- Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

Fwd: ADHDFund!

by Martijn Arns

Dear colleagues, I wanted to point your attention to the below new initiative, a crowd funding initiative for ADHD research. Martijn Arns Begin doorgestuurd bericht: Van: Sandra Kooij <s.kooij(a)psyq.nl<mailto:s.kooij@psyq.nl>> Onderwerp: ADHDFund! Datum: 12 juni 2014 10:55:46 CEST Aan: Undisclosed recipients:; Dear collegues, It is now time to pay attention to www.adhdfund.com<http://www.adhdfund.com/>! By the end of June, new slots for online research funding will be available. Why not yours??!! Submit your research now! ADHDFund connects patients and professionals for research on ADHD. You can put your online questionnaire here online, and/or ask for donations for your patient-oriented research proposal on video (crowdfunding). There are only two criteria to meet: quality and benefit for patients. The scientific board will check this beforehand. Please find the forms here: http://www.adhdfund.com/Research/Criteria#.U5VpjH8aySM ADHDFund started 2 months ago, so the 'CROWD' is still small. Therefore, it is wise not to ask for more than 5K at this time of development (it is required to get funded 100%, otherwise you receive nothing...). What after submission? With your study online, you will have to become active to ask your collegues, friends and patients to donate and support it, thereby increasing the CROWD of ADHDFund! ADHDFund will support all studies online by increasing awareness on ADHDFund and its aims:http://www.adhdfund.com/About/Research#.U5VqNn8aySMhttp://www.adhdfund… Ambassadors In order to build the international crowd, ADHDFund needs Ambassadors in every country to increase awareness through social and regular media. Can you help?? Please let me know!! Looking forward to your response and submissions, Yours, Sandra Kooij Chair ADHDFund Please take a look at www.adhdfund.com<http://www.adhdfund.com/> for the first international online crowdfund for research on ADHD!

June 12, 2014

Postdoc position, Computational neuroscience, Prague

by Lubomir Kostal

The Department of Computational Neuroscience, Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, invites applications for a one-year postdoctoral position (with a possibility of extension) to a motivated person working in the field of theoretical neuroscience. The department is well internationally established, with stable high-quality publication output, international collaborations and organizational activities. The research is theory-based, experimental data are obtained either within national or international collaborations. A computer cluster for numerically intensive calculations is available. See the group www at: http://comput.biomed.cas.cz/ Requirements: Priority will be given to applicants from EU countries with focus on information theory, estimation theory or stochastic point processes. Hosting conditions: - salary: 31.000,- CZK (1200 EUR) base pay. Alternatively, the possibility to apply for a Marie-Curie Fellowship is open - subsidized accommodation in the institutional campus (serviced apartments, approx. 4.000 CZK/month rental) - starting date: January 2015 How to apply: Interested applicants should email the following material to Lubomir Kostal (kostal(a)biomed.cas.cz) 1) CV with research experience, list of publications, scientific and technical skills 2) description of research interests and motivation for the position 3) names of 2 scientists who can supply a letter of recommendation Deadline for applications: October 31, 2014 For more information on the position contact: Lubomir Kostal Institute of Physiology AS CR Dept. of Computational Neuroscience Videnska 1083 142 20 Prague 4 Czech Republic E-mail: kostal(a)biomed.cas.cz www: http://www.biomed.cas.cz/~kostal/

June 12, 2014

Cognitive Computation journal (Springer): Table of Contents, Vol.6, No.2 / June 2014 Issue

by Dr Amir Hussain

Dear Colleagues: (with advance apologies for any cross-postings) We are delighted to announce the publication of Volume 6, No.2 / June 2014 Issue, of Springer's Cognitive Computation journal - www.springer.com/12559 The individual list of published articles (Table of Contents) for this 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/12559/6/2/ You may also be interested in the journal's seminal Special Issue (Sep 2013 Issue): In Memory of John G Taylor: A Polymath Scholar, by Guest Editors: Vassilis Cutsuridis and Amir Hussain (the Guest Editorial is available here: http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs12559-013-9226-z.pdf and full listing of articles can be found at: http://link.springer.com/journal/12559/5/3/page/1) 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 ======================================================= NEW: ISI-SCI 5 year Impact Factor for Cognitive Computation: 1.137 ======================================================= 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 also received its first Impact Factor of 1.0 (Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports® 2011) in 2011 0.867(Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports® 2011) in 2012 ============================================ Reminder: New 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 over 700 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: Dr. Martijn Roelandse: martijn.roelandse(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 2014-15 (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 6 No 2, June 2014 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Decoding Word Information from Spatiotemporal Activity of Sensory Neurons Kazuhisa Fujita , Yusuke Hara , Youichi Suzukawa & Yoshiki Kashimori http://bit.ly/UteVVm Yes and No: Match/Mismatch Function in Cognitive Robots Pentti O. A. Haikonen http://bit.ly/1oNarUn Shape Description and Recognition Method Inspired by the Primary Visual Cortex Hui Wei & Hu Li http://bit.ly/1oNay28 A Computational Model of Semantic Memory Categorization: Identification of a Concept’s Semantic Level from Feature Sharedness Ana Teresa Santos , J. Frederico Marques & Luís Correia http://bit.ly/1l0GTCH Displaying and Regulating Different Social Response Patterns: A Computational Agent Model Jan Treur http://bit.ly/1mH53xC Novel Two-Stage Audiovisual Speech Filtering in Noisy Environments Andrew Abel & Amir Hussain http://bit.ly/1oTN5KV Model-Based Human Gait Recognition Via Deterministic Learning Wei Zeng , Cong Wang & Yuanqing Li http://bit.ly/TJegOW A New Hand Image Database Simultaneously Acquired in Visible, Near-Infrared and Thermal Spectrums Marcos Faundez-Zanuy , Jiri Mekyska & Xavier Font-Aragonès http://bit.ly/1hOk0SE Classification of Music-Induced Emotions Based on Information Fusion of Forehead Biosignals and Electrocardiogram Mohsen Naji , Mohammd Firoozabadi & Parviz Azadfallah http://bit.ly/1oNbjrU A Meta-Cognitive Learning Algorithm for an Extreme Learning Machine Classifier R. Savitha , S. Suresh & H. J. Kim http://bit.ly/Syy8Tv Fast Face Recognition Via Sparse Coding and Extreme Learning Machine Bo He , Dongxun Xu , Rui Nian , Mark van Heeswijk , Qi Yu , Yoan Miche & Amaury Lendasse http://bit.ly/1n5CWtb --------------------------------------------------- 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 University of Stirling is ranked in the top 50 in the world in The Times Higher Education 100 Under 50 table, which ranks the world's best 100 universities under 50 years old. The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159. -- 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.

June 11, 2014

Graduate studies in comp.life.sci: comp.neuro, sys.bio, networks, appl.math, bioinf ... Jacobs University, Germany

by Jens Christian Claussen

Invitation for a NEW study program in Computational Life Science in Bremen, Germany Jacobs University Bremen, Germany, welcomes (late) applications (EU citizens or holders of visa for Germany or a EU country only) for the new graduate program (MSc and integrated PhD): http://www.jacobs-university.de/complife-graduate-program For best consideration, please do apply until June 15, latest mid-July, with the usual documents, and a letter/essay of motivation, and be prepared to select one research group for the first lab rotation, see the group pages: http://www.jacobs-university.de/comp-life-graduate-program/complife-groups with the research directions of the core faculty research areas: Computational Neuroscience Bioinformatics Medical Imaging Computational Systems Biology Theoretical Physics Ecological Modeling Mathematics Mathematical Modeling of Medical Processes If you already hold a Master of Science degree in a relevant discipline, and you apply for iPhD track only, please get also in touch with a group leader (in parallel to your application) as all PhD positions are funded within the groups. Applications for CompLife and for the current Computational Biology Branch of MoLife will be handled equivalently this year, so a double application is not necessary. The extended launch of the CompLife program will be for Fall 2015 - stay tuned! We offer reduced study fees for highly skilled applicants! In addition, there may be a small number of departmental stipends available (competitive, apply asap!). Jacobs University is a great international and renowned place for study and research. We warmly welcome applications from all countries (currently students are from 100+ countries)! Looking forward to your application! With best regards, Jens Christian Claussen -- PD Dr. Jens Christian Claussen j.claussen(a)jacobs-university.de Systems Biology Lab - Jacobs University Bremen +49-421-2003240 http://sysbio.jacobs-university.de/website/claussen http://jclaussen.user.jacobs-university.de/ http://webmail.inb.uni-luebeck.de/%7Eclaussen/ Networks, Physics, Socioeconomic Systems? http://www.dpg-physik.de/dpg/gliederung/fv/soe/index.html MSc in Computational Life Science? PhD in Systems Biology? Go here: http://www.jacobs-university.de/ses/complife

