- Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

DENDRITES 2024 call for abstracts
by Julijana Gjorgjieva Dec. 10, 2023

Dec. 10, 2023

DENDRITES 2024 EMBO Workshop on Dendritic Anatomy, Molecules and Function 21-24 May 2024, Chania, Crete, GREECE https://meetings.embo.org/event/24-dendrites Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to announce the solicitation of abstracts for short oral or poster presentations at the EMBO Workshop on DENDRITES 2024, which will take place in Chania, Crete on 21-24 May 2024. This is the 5th of a very successful series of meetings on the island of Crete that is dedicated to dendrites. The meeting will bring together scientific leaders from around the globe to present their theoretical and experimental work on dendrites. The meeting program is designed to facilitate discussions of new ideas and discoveries, in a relaxed atmosphere that emphasizes interaction. Please register and submit your abstract online at: https://meetings.embo.org/event/24-dendrites No payment is required for abstract submission. Submissions of abstracts are due by February 9th, 2024. Notifications will be provided by March 1st, 2024 Registration payment due by April 15th, 2024 Potential attendees are strongly encouraged to submit an abstract as presenters will have registration priority. For more information about the conference, please refer to our web site or send email to info(a)mitos.com.gr We look forward to seeing you in person at DENDRITES 2024! The organizers, Julijana Gjorgjieva, Mark Harnett, Lucy Palmer and Yiota Poirazi ----------------------------------------- Julijana Gjorgjieva, PhD Professor of Computational Neuroscience Technical University of Munich School of Life Sciences Maximus-von-Imhof-Forum 3 85354 Freising, Germany office: +49 8161 71 2709 https://www.mls.ls.tum.de/compneuro/

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Invitation to participate in a study on scientific reasoning
by Dubova, Marina Aleksandrovna Dec. 7, 2023

Dec. 7, 2023

Dear colleague, We are conducting an online study to explore how scientists, like yourself, learn about the world. We are inviting you to participate in the experiment. Study Details The study takes roughly 30 minutes, during which you will be exploring the functions of a fictional brain area by conducting scientific experiments. Your objective will be to learn the link between this neural area and behavioral outcomes. Eligibility 18+ years old Current PhD student or higher in Neuroscience or a similar field (including postdocs, junior & senior faculty, research scientists, etc) Residing in the US Compensation You will receive $10 reimbursement through Paypal, Venmo, or a gift card of your choice. If you are interested in participating in the study, please email Marina Dubova at mdubova(a)iu.edu<mailto:mdubova@iu.edu> to sign up. Thank you for considering participating in this study. Your participation could help shape our understanding of how scientists learn about the world and how this learning could be improved. Best, Marina Dubova and Robert Goldstone Indiana University Cognitive Science Program

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[jobs] 2 four year PhD Scholarships at International Graduate School of Neuroscience in Bochum, Germany
by Laurenz Wiskott Dec. 6, 2023

Dec. 6, 2023

Dear All, the International Graduate School of Neuroscience (https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/igsn/index.html) at Ruhr University Bochum (https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/de) offers two four year PhD Scholarships financed through the DAAD (https://www.daad.de/en/) for experimentalists as well as computational people. For details see: * General Information: https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/igsn/admission/daad-information.html * Requirements: https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/igsn/admission/daad-requirements.html + Please read this carefully before applying. * Application: https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/igsn/admission/daad-application.html + Deadline is 31.1.2024 Best, Laurenz Wiskott. __________________________________________________________________________ Prof. Dr. Laurenz Wiskott room: NB 3/29 Institut für Neuroinformatik phone: +49 234 32-27997 Fakultät für Informatik fax: +49 234 32-14210 Ruhr Universität Bochum laurenz.wiskott(a)rub.de D-44780 Bochum, Germany https://www.ini.rub.de/PEOPLE/wiskott/ __________________________________________________________________________

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Postdoc on Dravet syndrome modeling: Inria (Montpellier, France) and BCAM (Bilbao, Spain)
by Mathieu Desroches Dec. 6, 2023

Dec. 6, 2023

Dear all, We have funds for a two-year postdoc on Dravet syndrome modeling. This is part of an international collaboration between Inria (Bordeaux, Montpellier, Sophia Antipolis, France) and BCAM - the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (Bilbao, Spain), involving Fabien Campillo <https://www-sop.inria.fr/members/Fabien.Campillo/index.html>, Pierre Del Moral <https://people.bordeaux.inria.fr/pierre.delmoral/>, Mathieu Desroches <https://www-sop.inria.fr/members/Mathieu.Desroches/> and Serafim Rodrigues <https://www.bcamath.org/en/research/areas/m3a/mcen>. The postdoc will be based at Inria, in Montpellier. The aim of the project is to develop a multiscale model of Dravet syndrome, from ionic channels of interacting neurons to large neural populations. We will use various modeling frameworks, adapted to the scale, from piecewise-deterministic Markov processes to mean-field formalism. The postdoc will perform a mathematical analysis of the models, extensive numerical simulations as well as data analysis using neural recordings from our experimental partners. Regarding profiles that we are seeking, familiarity of the candidate with mathematical modeling in Neuroscience and Markov processes. Ability and willingness to do programming, as well as analyse experimental data, will also be a strong point to select candidates. Please apply online via the following page (deadline: Dec. 31st): https://jobs.inria.fr/public/classic/en/offres/2023-06688 https://jobs.inria.fr/public/classic/en/offres/2023-06688 If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us directly: Fabien Campillo: fabien.campillo(a)inria.fr <mailto:Fabien.campillo@inria.fr> Mathieu Desroches: mathieu.desroches(a)inria.fr <mailto:mathieu.desroches@inria.fr> Best, Mathieu Desroches. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Mathieu Desroches Research Director (Directeur de Recherche) MathNeuro <https://team.inria.fr/mathneuro/> Project Team Leader Centre Inria d'Université Côte d'Azur, France https://www-sop.inria.fr/members/Mathieu.Desroches/

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[Journals] [CFP] Reminder of Special Issue: NeuroDesign in Human-Robot Interaction: The Making of Engaging HRI Technology Your Brain Can’t Resist (Deadline Extension - Dec 29)
by NeuroDesign in HRI Dec. 6, 2023

