- Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

Announcement Special Session Neurotechnix 2014

by Martin Bogdan

Dear colleagues, it's my pleasure to announce in behalf of my co-chairs a special session at Neurotechnix 2014, 25- 26 October, 2014 - Rome, Italy (http://www.neurotechnix.org/BrainRehab.aspx) Brain-computer Interfaces and Brain Stimulation for Neurorehabilitation Important Dates Paper Submission: July 17, 2014 Authors Notification: July 31, 2014 Camera Ready and Registration: August 8, 2014 Scope Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and brain stimulation are unique methods for neurorehabilitation because they allow a direct interaction with the patient's brain. BCIs enable biofeedback approaches for paralyzed patients, while brain stimulation techniques modulate the activity of neuronal circuits to support brain reorganization. However, towards their application as reliable treatment options, important challenges such as a deeper understanding of neural (re-)organization, the design of suitable feedback and stimulation paradigms, the adaptation to individual patients and the transfer from the laboratory to clinical settings need to be faced. We invite neuroscientists, engineers and clinicians to submit papers discussing recent developments and future trends in the fields of neurostimulation and BCIs with a focus on their application towards the rehabilitation of patients. Topics: - Brain-computer interfaces - Decoding of brain activity - Neurofeedback - Brain stimulation - Closed-loop stimulation systems - Chronic pain - Stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases Paper Submission Prospective authors are invited to submit papers in any of the topics listed above. Instructions for preparing the manuscript (in Word and Latex formats) are available at: http://www.neurotechnix.org/GuidelinesTemplates.aspx#paper_templates Please also check the Guidelines and Templates. Papers should be submitted electronically via the web-based submission system at: http://www.insticc.org/Primoris Publication Both complete papers and extended abstracts can be submitted. All accepted extended abstracts will be published on CD-ROM without an ISBN, accepted papers will be published on CD-ROM support and in a special section of the congress proceedings book, under an ISBN reference. The proceedings are submitted for indexation by Thomson Reuters Conference Proceedings Citation Index (ISI), INSPEC, DBLP and EI (Elsevier Index). All papers and extended abstracts presented at the congress venue will also be made available at the SCITEPRESS DIGITAL LIBRARY. SCITEPRESS is member of CrossRef. -- ************************************************************************** Prof. Dr. Martin Bogdan Institut für Informatik Technische Informatik Universität Leipzig Augustusplatz 10 D-04109 Leipzig Germany Postadresse: PF 100920 D-04009 Leipzig Tel: (++49) 341 97 32208 Fax: (++49) 341 97 32252 E-mail: bogdan(a)informatik.uni-leipzig.de www.informatik.uni-leipzig.de/ti/ ************************************************************************** 'Nihil est ab omni parte beatum' (Horaz) **************************************************************************

May 21, 2014

Postdoc in computer vision - joint position at IIT and Harvard

by Diego Sona

IIT-Harvard joint postdoctoral position in computer vision, pattern recognition, and machine learning for the design and development of a virtual foraging system enriched with automatic behavior analysis tools. Available immediately and until filled. The project is highly interdisciplinary, including data analysis, machine learning, computer vision, neuroscience, behavior analysis, and engineering. The aim is to develop a virtual reality (VR) system for mice behavior phenotyping that integrate multiple recording devices and a library of software tools for advanced behavioral data analysis. Strong competences are required both in systems engineering and computer vision / machine learning. The candiate will periodically commute between Genoa (IIT) and Boston (Harvard). Further info can be found at http://www.iit.it/en/openings/research-departments/pattern-analysis-a-compu… Reference: BC 68073 --------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Diego Sona Pattern Analysis & Computer Vision (PAVIS) Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) Genova, Italy www.iit.it/pavis.html ---------------------------------------------------------

May 20, 2014

IEEE International Workshop on Cloud-integrated Cyber Physical Systems 2014 (IEEE Cloud-CPS 2014)

by Sandra Sendra

********************************************************* CALL FOR PAPERS IEEE International Workshop on Cloud-integrated Cyber Physical Systems 2014 (IEEE Cloud-CPS 2014) Submission due July 31, 2014 http://cloudcps.cwins.org Dec 15 � 18, 2014, Singapore Singapore in conjunction with IEEE CloudCom 2014, Dec 15 � 18, 2014, Singapore ******************************************************************** Technology has gone through tremendous changes in terms of computing, communications and control to provide wide range of applications in all domains. This advancement provides the opportunities to bridge the physical components/processes and the cyber space leading to the Cyber Physical Systems (CPS). The notion of CPS is to use computing (sensing, analyzing, predicting, understanding, etc.), communication (interaction, intervene, interface management, etc.) and control (inter-operate, evolve, evidence-based certification, etc.) to make intelligent and autonomous systems. Such systems are playing an increasingly prevalent and important role in this electronic era such as healthcare, manufacturing, civil infrastructure, aerospace, entertainment, transportation and many automated physical systems. Computing and networking are two major components of CPS and Cloud has infinite resources for both. Cloud-integrated CPS will not only enhance CPS itself but also process, analyze! and manage (CPS) big data efficien tly. However, there are many issues and hurdles of Cloud-integrated CPS that need discussions. Our aim is to provide a platform for researchers and practitioners to present their research results in the area of Cloud-integrated Cyber-Physical Systems. The proposed workshop CloudCPS-2014 will serve as a forum for researchers from academia, government and industries to exchange ideas, present new results and provide future visions on these topics. Topics of interest include but not limited to: - Cloud-CPS Architecture - Cloud-CPS Modeling and Simulation - Virtualization of Physical Components in Cloud-CPS - Design and Performance Optimization in Cloud-CPS - Cloud-assisted Situation-aware and decision support - Big-data Processing and Visualization in Cloud-CPS - Mobile Cloud-CPS - Game Theory for Cloud-CPS - Tools and Methods for Cloud-CPS - Sensor-actuator Networks - Security, Privacy, and Trust in Cloud-CPS - Intelligent (Road/Air) Transportation Cloud-CPS - Cloud-CPS in healthcare - Cloud-CPS in energy - Fog computing - Cloud-CPS: Tools, test beds and deployment issues - Opportunistic spectrum access for Cloud-CPS ***************************** SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS ***************************** The authors are advised to submit their research paper following the IEEE CS format: two columns, single-spaced, including figures and references, using 10 fonts, and number each page. Instructions for authors how to format the manuscript can be found at: http://www.computer.org/portal/web/cscps/submission/ http://www.computer.org/portal/web/cscps/formatting/ The following templates below, are general templates designed for conferences using an US Letter (8.5" x 11") trim size. MS Word Template: http://www.computer.org/portal/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=4cc57ba2-39… LaTeX Package: http://www.computer.org/portal/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=cda2f9b2-51… Papers will be carefully evaluated based on originality, significance, technical soundness, and clarity of exposition. The papers, in pdf format, should be submitted electronically through https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ieeecloudcps2014. If there is any problem during submission, please contact the workshop general chairs or db.rawat(at)ieee.org. All accepted papers will be published by IEEE CS Press (submitted to IEEEXplore) and submitted for indexing by EI and ISSN. *********************** Important Dates *********************** Deadline for paper submissions: July 31, 2014 Notification of Paper acceptance: Sept. 2, 2014 Deadline for camera-ready: Sept.16, 2014 Deadline for author registration: Oct. 1, 2014 Conference: December 15-18, 2014 WORKSHOP WEBSITE For more information, please visit the workshop website at http://cloudcps.cwins.org ++++++++++++++++ Organizers ++++++++++++++++ **************** General Chairs **************** Ivan Stojmenovic, University of Ottawa, Canada Danda B. Rawat, Georgia Southern University, USA Jaime Lloret Mauri, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain ****************** Program Chairs ****************** Bhed B. Bista, Iwate Prefectural University, Japan Song Guo, The University of Aizu, Japan ******************* Publicity Chairs ******************* Sandra Sendra, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain

May 20, 2014

Postdoctoral vacancies in London

by Harris, Kenneth

Dear Computational Neuroscientists, We are seeking applicants for 3 postdoctoral jobs at the interface of computational and experimental neuroscience, working with Profs. Kenneth Harris and Matteo Carandini. The closing date for all positions is June 14 2014. For details on how to apply, please see https://www.ucl.ac.uk/cortexlab/positions. Position 1: Large-scale analysis of neocortical activity Modern experimental methods allow for simultaneous recording of thousands of neurons. These methods provide an unprecedented opportunity to study how neuronal populations process information. However, turning this data into concrete conclusions about brain function raises a twofold challenge. First, statistical methods required to characterize, visualize, and test hypotheses about neural data must be developed; second, the data sets involved are so large that they require advanced computational techniques for their efficient processing. We are seeking a postdoctoral scientist to study population coding and circuit function in cortex, by working with data from large-scale electrophysiological and optical recordings. This position would suit an individual with strong quantitative skills together with good knowledge of neurobiology. Position 2: Large-scale simulation of cortical circuits Recent years have seen the development of techniques for rapid simulation of neural circuits, making it at last possible to model how cellular and synaptic properties determine cortical activity in circuits of realistic size. We are seeking a postdoctoral scientist to build large-scale models of recurrent spiking cortical networks, using hardware systems such as large-scale GPGPU clusters or specialized chips such as spiNNaker. Close interaction with experimental neuroscience will be a key part of the project, and the models will be constrained by their ability to both reproduce patterns of population activity measured in vivo, and to perform real-world visual classification tasks. This project involves the use of specialized hardware, and would suit a candidate with strong programming ability as well as neuroscience knowledge. Position 3: Experimental study of cortical population activity Developments in electrophysiology, microscopy, and genetics now make it possible to measure the activity of thousands of neurons simultaneously, while identifying and controlling specific cell classes in real time with light. Combining these experimental technologies with large-scale informatics and computational analysis provides a tremendous tool to understand the function of cortical circuits. We are seeking a postdoctoral scientist to apply these tools to study network activity during a visual discrimination task in behaving mice. This project involves integrating multiple techniques currently in use in our lab including large-scale electrophysiological recordings, optogenetics, two-photon microscopy, and mouse behaviour. This position would suit a candidate with a background in experimental neurobiology, engineering, or experimental physics. --------------------- Kenneth D. Harris Professor of Quantitative Neuroscience Institute of Neurology, Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology University College London 21 University Street London WC1E 6DE Phone: +44 (0)20 3108 2410

May 19, 2014

new Frontiers journal section "Computational Intelligence"

by Claudius Gros

This is to to call your attention to a new Frontiers journal section "Computational Intelligence" http://www.frontiersin.org/Computational_Intelligence within Robotics and AI. The first articles have been published: --------------------- Rodrigo Echeveste and Claudius Gros Generating functionals for computational intelligence: The Fisher information as an objective function for self-limiting Hebbian learning rules http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/frobt.2014.00001/abstract --------------------- --------------------- Mikhail Prokopenko Grand challenges for Computational Intelligence http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/frobt.2014.00002/full --------------------- We invite you to submit your research! Claudius Gros ***************************************** *** Prof. Dr. Claudius Gros *** *** +49 (0)69 798 47818 *** *** http://itp.uni-frankfurt.de/~gros *** ***************************************** -------------------------------------------------------- --- Complex and Adaptive Dynamical Systems, A Primer --- --- A graduate-level textbook, Springer (2008/10/13) --- --------------------------------------------------------

May 19, 2014

post-doc position: “The informational structure of audio-visuo-motor speech”