June 11, 2014

PhD position, computational neuroimaging, Dresden/Germany

by Stefan Kiebel

Dear all, Please find attached an advert for a PhD position. The position is ideal for someone who would like to work at the interface between computational modelling and neuroimaging experiments. With best wishes, Stefan Kiebel --------- The Department of Psychology, Institute of General Psychology, Biopsychology and Methods of Psychology, Chair of Neuroimaging (Prof. Dr. Stefan Kiebel) invites applications for a Member of academic staff / PhD student (E 13 TV-L) with 50 % of the fulltime weekly hours. The position will start (ideally) on 01.10.2014. The PhD position is initially limited for 3 years. A contract extension for a fourth year is possible. The period of employment is governed by the Fixed Term Research Contracts Act (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz - WissZeitVG). The main research goal is the development and experimental testing of novel computational models of decision making. The computational models typically employ Bayesian inference and experiments are performed using fMRI and EEG. The Chair of Neuroimaging has full access to all experimental facilities at the Neuroimaging Center at the TU Dresden. The Neuroimaging Center is equipped with a research-only MRI scanner (Siemens 3T TIM Trio), MRI-compatible EEG and eye tracking, and a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) unit. All experimental facilities are supported by experienced physics and IT staff. For computational work, the group has access to the TU Dresden high-performance computing clusters. The Chair of Neuroimaging will be newly established at the TU Dresden, and will move from the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig (http://www.cbs.mpg.de/depts/n-3/dyn/@@index.html) to Dresden. Tasks: The PhD student will work on a series of projects in the area of decision making using computational modelling of behavioural and neuroscientific data. Requirements: The candidate should have either (i) a university degree in psychology or cognitive neuroscience and a strong interest in computational modeling, or (ii) a university degree in mathematics, computational neuroscience, physics, or similar with a strong interest in performing neuroimaging experiments for testing computational models. The position is ideal for candidates interested in research at the interface between computational modeling and experimental neuroimaging. For questions or an informal discussion about this position please contact Prof. Stefan Kiebel (stefan.kiebel(a)tu-dresden.de) Applications from women are particularly welcome. The same applies to people with disabilities. Applicants should send their application documents (cover letter including a brief description of personal qualifications and future research interests, CV and contact details of two personal references) until 07.07.2014 (stamped arrival date of the university central mail service applies) - preferentially via e-mail as a single PDF-file - to julia.herdin(a)tudresden.de (Please note: We are currently not able to receive electronically signed and encrypted data.) or to TU Dresden, Fakultät Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften, Fachrichtung Psychologie, Institut für Allgemeine Psychologie, Biopsychologie und Methoden der Psychologie, Professur für Neuroimaging, Herrn Prof. Dr. Stefan Kiebel, 01062 Dresden. -- Stefan Kiebel, Ph.D. Professor of Neuroimaging Dept of Psychology Technical University Dresden, Germany Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences Leipzig, Germany http://www.cbs.mpg.de/~kiebel

June 11, 2014

Posdoc job opening in Computational/Systems Neuroscience

by Chen, Zhe

Postdoctoral Fellow in Systems/Computational Neuroscience New York University School of Medicine New York, NY Applications are now being accepted for a postdoctoral fellow position to combine computational and experimental techniques to study the neural mechanism of attention of thalamus-neocortical circuits using a healthy or diseased rodent model. The applicant will work closely with Dr. Zhe (Sage) Chen and Dr. Mike Halassa at the New York University School of Medicine, with cross-disciplinary training in computational and systems (experimental) neuroscience, including rodent behavior and electrophysiology. The applicant will have great opportunities to interact with a large and growing neuroscience community at the NYU campus, including the Neuroscience Institute (http://neuroscience.med.nyu.edu<http://neuroscience.med.nyu.edu/>), Center for Neural Science (http://www.cns.nyu.edu<http://www.cns.nyu.edu/>), Department of Neuroscience & Physiology (http://neuro-physio.med.nyu.edu<http://neuro-physio.med.nyu.edu/>), and Department of Psychiatry (http://psych.med.nyu.edu<http://psych.med.nyu.edu/>). This position is available from September 2014, and will be funded for two years and renewable. Applications must have a PhD degree in Neuroscience, Engineering (Biomedical or Electrical), Statistics, Physics, or a related discipline. The desired applicant is expected to be highly motivated and work independently as well as cooperatively with other colleagues in the research projects. Ability to learn new techniques and resolve new research challenges is essential. Previous training in some areas, such as neural data analysis, computational neuronal modeling, computer programming (MATLAB/Python/C), neural interfaces, optogenetics, in vivo neural recordings at the system levels, is preferred. Research experience with rodent neural circuits is a plus. To apply, please send an email along with (i) curriculum vitate; (ii) a cover letter describing research accomplishments and interests; (iii) the names and contact information of two to three references to: Dr. Zhe (Sage) Chen (zhe.chen3(a)nyumc.org<mailto:zhe.chen3@nyumc.org>) or Dr. Mike Halassa (michael.halassa(a)nyumc.org<mailto:michael.halassa@nyumc.org>) with a subject line “Postdoc application”. ------------------------------------------------------------ This email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain information that is proprietary, confidential, and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender by return email and delete the original message. Please note, the recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses. The organization accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. =================================

June 10, 2014

Graduate studies in the neuroscience of spatial motion estimation and motor planning

by Andrea Green

Graduate studies in the neuroscience of spatial motion estimation and motor planning Département de Neurosciences, Université de Montréal Applications are invited for doctoral and postdoctoral studies in systems neuroscience in the laboratory of Dr. Andrea Green. The successful applicant will join a multidisciplinary research group studying how the brain integrates multisensory cues to create estimates of our spatial motion and how such estimates are used for perception and motor planning. Research in my laboratory involves computational models of the nervous system, behavioral and neural recording experiments in non-human primates as well as human behavioral studies. Depending on the applicant's qualifications and interests, they will help to design and conduct behavioral and/or neurophysiological experiments, analyze data, develop theoretical models of neural systems, prepare manuscripts for publication, and participate in international conferences. While students with a strong background in biological sciences, engineering, mathematics, or computer science, are particularly encouraged to apply, all motivated students with an interest in understanding the brain will be considered. The successful applicant will receive a competitive salary in accordance with university guidelines. For further information, please contact Dr. Andrea Green (andrea.green(a)umontreal.ca) Applicants are asked to submit a curriculum vita, a transcript of previous studies, and the contact information for two references to: Dr. Andrea Green andrea.green(a)umontreal.ca Tel: 514-343-6111 x3301 Département de Neurosciences, Université de Montréal C.P 6128 Succursale Centre-Ville Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, CANADA Applications will be accepted until the positions are filled.

June 10, 2014

Reminder: Valentino Braitenberg Award for Computational Neuroscience - Call for Nominations

by Kerstin Schwarzwälder

Dear Colleagues, Please let me remind you that the Bernstein Association for Computational Neuroscience <http://www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-association> invites nominations for the *Valentino Braitenberg Award for Computational Neuroscience.* The award is biannually presented by the Bernstein Association to a scientist in recognition of outstanding research that contributes to our understanding of the functioning of the brain. The major criterion for the award is the impact or potential impact of the recipient's research on the field of brain science. In the spirit of Valentino Braitenberg's research, special emphasis is given to theoretical studies elucidating the functional implications of brain structures and their neuronal network dynamics. The crucial work should preferentially have been carried out in a European institution. The awardee receives a €5.000 prize donated by the Autonome Provinz Bozen Südtirol as well as complimentary participation (registration, travel, and hotel accomodation) in the Bernstein Conference 2014. Here, the prize is awarded together with a Golden Neuron pin badge in a special ceremony that includes the Valentino Braitenberg lecture given by the awardee. Nominations may be submitted by scientists working in the field of Computational Neuroscience and should include the following documents: * One-page laudation, in which the scientific work of the candidate is honored with regard to the award's criteria * CV and list of publications *Deadline for nominations is June 16, 2014* by e-mail to info(a)bcos.uni-freiburg.de The call for nominations can be found under the following URL: www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-association/valentino-braitenberg-award-for-comput… For inquiries please contact info(a)bcos.uni-freiburg.de Best regards, Kerstin Schwarzwälder -- Dr. Kerstin Schwarzwälder Bernstein Coordination Site of the National Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg Hansastr. 9A 79104 Freiburg Germany phone: +49 761 203 9594 fax: +49 761 203 9585 schwarzwaelder(a)bcos.uni-freiburg.de www.nncn.de Twitter: NNCN_Germany <http://twitter.com/NNCN_Germany> YouTube: Bernstein TV <http://www.youtube.com/user/BernsteinNetwork> Facebook: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany <https://www.facebook.com/BernsteinNetwork> LinkedIn: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany <http://www.linkedin.com/company/bernstein-network-computational-neuroscienc…>