Dec. 6, 2023

Dear Esteemed Roboticist, Neuroscientists, Psychologists and Designers, I hope this email finds you well in your bustling schedule. Just a sweet reminder that the deadline for submitting your paper for the Journal - Frontiers in Robotics and AI, special research topic: NeuroDesign in Human-Robot Interaction, is approaching on December 29th. We truly cherish your insights and are looking forward to reading your contribution. Specifically, for those focusing on the design and theoretical aspects of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), we are particularly interested in submissions that explore the brain's or neural mechanisms' roles in processing information during HRI from cognitive and psychological perspectives. Understanding the fundamental design methodologies, such as robot morphology and interactive behaviors, or theoretical principles, including algorithms and philosophical concepts, is crucial. These insights will guide us in creating more engaging and seamless interactions. Therefore, we are especially eager to receive submissions in the fields of cognitive robotics or neurorobotics, particularly those incorporating user studies in their design of HRI. If you foresee any challenges in meeting the deadline, we kindly request that you notify us as soon as possible. This will allow us to make the necessary adjustments. Depending on your individual circumstances, we may consider extending the deadline to January 2024. Thank you for your commitment and contributions to our field. We eagerly look forward to your submission. Wishing you a wonderful day and smooth writing! Warm regards, Topic Editors NeuroDesign in Human-Robot Interaction For more information, visit our website at https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/51072/neurodesign-in-human-robo… or contact the topic editors at neurodesign.hri(a)gmail.com. On Thu, Nov 9, 2023 at 9:08 PM NeuroDesign in HRI <neurodesign.hri(a)gmail.com> wrote: > (Call for Papers & Deadline Extension) > > NeuroDesign in Human-Robot Interaction: The Making of Engaging HRI > Technology Your Brain Can’t Resist > > We are pleased to announce a call for papers and the extension of the > deadline for the special issue - “NeuroDesign in Human-Robot Interaction: > The making of engaging HRI technology your brain can’t resist”. This > special issue will be published in the research topic of the journal - Frontiers > in Robotics and AI and Frontiers in Neurorobotics. In this special issue, > we will discuss the fascinating Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) research with > the interfacing of applied neuroscience, psychology and design > methodologies. > > Scope of submissions: > > The complex tapestry of human biology, consciousness, and cognition > presents a unique challenge for technology designed to interact with us. > This complexity demands a multidisciplinary approach that leverages > insights from neuroscience, behavioral psychology, cognitive science, and > artificial intelligence to address the barriers that currently hinder > natural and effective human-robot interaction. > > This special issue aims to bridge the gap between laboratory research and > practical applications, guiding the development of HRI strategies that are > not only technically proficient but also intuitive, engaging, and > cognitively harmonious with human operators. > > Topics: > > We invite original research, review articles, and perspective pieces that > contribute to the following non-exhaustive list of topics: > > 1. Neuroscience-Driven HRI Strategies: > > - Use of neuroimaging tools (fMRI, EEG, fNIRS) to decode brain > activities that can enhance HRI. > > - Translational neuroscience methods to inform and refine HRI design. > > 2. Iterative Development and Brain-Centric Interfaces: > > - Insights from iterative design processes to craft improved human, > brain, and robot interfaces. > > - Integration of human and robot in a symbiotic closed-loop system > through innovative I/O interfaces. > > 3. Invasive and Non-Invasive NeuroDesign Applications: > > - Development of smart wearables, exoskeletons, or implantable devices > monitoring brainwaves and physiological signals. > > - Design of interfaces to track and influence mechanical movements in > tandem with human motion. > > 4. Neurofeedback Devices for Emotional and Behavioral Regulation: > > - Application of devices such as tDCS, tMS, NMES for neural or muscular > stimulation. > > - Exploration of neurofeedback's role in modulating emotional and > behavioral states in HRI contexts. > > 5. AI and Machine Learning in NeuroDesign: > > - Co-design of hardware and software integrating AI to enhance the user > experience. > > - Implementation of machine learning algorithms for a brain-centered > approach in perception and cognition. > > Submission Deadline: > > December 29, 2023 (extended) > > Discounts and Fee Support: > > 1. Frontiers institutional agreements: > https://www.frontiersin.org/about/institutional-partnerships > <https://www.frontiersin.org/about/institutional-partnerships> > > 2. Open-access funding sources: > https://oad.simmons.edu/oadwiki/OA_publication_funds > <https://oad.simmons.edu/oadwiki/OA_publication_funds> > > 3. Frontiers’ fee support program: > https://frontiersin.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9YqUCmY73k4Gm0u > <https://frontiersin.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9YqUCmY73k4Gm0u> > > Additionally, separate to fee support, we are currently offering 25% > discounts for Type-A articles and 50% discounts for Type-B articles received > before the manuscript deadline. This is on a first-come-first-served basis. > > A-Type Articles: Original Research, Systematic Review, Methods, Review, > Policy and Practice Reviews, Hypothesis & Theory, Clinical Trial, > Registered Report, Technology and Code > > B-Type Articles: Mini Review, Perspective, Case Report, Brief Research > Report > > > How to Submit: > > Please submit your full paper through the journal’s online submission > system. For more information, visit our website at > > > https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/51072/neurodesign-in-human-robo… > > or contact the topic editors at neurodesign.hri(a)gmail.com. > > We look forward to your contribution to this cutting-edge topic at the > intersection of technology, brain research, and human-robot symbiosis. > > > Sincerely yours, > > Topic Editors > > NeuroDesign in Human-Robot Interaction >

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CFP - IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning 2024 (Deadline extension)
by nagai.yukie＠mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp Dec. 6, 2023

Dec. 6, 2023

Dear colleagues, IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning 2024 May 20–23, 2024 Austin, TX, USA Website: https://la.utexas.edu/users/dil/ICDL_Austin_2024/ Deadline for full paper submissions: December 15, 2023 January 8, 2024 (no further extension) Deadline for 1-page poster abstracts and journal track poster submissions: March 1, 2024 The IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL) conference is a unique meeting gathering researchers from computer science, robotics, psychology, neuroscience, and other disciplines to share and discuss research on how humans and other animals learn and develop and how this can inform and be informed by robotics and machine learning systems. Full papers and other submissions are invited on a range of topics including but not limited to: ● Embodied learning and development in biological systems and robots ● Developmental stages and sensitive periods ● Emergence of verbal and nonverbal communication ● Curiosity, intrinsic motivations, exploration, play and active learning ● Architectures for lifelong learning ● Emergence of body and affordance perception ● Learning control of body movement ● Emotional development and the role of emotion in learning ● Prediction, planning, and problem solving ● The relationship between evolution and development ● Epistemological foundations and philosophical issues ● Robotic and computational models of human and animal development ● Developmentally-inspired machine learning ● Human-robot interaction in developmental contexts ● Applications of machine learning to human and animal development Submissions may take the form of full (6-page) papers, 1-page poster abstracts, journal track posters, and workshops or tutorials. Please see below for details on each submission type. Decisions regarding acceptance will be based on technical quality, novelty, and expected interest to the conference’s interdisciplinary audience. In addition to talks and posters originating from these submissions, the conference will feature a keynote speaker as well as several invited symposia showcasing recent research on a set of themes, with different disciplines and perspectives featured, to prompt lively and productive discussion at the conference. [ Submission types ] ● Full six-page papers Papers of at most 6 pages in IEEE double column format will undergo peer-review, and accepted and presented submissions will be included in the conference proceedings published by IEEE Xplore. Up to two extra pages are acceptable for a publication fee of $100 per page. Accepted papers will be invited for presentation either in oral or poster format. ● Workshops & Tutorials Half-day workshop and tutorials will be held on May 20, 2024 (the first day of the meeting). Proposals should be no more than two pages and should include a title, an abstract, a description of the workshop or tutorial concept, the target audience, a list of presenters, information on whether the session will be open to paper or poster submission, and a link to the workshop or tutorial website if applicable. ● 1-page poster abstracts To encourage discussion of late-breaking results or for work that is not sufficiently mature for a full paper, we will accept 1-page abstracts. These submissions will not be included in the conference proceedings. Accepted abstracts will be presented during the poster session. ● Journal-track posters Journal track poster submissions must be about a journal paper that has been published recently (no earlier than December 2022), on a topic relevant to ICDL. More detailed instruction regarding paper/abstract submissions is given in the conference website. Best regards, Yukie Nagai, on behalf of the organizing committees — Yukie Nagai, Ph.D. Project Professor, The University of Tokyo nagai.yukie(a)mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp | https://developmental-robotics.jp CREST Cognitive Feelings: https://cognitive-feeling.jp CREST Cognitive Mirroring: https://cognitive-mirroring.org

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3yr CRCNS Postdoctoral Position in Barcelona
by Alex Roxin Dec. 5, 2023