by Pierre Bessière

Speech Unit(e)s The multisensory-motor unity of speech Understanding how speech unites the sensory and motor streams, And how speech units emerge from perceptuo-motor interactions ERC Advanced Grant, Jean-Luc Schwartz, GIPSA-Lab, Grenoble, France Proposal for a post-doc position beginning in September 2014: “The informational structure of audio-visuo-motor speech” Context The Speech Unit(e)s project is focused on the speech unification process associating the auditory, visual and motor streams in the human brain, in an interdisciplinary approach combining cognitive psychology, neurosciences, phonetics (both descriptive and developmental) and computational models. The framework is provided by the “Perception-for-Action-Control Theory (PACT)” developed by the PI (Schwartz et al., 2012). PACT is a perceptuo-motor theory of speech communication connecting, in a principled way, perceptual shaping and motor procedural knowledge in speech multisensory processing. The communication unit in PACT is neither a sound nor a gesture but a perceptually shaped gesture, that is a perceptuo-motor unit. It is characterized by both articulatory coherence – provided by its gestural nature – and perceptual value – necessary for being functional. PACT considers two roles for the perceptuo-motor link in speech perception: online unification of the sensory and motor streams through audio-visuo-motor binding, and offline joint emergence of the perceptual and motor repertoires in speech development. Objectives of the post-doc position In a multisensory-motor context such as the present one, a major requirement concerns a better knowledge of the structure of the information. Speech scientists have acquired a very good knowledge of the structure of speech acoustics, capitalizing on large audio corpora and up-to-date statistical techniques (mostly based on sophisticated implementations of Hidden Markov Models, e.g. Schutz & Waibel, 2001, Yu & Deng, 2011). Data on speech rhythms, in relation with the syllabic structure, have been analyzed clearly in a number of works (Greenberg, 1999; Grant & Greenberg, 2003). In spite of strong efforts in the field of audiovisual speech automatic recognition (Potamianos et al., 2003), characterization of the structure of audiovisual information is scarce. While an increasing number of papers on audiovisual speech perception presenting cognitive and neurophysiological data quote the “advance of the visual stream on the audio stream”, few papers provide quantitative evidence (see Chandrasekaran et al., 2009) and when they do, these are sometimes mistaken or oversimplified. Actually, the temporal relationship between visual and auditory information is far from constant from one situation to another (Troille et al., 2010). Concerning the perceptuo-motor link, the situation is even worse. Few systematic quantitative studies are available because of the difficulty to acquire articulatory data, and in these studies the focus is generally set on the so-called “inversion problem” (e.g. Ananthakrishnan & Engwall, 2011, Hueber et al., 2012) rather than a systematic characterization of the structure of the perceptuo-motor relationship. Finally, there is a strong lack of systematic investigations of the relationship between orofacial and bracchio-manual gestures in face-to-face communication. We shall gather a large corpus of audio-visuo-articulatory-gestural speech. Articulatory data will be acquired through ultrasound, electromagnetic articulography (EMA) and video imaging. Labial configurations and estimates of jaw movements will be automatically extracted and processed thanks to a large range of video facial processing. We also additionally plan to record information about accompanying coverbal gestures by the hand and arm, thanks to an optotrack system enabling to track bracchio-manual gestures. A complete equipment for audio-video-ultrasound-EMA-optotrack acquisition and automatic processing, named ultraspeech-tools, is available in Grenoble (more information on www.ultraspeech.com) The corpus will consist in isolated syllables, chained syllables, simple sentences and read material. Elicitation paradigms will associate reading tasks (with material presented on a computer screen) and dialogic situations between the subject and an experimenter to evoke coverbal gestures as ecologically as possible. The corpus will be analyzed, by extensive use and possibly development of original techniques, based on data–driven statistical models and machine learning algorithms, in the search for three major types of characteristics: 1) Quantification of auditory, visual and motor rhythms, from kinematic data – e.g. acoustic envelope, lip height and/or width, variations in time of the principal components of the tongue deformations, analysis of the arm/hand/finger dynamics; 2) Quantification of delays between sound, lips, tongue and hand in various kinds of configurations associated with coarticulation processes (e.g. vowel to vowel anticipatory and perseverative phenomena, consonant-vowel coproduction, vocal tract preparatory movement in silence) and oral/gestural coordination; 3) Quantification of the amount of predictability between lips, tongue, hand and sound, through various techniques allowing the quantitative estimate of joint information (e.g. mutual information, entropy, co-inertia) and perform statistical inference between modalities (e.g. Graphical models such as dynamic Bayesian Framework, multi-stream HMM, etc.) The work will be performed within a multidisciplinary group in GIPSA-Lab Grenoble, associating specialists in speech and gesture communication, cognitive processes, signal processing and machine learning (partners of the project: Jean-Luc Schwartz, Marion Dohen from the “Speech, Brain, Multimodality Development” team; Thomas Hueber, Laurent Girin from the “Talking Machines and Face to Face Interaction” team; Pierre-Olivier Amblard and Olivier Michel from the “Information in Complex Systems” team). Practical information The post-doc position is open for a two-year period, with a possible third-year prolongation. The position is open from September 2014, or slightly later if necessary. Candidates should have a background in speech and signal processing, face-to-face communication, and machine learning, or at least two of these three domains. Candidates should send as soon as possible a short email to Jean-Luc Schwartz (Jean-Luc.Schwartz(a)gipsa-lab.grenoble-inp.fr) to declare their intention to submit a full proposal. Then they must send a full application file in the next weeks. This application file will include an extended CV and a list of publications, together with a letter explaining why they are interested in the project, what their specific interests could be, possibly suggesting other experiments related to the general question of the informational structure of audio-visuo-motor speech, and also how this position would fit into their future plans for the development of their own career. They should also provide two names (with email addresses) for recommendations about their applications. Preselected candidates will be interviewed. Final selection should occur before mid-June.

May 18, 2014

PhD position: “Bayesian model of the joint development of perception, action and phonology”

by Pierre Bessière

Proposal for a PhD position beginning in September 2014: “Bayesian model of the joint development of perception, action and phonology” Context The Speech Unit(e)s project is focused on the speech unification process associating the auditory, visual and motor streams in the human brain, in an interdisciplinary approach combining cognitive psychology, neurosciences, phonetics (both descriptive and developmental) and computational models. The framework is provided by the “Perception-for-Action-Control Theory (PACT)” developed by the PI (Schwartz et al., 2012). PACT is a perceptuo-motor theory of speech communication, which connects in a principled way perceptual shaping and motor procedural knowledge in speech multisensory processing. The communication unit in PACT is neither a sound nor a gesture but a perceptually shaped gesture, that is a perceptuo-motor unit. It is characterised by both articulatory coherence – provided by its gestural nature – and perceptual value – necessary for being functional. PACT considers two roles for the perceptuo-motor link in speech perception: online unification of the sensory and motor streams through audio-visuo-motor binding, and offline joint emergence of the perceptual and motor repertoires in speech development. Objectives of the PhD position In the debates between auditory and motor theories of speech perception, and in their modern revival concerning the role of the dorsal route (Hickok & Poeppel, 2004, 2007), there is no real reflexion about what could be the functional role of a perceptuo-motor coupling for speech perception. The “dorsal route” is supposed to be useful in “adverse conditions”, e.g. in noise or with a foreign language (Callan et al., 2004; Zekveld et al., 2006). But no theoretical explanation is actually proposed for this potential efficiency of motor processes in adverse conditions. We have recently developed a computational framework enabling to compare the predictions of auditory, motor and perceptuo-motor theories in various kinds of situations (Moulin-Frier et al., 2012). Casting these theories into a single, unified mathematical framework is an efficient way to compare the theories and their properties in a systematic manner. Bayesian modeling is a mathematical framework that precisely allows such comparisons. The trick is that the same tool, namely probabilities, can be used both for defining the models and for comparing them (see e.g. Myung & Pitt, 2009). The generic model we developed is called COSMO, which stands for "Communicating about Objects using Sensory-Motor Operations". The COSMO acronym also represents the five variables around which the basic structure of the model is built. In COSMO, communication (C) is a success when an object OS in the speaker’s mind is transferred, via sensory and motor means S and M, to the listener’s mind where it is correctly recovered as OL. COSMO assumes that a communicating agent, which is both a speaker and a listener, internalizes the communication situation inside an internal model. The PhD project aims at developing COSMO in two major directions. (1) Joint acquisition of perceptual and motor repertoires in a syllabic framework. Experiments in COSMO have mainly concerned simple stimuli, e.g. in abstract one-dimensional sensory-motor spaces, or with restricted vowel samples. We will explore strategies for automatically learning to produce and perceive complex sequences such as plosive-vowel CV sequences, which display systematic coarticulation phenomena. Various kinds of exploration and learning mechanisms are available from cognitive and developmental robotics (Moulin-Frier & Oudeyer, 2012). Validation tests will be inspired from real data, on e.g. locus equations for plosive acoustics (Sussman et al., 1998), robustness to perturbations in production (Lindblom et al., 1979; Savariaux et al., 1995), or coupling of perceptual and motor idiosyncrasies. (2) Comparison of auditory, motor and perceptuo-motor theories for speech processing in various conditions. Once these perception and production components will be settled in COSMO, we will compare auditory, motor and perceptuo-motor speech perception theories in challenging conditions, such as noise, speaker normalization, or foreign accent. We will test the ability to develop a perceptuo-motor phonology from auditory and motor experience, e.g. to acquire a category such as “plosive place of articulation” through the discovery of perceptuo-motor links in learning. We will also test COSMO on natural CV stimuli, exploiting natural multi-speaker corpora of CV sequences for learning and perceptual tests. The work will be realized within a multidisciplinary team gathering knowledge in speech communication, cognitive theories and Bayesian modeling (Jean-Luc Schwartz in GIPSA-Lab Grenoble, Julien Diard in LPNC Grenoble, Pierre Bessière in ISIR Paris), in collaboration with Pierre-Yves Oudeyer in INRIA Bordeaux. Practical information The PhD position is open from September 2014, or slightly later if necessary. Candidates should have a master, some knowledge about speech and cognitive modeling, and ability to program and to develop computational models. They must send a CV, together with a letter explaining why they are interested in the project. They should also provide two names (with email addresses) for recommendations about their applications. This should be send before June 15th to Jean-Luc Schwartz (Jean-Luc.Schwartz(a)gipsa-lab.grenoble-inp.fr) Interviews will be done with preselected candidates. Decision will occur in the following weeks.