June 10, 2014

Integrative Brain Function Workshop: Multi-modal approaches to understand brain functions

by Joseph Lizier

Dear All, Please find below details of the Integrative Brain Function Workshop: Multi-modal approaches to understand brain functions, to be held in Melbourne on Monday 30 June. Integrative Brain Function Workshop Multi-modal approaches to understand brain functions The goal of this workshop is to offer an opportunity for neuroscientists with various backgrounds to interact and exchange ideas. Specifically, we encourage participation of neuroscientists who are interested in understanding the neural systems at the perceptual and behavioural level and who try to combine multiple methodologies, such as electrophysiology, imaging, advanced signal processing and computational modelling. Date: Monday June 30, 2014. (from 9am) Deadline for abstracts: June 9 Location: Monash Biomedical Imaging facility, 770 Blackburn Rd, Clayton VIC, Australia. Keynote speaker: David Leopold from NIH/NIMH, USA Cortical circuits underlying social visual perception in the primate brain Speakers: Elizabeth Zavitz (Monash University) Population coding of motion direction in marmoset area MT is rapid and sustained Alex Fornito (Monash University) Mapping the context-dependent organization of large-scale brain networks with fMRI Farshad Mansouri (Monash University) The role frontal pole cortex (area 10) in cognitive flexibility and executive control Ben Fulcher (Monash University) Highly comparative time-series analysis for neuroscience Stefan Bode (University of Melbourne) The application of multivariate pattern classification analysis to fMRI and EEG data Spencer Chen (University of Sydney) Population correlations and spatial discrimination in area MT Dean Freestone (University of Melbourne) Estimation of Functional Dynamics using Data-Driven Mesoscopic Nerual Modeling Rory Townsend (University of Sydney) Detecting spatiotemporal dynamics in primate neural oscillations Joseph Lizier (CSIRO, Sydney) Local active information storage in distributed cortical information processing Steven Petrou (the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health) Revealing pathological mechanisms in genetic epilepsy Enquiries please contact Nao Tsuchiya Click here to Register http://www.med.monash.edu.au/psych/research/activities/seminars.html -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nao (Naotsugu) Tsuchiya, Ph.D. 1. Associate Professor School of Psychological Sciences Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University 2. ARC Future Fellow homepage: http://users.monash.edu.au/~naotsugt/Tsuchiya_Labs_Homepage/Main.html

June 10, 2014

NEURAL COMPUTATION - July 1, 2014

by Terry Sejnowski

Neural Computation - Contents -- Volume 26, Number 7 - July 1, 2014 Available online for download now: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/neco/26/7 ----- Article Motor Cortex Microcircuit Simulation Based on Brain Activity Mapping George L Chadderdon, Ashutosh Mohan, Benjamin A Suter, Samuel A Neymotin, Cliff C Kerr, Joseph T Francis, Gordon MG Shepherd, and William W Lytton Letters Discovering Functional Neuronal Connectivity From Serial Patterns in Spike Train Data Casey Diekman, Kohinoor Dasgupta, Vijay Nair, and K.P. Unnikrishnan Risk-sensitive Reinforcement Learning Yun Shen, Michael J. Tobia, Tobias Sommer, and Klaus Obermayer On Criticality in High-dimensional Data Saeed Saremi, Terrence J Sejnowski Spiking Neural P Systems With Thresholds Xiangxiang Zeng, Xingyi Zhang, Tao Song, and Linqiang Pan Balanced Crossmodal Excitation and Inhibition Essential for Maximizing Multisensory Gain Osamu Hoshino Universal Approximation Depth and Errors of Narrow Belief Networks With Discrete Units Guido Francisco Montufar Multiple Tests Based on a Gaussian Approximation of the Unitary Events Method With Delayed Coincidence Count Christine Tuleau-Malot, Amel Rouis, Franck Grammont, and Patricia Reynaud-Bouret Intrinsic Graph Structure Estimation Using Graph Laplacian Atsushi Noda, Hideitsu Hino, Masami Tatsuno, Shotaro Akaho, and Noboru Murata Causal Discovery via Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space Embeddings Zhitang Chen, Kun Zhang, Laiwan Chan, and Bernhard Scholkopf ------------ ON-LINE -- http://www.mitpressjournals.org/neuralcomp SUBSCRIPTIONS - 2014 - VOLUME 26 - 12 ISSUES USA Others Electronic Only Student/Retired $70 $193 $65 Individual $124 $187 $115 Institution $1,035 $1,098 $926 Canada: Add 5% GST MIT Press Journals, 238 Main Street, Suite 500, Cambridge, MA 02142-9902 Tel: (617) 253-2889 FAX: (617) 577-1545 journals-orders(a)mit.edu ------------

June 9, 2014

Method development for coupled EEG-fMRI (2x full EPSRC PhD studentships)

by Etienne B. Roesch

Method development for coupled EEG-fMRI (2x full EPSRC PhD studentships) The goal of the project is to develop novel methods for the joint analysis of signals from electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), when they are obtained concurrently. Technological advances of the last 10 years make it possible for scientists to record both modalities concurrently, in what is now known as coupled EEG-fMRI. By simultaneously recording these two modalities, scientists can potentially say where and when neural activity is occurring, whereas previously researchers had to settle for one or the other. This engineering feat, however, has not yet been met with the ability to make use of the combination of these signals to infer more knowledge than would otherwise be gathered in separate experiments. Filling this gap is the ambition of the present project. This is a method project, which requires skills and knowledge in neuroscience, applied mathematics/statistics/physics and programming. Candidates who have a strong background in at least two of these three fields are encouraged to apply, if they are enthusiastic about the third. Two full studentships are available, and we expect to appoint one candidate who is stronger in empirical work and a second who is stronger in analytics. Candidates are expected to have had some prior exposure to at least one of the two modalities, but will receive training in both. The two students will be supervised by Dr. Etienne Roesch and receive support from Dr. Michael Lindner and Prof. Tom Johnstone, with R&D support from Brain Products, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of MRI-compatible EEG systems. The group led by Dr. Roesch fosters interdisciplinary thinking, and students will have the opportunity to engage in ongoing empirical and modelling work related to perception and action. The Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics (CINN) is host to a research-dedicated 3T Siemens TRIO, with a full license for sequence development, and a full suite of MR-compatible systems. Additionally, the students will be granted access to the cluster of NVIDIA Tesla GPUs and other facilities at CINN, as well as at the Brain Embodiments Laboratory, in the School of Systems Engineering. The University of Reading is ranked as one of the UK’s 20 most research-intensive universities and as one of the top 200 universities in the world (Times Higher Education 2013). Our campus was voted first in the Times Higher Education Student Experience survey and has a Green Flag Award. It is situated 25 minutes West of London. Reading University Students’ Union was voted the 6th best in the UK (National Student Survey 2012). Essentials: Commitment to academic research and personal development; Ability to work collaboratively; Effective interpersonal and communication skills, including writing to a high standard, document preparation for technical notes and journal papers; Experience of work in interdisciplinary settings; Attention to details. Desirables: Self-guided work in developing statistical designs and approaches in research; Creative approach to problem solving; Ability to work independently; Experience in giving presentations and conveying complex ideas clearly. Eligibility: Applicants should hold a minimum of a UK Honours Degree at 2:1 level or equivalent in a relevant subject. Please note that due to restrictions on the funding this studentship is for UK/EU applicants only. Funding Details: Studentship will cover Home/EU Fees, pay the Research Council minimum stipend (£13,863 in 2014/15) for up to 3 years and include funding for international conferences. How to apply: To apply for this studentship please submit an application for a PhD in Cybernetics (full time) to the University – see http://www.reading.ac.uk/Study/apply/pg-applicationform.aspx . In the section ‘Research proposal’, please upload or copy-paste your covering letter. When prompted as part of your online application, you should provide details of the funding you are applying for, quoting the reference GS14-68. Once you have submitted your application, you should receive an email to confirm receipt of your online application. Please forward this email, along with your covering letter and CV (as pdf), to Dr. Etienne B. Roesch, e.b.roesch(a)reading.ac.uk, by the application deadline. Application Deadline: Monday 14th July 2014 (interviews in August) Further Enquiries: Please contact Dr. Etienne B. Roesch, e.b.roesch(a)reading.ac.uk. ––– Dr. Etienne B. Roesch Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Cognitive Science University of Reading, UK http://doodle.com/MeetWithEtienne Too brief of an email? Here's why! http://emailcharter.org

June 7, 2014

an emerging neural theory of grid and place cell development: and navigation: modules, spiking dynamics, cholinergic inactivation, oscillations, and attention