Dec. 5, 2023

The group of Alex Roxin https://sites.google.com/site/alexanderroxin/home at the Centre de Recerca Matemàtica https://www.crm.cat/_neuroscience/ is looking for a postdoctoral researcher to work on models of the formation and long-term dynamics of memories in the Hippocampus. This project is a collaboration with the Wang lab at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience https://mpfi.org/science/our-labs/wang-lab/ in the framework of the CRCNS program, to study the role of acetylcholine in memory formation. The postdoctoral candidate should have strong quantitative skills. The theoretical side of the project will involve data analysis, modelling, and analytical and numerical analysis of the model. Yearly meetings between the two groups will be held in Barcelona and Florida. The postdoctoral researcher will be expected to spend a brief period of time, dates and duration to be determined, at the Wang Lab in Florida. The project officially ends in November 2026 and hence the position can be for a maximum of three years, although this depends on the start date. Interested and highly motivated applicants should send a CV, cover letter and up to three letters of recommendation to Alex Roxin at aroxin(a)crm.cat. Please specify your availability for the start date in the application. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. *Project Summary:* * Nearly a century of clinical and experimental work has shown the hippocampus to be crucial for enabling us to find our way around an environment (spatial memory) and remembering events that occur in our lives (episodic memory). Yet, the neuronal mechanisms underlying the formation and retention of these memories remain largely unknown. The hippocampus receives various neuromodulatory inputs. Among them, cholinergic inputs are critical for forming new memories and regulating memory stability. Cholinergic innervation of the hippocampus progressively degenerates in patients with Alzheimers disease, and the neuronal response to acetylcholine weakens with aging. Thus, addressing how cholinergic activity mediates changes at the cellular, circuit, and behavior levels as memory forms and stabilizes is key to understanding mnemonic processing in health and disease. Ample in vitro evidence suggests muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) modulate synaptic plasticity -- the molecular correlate of learning and memory. However, in vivo evidence for the role of mAChRs in shaping neuronal dynamics during learning remains scarce. In the hippocampal CA1* *region, mAChRs are expressed in multiple cell types and cellular compartments, making it difficult to decipher the contribution of individual elements to the overall network effects of acetylcholine. In CA1 pyramidal neurons, mAChRs are densely clustered at the proximal dendrites, co-localized with the CA3 inputs that convey information about the stored memory. These receptors are ideally situated to modulate pyramidal neurons response to CA3* *inputs and to shape neuronal dynamics through synaptic plasticity. In this project, we hypothesize that mAChRs located on CA1 pyramidal neurons mediate both the formation and stability of the memory-related dynamical activity patterns generated by these neurons. To test this hypothesis, we combine theoretical modeling with in vivo experiments that leverage* *newly developed neuropharmacological tools to target muscarinic acetylcholine receptors with cell-type specificity. Our objective is to elucidate the cholinergic control of plasticity over two distinct stages of the memory process memory formation and stability across multiple levels from cell-typespecific acetylcholine receptors to the development of memory-related neuronal dynamics, and finally to the refinement of behavior.* -- Alex Roxin Computational Neuroscience Group Centre de Recerca Matemàtica Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici C 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona) https://sites.google.com/site/alexanderroxin/home

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APPLY TO THE THOM YOUNG RESARCHER AWARD
by hocine Cherifi Dec. 5, 2023

Dec. 5, 2023

*YOUNG RESARCHER AWARD* <https://iutdijon.u-bourgogne.fr/ccs-france/young-resarcher-award/> *@ **FRCCS 2024* <https://iutdijon.u-bourgogne.fr/ccs-france/> The Young Researcher Award is part of CSS FRANCE's <https://www.cssfrance.org/> global initiative to support early career researchers in their quest to advance the frontiers of science across a broad range of disciplines. It is in place to recognize early career contributions and leadership in research in Complex Systems related fields. It is awarded to young researchers up to *five years* after the Ph.D. completion (date of Ph.D. defense) and the deadline of the call for nomination. *Eligibility* - Applications for this award are welcomed by academia, business, and government scientists. - Eligible candidates should not be older than 35 years. - There should be no more than five years between the date of the Ph.D. defense and the deadline of the call for nomination. - Self-nominations are accepted and encouraged. - Any young researcher can be nominated in whatever discipline Complex Systems covers. - Candidates must commit to presenting their work at FRCCS if awarded. *Important dates* · Application deadline: *March 04, 2024* · Notification to applicants: *April 02, 2024* *Application Instruction* *For self-nomination* The application package must contain: - A CV of the candidate (maximum two pages) - Research achievement: a letter describing the context and relevance of the achievement, its scientific impact, and why it deserves an award (maximum two pages). - A long-term research project (maximum two pages) *For supporter nomination* - A CV of the candidate (maximum two pages) - Research achievement: a letter describing the context and relevance of the achievement, its scientific impact, and why it deserves an award (maximum two pages). - A statement from the candidate (maximum two pages) reflects their understanding of how the original scientific research moved science forward. *Application Process* Applications are made via a google form: Fill out the self-nomination form <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc7JjwOEPF0YYBRHWomS3o-fZ3YXu0a5QU…> or the Supporter nomination form <https://forms.gle/bkVFg9pUvt2f4K1p9> *Note that Google Forms requires you to be signed in to a Google account to upload files and submit your responses. * *Selection Process* FRCCS Award Committee will evaluate all qualified candidates and propose the winner to the Advisory Board of CSS FRANCE, which will make the final decision. *Award Procedure* A prize of 1000 euros is awarded to the winner. The award also covers the registration fee of FRCCS <https://iutdijon.u-bourgogne.fr/ccs-france/> 2024 to facilitate attendance at the conference. The awardee will be recognized and present his (her) work at FRCCS <https://iutdijon.u-bourgogne.fr/ccs-france/> 2024. For more information contact: hocine.cherifi(a)gmail.com

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PhD position at Universitat de les Illes Balears
by Catalina Vich Llompart Dec. 5, 2023

Dec. 5, 2023

The Dynamical Systems group at Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) is seeking applications for a PhD student. This Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience (CRCNS) funded position will focus on decision making, linking computational models and mathematical analysis to human and rodent data. The successful candidate will be mentored, supervised and trained directly by C.Vich, but they will also work and interact with Prof. Timothy Verstynen (CMU, Psychology) and Prof. Jonathan Rubin (University of Pittsburgh, Mathematics) so they will have to occasionally visit the USA team. The project specifically focuses on how dynamics of cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic pathways map to cognitive models of adaptive decision-making, and how these circuits regulate information flow in the mammalian brain. This position will be renewed annually for up to 3 years. Preferred skills from the PhD student: We are looking for highly motivated and self-driven candidate with strong interest in computational neuroscience and significant computational expertise. To be accepted in the PhD program, a MSc degree is required, preferably in mathematical biology, computational biology, dynamical systems or related disciplines. Students who do not hold a MSc degree but hold an undergraduate degree of 300ECTS are also encouraged to apply. A high level of written and spoken English and good programming skills (preferably python) are prioritized. Environment The Universitat de les Illes Balears (https://www.uib.eu <https://www.uib.eu/>) is located in Mallorca, the highest island of the Balearic Islands, at the foot of the Tramuntana mountains, an area declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO, as well as being just a few kilometres from Mallorca’s finest beaches. It is also ranked among the top 5 Spanish universities in education and in research quality. The university is well connected with the main city, Palma, and other villages. In fact, it has a bus and underground service with good timetables and frequencies. The accepted student will be a member of the group of Dynamical Systems (SSDD, http://www.ssdd.uib.es <http://www.ssdd.uib.es/>) and the institute of Applied Computing and Community Code (IAC3, http://iac3.uib.es <http://iac3.uib.es/>), with ample opportunities to interact with other young researchers in the fields of physics and mathematics in a highly interactive, dynamic, and multi-cultural environment. To apply For details on how to apply, please contact Catalina Vich by email at catalina.vich(a)uib.es <mailto:catalina.vich@uib.es> showing your interest on applying for this position. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, sexual orientation, nationality, disability, etc. Demographic and cultural diversity will be considered in the selection of the trainee.