May 18, 2014

IWSYP'14: deadline extension to May 30

by Thiago Matos Pinto

I International Workshop on Synaptic Plasticity - IWSYP'14 September 8-9, 2014 Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil http://iwsyp14.thiagomatospinto.com University of São Paulo Deadline for abstract submission has now been extended to May 30. Participation is free of charge! Speakers: Chris De Zeeuw (Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands & Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) Freek Hoebeek (Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands) Reinoud Maex (École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France) Ricardo Leão (University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) Thiago Matos Pinto (University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) Organizers: Thiago Matos Pinto (University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) Antonio Roque (University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) Abstracts: Submission of abstracts for poster and oral presentations are due by May 30, 2014. We welcome both experimental and theoretical contributions addressing novel findings on topics related to synaptic plasticity. Please see http://iwsyp14.thiagomatospinto.com/abstracts for details. Please visit the IWSYP'14 website for program and further details: http://iwsyp14.thiagomatospinto.com You will also find us on Facebook at facebook.com/iwsyp14 We look forward to seeing you in Ribeirão Preto. With best wishes, Thiago Matos Pinto, IWSYP'14 Organizer

May 16, 2014

Special issue on the hard problem of consciousness

by Roman Poznanski

JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE NEUROSCIENCE http://www.worldscinet.com/jin SPECIAL ISSUE: On the Hard problem of consciousness Volume 13, No.2 (JUNE) 2014 Editorial 1. Introduction— Addressing the Hard Problem J. R. Searle. 2. A Neuropsychoanalytic Approach to the Hard Problem of Consciousness M. Solms 3. Co-evolution of Human Consciousness and Language—Revisited M. Arbib 4. Quantum Effects in the Understanding of Consciousness S. R. Hameroff and J.A.Tuszynski 5. The Origins of the Brain's Endogenous Electromagnetic Field and Its Relationship to Provision of Consciousness. C.G. Hales 6. Keeping Time: Could Quantum Beating in Microtubules be the Basis for the Neural Synchrony Related to Consciousness? T.J.A. Craddock, A. Priel and J. A. Tuszynski 7. Genomic Instantiation of Consciousness in Neurons Through a Biophoton Field Theory L.A. Cacha and R.R. Poznanski 8. Physical Integration: A Causal Account for Consciousness R. Manzotti and A. Chella 9. Afference Copy as a Quantitative Neurophysiological Model for Consciousness H. Cornelis and A. Coop 10. Triple-Aspect Monism: Physiological, Unconscious and Conscious Aspects of Brain Activity A.Pereira Jr. ------- Roman R. Poznanski Professor Laboratory of Biological Modeling The Rockefeller University 1230 York Avenue New York, NY 10065-6399 Office: (212) 327-7646 E-mail: rpoznanski(a)rockefeller.edu http://romanpoznanski.blogspot.com and Chief-Editor, Journal of Integrative Neuroscience http://www.worldscinet.com/jin/mkt/editorial.shtml _______________________________________________

May 16, 2014

Research Assistant Position in the Neuroinformatics lab / Institute of Cognitive Science, University Osnabrück

by Gordon Pipa

The Neuroinformatics Research Group (Prof. Dr. Gordon Pipa) of the Institute of Cognitive Science invites applications for a Research Assistant (Postdoc level), (Salary level E 13 TV-L) to be filled by July 1, 2014 for a period of three years. The position allows for further scientific qualification. Description of Responsibilities: The position involves research on complex neuronal networks and the analysis of data generated by such systems. The research will develop tools and apply these on the estimation of complex and causal interactions between neurons and larger areas of the brain, based on various measurements, such as spiking activity, LFP and ECoG. The successful candidate will be involved in several research projects that range from BSc to PhD projects. The position also involves teaching Cognitive Science courses at B.Sc. and M.Sc. level (4 hours/week). Required Qualifications: Candidates are expected to have an excellent academic degree (PhD and Master/diploma). Applicants should have an excellent knowledge in the field of machine learning, i.e. generalized linear and state space models, kernel methods, reservoir computing and deep learning. Experience or a strong interest in the fields of complex systems, computational neurosciences, dynamical systems theory and the concepts to study these, i.e. bifurcation and stability analysis, and delay coupled differential equations, measurements of complexity, are encouraged. The position may be held full or part-time. As a certified family-friendly institution, Osnabrück University is committed to furthering the compatibility between work/studies and family life. Furthermore, qualified applicants with disabilities will be favored. Applications with the usual documentation, including two letters of recommendation (hardcopies which will not be returned) should be submitted no later than June 4, 2014 to the Director of the Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Osnabrueck, Albrechtstraße 28, 49076 Osnabrueck. An electronic copy of your application should be sent to gpipa(a)uni-osnabrueck.de. Further information can be provided by Prof. Dr. Gordon Pipa, (gpipa(a)uni-osnabrueck.de)