by Stephen Grossberg

The following articles summarize an emerging neural theory of how grid and place cells develop neurophysiological properties that support navigational behaviors, including properties of modular organization, spiking dynamics, effects of cholinergic inactivation, oscillations, and attention. ******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Grossberg, S., and Pilly, P. K. (2014). Coordinated learning of grid cell and place cell spatial and temporal properties: multiple scales, attention, and oscillations. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B., 369, 20120524, http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/369/1635/20120524.full.pdf+h… Abstract. A neural model proposes how entorhinal grid cells and hippocampal place cells may develop as spatial categories in a hierarchy of self-organizing maps. The model responds to realistic rat navigational trajectories by learning both grid cells with hexagonal grid firing fields of multiple spatial scales, and place cells with one or more firing fields, that match neurophysiological data about their development in juvenile rats. Both grid and place cells can develop by detecting, learning, and remembering the most frequent and energetic co-occurrences of their inputs. The model’s parsimonious properties include: Similar ring attractor mechanisms process linear and angular path integration inputs that drive map learning; the same self-organizing map mechanisms can learn grid cell and place cell receptive fields; and the learning of the dorsoventral organization of multiple spatial scale modules through medial entorhinal cortex to hippocampus may use mechanisms homologous to those for temporal learning through lateral entorhinal cortex to hippocampus (“neural relativity”). The model clarifies how top-down hippocampus-to-entorhinal attentional mechanisms may stabilize map learning, simulates how hippocampal inactivation may disrupt grid cells, and explains data about theta, beta, and gamma oscillations. The article also compares the three main types of grid cell models in light of recent data. **************************************************************************************************************** Pilly, P.K., and Grossberg, S. (2013). Spiking neurons in a hierarchical self-organizing map model can learn to develop spatial and temporal properties of entorhinal grid cells and hippocampal place cells. PLOS ONE, http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0060599 Abstract. Medial entorhinal grid cells and hippocampal place cells provide neural correlates of spatial representation in the brain. A place cell typically fires whenever an animal is present in one or more spatial regions, or places, of an environment. A grid cell typically fires in multiple spatial regions that form a regular hexagonal grid structure extending throughout the environment. Different grid and place cells prefer spatially offset regions, with their firing fields increasing in size along the dorsoventral axes of the medial entorhinal cortex and hippocampus. The spacing between neighboring fields for a grid cell also increases along the dorsoventral axis. This article presents a neural model whose spiking neurons operate in a hierarchy of self-organizing maps, each obeying the same laws. This spiking GridPlaceMap model simulates how grid cells and place cells may develop. It responds to realistic rat navigational trajectories by learning grid cells with hexagonal grid firing fields of multiple spatial scales and place cells with one or more firing fields that match neurophysiological data about these cells and their development in juvenile rats. The place cells represent much larger spaces than the grid cells, which enable them to support navigational behaviors. Both self-organizing maps amplify and learn to categorize the most frequent and energetic co-occurrences of their inputs. The current results build upon a previous rate-based model of grid and place cell learning, and thus illustrate a general method for converting rate-based adaptive neural models, without the loss of any of their analog properties, into models whose cells obey spiking dynamics. New properties of the spiking GridPlaceMap model include the appearance of theta band modulation. The spiking model also opens a path for implementation in brain-emulating nanochips comprised of networks of noisy spiking neurons with multiple-level adaptive weights for controlling autonomous adaptive robots capable of spatial navigation. ******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Pilly, P.K., and Grossberg, S. (2014) How does the modular organization of entorhinal grid cells develop? Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.0037, http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00337/full Abstract. The entorhinal-hippocampal system plays a crucial role in spatial cognition and navigation. Since the discovery of grid cells in layer II of medial entorhinal cortex (MEC), several types of models have been proposed to explain their development and operation; namely, continuous attractor network models, oscillatory interference models, and self-organizing map (SOM) models. Recent experiments revealing the in vivo intracellular signatures of grid cells (Domnisoru et al., 2013; Schmidt-Heiber and Hausser, 2013), the primarily inhibitory recurrent connectivity of grid cells (Couey et al., 2013; Pastoll et al., 2013), and the topographic organization of grid cells within anatomically overlapping modules of multiple spatial scales along the dorsoventral axis of MEC (Stensola et al., 2012) provide strong constraints and challenges to existing grid cell models. This article provides a computational explanation for how MEC cells can emerge through learning with grid cell properties in modular structures. Within this SOM model, grid cells with different rates of temporal integration learn modular properties with different spatial scales. Model grid cells learn in response to inputs from multiple scales of directionally-selective stripe cells (Krupic et al., 2012; Mhatre et al., 2012) that perform path integration of the linear velocities that are experienced during navigation. Slower rates of grid cell temporal integration support learned associations with stripe cells of larger scales. The explanatory and predictive capabilities of the three types of grid cell models are comparatively analyzed in light of recent data to illustrate how the SOM model overcomes problems that other types of models have not yet handled. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************** Pilly, P.K., and Grossberg, S. (2013). How reduction of theta rhythm by medial septum inactivation may covary with disruption of entorhinal grid cell responses due to reduced cholinergic transmission. Frontiers in Neural Circuits, doi: 10.3389/fncir.2013.00173, http://www.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fncir.2013.00173/full?utm_source… Abstract. Oscillations in the coordinated firing of brain neurons have been proposed to play important roles in perception, cognition, attention, learning, navigation, and sensory-motor control. The network theta rhythm has been associated with properties of spatial navigation, as has the firing of entorhinal grid cells and hippocampal place cells. Two recent studies reduced the theta rhythm by inactivating the medial septum (MS) and demonstrated a correlated reduction in the characteristic hexagonal spatial firing patterns of grid cells. These results, along with properties of intrinsic membrane potential oscillations (MPOs) in slice preparations of medial entorhinal cortex (MEC), have been interpreted to support oscillatory interference models of grid cell firing. The current article shows that an alternative self-organizing map (SOM) model of grid cells can explain these data about intrinsic and network oscillations without invoking oscillatory interference. In particular, the adverse effects of MS inactivation on grid cells can be understood in terms of how the concomitant reduction in cholinergic inputs may increase the conductances of leak potassium (K+) and slow and medium after-hyperpolarization (sAHP and mAHP) channels. This alternative model can also explain data that are problematic for oscillatory interference models, including how knockout of the HCN1 gene in mice, which flattens the dorsoventral gradient in MPO frequency and resonance frequency, does not affect the development of the grid cell dorsoventral gradient of spatial scales, and how hexagonal grid firing fields in bats can occur even in the absence of theta band modulation. These results demonstrate how models of grid cell self-organization can provide new insights into the relationship between brain learning and oscillatory dynamics. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************* Stephen Grossberg Wang Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems Professor of Mathematics, Psychology, and Biomedical Engineering Director, Center for Adaptive Systems http://cns.bu.edu/~steve steve(a)bu.edu

June 6, 2014

ECML Workshop - “Neural Connectomics: From Imaging to Connectivity”

by Demian Battaglia

ECML Workshop - “Neural Connectomics: From Imaging to Connectivity” September 15, 2014 - Nancy, France Paper submission deadline: June 20, 2014 Description: Systematic extraction of connectivity information is gaining growing importance for the understanding of the general functioning of the brain and its learning capabilities, as well as for designing biomarkers for diagnosis, prediction and prevention in neuropathologies. At the neural level, recovering the exact wiring of the brain (connectome) including nearly 100 billion neurons, having on average 7000 synaptic connections to other neurons, is a daunting task. The goal of this workshop is to bring together researchers in machine learning and neuroscience to discuss progress and remaining challenges in this exciting and rapidly evolving field. We aim to attract machine learning and computer vision specialists interested in learning about a new problem, as well as computational neuroscientists who may be interested in modeling connectivity data. We will discuss also the results of the First ChaLearn Neural Connectomics Challenge, who attracted over 100 participants, many of them advancing considerably the state-of-the-art. Topics of interest to the workshop include, but are not limited to: • building connectomes from EM data • building connectomes from fMRI data • building connectomes from neurophysiology data • bridging neuroanatomy and neurophysiology • connectomics and learning • neuroimaging technology advances • network reconstruction algorithms • causality in time series • feature selection vs. causal discovery • generative vs. discriminative modeling • sharing data • sharing code • organizing new challenges • establishing ground truth, benchmarking • quantitative metrics of evaluation • theoretical understanding Important dates: o Paper submission: June 20, 2014 o Notification of acceptance: July 05, 2014 o Camera-ready: July 25, 2014 o ECML Workshop: September 15, 2014 Important - Submission Guidelines: We encourage contributions in any of these areas. We welcome 2-page short-form submissions and 6-page long-form submissions. Submissions should be formatted using JMLR Workshop and Proceedings format, style files for which are available at: http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/help/Catalogue/entries/jmlr.html. We also encourage submissions of previously-published material that is closely related to the workshop topic (for presentation only). Everybody can attend the workshop even if he does not participate in the challenge (http://connectomics.chalearn.org/) Challenge participants are encouraged to contribute a paper on their results and also submit papers for presentation on the topics of the workshop. The papers have to be submitted via Easy Chair: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ncw2014

June 6, 2014

REMINDER: Two PhD Positions and one Postdoc Position in Machine Learning / Sensory Data Processing