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Apply to the Bertalanffy Doctoral Student Award
by hocine Cherifi Dec. 5, 2023

Dec. 5, 2023

*DOCTORAL STUDENT AWARD* <https://iutdijon.u-bourgogne.fr/ccs-france/doctoral-student-award/> *@ **FRCCS 2024* <https://iutdijon.u-bourgogne.fr/ccs-france/> The Bertalanffy Doctoral Student Award is part of CSS FRANCE's <https://www.cssfrance.org/> global initiative to support early career researchers in their quest to advance the frontiers of science across a broad range of disciplines. It is in place to recognize early career contributions and leadership in research in Complex Systems related fields. It is awarded to young researchers enrolled in a Ph.D. program. This competition consists in presenting your research in simple terms in a five minutes video to a lay audience. Your presentation should be clear, concise, and convincing. *Eligibility* - Eligible candidates must: - Be under 30. - Be enrolled in a Ph.D. program in whatever discipline Complex Systems covers. - Commit to presenting their work at the French Regional Conference on Complex Systems <https://iutdijon.u-bourgogne.fr/ccs-france/> FRCCS <https://iutdijon.u-bourgogne.fr/ccs-france/> if awarded - Accept and authorize the use and distribution of videos and photos related to the competition, including on social networks - Have informed their thesis supervisor of their participation in the competition - Present a sufficiently advanced state of the doctoral research project *Important dates* · Application deadline: *March 04, 2024* · Notification to applicants: *April 02, 2024* *Application Instruction* The application package must contain the following: - A CV of the candidate (maximum two pages) - A summary (maximum two pages) presenting the research work, its context, main contribution, and scientific impact. - A 5 minutes video presentation. *Application Process* Applications are made via a google form on the online portal. <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe49vdpumpzjVJJ7_mWgC5zKSLS1AqelD_…> *Note that Google Forms requires you to be signed in to a Google account to upload files and submit your responses. * *Selection Process* FRCCS Award Committee will evaluate all qualified candidates and propose the winner to the Advisory Board of CSS FRANCE, which will make the final decision. *Award Procedure* A prize of 500 euros is awarded to the winner. The award also covers the registration fee of FRCCS <https://iutdijon.u-bourgogne.fr/ccs-france/> 2024 to facilitate attendance at the conference. The awardee will be recognized and present his (her) work at FRCCS <https://iutdijon.u-bourgogne.fr/ccs-france/> 2024. For more information contact: hocine.cherifi(a)gmail.com

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4 year fully-funded PhD studentship in ML and Parkinson’s disease at Nottingham
by Mark Humphries Dec. 4, 2023

Dec. 4, 2023

A 4-year fully-funded PhD studentship with Prof Mark Humphries and Dr JeYoung Yung at the University Of Nottingham is available to start September 2024. “Optimising patient selection for Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinson’s disease using multimodal machine learning” Parkinson’s disease has debilitating motor symptoms of tremor in the limbs, slowness of movement, and freezing, unable to move. A highly effective treatment is electrical stimulation deep in the motor regions of the midbrain. But surgery for this deep brain stimulation is only offered to around 2% of all patients, and about a quarter of those who receive it have poor outcomes. Optimising the selection of patients for deep brain stimulation will widen access to treatment, improve treatment outcomes, and prevent harm. The goal of this project is to test how fusing clinical data, neuroimaging, and video assessments could optimise the selection of patients. The project will be in collaboration with MachineMedicine (London), a MedTech company specialising in Parkinson’s disease, and the movement disorders clinical team at St George’s Hospital, London. In joining this collaboration, the PhD student will be trained in data-science and machine learning tools, including how to extract and analyse MRI and fMRI data, in fusing data across modalities, and in developing a machine-learning pipeline for predicting patient outcomes. These predictions will be tested against the 12-month follow-up data from the St George’s trial patients. The student’s further training will include a 3-month placement at MachineMedicine, and visits to St George’s clinic. Closing date:12 noon (GMT) Friday 12th January 2024. For full studentship details and how to apply see here: https://more.bham.ac.uk/mrc-aim/phd-opportunities/ Send all enquires to mark.humphries(a)nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:mark.humphries@nottingham.ac.uk> This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender and delete the email and attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham. Email communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored where permitted by law.

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Fully-funded PhD in mathematical neuroscience (Sheffield, UK)
by Hazem Toutounji Dec. 3, 2023

Dec. 3, 2023

A fully-funded PhD in mathematical neuroscience is available with Dr Hazem Toutounji and Professor Eleni Vasilaki (University of Sheffield, UK). *Project title: *What can self-connected neurons do? A unifying theory of autaptic neural function in invertebrates and mammals The neuron is the fundamental building block in the nervous systems of all animal species, from C. elegans with its 302 neurons, to humans with their highly evolved cortex alone containing more than 10 billion neurons. The action potential, or spike, is the basic unit of neural signalling. Most neurons communicate through chemical synapses, which project from the axon of one neuron to the cell body or dendrites of another. An autapse is a synapse connecting the neuron to itself. In this project, we will use mathematical modelling to achieve two objectives: 1. Investigate the different roles of autapses in neural processing as observed experimentally. 2. Explore autapses as a potential route to chaos and its role in healthy and pathological neural function. The position is open to UK and overseas applicants. The ideal candidate will have a strong command of mathematical analysis and programming skills. Prior knowledge of dynamical systems theory is desirable. Application deadline: 5pm GMT 24 January 2024 For full details and how to apply see: https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/what-can-self-connected-neurons-do-a-… *Please note: *Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to contact me ( h.toutounji(a)sheffield.ac.uk) to discuss your interest in and suitability for the project prior to submitting your application. -- *Dr. rer. nat. Hazem Toutounji (they / them)* *Lecturer in Computational Neuroscience and ECR Champion* *The Neural Dynamics and Computation Lab* Department of Psychology The Neuroscience Institute Insigneo Institute for in silico Medicine University of Sheffield ICOSS Building, 4th floor, desk 5 219 Portobello, Broomhall Sheffield S1 4DP, UK

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AREADNE 2024 Call for Abstracts
by John Pezaris Dec. 1, 2023

Dec. 1, 2023

AREADNE 2024 Research in Encoding and Decoding of Neural Ensembles Eliopoulos Conference Center, Milos, Greece 25-29 June 2024 http://areadne.org info(a)areadne.org Dear Colleague, We are pleased to announce solicitation of abstracts for poster presentation at AREADNE 2024, 25-29 June 2024, our tenth meeting, to be held at the Eliopoulos Conference Center in Milos, Greece. Note that this is a change in location from previous meetings. Continuing with the same highly successful format, AREADNE 2024 will bring scientific leaders from around the world to present their theoretical and experimental work on the functioning of neuronal ensembles. The meeting will provide an informal and beautiful setting in which attendees can discuss their recent ideas and discoveries, with a relaxed pace that emphasizes interaction. Please see the Call for Abstracts for additional details, including links for templates, at http://areadne.org/call-for-abstracts Submissions of abstracts for poster presentations are due by 26 Jan 2024; notifications will be provided by late February 2024. We strongly encourage potential attendees to submit an abstract as presenters have registration priority. For information about the conference, please refer to the main web page http://areadne.org or send email to us at info(a)areadne.org . We hope to see you at AREADNE 2024! Best, - J. --- John S. Pezaris, Ph.D. AREADNE 2024 Co-Chair Harvard Medical School Massachusetts General Hospital 55 Fruit Street Boston, MA 02114, USA info(a)areadne.org

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MSc Internship - Evolving Reservoir Meta-RL - Inria, Bordeaux, France
by Xavier Hinaut Dec. 1, 2023