May 15, 2014

3 days left for abstract submission - Bernstein Conference 2014 - Call for Abstracts

by Kerstin Mosch

REMINDER: Call for Abstracts: Bernstein Conference 2014 Deadline of Abstract Submission: May 18, 2014 ************************************************************** Satellite Workshops September 02-03, 2014 Main Conference September 03-05, 2014 ************************************************************** The Bernstein Conference has become the largest annual Computational Neuroscience Conference in Europe and now regularly attracts more than 500 international participants. This year, the Conference is organized by the Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology Goettingen and will take place September 03-05, 2014. In addition, there will be a series of pre-conference satellite workshops on September 02-03, 2014. The Bernstein Conference is a single-track conference, covering all aspects of Computational Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, and sessions for poster presentations are an integral part of the conference. We now invite the submission of abstracts for poster presentations from all relevant areas. Accepted abstracts will be published online and will be citable via Digital Object Identifiers (DOI). Additionally, a small number of abstracts will be selected for contributed talks. DETAILS FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION: For abstract submission visit: http://www.bernstein-conference.de/abstracts Deadline: May 18, 2014 CONFERENCE DETAILS: Venue: Satellite Workshops and Main Conference, Central Lecture Hall (ZHG), Platz der Goettinger Sieben 5, 37073 Göttingen, Germany Registration: Conference Registration starts in April, 2014 Early registration deadline: July 7, 2014 For more information on the conference, please visit the website: http://www.bernstein-conference.de PUBLIC PHD STUDENT EVENT: September 02, 2014 PUBLIC LECTURE: September 04, 2014 PROGRAM COMMITTEE: Ilka Diester, Daniel Durstewitz, Thomas Euler, Alexander Gail, Matthias Kaschube, Jason Kerr, Roland Schaette, Fred Wolf, Florentin Wörgötter, ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Florentin Wörgötter, Kerstin Mosch, Yvonne Reimann Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS): Andrea Huber Broesamle, Mareike Kardinal, Kerstin Schwarzwaelder We look forward to seeing you in Goettingen in September! -- Dr. Kerstin Mosch Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) Goettingen Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology (BFNT) Goettingen Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization Am Fassberg 17 D-37077 Goettingen Germany T: +49 (0) 551 5176 - 425 E: kerstin(a)nld.ds.mpg.de I: www.bccn-goettingen.de I: www.bfnt-goettingen.de

May 15, 2014

Deep Learning Overview - Draft

by Juergen Schmidhuber

Dear computational neuroscientists, here the preliminary draft of an invited Deep Learning overview: http://www.idsia.ch/~juergen/DeepLearning15May2014.pdf It mostly consists of references (about 800 entries so far). Important citations are still missing though. As a machine learning researcher, I am obsessed with credit assignment. In case you know of references to add or correct, please send them with brief explanations to juergen(a)idsia.ch (NOT TO THE ENTIRE LIST!), preferably together with URL links to PDFs for verification. Please also do not hesitate to send me additional corrections / improvements / suggestions / Deep Learning success stories with feedforward and recurrent neural networks. I'll post a revised version later. Thanks a lot! Abstract. In recent years, deep artificial neural networks (including recurrent ones) have won numerous contests in pattern recognition and machine learning. This historical survey compactly summarises relevant work, much of it from the previous millennium. Shallow and deep learners are distinguished by the depth of their credit assignment paths, which are chains of possibly learnable, causal links between actions and effects. I review deep supervised learning (also recapitulating the history of backpropagation), unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning & evolutionary computation, and indirect search for short programs encoding deep and large networks. Juergen Schmidhuber http://www.idsia.ch/~juergen/ http://www.idsia.ch/~juergen/whatsnew.html

May 15, 2014

OpenWorm Kickstarter Campaign

by Shreejoy Tripathy

Dear Colleagues, I'm writing to let you know about the OpenWorm Kickstarter Campaign (link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/openworm/openworm-a-digital-organism-i…) As you may know, the goal of the OpenWorm project is to digitally simulate a C. Elegans organism. By design, the project is organized in a geographically distributed fashion and all of the work is being done in the open (on GitHub and Youtube) using entirely open source code and public data. Though I’m not a worm researcher, I’m supporting OpenWorm’s Kickstarter because I strongly believe in their overall mission. As a computational neuroscientist, I see the project as a necessary first step in the simulation of more complex organisms, including mice and ultimately humans. Moreover, I see my Kickstarter contribution as a future investment in the open source tools and methodologies that OpenWorm develops that I hope to eventually use in my own research. More philosophically, I think that lately the field of neuroscience has suffered from some amount of “overhype”, especially given the initially promised outcomes of recent large-scale brain initiatives (e.g., recording from all neurons in a mammalian brain, simulating an entire human brain). While these projects have been hugely successful in catalyzing widespread public support of basic neuroscience research, many neuroscientists see these promises as perhaps a bridge too far given the current research state. Though OpenWorm's goals are itself highly ambitious, the relative simplicity of the worm (named neurons, stereotyped connectomes and musculature, the ability to image neuronal activity in vivo) lends itself well to this attempt. By conducting the project in the open and basing success on quantifiable goals (i.e., how similar are the simulated worm's movements and neural activity to experimental measurements), the project will serve as a roadmap for future endeavours in multi-scale data integration and organismal simulation. Lastly, the geographically distributed and highly interdisciplinary nature of the project makes it challenging to receive funding through traditional NIH-style mechanisms. For this reason, I'm asking you to join me in supporting the project's Kickstarter campaign. More information: OpenWorm Website: http://www.openworm.org Kickstarter campaign link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/openworm/openworm-a-digital-organism-i… Project overview by OpenWorm member and neuroscientist Jim Hokanson: http://jimandscience.blogspot.ca/2014/05/modeling-worm-thoughts-on-openworm… OpenWorm QandA on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/246dlw/science_ama_series_im_steph… Sincerely, Shreejoy Tripathy Post-doc and Developer of neuroelectro.org University of British Columbia Centre for High-Throughput Biology