by Jörg Lücke

Dear researchers, There is a bit more than one week left until the deadline for the positions. If you have already applied, please see the end of this e-mail for more details on the required application documents. The given information is in response to some questions we got. Best wishes, Jörg Lücke On 28.04.2014 11:54, Jörg Lücke wrote: > The Machine Learning research group at the University of Oldenburg is > seeking to fill > > Two PhD Research Positions and one (postdoctoral) Research Associate > Position > > All positions are part of the Machine Learning group which develops > learning and inference technology for sensory data. We pursue basic > research, develop new technology, and apply our approaches to > different tasks. Our research hereby combines modern probabilistic > data descriptions, modern computer technology and insights from the > neurosciences. We contribute to the improvement of current methods for > computer hearing, pattern recognition and computer vision as well as > to the understanding of biological and artificial intelligence. > Research will be conducted in close collaboration with leading > international and national research labs. Our research field can be > considered as part of the Data Sciences, Computational Sciences, or > Big Data approaches (to name some terms recently used in the media). > > Salary levels of the positions are based on the TV-L scale of the > German public sector (Öffentlicher Dienst). After the deduction of > health insurance, pension tax and other taxes, the salary for the PhD > positions amounts to approximately 1600 EUR per month, and to about > 2000 EUR per month for the (postdoctoral) Research Associate Position. > Depending on the experience of the candidates, the salary can be > higher. But please note that the only definite sources for all > information on the positions including salary, job description and > application/selection procedure are the central websites of the > University of Oldenburg. > > For the PhD positions see: > http://www.uni-oldenburg.de/stellen/?stelle=63323 > For the postdoc position see: > http://www.uni-oldenburg.de/stellen/?stelle=63322 > > Depending on the skills and interests of the candidates, the research > focus will be on the development of new probabilistic learning > algorithms and/or their applications to high-dimensional sensory data. > Projects can emphasize basic research for general purpose learning and > pattern recognition, or applications of algorithms to specific tasks. > > Candidates for the PhD positions have to hold a Master degree in > Physics, Computer Science, Mathematics or a closely related subject > (at the latest at the time when the contract is signed). > Analytical/mathematical skills and programming skills (e.g. python, > matlab, C++) are required for all candidates. Experiences with Machine > Learning algorithms are desirable. Experiences with acoustic data, > other types of sensory data, and an interest in the neurosciences are > a plus but are not strictly required. > > The candidates for the (postdoctoral) Research Associate position have > to hold a Master degree or (preferably) a PhD/Doctoral degree in > Physics, Computer Science, Mathematics or a closely related subject > (alternatively, a statement can be provided that a PhD/Doctoral degree > will be issued when the position is taken or shortly thereafter). > Analytical/mathematical skills, programming skills, and experience > with Machine Learning algorithms are required. Experiences with > acoustic data, other types of sensory data, and an interest in the > neurosciences are a plus but are not strictly required. The > (postdoctoral) Research Associate position is suitable for part-time > work. > > All positions can be filled immediately and are available for > initially two years with an option for extension. > > The appointed researchers will be part of a very new working > environment. The research group is currently established through a > strategic investment into Machine Learning technology at Oldenburg. > The group is located in a new building, and the Cluster of Excellence > Hearing4all is part of the German Excellence Initiative which funds > top-tier research in Germany. The cluster comprises many > interdisciplinary research groups that are currently set up or that > are extended. As a consequence, many new PhD, postdoc and faculty > positions allow for interesting collaboration opportunities and > provide an attractive scientific and social environment. The city of > Oldenburg is one of Germany's cities with the highest rated living > quality, it is close to the North See and near to the cities of Bremen > and Hamburg. > > For more information about the Machine Learning research group visit: > http://www.uni-oldenburg.de/ml/ > > For more information about the Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all > visit: http://hearing4all.eu/EN/ > > The University of Oldenburg is dedicated to increasing the percentage > of women in science. Therefore, female candidates are particularly > encouraged to apply. According to § 21 III NHG (legislation governing > Higher Education in Lower Saxony) preference will be given to female > candidates in cases of equal qualification. > > Handicapped applicants will be given preference if equally qualified. > > Please send your application including the usual documents (including > contact details for reference letters) preferably electronically (PDF) > to Jörg Lücke <joerg.luecke(a)uni-oldenburg.de> or per mail to: Carl von > Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Fakultät VI, Machine Learning, z.Hd. > Frau Jennifer Köllner, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany. Please use “Research > Position (PhD)” as subject line for applications to the PhD positions, > and “Research Associate Position (postdoc)” for applications to the > (postdoctoral) Research Associate position. > > The application deadline is 15 June 2014. Applications received after > this date are not guaranteed to enter the selection process. > > > MORE INFORMATION ON APPLICATION DOCUMENTS Note that detailed reviewing of the applications will start immediately after the deadline of June 15. We got some request asking for more information about application documents. Please be advised that the usual application documents include: - a scientific CV with education details including universities visited, degrees taken, final mark/rank (other skills, special courses and other interests are usually part of the CV) - if applicable (mainly postdoc applicants), a list of publications (can be part of the CV) - contact details of at least two researchers who can provide reference letters (you can also send the letters, or send one letter and one other reference) - scans of the original university degrees and translations to English if possible (unless they are in German) Some applicants also do provide a short research statement / statement of interest which can also be part of the cover letter or e-mail. It would also be interesting for us if you state when you could potentially start the position. If you have not provided all the documents stated above, please do provide them in time for the deadline of the position (15 June 2014). Please send an e-mail to Frau Jennifer Köllner <jennifer.koellner(a)uni-oldenburg.de> with subject line “Research Position (PhD) - additional documents” or “Research Position (postdoc) - additional documents” -- Jörg Lücke (PhD) Associate Professor Machine Learning Lab and Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all Department of Medical Physics and Acoustics School of Medicine and Health Sciences University of Oldenburg 26111 Oldenburg Germany www.uni-oldenburg.de/ml

June 6, 2014

PhD and Post-doctoral opportunities in machine learning and neuroscience.

by Artur Luczak

We seek highly motivated individuals with strong computational backgrounds to work at the interface of machine learning and neuroscience. We have extensive data sets recorded with state-of-the-art optical and electrophysiological methods, spanning normal and abnormal brain function in several experimental preparations. Recent developments in unsupervised machine learning (e.g. deep neural networks) now enable discovery of high-level features of such complex data sets, and provide an opportunity for breakthroughs in understanding brain function. Conversely, many of the most influential ideas in artificial neural networks have been inspired by biological networks. We therefore also endeavor to implement computational elements revealed by recent experimental findings in order to endow artificial neural networks with more brain-like capabilities. Candidates should have a strong interest in understanding how the brain works, and expertise in computational science. Prior experience with deep learning algorithms is preferred but not required. Successful candidates will join the highly collaborative and interdisciplinary Brain Dynamics group (http://lethbridgebraindynamics.com/ ), which has outstanding research strengths in the areas of learning and memory, decision making, information coding and related diseases such as Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, addiction and stroke. Funding is available through our departmental NSERC CREATE grant in Biological Information Processing, which provides a competitive stipend and unique training opportunities in quantitative sciences and entrepreneurship. Lethbridge is a small city located two hours from Calgary, 90 minutes from the Canadian Rockies, and has a sunny and dry climate. For more information please contact Dr. Aaron Gruber <aaron.gruber(a)uleth.ca> or Dr. Artur Luczak <luczak(a)uleth.ca> Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience Department of Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB, T1K 3M4, Canada http://lethbridgebraindynamics.com/ http://lethbridgebraindynamics.com/artur_luczak http://lethbridgebraindynamics.com/aaron_gruber

June 5, 2014

v5.7 of NeuroMorpho.Org released on 30 May, 2014

by NeuroMorpho Administrator

Version 5.7 of NeuroMorpho.Org was released on 30 May, 2014. The release included 29 new data sets (1341 reconstructions), including from three new animal species (dragonfly, moth, and sheep). The database now contains 11,335 reconstructions from 144 contributing labs. More than 3.2 million reconstructions were downloaded in over 130,000 unique visits from 146 countries. Please visit the What's new<http://neuromorpho.org/neuroMorpho/WIN.jsp> page for details on data included in this release, including new species strains, brain regions, cell types, and experimental conditions. The Acknowledgements <http://neuromorpho.org/neuroMorpho/acknowl.jsp> include details on contributing labs, and the About<http://neuromorpho.org/neuroMorpho/about.jsp> page provides an updated overview of the repository content. A new user-friendly functionality, OntoSearch<http://neuromorpho.org/neuroMorpho/OntoSearch.jsp>, was introduced in this release, enabling more powerful searches of species and strains with automated synonym translation, taxonomical relations, and keyword auto-completion. The literature coverage database was also updated to include publications through March 2014. We are continuously grateful to all the data owners who freely share their data with the community. We always appreciate any and all feedback and comments. Sincerely, The NeuroMorpho.Org team -- Ruchi Parekh, Ph.D. NeuroMorpho.Org Project Lead Postdoctoral Research Fellow Center for Neural Informatics, Structures, and Plasticity Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study MS2A1, George Mason University Fairfax, VA 22030 (USA) Ph - +1-703-993-4382<tel:%2B1-703-993-4382> www.neuromorpho.org<http://www.neuromorpho.org/> nmadmin(a)gmu.edu<mailto:nmadmin@gmu.edu>?