Dec. 1, 2023

Please find below an offer for an intership from February/March to July/August 2024 in Mnemosyne team at Inria, Bordeaux, France # Title Title: Evolving Reservoirs for Meta Reinforcement Learning # Supervision Xavier Hinaut, Mnemosyne team, Inria Bordeaux Potential collaboration with Clément Moulin-Frier (Flowers Team) & Pierrick Legrand (Astral Team) # Duration: 6 months, spring/summer 2024. Level: Master 2 research internship # Keywords: meta reinforcement learning, reservoir computing, evolutionary computation, neuroevolution, simulation environments, scientific programming with Python. # Research team & internship location Mnémosyne Team: Inria Bordeaux Sud-Ouest, LABRI & Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives (Centre Broca Aquitaine, Carreire campus) https://team.inria.fr/mnemosyne # Project How can a reinforcement learning (RL) agent autonomously learn a diversity of skills with minimal external supervision? Recent works have shown that a single goal-conditioned policy can be trained to solve multiple tasks in parallel (see e.g. Colas et al., 2021 for a recent review). Other works in Meta Reinforcement Learning (Meta-RL) have shown that artificial agents can “learn how to learn” (hence the term meta-learning) multiple skills without having access to goal-related information (see e.g. Weng, 2019 for an introduction). Meta-RL aims at equipping agents with the ability to generalize to tasks or environments that have not been encountered during training. Two nested processes of adaptation are traditionally considered: an outer adaptation loop optimizing the hyperparameters of an inner adaptation loop. The inner adaptation loop can be a standard RL algorithm operating on a given environment. The outer loop is tuning the hyperparameters of the inner loop such that it performs well on a wide distribution of environments. The end result of this nested training process is an algorithm that learns how to learn, i.e. learns how to adapt to tasks that have never been encountered during training. Works differ in the optimization technique and adaptation mechanism they consider in the two loops. The outer loop often optimizes higher-level structures such as the architecture of a neural network (Baker et al., 2017), the morphology (Gupta et al., 2021), a curiosity module providing intrinsic rewards (Alet et al., 2020) or plasticity rules (Najarro & Risi, 2021), employing either evolutionary or gradient-based optimization. In parallel, Reservoir Computing (RC, (Jaeger 2001+)) is particularly well suited for extracting information from data stream with complex temporal dynamics (e.g. weather forecast or language). It is a machine learning paradigm on sequential data where a recurrent neural network is only partially trained (e.g. only training a linear readout). One of the major interests of these recurrent neural networks is their reduced computational cost and the possibility to learn both in on-line and off-line fashion. They have been successfully applied on a wide variety of tasks, from prediction/generation of chaotic timeseries to discrimination of audio sequences, such as bird song recognition. They offer de facto a fast, simple yet efficient way to train RNNs. This "reservoir of computations" works thanks to random projections in large dimensions, and is thus similar to temporal Support Vector Machines (SVM). In this internship, we will explore how Reservoir Computing can be leveraged in the context of Meta-RL. In this context, we will consider evolving the architecture of a reservoir for performing well on a wide range of RL tasks (see Seoane, 2019 for theoretical arguments on this evolutionary perspective). For this aim, we will use the ReservoirPy Python library developed in the Mnemosyne team (Trouvain & Hinaut, 2022) that we will interface with evolutionary computation algorithms (e.g. Tang et al., 2022). The project will involve: ● Designing of a wide range of RL tasks in an existing simulation environment (ex MuJoCo) ● Learning how to learn multiple tasks without access to the goal information (i.e. meta-RL with a reservoir). ● Evolve reservoir architectures for meta-RL with evolutionary methods # How to apply Contact xavier.hinaut(a)inria.fr with a CV and letter of motivation. We also recommend sending documents or reports describing previous projects you have been working on (even if they are not directly related to the topic), as well as your grades and links to some of your code repositories. # Requirements We are looking for highly motivated MSc students (Master II). Programming skills and prior experience with Python and deep learning frameworks (Pytorch, Tensorflow) are expected. # Other internship offers https://github.com/neuronalX/internships/ # References Alet, F., Schneider, M. F., Lozano-Perez, T., & Kaelbling, L. P. (2020). Meta-learning curiosity algorithms. International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR 2020). https://openreview.net/forum?id=BygdyxHFDS Baker, B., Gupta, O., Naik, N., & Raskar, R. (2017). Designing neural network architectures using reinforcement learning. ArXiv:1611.02167 [Cs]. http://arxiv.org/abs/1611.02167 Botvinick, M., Ritter, S., Wang, J. X., Kurth-Nelson, Z., Blundell, C., & Hassabis, D. (2019). Reinforcement Learning, Fast and Slow. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 23(5), 408–422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2019.02.006 Colas, C., Karch, T., Sigaud, O., & Oudeyer, P.-Y. (2021). Intrinsically Motivated Goal-Conditioned Reinforcement Learning: A Short Survey. ArXiv:2012.09830 [Cs]. http://arxiv.org/abs/2012.09830 Gupta, A., Savarese, S., Ganguli, S., & Fei-Fei, L. (2021). Embodied intelligence via learning and evolution. Nature Communications, 12(1), 5721. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25874-z Jaeger, H. (2007). Echo state network. Scholarpedia, 2(9), 2330. https://doi.org/10.4249/scholarpedia.2330 Najarro, E., & Risi, S. (2021). Meta-Learning through Hebbian Plasticity in Random Networks. ArXiv:2007.02686 [Cs]. http://arxiv.org/abs/2007.02686 Sakemi, Y., Morino, K., Leleu, T., & Aihara, K. (2020). Model-size reduction for reservoir computing by concatenating internal states through time. Scientific Reports, 10(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78725-0 Seoane, L. F. (2019). Evolutionary aspects of reservoir computing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 374(1774), 20180377. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0377 Tang, Y., Tian, Y., & Ha, D. (2022). EvoJAX: Hardware-Accelerated Neuroevolution. Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference Companion, 308–311. https://doi.org/10.1145/3520304.3528770 Trouvain, N., & Hinaut, X. (2022). reservoirpy: A Simple and Flexible Reservoir Computing Tool in Python. https://hal.inria.fr/hal-03699931 https://github.com/reservoirpy/reservoirpy Weng, L. (2019, June 23). Meta Reinforcement Learning. https://lilianweng.github.io/posts/2019-06-23-meta-rl/ Xavier Hinaut Inria Research Scientist www.xavierhinaut.com -- +33 5 33 51 48 01 Mnemosyne team, Inria, Bordeaux, France -- https://team.inria.fr/mnemosyne & LaBRI, Bordeaux University -- https://www4.labri.fr/en/formal-methods-and-models & IMN (Neurodegeneratives Diseases Institute) -- http://www.imn-bordeaux.org/en --- Our Reservoir Computing library: https://github.com/reservoirpy/reservoirpy

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Postdoc Position in Computational/Theoretical Neuroscience (Western University)
by Lyle Muller Dec. 1, 2023

Dec. 1, 2023

The lab of Lyle Muller (http://mullerlab.ca) at Western University (London, Ontario) has a postdoctoral position available in computational and theoretical neuroscience. This position will involve collaboration between our laboratory and researchers with expertise in advanced methods of brain imaging (Mark Schnitzer, Stanford), neuroengineering (Duygu Kuzum, UCSD), theoretical neuroscience (Todd Coleman, Stanford), and neurophysiology of visual perception (John Reynolds, Salk Institute for Biological Studies). In collaboration with this multi-disciplinary team, this researcher will apply new signal processing techniques for multisite spatiotemporal data to understand cortical dynamics during visual perception. This project will also involve development of spiking network models to understand the mechanisms underlying observed activity patterns. The project may include intermittent travel between labs to present results and facilitate collaborative work. This research will involve in-depth analyses of neural recordings and computational modeling. Prior experience with scientific computing languages (MATLAB, Julia, or Python) and signal processing is preferred. Western University offers an excellent research environment and support. Candidates can write to lmuller2(a)uwo.ca<mailto:lmuller2@uwo.ca> with a CV. Selected applicants will be interviewed on a rolling basis starting immediately. Both the involved labs and the University are deeply committed to fostering diversity and scientific outreach. Applications from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged, and any interested applicants are welcomed to write the PI directly with questions about the research environment. -- Lyle Muller http://mullerlab.ca

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Postdoc Fellow Position in EEG at UCL
by Fabrizi, Lorenzo Nov. 30, 2023

Nov. 30, 2023

🔬🧠👶 Exciting opportunity! Postdoc research fellow wanted to join a new collaborative research project at UCL's Medawar Pain and Somatosensory Labs, UCLH and Birkbeck BabyLab/ToddlerLab<https://cbcd.bbk.ac.uk/toddlerlab>, led by Dr. Lorenzo Fabrizi<https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/1290>, Dr. Judith Meek<https://www.uclh.nhs.uk/our-services/find-consultant/dr-judith-meek> and Prof. Emily Jones<https://cbcd.bbk.ac.uk/people/scientificstaff/emily-jones>. Investigate the connection between early sensory experiences and long-term sensory processing in preterm-born neonates and children. Use EEG and novel sensory testing to identify individuals at risk of sensory challenges. Collaborate with experts in preterm brain imaging and neurodevelopment. Requires a background in Medical Physics, Bioengineering, Computational Neuroscience, or related fields, proficiency in brain imaging and programming, and strong communication skills. Apply here<https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/search-ucl-jobs/details?jobId=17017&jobTi…>. Deadline 2nd of January 2024. Lorenzo Fabrizi, PhD Associate Professor Medical Research Foundation Fellow Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology Department Room G17A, Medawar Building Bloomsbury Campus University College London Gower St, London WC1E 6BT office tel. 02031081888 (int. 51888)