May 12, 2014

CAN satellite workshop

by Gunnar Blohm

*Invitation to the CAN 2014 satellite workshop on "Neural circuits of health and disease: from computation to experiment" * ** We would like to invite you to join us at the CAN 2014 satellite workshop on "Neural circuits of health and disease: from computation to experiment" to be held on *Monday, May 26 between 5pm and 10pm *at the Montreal Hilton Bonaventure. This workshop is organized by the Canadian Association for Neuroinformatics and Computational Neuroscience (CNCN) and jointly sponsored by CIHR and NeuroDevNet. The *goals *of this workshop are to (1) showcase the significance of CNCN-experimental collaborations, (2) enable new breakthroughs on major health questions through break-out sessions matching CNCN expertise with experimentalists, and (3) prepare a joint vision on how CNCN will optimally benefit health research in Canada. We hope to build new collaborations, exchange ideas and demonstrate the usefulness of CNCN. In addition, we aim at providing specific suggestions to funding agencies on how CNCN could further boost Canadian health research. We are also very honored to have *Dr. Eve Marder* (Brandeis University; former SfN president) as a keynote lecturer. Please see below for a detailed program. If you are interested in participating, please email Dr. Gunnar Blohm (gunnar.blohm(a)queensu.ca <mailto:gunnar.blohm@queensu.ca>) with a short statement of interest and benefit of participation to you. Although this workshop is mainly intended for PIs, we also encourage senior graduate students and postdocs to apply. Participation is by invitation only. The CNCN steering committee will select 60 participants (10 students/postdocs) out of all applications. Thanks to CIHR and NeuroDevNet, workshop participation is free and includes dinner. We hope to see you at the workshop! Sincerely Gunnar Blohm & Paul Pavlidis (co-organizers, co-directors of CNCN) _Preliminary Program_: 5pm -- 5:15pm -- Welcome by Paul Pavlidis & Gunnar Blohm Showcases of CNCN-experimental collaborations 5-15pm -- 5:45pm: Neurodevelopmental disorders (TBD) 5:45pm -- 6:15pm: Stroke (TBD) 6:15pm -- 6:45pm: Changes in the dynamics of network oscillations in hippocampus as markers of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer disease mice models (Frances Skinner, U Toronto; Sylvain Williams, McGill) 6:45pm -- 7:15pm: Genomics and neuropsychiatric disorders (Gustavo Turecki, McGill; Paul Pavlidis, UBC) 7:15pm -- 8:30pm: 6 chaired round table discussions & dinner 8:30pm -- 9:30pm: keynote lecture (Dr. Eve Marder) 9:30pm -- open end: open discussion on vision of CNCN -- ------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Gunnar BLOHM Assistant Professor in Computational Neuroscience Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Departments of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics, and Psychology, School of Computing, and Canadian Action and Perception Network (CAPnet) Queen's University 18, Stuart Street Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 3N6 Tel: (613) 533-3385 Fax: (613) 533-6840 Email: Gunnar.Blohm(a)QueensU.ca Web: http://www.compneurosci.com/

May 12, 2014

Postdoctoral Position: Psychiatry and Theoretical Neuroscience

by Andre Longtin

A two-year postdoctoral position is immediately available at the interface of psychiatry and theoretical neuroscience at the University of Ottawa's Center for Neural Dynamics. This is a joint position between the Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics group of Prof. Georg Northoff at the Institute of Mental Health Research and the Neurophysics and Nonlinear Dynamics group of Prof. André Longtin in the Physics Department. The candidate should be open to learning and, most optimally, already experienced in the analysis of the temporal and spatial activity structure in large scale neural data sets, using various measures inspired from linear (e.g. cross-spectral and phase coherence), nonlinear and stochastic dynamics. Ideally the candidate would also be experienced in modelling and simulation. The focus is on the perception of time, in particular on how it is altered by excitation-inhibition imbalances. Candidates should have a PhD degree in physics, engineering, mathematics, computer science, neuroscience, computational neuroscience or cognitive neuroscience, an excellent related research experience in neuroscience, as well as strong computational, written and oral communication skills. Applications consisting of a CV and a brief statement of research interest should be sent to alongtin(a)uottawa.ca . Applications will be considered until the position is filled.

May 9, 2014

NEURON course discounts continue!

by Ted Carnevale

The early registration discounts for this year's NEURON summer courses were originally supposed to end today, but we have been able to arrange to continue the discounts for as long as seats remain open, or until the Friday May 30 registration deadline. NEURON Fundamentals June 21-24 This addresses all aspects of using NEURON to model individual neurons, and also introduces parallel simulation and the fundamentals of modeling networks. Includes a healthy serving of Python. Parallel Simulation with NEURON June 25-26 This is for users who are already familiar with NEURON and need to create models that will run on parallel hardware. Special attention will be paid to critical topics such as powerful strategies and idioms for implementing and managing models, measuring and improving performance, and debugging. $1050 for the Fundamentals course $650 for the Parallel Simulation course $1600 for both These fees cover handout materials plus food and housing on the campus of UC San Diego. For more information and the on-line registration form, see http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/courses --Ted

May 9, 2014

Postdoc position in molecular modeling of signaling pathways

by Erik De Schutter

A postdoctoral position is available in the Computational Neuroscience Unit of Dr. Erik De Schutter at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan (http://www.irp.oist.jp/cns/) to model molecular aspects of cerebellar Purkinje cell function. We study the signaling pathways involved in cerebellar long-term depression at the parallel fiber to Purkinje cell synapse. You will be able to use a detailed stochastic model using the STEPS simulator (http://steps.sourceforge.net/) that replicates calcium uncaging experiments in detail (Antunes and De Schutter 2012). This well mixed model with about 400 different reactions has generated new insights in the sources of stochasticity in synaptic plasticity induction. Now we want to expand this work in two directions: to include diffusion, distributing reactions between the spine and dendrite, and to include induction of parallel fiber long-term potentiation. Candidates should have experience with modeling molecular reactions. Knowledge of signaling pathways involved in synaptic plasticity preferred. QUALIFICATIONS: Good English language skills are essential. There will be ample opportunity to interact with modelers and software developers in the lab who are working on several Purkinje cell and cerebellar related projects and with other scientists at the English language multi-disciplinary environment of OIST. Write me if interested. Include CV and names of two references.