June 5, 2014

POSTDOC in SPINAL CORD INJURY IMAGING AND MODELING

by Andre Longtin

We seek a postdoctoral candidate to work on MRI image analysis and modeling of spinal cord injury. The candidate would be put forth for the Rick Hansen Fellowship described below. The successful translation of spinal cord repair therapies from animal models to the clinic requires an improved understanding of the injured motor and sensory tracts in humans. While histological tract tracing in animals can delineate the specific injured tracts and allow for therapy evaluation, these tracing methods cannot be applied to patients. Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques allow spinal cord injury to be imaged; however they do not permit clinicians to reliably determine motor or sensory function. This limitation is due to the fact that conventional MRI imaging results are known to have poor correlation patient motor or sensory tract injury. Our objective is to develop an MRI technique that utilizes techniques such as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), tractography and functional MRI imaging techniques as a biomarker. This will permit more detailed imaging of the spinal cord and allow improved correlation with neurological function. These improved imaging techniques can then be developed to improve correlation with patient clinical function which can then be used to improve the development and selection of successful therapeutic repair strategies in humans with spinal cord injury. The research consists in developing MRI imaging techniques such as DTI, tractography and functional MRI measures as a stand alone or complementary biomarker that correlates with specific motor or sensory tract function in humans. A large DTI dataset has been compiled from a variety of human spinal cord lesions. The candidate will quantify the level of damage and relate it through modeling and statistical analysis to the observed clinical scores. The DTI and tractography analyses will then be optimized to produce a strong biomarker. The candidate must hold a PhD degree in a relevant field, and will be co-supervised by a team of three investigators: Eve Tsai, a spinal cord neurosurgeon at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine; Andre Longtin, Physics and Medicine, University of Ottawa, a specialist in neural modeling, and Ian Cameron, a senior MRI medical physicist at the OHRI and University of Ottawa. Ideally the candidate would be able to start as soon as possible after receipt of a positive answer (typically within a month or two of being nominated), and no later than December 1st 2014. Applications consisting of a CV should be submitted to alongtin(a)uottawa.ca<mailto:alongtin@uottawa.ca> before June 25 2014 in time for submission of the file of the selected candidate to the Rick Hansen Institute. RICK HANSEN INSTITUTE POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP INTRODUCTION The Rick Hansen Institute is a Canadian-based not-for-profit organization committed to accelerating the translation of discoveries and best practices into improved treatments for people with spinal cord injuries. Their mission is to lead collaboration across the global SCI community by providing resources, infrastructure and knowledge, and to identify, develop, validate and accelerate the translation of evidence and best practices to reduce the incidence and severity of paralysis after SCI, improve health care outcomes, reduce long-term costs, and improve the quality of life for those living with SCI. PURPOSE OF FUND Award a fellowship to a postdoctoral fellow at the Faculty of Medicine whose research is primarily focused on knowledge transfer and/or implementation sciences related to spinal cord injury (SCI). The recipient would have an opportunity to participate in the various knowledge transfer-related projects currently funded by the Rick Hansen Institute and its SCI partners. FELLOWSHIP DETAILS Eligibility Criteria The applicant must: 1. be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, a person with the protected/refugee status, or an international student ; 2. intend to register as a postdoctoral fellow in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ottawa 3. be within 4 years of completing a PhD in knowledge transfer, implementation science, spinal cord injury or a related field; and 4. propose a program of research that is primarily focused on knowledge transfer and/or implementation sciences related to spinal cord injury (SCI). Note: The awarding of the fellowship is conditional to the recipient’s registration as a postdoctoral fellow at the Faculty of Medicine, through the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (as per the FGPS policy on postdoctoral appointments - http://www.grad.uottawa.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=1412) Value of the fellowship: $75,000 CAN per year Number of fellowships: 1 Frequency of awarding: For one year, with possibility of renewal for a second year Level or program of study: Postdoctoral Application contact: Graduate Studies Office, Faculty of Medicine Application deadline: June 30, 2014

June 5, 2014

Call For Participation to our upcoming Research Topic: Real-world unisensory and multisensory processing

by Jason Sherwin

Dear Colleagues, It is with great pleasure that I invite you to contribute to a Special Issue for Frontiers. The topic description can be found on its homepage via the link below. We look forward to your boundary-pushing contributions in this exciting area of psychology, neuroscience and other related disciplines. In collaboration with Frontiers in Psychology, section Perception Science, we are organizing a Research Topic titled "Real-world unisensory and multisensory processing: Perceptual and neural mechanisms in complex natural scene processing”, hosted by Jason Sherwin, Jeremy Gaston, Kelvin Oie. As host editor, I would like to encourage you to contribute to this topic. Frontiers, a Swiss open-access publisher, recently partnered with Nature Publishing Group to expand its researcher-driven Open Science platform. Frontiers articles are rigorously peer-reviewed, can be disseminated freely and are widely read by your colleagues and by the broader scientific and medical research communities. The idea behind a research topic is to create an organized, comprehensive collection of several contributions, as well as a forum for discussion and debate. Contributions can be articles describing original research, methods, hypothesis & theory, opinions, etc. We have created a homepage on the Frontiers website (Frontiers in Psychology, section Perception Science) where all articles will appear after peer-review and where participants in the topic will be able to hold relevant discussions: http://www.frontiersin.org/Perception_Science/researchtopics/Real-world_uni…. Frontiers will also compile an e-book, as soon as all contributing articles are published, that can be used in classes, be sent to foundations that fund your research, to journalists and press agencies, or to any number of other organizations. Among others, we have contacted the following authors: Bruno Lucio Giordano David C Jangraw : author Edward A Vessel : author Daniel P Ferris : author Bill Geisler Peter Gerhardstein Giulio Tononi : author Uri Hasson : author Jacek Dmochowski : author Joel Snyder Jordan Muraskin : author Tzyy-Ping Jung : author Klaus Gramman : author Linbi Hong : author Andreas Lozano : author As such, a manuscript accepted for publication incurs a publishing fee, which varies depending on the article type. Research Topic manuscripts receive a significant discount on publishing fees. Please take a look at this fee table: http://www.frontiersin.org/about/PublishingFees. Once published, your articles will remain free to access for all readers, and will be indexed in PubMed and other academic archives. As an author in Frontiers, you retain the copyright to your own papers and figures. I would be delighted if you considered participating in this Research Topic. Should you choose to participate, please confirm by sending me a quick email and then your abstract no later than Jun 27, 2014 using the following link: http://www.frontiersin.org/submissioninfo Please note that the deadline for manuscript submission is on: Dec 19, 2014 Since I am using the Frontiers system to manage this topic, I would really appreciate if you could also please indicate your decision by clicking on one of the links below. AGREE to Participate http://www.frontiersin.org/AcceptContributor.aspx?activationkey=8c7388de-dd… DECLINE to Participate http://www.frontiersin.org/DeclineContributor.aspx?activationkey=8c7388de-d… With best regards, Jason Sherwin Guest Associate Editor, Frontiers in Perception Science www.frontiersin.org Jason Sherwin, Ph.D. Columbia University Department of Biomedical Engineering Laboratory for Intelligent Imaging and Neural Computing 530 West 120th Street, Mail Code: 8904 New York, NY 10027 Phone: +1 - 212 - 854 - 8997 Email: jason.sherwin(a)columbia.edu Managing Editor, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering Email: managertnsre(a)gmail.com http://tnsre.bme.columbia.edu

June 5, 2014

BCF/NWG course "Analysis and Models in Neurophysiology" 2014 at the Bernstein Center Freiburg, Germany

by Birgit Ahrens

BCF/NWG-Course "Analysis and Models in Neurophysiology" /Sunday, October 5 - Friday, October 10, 2014 / /Bernstein Center Freiburg, Hansastraße 9a, 79104 Freiburg, Germany/ *Aim of the course:* The course is intended to provide advanced Diploma/Masters and PhD students, as well as young researchers from the neurosciences with approaches for the analysis of electrophysiological data and the theoretical concepts behind them. *The course includes various topics such as*: * Neuron Models and Point Processes (Prof. Stefan Rotter) * Local field potentials (Prof. Ulrich Egert) * Neural Coding (Dr. Robert Schmidt) * Neural Decoding (Prof. Carsten Mehring) The course will consist of lectures in the morning and and matching exercises using Matlab, Mathematica and Python in the afternoon. Experience with these software packages will be helpful but is not required for registration. The participants should have a basic understanding of scientific programming. This course is designated especially for advanced diploma/master-students and PhD-students (preferentially in their first year). *Application:* Please apply by sending one pdf document containing your CV and a meaningful letter of motivation to nwg-course(a)bcf.uni-freiburg.de. The letter of motivation should refer to the following points: * Reasons for wanting to take this course * Background in mathematics * Experience in using Matlab/Python/Mathematica * Background in neuroscience The course is limited to 20 participants. *Course fees:* NWG members - 50EUR, others - 125EUR *Application deadline: *June 30, 2014 *More information: *http://www.bcf.uni-freiburg.de/events/conferences-workshops/20141005-nwgcourse *-- Dr. Birgit Ahrens --* Teaching & Training Coordinator Bernstein Center Freiburg University of Freiburg Hansastr. 9a D - 79104 Freiburg Germany Phone: +49 (0) 761 203-9575 Fax: +49 (0) 761 203-9559

June 5, 2014

Virtual Physiology for Teaching: SimNerv, SimNeuron etc.