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Postdoctoral Position in modelling the impact of interoceptive signals on neural dynamics and human cognition. ENS Paris
by Boris Nov. 30, 2023

Nov. 30, 2023

Postdoctoral Position in modelling the impact of interoceptive signals on neural dynamics and human cognition. Group for Neural Theory and LNC2, Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris. A post-doctoral position in theoretical neuroscience is open to explore the impact of cardiac inputs on cortical dynamics. Understanding the role of internal states in human cognition has become a hot topic, with a wealth of experimental results but limited attempts at analyzing the computations that underlie the link between bodily organs and brain. Our particular focus is on elucidating how the different mechanisms for heart-to-cortex coupling (e.g., phase-resetting, gating, phasic arousal,..) can account for human behavioral and neural data, from somatosensory detection to more high-level concepts such as self-relevance, using data-based dynamical models. The ideal candidate should have a doctoral degree in a quantitative discipline and previous experience with computational approaches to neural functions, excellent programming skills coupled with an interest for, and a willingness to learn about, interoception and its influences on neural dynamics and cognition. The candidate will have a unique opportunity to join the project at its very inception and take a key role in the technical and conceptual development. The position is available for 3 years. The postdoctoral fellow will be based at the Group for Neural Theory <https://gnt.dec.ens.fr/en> and LNC2 <https://lnc2.dec.ens.fr/en> , in Boris Gutkin’s team <https://lnc2.dec.ens.fr/en/teams/mathematics-neural-circuits> with strong interactions with Catherine Tallon-Baudry’s team. LNC2 is located in the center of Paris within the Cognitive Science Department <https://cognition.ens.fr/en> at Ecole Normale Supérieure <https://www.ens.psl.eu/en>, with numerous opportunities to interact with the Paris scientific community at large, in a stimulating and supportive work environment. Group for Neural Theory provides a rich environment and local community for theoretical neuroscience. Lab life is in English, speaking French is not a requirement. Salary according to experience and French regulations with health and social benefits. Informal enquiries and applications (CV, motivation letter and contacts for reference) should be sent boris.gutkin(a)gmail.com <mailto:boris.gutkin@gmail.com> and catherine.tallon-baudry(a)ens.psl.eu <mailto:catherine.tallon-baudry@ens.psl.eu>. Applications will be evaluated on the fly, the position remaining open until filled.

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Fully-funded PhD in machine learning for medical imaging (Indiana University, US)
by chigurupatisreekar＠gmail.com Nov. 28, 2023

Nov. 28, 2023

The Garyfallidis Research Group (grg.luddy.indiana.edu) at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering has open PhD positions on the topic of artificial general intelligence for medical applications. The appointment starts Fall 2024. The PhD student will join a dynamic and interdisciplinary team that includes engineers, neuroscientists, and cognitive scientists. The PhD applicants will work with Prof. Eleftherios Garyfallidis on various areas of research, including machine learning, medical imaging and/or scientific visualization. Prof. Garyfallidis' team collaborates with more than 300 research labs across the US. His research group is also the headquarters for the DIPY and FURY organizations deploying research software in thousands of labs across the globe. Minimum Qualifications: A BSc (or equivalent) is required in engineering, computer science, statistics, physics, mathematics or neuroscience or related fields; and solid programming skills necessary to handle big data and develop large scale simulations. Knowledge of Python and C is a plus. Knowledge of graphic shaders is a bonus. Previous experience in open-source development is not required but good to have. Questions and CV should be sent to elef(a)indiana.edu. Interviews will take place after officially applying here https://graduate.indiana.edu/admissions/apply.html#/login The specific track is Neuroengineering. Note that the deadline for Fall 2024 is December 15 2023. Indiana University is an R01 (research level 1) university with multiple campuses. We are situated on the Bloomington campus that has over 50K students. The GRG is part of a new engineering department that focuses entirely on building intelligent systems. Students receive a fellowship (working as research assistants or teaching assistants) for the first 4 years of the PhD program. The students are encouraged to get internships in industry during the summer months (optional). This fellowship package guarantees recipients a full stipend, fee remission, and student health insurance during a 4 year period as you work towards the Ph.D. degree. Lab: https://grg.luddy.indiana.edu Twitter: https://twitter.com/dipymri

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Two postdoc openings on computational analysis and modelling of dynamic functional connectivity in Alzheimer's Disease (Strasbourg, FunSy team, France)
by Demian Battaglia Nov. 27, 2023

Nov. 27, 2023

We are happy to announce two postdoc openings in the group of Dr. Demian Battaglia, within the newly created Functional System Dynamics team at University of Strasbourg. The recruited postdocs will work as well in close collaboration with Dr. Romain Goutagny in Strasbourg and Dr. Viktor Jirsa at the Institute for Systems Neuroscience in Marseille. Both positions will focus on investigating the link between dynamics of large-scale functional connectivity and cognition: first, by assessing that the maintenance of a structured and fluid dynamics of Functional Connectivity is a predictor of cognitive performance and of its resilience despite progressing neurodegeneration; second by showing that interventions aiming at restoring "healthy" brain dynamics can rescue cognitive performance. POSITION START: as early as possible (ideally, before April 2024) POSTDOC DURATION: 24 months - TWO POSITIONS AVAILABLE Specifically the first position will delve with the study of dynamic Functional Connectivity variations and their correlation with variations of cognitive performance in longitudinal studies of aging and Alzheimer's disease cohorts (human resting state fMRI, physiological markers, cognitive profiling...). The second position will delve with the characterization of the effects of non-invasive visual gamma flickering stimulation (vGENUS) on electrophysiological activity in AD mutant mice and the modelling of the mechanisms behind these effects via virtual mouse mean-field whole-brain simulations. We are seeking for candidates, with previous experience in computational neuroscience or computer science, physics or mathematics training with strong motivation to transit toward neuroscience. Previous experience with whole-brain modelling or dynamic functional connectivity analyses would be a plus, although not strictly required. Interested candidates could have hybrid data analysis/computational modelling projects. We expect fluent programming skills (e.g., Python, C/C++, Matlab), good communication skills in English (oral and written), the ability to work well in an international team, curiosity and open-mindedness (more than applying existing methods, we tend to forge original ones, shaped by the specific scientific questions we work on). The candidate will integrate the Functional System Dynamics team (FunSy, https://funsyteam.org) at University of Strasbourg, which is a mixed theoretical and experimental group focusing on the functional roles of multi-scale system's level dynamics. FunSy research aims at linking dynamics to information processing, behavior and cognition in the healthy and pathological brain, exploring projects in rodent, non-human primate or human neuroscience as well as pure theory. The present postdoc openings are funded by the Foundation "Vaincre Alzheimer" and the French National Priority Research Investment Program "PEPR Digital Health". Strict interactions are to be expected with other partners in this initiative ("Brain Health Trajectories"), with frequent visits at Viktor Jirsa's lab at Aix-Marseille University, or other researchers at Neurospin in Saclay (Paris South) or Grenoble. Strasbourg University is home of an emergent and active community in neuroscience, from molecules and cells to whole brain imaging and behavior, in relation with clinics. The proximity with Germany and Switzerland is an asset allowing interactions with transnational computational neuroscience centers. Strasbourg, one of European Union's capitals, is a fascinating city with a rich student and cultural life, well connected via high-speed train to important European cities (e.g. less than two hours from Paris) DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION: December 24th 2023 Please send your application, including CV, motivation letter and representative publications (preprints accepted) electronically to Dr. Demian Battaglia. In addition, contacts of at least two academic references must be communicated (contact email or recommendation letter attachments). Pre-selected candidates will be interviewed over Zoom or invited to give a talk if possible. We wish to promote the recruitment of strong candidates from minority groups in STEM research. Feel free to inquire for additional requests of information. CONTACT: Demian Battaglia (dbattaglia(a)unistra.fr or demian.battaglia(a)univ-amu.fr)

