented potential for generating effective non-pharmacological means of controlling blood pressure and breathing via implantable biofeedback devices (e.g. vagus nerve stimulation) and non-invasive devices for guided control of autonomic function (e.g. device-guided paced respiration). Furthermore, it will provide a robust scientific substrate for evaluating the usefulness and safety of alternative medicine interventions, such as controlled breathing practices, for lowering blood pressure and improving heart rate variability. Applicants must have a PhD degree in Neuroscience, Applied Mathematics, Physics, or a related discipline and have excellent programming skills (C++, Matlab, UNIX). Previous experience in computational neuronal modeling is a plus. Interested candidates are encouraged to contact Dr. Molkov ( ymolkov(a)iupui.edu) by email. To apply, please send an email along with (1) curriculum vitae; (2) a cover letter describing previous research experience and interests; (3) the names and contact information of three references. Application processing will begin immediately and the search will remain open until the position is filled. Best Regards, Yaroslav Molkov, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis Department of Mathematical Sciences 402 N. Blackford St, LD 270, Indianapolis, IN 46202 Office: LD 224U Phone: (317) 274-6934 Fax: (317) 274-3460 Email: ymolkov(a)iupui.edu

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Postdoctoral positions available in Sophie Deneve's team, Group for Neural Theory, Ecole Normale supérieure, Paris
by Sophie Deneve Feb. 26, 2015

Feb. 26, 2015

Two postdoctoral positions are available in the group of Sophie Deneve, Ecole Normale supérieure Paris. Positions are for one year, renewable one year, and comes with competitive salary and generous equipment and travel funds. The team is part of the “Group for neural theory” ( http://iec-lnc.ens.fr/group-for-neural-theory/) and surrounded by top-level theoretical and experimental labs. Candidates are expected to have a solid training in the field of computational neuroscience, proven quantitative and programming skills and a strong interest in integrative/cognitive neuroscience. Starting dates are flexible, but should preferentially occur before September 2015. Possible projects include: Starting from the hypothesis that biological networks are optimally tuned to maximize coding efficiency and robustness, we will design new tools to analyze their dynamics and function. We will identify functionally relevant, low-dimensional structures in large neural datasets (spontaneous and stimulus-driven multi-unit activity in retina, visual cortex, and/or in Zebrafish whole brain recordings). Sensory neurons are often described in terms by their receptive fields. On the other hand, “generative models” (and more generally, efficient coding) assume that neurons collectively try to predict their stimuli. In such scenarios, prior assumptions, metabolic constrains and context deeply reshape neural selectivity. We will consider implications for learning, attentional modulation and/or hierarchical neural processing. Candidates should send their application to sophie.deneve(a)ens.fr by *March 31, 2015*. Please mention “postdoctoral candidate” in the subject of the email. Application should take the form of a single PDF file, containing a CV, motivation letter, names and email addresses of 2 to 3 referees. No official letter of recommendations are required, as the referee will be contacted directly. Best wishes, -- Dr Sophie Deneve Group for Neural Theory Laboratoire de Neurosciences cognitives ENS-INSERM 29, rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France Tel. (+33) (0)1 44 32 26 35

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New Paper on Network Dynamics of the Human Brain
by Xerxes D. Arsiwalla Feb. 26, 2015

Feb. 26, 2015

Dear Colleagues, For your interest, our paper on dynamics of the human connectome is now available open access. http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fninf.2015.00002/abstract Network Dynamics with BrainX3: A Large-Scale Simulation of the Human Brain Network with Real-Time Interaction Arsiwalla XD, Zucca R, Betella A, Martinez E, Dalmazzo D, Omedas P, Deco G and Verschure PFMJ (2015) Front. Neuroinform. 9:02. doi: 10.3389/fninf.2015.00002 Abstract BrainX3 is a large-scale simulation of human brain activity with real-time interaction, rendered in 3D in a virtual reality environment, which combines computational power with human intuition for the exploration and analysis of complex dynamical networks. We ground this simulation on structural connectivity obtained from diffusion spectrum imaging data and model it on neuronal population dynamics. Users can interact with BrainX3 in real-time by perturbing brain regions with transient stimulations to observe reverberating network activity, simulate lesion dynamics or implement network analysis functions from a library of graph theoretic measures. BrainX3 can thus be used as a novel immersive platform for exploration and analysis of dynamical activity patterns in brain networks, both at rest or in a task-related state, for discovery of signaling pathways associated to brain function and/or dysfunction and as a tool for virtual neurosurgery. Our results demonstrate these functionalities and shed insight on the dynamics of the resting-state attractor. Specifically, we found that a noisy network seems to favor a low firing attractor state. We also found that the dynamics of a noisy network is less resilient to lesions. Our simulations on TMS perturbations show that even though TMS inhibits most of the network, it also sparsely excites a few regions. This is presumably due to anti-correlations in the dynamics and suggests that even a lesioned network can show sparsely distributed increased activity compared to healthy resting-state, over specific brain areas.

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