May 9, 2014

Open Position: Scientific Computing Specialist at Columbia University Zuckerman Institute

by Rajendra Bose

Announcing an open position for “Scientific Computing Specialist” in the Research Computing group at the new Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia. Please pass along the link below to anybody who may be interested. http://www.columbia.edu/~rb2568/zmbbi_scs.pdf Thank you-- Raj Rajendra Bose, Ph.D. 2014 Secretary, Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation http://casc.org Director, Research Computing Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute Columbia University Tel: 212-851-2918 http://zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu

May 8, 2014

European Summer School on Eye Movements (ESSEM) 2014

by Ulrich Ettinger

Dear list members, * Apologies for multiple postings * This is the first call for the European Summer School on Eye Movements (ESSEM) 2014, funded by the Boehringer-Ingelheim-Stiftung and organised by Christoph Klein (Freiburg/Bangor) and Ulrich Ettinger (Bonn). ESSEM 2014 will be held at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the University of Freiburg, Germany, from 8th to 13th September 2014. ESSEM brings together internationally renowned researchers to teach students in the theories, neural bases, experimental designs and statistical analysis of eye movements studies in basic science as well as applied settings. Please see below for a preliminary list of speakers. We are pleased to now invite applications from students and researchers at the PhD/MD or early post-doctoral level. Financial support is available for participants’ travel and accommodation expenses. The course fee is €250 and includes catering (lunch, coffee) throughout the summer school. Participants are expected to present a poster of a study they have carried out (not necessarily involving oculographic methods) on the first day of ESSEM. To apply, please send a cover letter with brief personal statement on why you wish to attend ESSEM, your current CV and the abstract for your poster presentation to essem(a)uni-bonn.de. The deadline for applications is 31st May 2014. For further information please visit http://www.psychologie.uni-bonn.de/units/cognitive-psychology?set_language=… or contact essem(a)uni-bonn.de With best wishes, Christoph Klein & Ulrich Ettinger Preliminary List of Speakers, ESSEM 2014: Giuseppe Boccignone (Italy) Ulrich Ettinger (Germany) Tom Foulsham (UK) Mark Greenlee (Germany) Sam Hutton (UK) Yukko Hyönä (Finland) Alan Kingston (Canada) Christoph Klein (Germany/UK) Bruno Laeng (Norway) Rebekka Lencer (Germany) Susana Martinez-Conde (USA) René Müri (Switzerland) Nadine Petrovsky (Germany) Pierre Pouget (France) Nikolaos Smyrnis (Greece) Werner Sommer (Germany)

May 8, 2014

Reminder: Abstract submission closes May 16 for IWSYP'14 (I International Workshop on Synaptic Plasticity) in Brazil

by Thiago Matos Pinto

*I International Workshop on Synaptic Plasticity - IWSYP'14* * September 8-9, 2014* *Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil* iwsyp14.thiagomatospinto.com University of São Paulo The I International Workshop on Synaptic Plasticity - IWSYP'14 will bring together *experimentalists and theoreticians* who have contributed significantly to understanding the biological mechanisms underlying *synaptic plasticity*. The aim of this workshop is to facilitate discussions and interactions in the effort towards increasing our understanding on synaptic plasticity in the brain. The IWSYP'14 will take place in the campus of *Ribeirão Preto* at the University of São Paulo in *Brazil* on September 8 and 9, 2014. You are welcome to join this workshop that focuses on the discussion of fresh ideas, the presentation of work in progress, and the establishment of a scientific network between young researchers. The workshop will be held in English. Participation is *free of charge*! This workshop is a satellite event of the XXXVIII Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society for Neuroscience and Behavior (SBNeC), which will be held on September 10-13 in Búzios, Rio de Janeiro. The SBNeC meeting will also feature big names in Neuroscience, and will be a preparatory event for the 9th World Congress of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), which will take place in Rio de Janeiro in 2015. Organizers: *Thiago Matos Pinto *(Univesity of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) *Antonio Roque *(University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) Speakers: *Chris De Zeeuw* (Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands & Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) *Freek Hoebeek* (Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands) *Reinoud Maex* (École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France) *Ricardo Leão *(University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) *Thiago Matos Pinto *(University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) Abstracts: *Submission of abstracts for poster and oral presentations are due by May 16, 2014*. We welcome both experimental and theoretical contributions addressing novel findings on topics related to synaptic plasticity. Please see iwsyp14.thiagomatospinto.com/abstracts for details. Important dates: *Abstract submission deadline: May 16, 2014* Notification of acceptance: June 13, 2014 Notification of oral/poster selection: June 30, 2014 Workshop dates: September 8-9, 2014 Please visit the IWSYP'14 website for program and further details: iwsyp14. thiagomatospinto.com You will also find us on Facebook at facebook.com/iwsyp14 We look forward to seeing you in Ribeirão Preto. With best wishes, Thiago Matos Pinto, IWSYP'14 Organizer

May 8, 2014

KOGWIS 2014 Deadline Extension

by Anna Belardinelli

KogWis 2014 – Deadline Extension until May 16. ================ DEADLINE EXTENSION ================ * KOGWIS 2014 * 12th Biannual Conference of the * German COGNITIVE SCIENCE Society * Tübingen, 29th of September - 2nd of October 2014 * Extended deadline: 16 May 2014 ====================================================== Due to numerous requests, KogWis 2014 extends its deadline until May 16. KogWis 2014 invites submissions of extended abstracts on current work in cognitive science. KogWis calls for submissions in extended abstract format. Abstracts can be up to 2 pages (poster contribution) or up to 4 pages (oral contribution) in length. Also work in progress reports in the form of poster or oral contributions are welcome. Note also that Best Paper, Best Poster, and Best Student Paper prices can be won. All accepted contributions will be peer reviewed and published in the form of a *Supplement KogWis 2014* in the journal *Cognitive Processing* (Springer Verlag). Note: The publication will not have an individual DOI but will be highly visible due to free access to GK members and the general visibility of the journal. Authors of accepted contributions will have to sign Springer’s copyright transfer statement (http://static.springer.com/sgw/documents/1384288/application/pdf/62482_CTS+…) but they are definitely allowed to extend their work and results and submit them in other form elsewhere. For more information, please visit * http://www.ccs.uni-tuebingen.de/kogwis14 * The Organizing Committee: General chair: Martin V. Butz Local organizers: Anna Belardinelli, Elisabeth Hein and Jan Kneissler

May 7, 2014

[meetings] Intl Conf. on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN 2014) - Call for Participation