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PhD student at Instituto de Neurociencias Alicante
by Encarni Marcos Sanmartin Nov. 27, 2023

Nov. 27, 2023

*A fully funded PhD (4 years) is available at Instituto de Neurociencias Alicante. * The student will be part of a project called BODIES that aims at understanding the neuronal mechanisms underlying the integration of action and perception during decision making. To achieve the goal of BODIES, experiments will be performed in mice. Neuronal activity will be recorded from a prefrontal network while animals perform a navigational task in virtual reality. Further, the activity of neurons of specific populations within this network will be manipulated through optogenetics, to investigate their causal contribution to behavior. During the project, a computational model will be developed to understand and describe the observed dynamics and to make further predictions for future experiments. Technical support is provided throughout the duration of the project. The PhD student will be enrolled in the PhD program in Neuroscience of the Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, under the supervision of Dr. Encarni Marcos. *The call will open this week and close shortly after:* https://otri.umh.es/2023/11/15/ayudas-para-la-formacion-de-personal-investi… The selected candidate will join the PhD program and the lab by the beginning of next year. If you are interested in this position, please, write to emarcos(a)umh.es Candidates must - Have a master’s degree in Neuroscience, physics, computer science, mathematics, psychology or related areas. - Be able to work independently. - Have programming skills. - Have excellent communication skills in English. - Work well in team. The Instituto de Neurociencias Alicante is a center of excellence that regularly organizes training courses for PhD students that are free of charge, weekly scientific lectures with well-known international speakers and internal seminars to promote collaboration within the Institute and offers financial support to assist national and international conferences for PhD students. The Institute is located in Sant Joan d'Alacant, a nice town near the beach and close to Alicante. Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions. Dr Encarni Marcos Instituto de Neurociencias Alicante Sant Joan d’Alacant, Spain E-mail: emarcos(a)umh.es

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Three Faculty Positions in AI in Biology at VIB and KU Leuven
by pedro goncalves Nov. 27, 2023

Nov. 27, 2023

Dear all, The VIB Center for AI & Computational Biology (VIB.AI) and KU Leuven are searching for three Principal Investigators to join their faculty (Group Leader at VIB, Professor at KU Leuven). We are particularly interested in recruiting faculty members who use and develop artificial intelligence methods and mechanistic mathematical models to address fundamental questions in biology. We welcome applications across all domains of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and associated fields. Examples of research topics include but are not limited to: development of new AI architectures for biology and hybrid models that combine deep learning with mechanistic models; foundation models of genome regulation using single-cell and spatial multi-omics data; AI-based modeling of protein structure and protein interaction networks; AI-based modeling of cell morphology and tissue function using imaging and computer vision; AI models of disease and digital twin applications. Biological applications are broad: microorganisms, plant biology, biodiversity and ecology, neuroscience, cancer, and immunology. We also welcome applicants with applied projects, including synthetic biology, AI-driven experiments (experiment-in-the-loop), and bio-engineering. This position comes with full salary and core funding (internationally competitive package) that is renewable for multiple additional 5-year periods, and access to state-of-the-art research and top-notch support core facilities, as well as support to attract talented PhD students and postdocs from across the world. More details about the positions at https://vibai.sites.vib.be/en/opportunities#/job-description/66534 Best wishes, Pedro --------------- Pedro Gonçalves Principal Investigator at NERF, a joint research initiative by imec, VIB, and KU Leuven Co-affiliated PI at VIB Center for AI & Computational Biology https://goncalveslab.sites.vib.be/en

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Call for Papers - From Animals to Animats: 17th International Conference on the Simulation of Adaptive Behavior (SAB 2024)
by Jeffrey L Krichmar Nov. 26, 2023

Nov. 26, 2023

Dear Comp-Neuro colleagues, CALL FOR PAPERS - SAB 2024 ------------------------------------------- The Simulation of Adaptive Behavior (SAB) interdisciplinary conference brings together researchers in artificial intelligence, artificial life, computer science, cybernetics, ethology, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, robotics, and many other fields, to further our understanding of the behaviors and underlying mechanisms that allow natural animals and artificial agents to adapt and survive in complex, dynamic and uncertain environments. Animats denote the connection between animals and synthetic agents. The conference focuses on models and experiments designed to help characterize and compare various organizational principles and architectures underlying adaptive behavior in real animals and in animats. SAB 2024 solicits contributions dealing with any aspect of adaptive behavior. We especially invite submissions from researchers who connect biology and natural behavior to synthetic agents. Conference papers are peer-reviewed and accepted papers will be published in “From Animals to Animats 17. SAB 2024.” Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, Springer Nature. Venue -------- CalIT2 Auditorium University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92697 USA Important Dates ---------------------- April 1, 2024: Deadline for paper submission April 15, 2024: Deadline for Workshop and tutorial proposals June15, 2024: Notice of acceptance June 30, 2024: Camera-ready papers September 9-12: Conference dates More details can be found at: https://sab2024.socsci.uci.edu/call-for-papers Best regards, Jeff Krichmar Department of Cognitive Sciences 2328 Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92697-5100 jkrichma(a)uci.edu http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~jkrichma

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looking for a postdoc on modeling / optimization of brain stimulation
by Dana Brooks Nov. 26, 2023

Nov. 26, 2023

Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UMass Boston A postdoctoral fellow position is available in the Brain Stimulation & Simulation Lab <https://www1.coe.neu.edu/%7Erampersad/index.html>, directed by Dr. Sumientra Rampersad, in the Department of Physics at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Our lab focuses on investigating electromagnetic brain stimulation through computational methods and experiments with healthy volunteers. This position is funded by a newly awarded 5-year NIH R01 <https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10719222> grant with the goal to investigate a novel form of brain stimulation called transcranial temporal interference stimulation (TIS) and to optimize and translate it into an effective and efficient neuromodulation method for academic research and clinical practice. The fellow will develop novel optimization methods for high-density TIS and supervise a PhD student who will conduct simulations and optimizations using finite element modeling. The goal is to provide noninvasive and spatially specific treatment options to patients with brain disorders resistant to existing approaches. You will join a multidisciplinary team with expertise in computational modeling and optimization, human and primate electrophysiology, cellular and systems neuroscience, and biomedical engineering. You will also have the opportunity to work on other cutting-edge projects involving several brain stimulation methods including tCS, TMS, ECoG, sEEG and TTF (see lab website <https://www1.coe.neu.edu/%7Erampersad/index.html> for examples). Our collaborators at Northeastern University, the University of Utah, Harvard University, MGH, and the University of Washington, provide us access to specialized software and unique clinical data. The fellow will be mentored by Dr. Rampersad (UMass Boston) and Dr. Dana Brooks (Northeastern). This is an outstanding career development opportunity to work with leaders in the field of brain stimulation with an exceptional record of collaboration and mentoring. Required qualifications include a PhD in physics, math, electrical, biomedical engineering, or equivalent, expertise in either brain stimulation modeling or computational optimization methods (preferred both), a track record of conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications, strong verbal and written communication skills, and proficiency in Matlab or Python. This is a one-year appointment with the possibility of extension provided satisfactory progress is made. To apply, send a cover letter and CV to Dr. Rampersad (sumientra.rampersad(a)umb.edu) with the subject “TIS postdoc”. Please describe in detail your experience with optimization, brain stimulation, FEM, coding, project management, and mentoring students.