by Hans Albert Braun

Dear Colleagues, we would like to draw your attention to the recently reprogrammed "*Virtual Physiology*" teaching tools, including two neurophysiology labs: SimNerv and SimNeuron. More information is given on our website www.virtual-physiology.com from where you also can download fully functioning demo versions for Windows. * **SimNerv* offers a realistic lab environment on the computer screen to perform classical experiments of compound action potential recordings from the frog sciatic nerve. All parameters of the stimulating and recording devices are freely adjustable. Mathemathical algorithms guarantee for appropriate reactions of the nerves, also considering their physological diversity. *SimNeuron* offers easy to overlook laboratories for voltage- and current clamp experiments on the basis of simplified Hodgkin-Huxley type equations, described, for example, in Tchaptchet et al., Brain Res, 1536: 159-167. A neuron editor allows altering the neuron's parameters to examine their impact on the neurons' dynamics. In addition to these neurophysiology labs you also can download fully functioning demo versions of *SimMuscle* and *SimHeart*, featuring classical experiments with nerve-muscle preparations of the frog and with the isolated heart of the rat in the widely used Langendorff set-up for drug perfusion. To ask for more information, reprints (see short list below), or prices for fully licensed versions for teaching, please, send a reply. We hope you and your students will enjoy working in the virtual physiology laboratories. Best regards Hans Braun and the Virtual Physiology team */ References: /*/see also //*http://www.uni-marburg.de/fb20/physiologie/ags/braun/publications*/* */or //*https://www.res**earchgate.net/profile/Hans_Braun/contributions?ev=prf_act*/ */SimNeuron related references:/* Tchaptchet A, Postnova S, Finke C, Schneider H, Huber MT, Braun HA (2013): Modelin Neuronal Activity in Relation to Experimental Voltage-/Patch-Clamp Recordings. Brain Res 1536: 159-167, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2013.06.029 /PubMed: //http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23911648 Science direct: //http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006899313009153/ -/or send a mail to braun(a)uni-marburg.de / Postnova S, Finke C, Huber MT, Voigt K, Braun HA (2011): Conductance-Based Models of Neurons and Synapses for the Evaluation of Brain Functions, Disorders and Drug Effects. In: Biosimulation in Biomedical Research, Health Care and Drug Development. Eds.: Erik Mosekilde, Olga Sosnovtseva, Amin Rostami-Hodjegan. Springer, Wien - New York, pp 93 -- 126. /Can be downloaded from our website www.virtual-physiology .com/ //*/General reports on the first Virtual Physiology release:/* Braun HA (2003) Virtual versus real laboratories in life-science education: Concepts and experiences. In: Jukes N and Chiuia M (Eds) From guinea pig to computer mouse. Interniche, pp 81-87. /Can be downloaded from our website www.virtual-physiology .com/ Bahar S (2000) The Real and Virtual Laboratory: A Conversation with Dr. Hans Braun. In: The Biological Physicist, The Newsletter of the Division of Biological Physics of the American Physical Society. Vol.1 No.1 June 2001 p 5-7. /Can be downloaded from our website www.virtual-physiology .com/ */A recent Poster for the 2014 Conference of the German Physiological Society:/* //Braun HA, Tchaptchet A, dell Oro-Friedl J, Immer D, Schneider H, Braun T, Postnova S, Semyachkina-Glushkovskaya O, Schwabedal J, Wenzel S, Voigt K, Hirsch M: Learning by Doing with the Virtual Physiology Series:Physiological and Pharmacological in silico Experiments. /Can be downloaded from our website www.virtual-physiology .com/ -- Hans A. Braun Neurodymics Lab, Institute of Physiology, Philipps University of Marburg Deutschhaustr. 2, D-35037 Marburg, Germany Phone: +49 6421 286-2305, Mobile: +49 173 319 3028, email: braun(a)staff.uni-marburg.de URL: www.uni-marburg.de/fb20/physiologie/ags/braun see also: www.virtual-physiology.com/

June 4, 2014

New code repository for Comp Neuro undergrad course materials

by Rob Clewley

Hi, I have taught two introductory comp neuro classes based mostly on Hugh Wilson's great book, with some additional material from Izhikevich's recent book. The course is intended to be a very practical introduction to the basics of DEs and dynamical systems for modeling neural systems. It focuses on electrophysiology of single neurons and small networks, and is split between lecture and lab format. I have updated a lot of the codes from Wilson's book and put them into PyDSTool, or at least in Python. I never got the chance to rigorously organize these codes, but have decided to post them on github as they are because I've already been contacted by some instructors who wanted to to use PyDSTool for their comp neuro class. There are some homework and project ideas up there too. Feel free to fork and contribute on github for others to benefit from any further input. https://github.com/robclewley/compneuro http://www.ni.gsu.edu/~rclewley/Teaching/CompNeuro/NEUR4030.html Best, Rob -- Robert Clewley, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Neuroscience Institute and Department of Mathematics and Statistics Georgia State University PO Box 5030 Atlanta, GA 30302, USA tel: 404-413-6420 fax: 404-413-5446 http://neuroscience.gsu.edu/rclewley.html

June 3, 2014

Applicant Call for Goettingen's Computational Neuroscience Summer Course

by Maximilian Puelma Touzel

Applications are invited for the 12th summer course on COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE in Göttingen, Germany September 08th - 12th, 2014 Organized by Agostina Palmigiano, Joscha Liedtke and Maximilian Puelma-Touzel The course is intended to provide graduate students and young researchers from within and outside of neuroscience with working knowledge of theoretical and computational methods used in the field and to acquaint them with recent developments therein. The focus of this year's course is modelling and theory of neuronal ensembles. The course includes tutorials and lectures from the following researchers: * Carl Van Vreesijk, Universite Rene Descartes, Paris, France * Claudia Clopath, Imperial College London, London, England * Srdjan Ostojic, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France * Gasper Tkacik, Institute of Science and Technology, Vienna, Austria * Alfonso Renart, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal The course takes place at the Department of Nonlinear Dynamics of the Max-Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen. A course fee of 100 Euro includes participation in the tutorials, study materials, and part of the social events. The number of participants is limited to 30. Course language is English. To apply please fill out the application form at: http://www.bccn-goettingen.de/events/cns-course by *August 5, 2014* Best wishes and looking forward to seeing you in Göttingen, Max Puelma Touzel (on behalf of the organizers) Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization Fassberg 17, 37077 Goettingen, Germany +49 551 5176 444 Office +49 (0)176 6 876 2821 Mobile mptouzel(a)nld.ds.mpg.de www.nld.ds.mpg.de Maximilian Puelma Touzel Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization Fassberg 17, 37077 Goettingen, Germany +49 551 5176 444 Office +49 (0)176 6 876 2821 Mobile <mailto:mptouzel@nld.ds.mpg.de> mptouzel(a)nld.ds.mpg.de <http://www.nld.ds.mpg.de/> www.nld.ds.mpg.de

June 3, 2014

PhD position in computational modelling

by Jane Neumann

The Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences Leipzig and the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1052 "Obesity mechanisms" at the Leipzig University Hospital are offering a PhD studentship in computational modelling. Within the project, computational modelling is used to investigate leaning and decision-making in humans. The project is aimed at the multi-modal integration of available and newly acquired behavioral, structural/functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), PET and genetic data towards comprehensive computational and neurocognitive models of cognitive control over behavior. Work will be carried out at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences Leipzig under the supervision of Dr Jane Neumann and Dr Annette Horstmann. Both Leipzig's long tradition in conducting neuroscientific research and the ultra-modern equipment at the Max Planck Institute provide an environment that offers new perspectives in neuroimaging research. Further, the position will be part of the CRCs Integrated Research Training Group. This graduate program offers interdisciplinary qualification in various research methods and transferable skills, and provides support in career planning and in establishing an own scientific network. Applicants should hold a Master's degree (or equivalent) in one of the following disciplines: computational or cognitive neuroscience, computer science, maths, psychology, biology, cognitive science or related. Prior experience in the fields of computational neuroscience and/or neuroimaging are of great advantage. Sound knowledge of statistics and excellent programming skills are essential. A good command of written and spoken English is requested of all applicants. Please send your application as a single pdf-file to neumann(a)cbs.mpg.de referring to 'Modelling SFB 1052'. Complete applications include cover letter, CV, letter(s) of recommendation, and copies of university degrees and additional certificates. Informal enquiries should be made to Dr Jane Neumann (+49 (0) 341 99 40 26 21). For meeting Dr. Neumann and Dr. Horstmann at *OHBM 2014*, please send an email to neumann(a)cbs.mpg.de or horstmann(a)cbs.mpg.de including days and times when you are available during the conference. The salary is based on the German E 13 TV-L salary scale. In order to increase the proportion of female staff members, applications from female scientists are particularly encouraged. Disabled applicants are preferred if qualification is equal. Deadline for application: until position is filled Further details about the project can also be found at www.o-brain-project.de

June 3, 2014

[meetings] Living Machines III: Call for Participation in Conference, Demos and Workshops