by Stefan Wermter

Call for Participation. Early Registration is now open. ICANN 2014: 24th Annual Conference on Artificial Neural Networks 15 - 19 September 2014, University of Hamburg, Germany http://icann2014.org/ =================================================================== The International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN) is the annual flagship conference of the European Neural Network Society (ENNS). In 2014 the University of Hamburg will organize the 24th ICANN Conference from 15th to 19th September 2014 in Hamburg, Germany. CHAIRS and ORGANISATION: General Chair: Stefan Wermter (Hamburg, Germany) Program co-Chairs Alessandro E.P. Villa (Lausanne, Switzerland, ENNS President) Wlodzislaw Duch (Torun, Poland & Singapore, ENNS Past-President) Petia Koprinkova-Hristova (Sofia, Bulgaria) Günther Palm (Ulm, Germany) Cornelius Weber (Hamburg, Germany) Timo Honkela (Helsinki, Finland) Local Organizing Committee Chairs: Sven Magg, Johannes Bauer, Jorge Chacon, Stefan Heinrich, Doreen Jirak, Katja Koesters, Erik Strahl KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Christopher M. Bishop (Microsoft Research, Cambridge, UK) Yann LeCun (New York University, NY, USA) Kevin Gurney (University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK) Barbara Hammer (Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany) Jun Tani (KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea) Paul Verschure (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain) VENUE: Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany, home to over 1.8 million people. Situated at the river Elbe, the port of Hamburg is the second-largest port in Europe. The University of Hamburg is the largest institution for research and education in the north of Germany. The venue of the conference is the ESA building of the University of Hamburg, situated at Edmund-Siemers-Allee near the city centre and easily reachable from Dammtor Railway Station. Hamburg Airport can be reached easily via public transport. For the accomodation we arranged guaranteed rates for a couple of hotels in Hamburg for ICANN 2014. CONFERENCE TOPICS: ICANN 2014 will feature the main tracks Brain Inspired Computing and Machine Learning research, with strong cross-disciplinary interactions and applications. All research fields dealing with Neural Networks will be present at the conference. A non-exhaustive list of topics includes: Brain Inspired Computing: Cognitive models, Computational Neuroscience, Self-organization, Reinforcement Learning, Neural Control and Planning, Hybrid Neural-Symbolic Architectures, Neural Dynamics, Recurrent Networks, Deep Learning. Machine Learning: Neural Network Theory, Neural Network Models, Graphical Models, Bayesian Networks, Kernel Methods, Generative Models, Information Theoretic Learning, Reinforcement Learning, Relational Learning, Dynamical Models. Neural Applications for: Intelligent Robotics, Neurorobotics, Language Processing, Image Processing, Sensor Fusion, Pattern Recognition, Data Mining, Neural Agents, Brain-Computer Interaction, Neural Hardware, Evolutionary Neural Networks. CONFERENCE WEBSITE: http://www.icann2014.org *********************************************** Professor Dr. Stefan Wermter Chair of Knowledge Technology Department of Computer Science University of Hamburg Vogt Koelln Str. 30 22527 Hamburg, Germany http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~wermter/ http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/WTM/ ***********************************************

May 7, 2014

PhD studentships in computational neuroscience and machine learning

by Steuber, Volker

Applications are invited for PhD studentships in the Biocomputation Research Group at the Science and Technology Research Institute at the University of Hertfordshire. PhD projects involve the development of computer simulations of neurons and neuronal networks to study information processing in the brain, and/or the application of machine learning techniques to analyse electrophysiological data. More details about our research and a list of potential projects can be found on our homepage (http://homepages.herts.ac.uk/~comqvs/research.html) Applicants should have good computational and numerical skills and an excellent first degree in computer science, biology, maths, physics, neuroscience, or a related discipline. Previous experience in neuroscience is not required but would be an advantage. Successful candidates are eligible for a research studentship award from the University (approximately GBP 13,800 per annum bursary plus the payment of the standard UK student fees). Applicants from outside the UK or EU are eligible, but will have to pay half of the overseas fees out of their bursary. Research in Computer Science at the University of Hertfordshire has been recognized as excellent by the latest Research Assessment Exercise, with 55% of the research submitted being rated as world leading or internationally excellent. The Science and Technology Research Institute provides a very stimulating environment, offering a large number of specialized and interdisciplinary seminars as well as general training opportunities. The University of Hertfordshire is situated in Hatfield, in the green belt just north of London. Please contact Dr Volker Steuber (v.steuber @ herts.ac.uk) for informal enquiries. Application forms can be obtained from Mrs Lorraine Nicholls, Research Student Administrator, STRI, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, Herts, AL10 9AB, Tel: 01707 286083, l.nicholls @ herts.ac.uk. The short-listing process will begin on 9 June 2014.

May 7, 2014

Special Issue of the Journal of Mathematical Neuroscience on Stochastic Network Models in Neuroscience

by Olivier Faugeras

Dear all, The Journal of Mathematical Neuroscience is pleased to announce a special issue on *Stochastic Network Models in Neuroscience*. This is in conjunction with the workshop Stochastic Network Models of Neocortex (a Festschrift for Jack Cowan) to be held in Banff International Research Station, July 13-18 2014: https://www.birs.ca/events/2014/5-day-workshops/14w5138 Research and review articles are sollicited and should be submitted to the Journal before September 30. More information on the call can be found on the JMN webpage: http://www.mathematical-neuroscience.com/ or directly at: http://www.mathematical-neuroscience.com/sites/10207/pdf/Cowan_JMN_v3.pdf Olivier Faugeras --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Olivier Faugeras : Professor : Equipe INRIA NeuroMathComp Team : co-editor in chief, Journal of Mathematical Neuroscience : http://www-sop.inria.fr/members/Olivier.Faugeras/index.en.html : Email: olivier.faugeras(a)inria.fr : Tel: +334 92 38 78 31 : Sec: +334 92 38 78 30 : ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

May 7, 2014

Multiple scientist (post-doc) and research engineer positions available

by Cheston Tan

Dear colleagues, Multiple scientist and research engineer positions are available immediately in Singapore, at the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R). The positions are part of a large multidisciplinary grant involving MIT (Prof. Tomaso Poggio) and multiple universities and research institutions in Singapore (SBIC/CIRC, Duke-NUS Medical School, NUS/NUH, NTU, SINAPSE). Successful candidates will work closely with a strong, multidisciplinary team at I2R and Prof. Poggio to investigate, model and implement visual recognition and memory algorithms for wearable systems (e.g. Google Glass). International collaborators include Prof. Gabriel Kreiman (Harvard Medical School) and Dr. Demis Hassabis (Google/DeepMind). Candidates must have a PhD (for scientists) or MS/BS (for engineers) in computer science, engineering, psychology, neuroscience or related fields. Strong programming and quantitative skills are highly desired. Candidates should be proficient in spoken and written English. The appointments will be for up to 3 years, with internationally-competitive salaries and benefits. Other benefits include: - Funding for international conferences and training courses - Collaboration opportunities with an excellent network of international scientists - Opportunities for attachments at MIT and the Center for Brains, Minds and Machines (http://cbmm.mit.edu/) Candidates please send your curriculum vitae, a statement of research interests and three references to Dr. Cheston Tan (cheston(a)mit.edu) and Dr. Vijay Chandrasekhar (vijay(a)i2r.a-star.edu.sg) More information: - Dr. Cheston Tan: http://www.mit.edu/~cheston/CVshort.pdf - Dr. Vijay Chandrasekhar: http://scholar.google.com.sg/citations?user=KUt4JCAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao - Dr. Lim Joo-Hwee: http://www.i2r.a-star.edu.sg/profile/dr-lim-joo-hwee - Institute for Infocomm Research: http://www.i2r.a-star.edu.sg/ - Working in Singapore: http://www.contactsingapore.sg/professionals/why_singapore/

May 7, 2014