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Postdoc position to model the sensorimotor system controlling forelimbs in mice
by Alexander Mathis Nov. 25, 2023

Nov. 25, 2023

The Mathis^2 and Arber labs seek applicants for a postdoctoral fellow in computational neuroscience The Arber Laboratory at the University of Basel (Research Group Silvia Arber - Biozentrum<https://www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/research/research-groups/research-groups-a…>), Mathis Group of Computational Neuroscience & AI (https://mathisgroup.org<https://mathisgroup.org/>) and Mathis Laboratory of Adaptive Motor Control (https://mackenziemathislab.org<https://mackenziemathislab.org/>) at EPFL (Geneva, Switzerland) offer a postdoc position with the goal to model the sensorimotor system controlling forelimb movements in mice. We aim to build hierarchical models of the sensorimotor system controlling mouse forelimbs based on a variety of datasets including anatomy, connectivity, high content neuronal recordings, biomechanics, behavior tracking, functional interventions, genetic/molecular and cell type information based on spatial transcriptomics. EPFL<https://www.epfl.ch/de/> is one of the leading Institutes of Technology in Europe, and Biozentrum<https://www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/> the home of Molecular Life Science embedded in the Basel Circuits Neuroscience community<https://www.basel-neurocircuits.ch/>. Both offer competitive salaries and research infrastructure, together allowing to approach this challenging research project. Requirements: Candidates should have a Ph.D. with a strong publication record in computational neuroscience or related fields, and be eager to interact with experimentalists. An ideal candidate would have prior experience in: ● Machine learning ● Modeling neural data ● Handling of large and diverse datasets ● Biomechanics ● Fluency in oral and written English is required. Deadline and starting date: Applications are requested starting from December 1st 2023 and will then be processed as they arrive until the position is filled. The ideal starting date is spring 2024. How to apply: Postdoctoral applications should consist of a motivation letter, a CV, two relevant publications, and the email addresses of two or more referees. Please submit your application to the EPFL hiring platform: https://recruiting.epfl.ch/Vacancies/3178/Description/2 Related Work: A functional map for diverse forelimb actions within brainstem circuitry.<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03080-z> Ludwig Ruder, Riccardo Schina, Hash Kanodia, Sara Valencia-Garcia, Chiara Pivetta and Silvia Arber, Nature, 2021 Structural and functional map for forelimb movement phases between cortex and medulla <https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(22)01522-7.pdf>Wuzhou Yang, Harsh Kanodia and Silvia Arber, Cell, 2023 Learnable latent embeddings for joint behavioural and neural analysis<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06031-6> Steffen Schneider*, Jin Hwa Lee*, and Mackenzie Weygandt Mathis, Nature, 2023 DMAP: a Distributed Morphological Attention Policy for Learning to Locomote with a Changing Body<https://arxiv.org/abs/2209.14218> Alberto Silvio Chiappa, Alessandro Marin Vargas, Alexander Mathis. NeurIPS, 2022. Contrasting action and posture coding with hierarchical deep neural network models of proprioception <https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.06.081372v3> Kai J. Sandbrink*, Pranav Mamidanna*, Claudio Michaelis, Matthias Bethge, Mackenzie Weygandt Mathis**, Alexander Mathis**, eLife, 2023 Please do not hesitate to reach out, if you have any questions! If you want to do a PhD on this topic, also feel free to reach out. Best wishes, Alexander Mathis P.S.: We also have an open software engineer position. We started interviewing, but are inviting further top candidates to apply: https://recruiting.epfl.ch/Vacancies/3124/Description/2 [cid:clip_image001.png] Alexander Mathis Tenure Track Assistant Professor people/alexander.mathis mathislab.org<http://mathislab.org>

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Save the Dates: ACAIN 2024 - 4th Int. Advanced Course & Symposium on Artificial Intelligence & Neuroscience, September 22-25 2024, Riva del Sole Resort & SPA, Castiglione della Pescaia (Grosseto) Tuscany, Italy -> Submission Deadline: March 23
by Giuseppe Nicosia Nov. 23, 2023

Nov. 23, 2023

Call for Participation & Call for Papers (apologies for multiple copies) _______________________________________________________________ The 4th International Advanced Course & Symposium on Artificial Intelligence & Neuroscience, September 22-25, 2024, Riva del Sole Resort & SPA, Castiglione della Pescaia (Grosseto) Tuscany, Italy W: https://acain2024.icas.events E: acain(a)icas.cc FB: https://www.facebook.com/ACAIN.LakeDistrict/ Symposium Deadlines Paper Submission (Symposium): by Saturday March 23, 2024 (AoE). https://acain2024.icas.events/symposium-call-for-papers/ https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=acain2024 Notification of Decision for Papers (Symposium): by Wednesday July 10, 2024. Camera Ready Submission (Symposium): by Monday July 20, 2024. Author Registration (Symposium): by July 20, 2024. Regular Registration (Symposium): by Saturday March 23, 2024. Late Registration (Symposium): from Sunday March 24, 2024. Course Deadlines Regular Registration (Course): by Saturday March 23, 2024. Late Registration (Course): from Sunday March 24, 2024. Oral Presentation Submission (Course): by Saturday March 23, 2024. Notification of Decision for Oral Presentation (Course): by August 31, 2024. SCOPE & MOTIVATION: ACAIN 2024: AI meets Computational Neuroscience and Cognitive Science The ACAIN 2024 symposium and course is an interdisciplinary event featuring leading scientists from AI and Neuroscience, providing a special opportunity to learn about cutting-edge research in the fields of AI, Neuroscience, Neuroscience-Inspired AI, Human-Level AI, and Cognitive Science. The 4th Advanced Course and Symposium on Artificial Intelligence & Neuroscience (ACAIN) is a full-immersion four-day Course and Symposium in Tuscany on cutting-edge advances in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience with lectures delivered by world-renowned experts. The Course provides a stimulating environment for academics, early career researchers, Post-Docs, PhD students and industry leaders. Participants will also have the chance to present their results with oral talks or posters, and to interact with their colleagues, in a convivial and productive environment. Two days of keynote talks and oral presentations, the ACAIN Symposium, (September 24-25), will be preceded by lectures of leading scientists, the ACAIN Course, (September 22-23). Bringing together AI and neuroscience promises to yield benefits for both fields. The future impact and progress in both AI and Neuroscience will strongly depend on continuous synergy, exchange, collaboration and efficient cooperation between the two research communities. These are the goals of the International Course and Symposium - ACAIN 2024, which is aimed both at AI experts with interests in Neuroscience and at neuroscientists with an interest in AI. ACAIN 2024 accepts rigorous research that promotes and fosters multidisciplinary interactions between artificial intelligence and neuroscience. The Advanced Course is suited for scholars, academics, early career researchers, Post-Docs, PhD students and industry leaders. The Event (Course and Symposium) will involve a total of 36-40 hours of lectures. Academically, this will be equivalent to 8 ECTS points for the PhD Students and the Master Students attending the Event. COURSE DESCRIPTION: https://acain2024.icas.events/course-description/ SYMPOSIUM CALL FOR PAPERS: https://acain2024.icas.events/symposium-call-for-papers/ SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM COMMITTEE (partial list, confirmed members): https://acain2024.icas.events/program-committee/ ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: https://acain2024.icas.events/symposium-committee/ VENUE & ACCOMMODATION: https://acain2024.icas.events/venue/ ACAIN 2024 is a *Residential Conference*, all participants (invited speakers, authors, organizers, chairs, participants) must book and stay at the Riva del Sole Resort and Spa. No exceptions are allowed. https://lod2024.icas.events/lod-2024-a-residential-conference/ Riva del Sole Resort & SPA a: Località Riva del Sole - Castiglione della Pescaia (Grosseto) CAP 58043, Tuscany - Italy p: +39-0564-928111 f: +39-0564-935607 e: booking.events(a)rivadelsole.it w: www.rivadelsole.it/en ACTIVITIES: https://acain2024.icas.events/activities/ REGISTRATION: https://acain2024.icas.events/registration/ See you in Tuscany in September! ACAIN 2024 Organizing Committee. E: acain(a)icas.cc W: https://acain2024.icas.events FB: https://www.facebook.com/ACAIN.LakeDistrict --

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