by Nathan F Lepora

_____________________________________________________________ Call for Participation in Conference, Demos and Workshops Living Machines: The 3rd International Conference on Biomimetic Robotics and Biohybrid Systems. A Convergent Science Network Event 29th July to 1st August 2014 Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia, Leonardo Da Vinci Milano http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2014 ______________________________________________________________ News & Highlights * Deadline for early registration, June 30th, 2014. * Book on time accommodation for good value and availability. see LM2014 for suggestions http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2014/accommodation * Main conference programme now online, 6 plenary talks, 1 invited talk, 18 single-track oral presentations, 10 poster spotlights, 40 posters. * 4 satellite workshops also available for registration as separate events, topics include autonomous locomotion systems, the robot self, emergent social behavior, and biomimetics in design. * Bring a demo, be it a robot or an installation, for an exhibition on biomimetic robots, biohybrid computer art, live robot performance or videos. * If you wish to bring a demo please contact us. info.csnetwork(a)upf.edu * If you need help with transporting your demo to Milano contact us at info.csnetwork(a)upf.edu * You can book the social dinner as a separate event. Contact info.csnetwork(a)upf.edu for all enquiries. ABOUT LIVING MACHINES 2014 The 3rd International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid systems comprises 4 days of events including 3 days of single-track oral presentations with 6 plenary speakers; a 1-day with five satellite workshops on themes ranging from autonomous robots to robot “selves” to biomimetics in design and social impacts of living machines. On Wednesday there will be a reception offered by the Tailor & Francis group http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/ and, on Thursday there will be the LM2014 banquet. We hope you will join us for this exciting programme! The conference registration site is open. Please register soon to take advantage of early registration—deadline June 30th ***From every accepted paper at least 1 author must be registered and present at the Conference*** CONFERENCE PROGRAMME **Program now available online** http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2014/programme The main conference will take the form of a single-track oral presentation programme, 30th July to midday 1st August 2014 that will include 6 plenary lectures from leading international researchers in biomimetic and biohybrid systems. Agreed speakers are: Mandyam Srinivasan Queensland Brain Institute, Australia Insect-inspired cognition and vision Andrew Schwartz University of Minnesota, Pittsburgh, USA Neural control of prosthetics Sarah Bergbreiter University of Maryland, USA Microrobotics Darwin Caldwell Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy Legged Locomotion Ricard Sole Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain Evolution of complex networks Minoru Asada Osaka University, Japan Cognitive and Affective Developmental Robotics There will also be 18 regular talks of 30 min, 1 invited talk on Thursday at midday on Biomimetics in Design by Franco Lodato, 10 Poster Spotlights of 5 min and 2 poster sessions of 90 mins each (midday of July 30st and August 1st) featuring 40 posters. Particular themes include: Soft Robotics Neuromechanics Social Robotics Locomotion Biohybrid Brain-based Active Sensing WORKSHOPS In addition to the main conference there is one further day of workshops, each with their own full program that will be available soon on the Living Machines website. Monday 29th July Embodied Interaction and Internal Models: Key Features of Autonomous Locomotion Systems - Organisers: Volker Dürr, Biological Cybernetics, Bielefeld University, Germany, Paolo Arena, Electrical Engineering, University of Catania, Italy The Robot Self - Organizers: Tony Prescott, University of Sheffield, UK; Paul Verschure Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, CSNII Emergent social behaviours in bio-hybrid systems - Organizers: José Halloy: Universite Paris Diderot. Thomas Schmickl: Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Stuart Wilson, University of Sheffield Rotational Geometry and the Creation of Bionic Models. - Organizers: Pino Trogu, San Francisco State University, USA, Franco Lodato, Creative Director VSN Mobil with Istituto Europeo di Design, Milano Neuro-chip interfaces and Neuroprostheses - Organizers: Stefano Vassanelli, University of Padova, Italy Attendance at workshops will attract a small fee intended to cover the costs of the meeting. We have reserved meeting rooms at the Italian Institute of Technology in Milan each with capacity for up to 40 people. Please book early. Separate registration for satellite events is possible. ABOUT THE VENUE The organisers are delighted to have secured the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia, Leonardo Da Vinci Milano as the main venue for our conference. The museum is a centre dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci a symbol of the connection between artistic and scientific-technological cultures, two complementary expressions of human creativity. KEY DATES June 30th 2014 Deadline for early registration July 30th - August 1st 2014 Conference We are looking forwards to seeing you in Milano. ORGANISING COMMITTEE Tony Prescott (co-chair) Paul Verschure (co-chair) Armin Duff (programme chair) Roberto Cingolani (local organizer) Barbara Mazzolai (workshops) Nathan Lepora (communications) Anna Mura (communications and web-site) Contact and Conference Secretariat: Info.csnetwork(a)upf.edu living-machines(a)sheffield.ac.uk

June 3, 2014

[PhD] Natural scene statistics and visual motion processing in humans and non-human primates

by Laurent Perrinet

Dear List, Applications are invited for 3 PhD positions funded by the PhD program in Integrative and Clinical Neurosciences (http://www.int.univ-amu.fr/PhD-Program-in-Integrative-and) as described in: http://www.int.univ-amu.fr/IMG/pdf/List_of_research_projects.pdf among which the following ---at the Institute of Neurosciences, Timone in Marseille, France--- may be of interest to the list. Deadline for applications is June 15th. Cheers, Laurent -- Laurent Perrinet - INT (UMR 7289)/CNRS http://invibe.net/LaurentPerrinet Title: Natural scene statistics and visual motion processing in humans and non-human primates Supervisor: Guillaume MASSON Laboratory: Institute of Neurosciences, Timone (INT) State of the art: The mammalian visual system is tuned to process the complex, high-dimension statistics of natural scenes. For instance, neuronal responses to natural inputs are more ﬁnely tuned, more temporally precise and more sparse. A major challenge is to understand how such complex information is integrated to measure perceptual quantities such as object motion in a crowded environment. From a theoretical perspective, this implies to understand how the cascade of cortical processing steps extracts the relevant dimensions through linear (e.g. ﬁltering) and nonlinear (e.g. gain control, contextual modulation) mechanisms. From an experimental perspective, the challenge implies to design behavioural tasks that can dissect out these mechanisms. The classical approach is to compare classic, low-dimension stimuli such as gratings or dots with natural images. However, it is almost impossible to parametrize natural scenes in a useful way. We [1], and others [2], have designed and begun to use naturalistic stimuli as static or dynamic textures of which mean and variance along each parameter space is manipulated to demonstrate how sensory systems sense and represent information. We have recently shown in Nature Neuroscience3 that richer textures drive more accurate and reliable ocular tracking responses. This is the ﬁrst demonstration that naturalistic inputs processing can be probed using sensorimotor tasks. Objectives: Our objective is to demonstrate that in human and non-human primates, estimating direction and speed of a moving object requires to integrate information from the multiple spatial and temporal scales existing in natural scenes. We will investigate how different spatiotemporal frequency channels are nonlinearly combined to drive faster and more precise tracking eye movements. In particular, we will extend our previous study [3] by studying how richness of visual motion information reduces the variability of motor responses, within and across trials. We will also study how the geometric organization of the texture input impacts performance, opening the door to understanding the link between low-level motion processing and the perceptual organization of complex scenes. Methods: The approach is based on probing low-level visual processing through the dynamics of reﬂexive eye movements. Ocular following responses exist in both humans and non-human primates and over the last 15 years we, and others have shown how they can probe low-level motion mechanisms. The PhD will work in non-human primates to conduct behavioural experiments using random phase textures and recording eye movements with the scleral search coil technique. Behavioural performance will be assessed through kinematics (acceleration, latency…) as well as through detection and discrimination tasks (i.e. comparison between responses for two stimuli). Expected results: A ﬁrst step will be to reproduce the main observation made in humans: richness of the inputs improves precision and decreases variability. Then we will characterize the nonlinear interactions between spatiotemporal channels underlying speed estimation through motion energy and their temporal dynamics. Feasibility: This project is supported by an ANR project (SPEED) that started in October 2013. The PhD student will work in close collaboration with a PD fellow working in humans as we expect the ﬁrst series of experiments to be identical in both species. A non-human primate set-up is available and a research assistant (F Barthelemy) will daily supervise the lab work. The InViBe team has strong expertises in modelling and electrophysiology so that the project will open the door for collaborative work in texture synthesis and speed processing modelling with Laurent Perrinet and recording of population activity evoked with dense, naturalistic textures with Fred Chavane. 1 Sanz-Léon et al. (2012) J Neurophysiol http://invibe.net/LaurentPerrinet/Publications/Sanz12 2 Freeman et al. (2013) Nature Neuroscience 3 Simoncini et al. (2012) Nature Neuroscience http://invibe.net/LaurentPerrinet/Publications/Simoncini12 Listed as Research project #18 in: http://www.int.univ-amu.fr/IMG/pdf/List_of_research_projects.pdf More Guidelines: In 2014, the PhD program in Integrative and Clinical Neurosciences will fund three PhD scholarships to excellent Master graduates from non-French top ranked universities The selection process includes the following steps : Nineteen research projects of excellence from AMU laboratories have been selected by the board of the PhD program. Applicants have to select and rank two research projects and motivate their choice The selection committee will shortlist 10 students that will be individually interviewed in June The final decision will be known in July and the three successful candidates will start their PhD in October. Guidelines for students The scholarships are open to high performing Master graduates from top ranked non-French universities. Applicants must provide the following documents : A first e-mail should be sent by you to edsvs-neuroscience-phd-program(a)univ-amu.fr with the subject "PhD Application, YourName" [1] and three documents in the appropriate format : a Curriculum Vitae. This document should be named "YourName_CV.doc" a document highlighting the adequacy between the applicant’s background and the selected research projects (to be download here). Please use the following template to be download here. This document should be named "YourName_ResearchProjects.doc" . a one page letter of motivation (500 words). This document should be named "YourName_motivation_letter.doc" . two letters of recommendation will have to be sent directly to edsvs-neuroscience-phd-program(a)univ-amu.fr with the subject "Recommendation, YourName" , using the following template to be download here. This document should be named "YourName_Evaluation.doc". Closing date for applications : Sunday, June 15th, at midnight (French time). Scholarship value : Net monthly salary : 1,368 €. Expenses : applicants will pay their annual tuition fee (around 500 €) and, when needed, their visa fee. Tenure of award : 3 years General rules Any incomplete application will not be considered How and when do students learn about the decision ? Offers of PhD scholarships will be made soon after the final individual interview, early July. Because some applicants may decline a scholarship, it is possible that some applicants receive their notification of selection a week after the final decision What conditions are attached to acceptance of this award ? Scholarship recipients must sign a Postgraduate Scholarships Contract agreeing to abide by the attached regulations. Recipients will be required to devote themselves full-time to their program of research during the tenure of the scholarship Selection committee : members of the PhD program board and members of the AMU neuroscience community. None of them will be the supervisor of a proposed research project

June 3, 2014